Page 14 of Secret Santa

From within I pulled a box wrapped in the most gorgeous metallic snowflake print, adorned with a rustic ribbon and snowflake ornament.

“Oh wow—” I pulled the assorted box of jams out from the wrapping paper. “Frenchjams. This is so cool. I bet they would make the most delicious thumbprint cookies. Oooh or maybe I should whip up some scones! I bet these jams would be delicious on a warm buttery scone.”

Despite my exhaustion, my fingers twitched with the need to go searching through all my mom’s old cookbooks for her holiday scone recipe. They’d go perfectly, I just knew it.

ChapterNine

Fitzy couldn’t have orchestrated that gift hand off more perfectly if I’d coordinated it myself. Between Fitzy arriving and me throwing her off with my mention of Declan—there was no way she suspected me. After a few minutes of chit chat, Fitzy got up to leave, winking at me and giving me a thumbs up. I thought it was a thumbs up that she, too, believed that Priscilla was unaware. Unfortunately, moments after she left my phone buzzed with a text message.

Fitzy: I hid a condom between the couch cushions. Just in case it’s been a while and you aren’t prepared.

“Good lord. That woman is something else.” I burst out laughing, totally unable to contain my shock.

I turned my phone toward Priscilla, showing her the text, before producing said condom from between the cushions.

“Oh my god!” Priscilla blushed clear up to her hairline and down to the collar of her dress. “I am so sorry that you moved into an apartment complex expecting you know normal neighbors and you got—well, Fitzy.”

She grabbed the condom from between my fingers and scampered off to her bathroom, returning in lightning speed fully changed into a pair of stretch pants and in true Priscilla fashion, an oversized Elvis T-shirt. If the condom hadn’t already flashed a full reel of pornographic images behind my eyelids, seeing Priscilla in nothing-to-the-imagination pants certainly did. I wanted to run my hands all over her and feel her lush curves. If it meant I offered her a full body massage in order to do it, I absolutely would.

“I hope you don’t mind.” She motioned toward her outfit change. “I love owning a diner and cooking and such—but thesmellis just something I can’t tolerate. And after being in that dress all day—I just needed something comfortable.”

I tried to ignore how well she filled the space next to me as we settled in to watchIt’s A Wonderful Life. How much I loved feeling her lush warmth pressed up against my leg and hip. I wanted her closer. Tocuddle. Jesus I could hear Beckett and Cash’s silent judgement flitting through my head the moment the thought surfaced.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for the rose-colored glasses, life is grand optimism of Capra.” Priscilla made a comment after that. I felt the vibration of her voice. At the same moment though she snuggled against me and rested her head on my shoulder and my brain short fused.

“This movie has meant so many different things to me during the progression of my life,” I explained, my arm acting of its own accord and pulling her in tighter. “Sometimes it feels optimistic and hopeful, and other times it highlights how we as people get lost in the busy-ness of our lives and we forget how important human connection is.”

“And what does it feel like now?” She looked up at me, pink cheeked, her coppery hair mussed from leaning against my arm.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget this one,” I admitted.

“Because you’re exhausted and wishing you could rewind to this morning when you volunteered to help your neighbor” She looked up at me and laughed.

Instinct. Pure instinct created an unignorable magnetic pull. My fingers caressed her jaw and my lips skated across hers well before my brain tuned in. The little squeak of surprise that elicited from between Priscilla’s lips turned a sweet brushing of lips into a languorous exploration with no zero map or destination. One kiss devolved into a heated make out session reminiscent of my junior high days on Annie Templeton’s basement couch.

“Ignore it.” A phone was blaring from somewhere nearby. I didn’t want the bubble to break. Her ass was beneath the palm of my hand, her leg draped over my thigh—we’d become dangerously close to her grinding on top of me.

“I can’t.” She sighed against my lips. “It’s my brother. He always calls at night if he knows I’m closing up the diner.”

Count on her brother to be a cock blocker.

“Jesse!” She said far too brightly. “No I’m already home. We locked up an hour ago.”

I couldn’t hear her brother on the other side of that phone call. Whatever he said though caused Priscilla to twist her lips in annoyance and move off my lap.

“Jesse I have company so I’m going to have to let you go. I’m home safe and sound. No my neighbor and I are watching a movie. Maybe because it’s not Fitzy. Jesus, Jesse! I’m hanging up now. Oh my god…” She blushed a shade as red as the tinsel hanging from her mantel and stared right at me. “I’m hanging up… You know it’s impossible for me to get away at Christmastime. I know…I know. I’ll see what I can do. I’m totally short staffed right now, Jess. I worked thirty-six of the last seventy hours and it doesn’t look like that is letting up anytime soon. No, it’s a long story I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. You too.”

She pressed end on her phone, laughter in her eyes. “I’m really sorry. If I don’t pick up he panics. Over the last few years he’s become super protective and I’m not really sure the reason. He didn’t used to be like this.”

“You said your mom died?”

She nodded. “Yeah about five years ago. She wasn’t even that old, but I think all the stress of being a single mom, raising two kids and trying to run a diner—it just did her in earlier than it should. At least she went peacefully—went to bed one night and didn’t wake up.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, tucking her back into my chest where she’d been earlier. I understood why running that diner made her so happy. It was like a living memorial to her mom. “I’m incredibly lucky.” I told her as I hit play on the movie again and we settled in, “I think I’m an anomaly at this point. My parents may as well be named the Cleavers. They’re still married, still ridiculously in love, I think they’ve been married forty-two years maybe?”

We sat in comfortable silence while the movie drew out towards its conclusion.

“You didn’t tell me why you’d never forget watching this movie today,” she asked.

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