Page 47 of Christmas with the Boy Next Door

Abby’s furrowed brow told Robin she hadn’t made herself clear enough, so she turned her daughter toward her and took her hands, urging her to stand.

“What I mean is, don’t let people jerk you around. If Tanner stays nice and becomes a close friend, yay. But if he doesn’t…walk away. You can’t let him—or anyone else—treat you badly one minute and be your friend the next. Does that make sense?”

Abby took a deep breath and nodded, and Robin watched as she seemed to process her advice before offering a timid smile. “So, can I join drama?”

Robin chuckled and shook her head, then quickly turned it into a nod. “Uh, yes. Sure. If that’s something that interests you, I’ll look into it.”

“Yay, thanks, Mama!” She hugged Robin around the waist and flitted out of the room.

Robin stared after her daughter with her hands on her hips. Maybe she was a little young for lessons about not letting boys play with her heart. She may be looking forward to seeing him at the ball, but they were only nine, after all.

Her thoughts were diverted by a ping from her phone on the vanity. When she picked it up, a smile shot to her lips, and her mood lifted like the sun coming through the clouds on a rainy day. Jack had that effect on her, and despite her fears about how fair that was to him considering her still-healing heart, she welcomed it. Oh, how she welcomed it.

Jack: Are you ready yet?

Her laugh was partly a scoff as she checked the time before replying.

Robin: No. You can’t rush perfection.

Jack: Well since that was your starting point, you shouldn’t need long to get ready.

Robin giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth, rolling her eyes toward the sky.This guy.Before she had a chance to respond to his silly line, another text came through.

Jack: WOW. I heard you laughing at me all the way from next door. It’s not my fault. You make me say the dumbest things sometimes.

Robin: I needed that laugh, so thank you for being cheesy. I appreciate you.

Jack: In that case, lemme know whenever you need another one. I’ve got plenty more where that came from.

Robin was about to reply with something cheesy of her own, but she was interrupted by the musical chime of the doorbell. She glanced through her open bedroom door in time to see Abby skip through the living room, and her feet carried her forward as her heart raced.

Was he here to rush her along in person? To continue this flirty conversation live and in 3D? Because if so, as delightful as that would be, she wasn’t finished with her hair. Robin would happily give him the boot so she could get ready in peace, without the distraction of her gorgeousboyfriendfrom next door. Right after drinking in the sight of him in what was surely a dashing suit for the ball, of course.

But as she entered the living room and her eyes landed on the man at the door, confusion swept through her. It wasn’t Jack. It wasn’t the ruefully smiling man she’d seen in her mind’s eye as she made her way in here.

“What are you doing here?” Robin asked, automatically moving to Abby’s side at the open door. She felt the urge to tuck her daughter safely behind her back but stifled it in favor of playing it cool until she had a reason to do otherwise.

“We need to talk.”

CHAPTER17

Jack

Jack’s eyesflitted back to his phone as he adjusted his crimson tie in the bathroom mirror. Robin hadn’t replied to his last text, which wasn’t a huge deal, since it wasn’t a question or anything, but he still wondered if their flirty banter wasn’t as flirty to her as it was impossibly lame.

Okay, so maybe it waslameof him to even worry about that, but after years of circling around each other, blatant flirting was new to them. They were together now, and it came with the territory, but was there a line he needed to worry about crossing where she’d decide he was too cheesy and call the whole thing off?

Jack’s internal stream of overanalyzing was cut off when his phone finally buzzed. But instead of being the text he’d been waiting for, it was a call from Tommy.

“Hey, Tom. What’s up?”

“Jack, where are you?”

Instantly on alert, Jack moved from his bathroom toward the living room. “I’m at home. Why?”

“You know how I told you they got a warrant to search Snitker’s house?”

Tommy had told him last night, but since he’d also said they wouldn’t be serving it yet because today was Christmas Eve, Jack had tried to put it out of his mind so he could enjoy the ball and Christmas morning before things got crazy.

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