Page 32 of The Holiday Hate-Off
He lifts his dark, commanding eyebrows and folds his arms over his chest. They fill out the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt in a way that distracts me for half a second, but I snap my gaze back to his smug face. “I traded for a ticket, fair and square, and I’ve been a delight to my dates. What justification do you have for kicking me out?”
“I didn’t crashyourlittle copycat event,” I say, barely holding back from poking him in the chest. “Although I have to commend you on your originality.”
His smile infuriates me. “Humanity’s been around for long enough that nothing in this world is truly original. It’s all in the delivery.”
“So then you must be doubly unhappy with the outcome. I heard the town showed up in defense of Eileen.”
“Did you also hear we raised a couple thousand dollars for charity and sold out of some of our specialty foods? The event was a success by any metric.”
I sense weakness and dig. “Does that mean your brother’s looking forward to pulling taffy? I confess, I really look forward to seeing it. Portia saideveryoneis invited, so Eileen,Charlie, and I will definitely be there. We haven’t been banned from the candy shop.”
“Give it time,” he says in an annoyed undertone.
I prop a hand on my hip. “Portia is my friend. And you know what? Erica is Eileen’s friend. I can’twaitto see what she has planned for you.”
Sure, Eileen plans on taking over the date and being nice to him, but he doesn’t know that. Besides, there’s still a chance I can convince her to take a different tack.
“I hope it’s really wicked,” he says with a smile that infuriates me.
“She’s the mayor’s wife.”
“Then she shouldn’t be bidding on bachelors. In front of her husband, no less. I wouldn’t let my wife do that.”
Oh, this man is infuriating. “As if you canleta woman do anything. I don’t believe for one minute that poor Curtis gave up his place ‘fair and square.’ You must have forced him. What did you do to him?”
He shrugs. “I told him I’d remind everyone of the time he jizzed in our English teacher’s handbag if he didn’t let me take his place.”
My mouth falls open in shock. “He really did that?”
His full lips tip up at the corners. “Would he have taken off at a run if he hadn’t?”
“Butwhy?”
“He’s a pervert,” he says with some heat. “Just like half the guys out there. Which is why you need to reconsider your foolish plan.”
The air feels like it was sucked from my lungs. “Whatplan?”
His eyes bore into me. Surely it should be illegal for a man to look at a woman like that, like he can see past her clothes and undergarments. We stand there for a second, a strange energy arcing between us in the cinnamon-scented kitchen.We’re alone, so alone in here, even though there are dozens of people just beyond that door.
You hate him.
And I do, I really do. And yet…
He fills out that shirt so well, and part of me responds to his feral, commanding energy—wanting to bite back. And then strip his shirt off so I can see what’s hidden beneath it.
He clears his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and the tension breaks. “I found the slip of paper you dropped on the bridge.”
Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Skippy ate that note. He was supposed to have saved me from this awful moment.
My face hot with shame, I say, “You don’t understand what you saw. It was about someone else.”
“No,” he says firmly, his intense dark eyes glued to mine. “We both know it wasn’t. And you can’t go through with this. You don’t know what those men are like.Ido. They’ll talk. If you’re going to go through with this crazy plan, you need to choose someone who’s discreet.”
My mouth goes dry. Surely he doesn’t mean…
“I’ll do it.”
For half a second, molten, sensual heat floods my body, but it’s chased out by pure, undiluted fury.
