Page 41 of Hard to Judge

My bare feet whisper against the black granite. My stupid heart, on the other hand, thunders, tossing itself against my ribs. Arlo has clearance to enter the building. Which means he’s on the other side of the door. Still, I press the intercom instead of opening it.

“Who is it?” I snap.

“Santa Claus?” Arlo tries.

“You’re on the naughty list,” Hailey adds.

“I don’t believe in Santa Claus.” I smile despite myself.

“Well, great. Now, how will we get back to the North Pole?” Arlo huffs.

“What?” I laugh, and it mingles with Hailey’s perfect chortle.

“When someone doesn’t believe, a reindeer loses its ability to fly,” he explains.

“Looks like we’ll just have to spend the night.” Hailey’s voice gets softer but closer to the intercom. “We’ll just have to keep at him until he believes.”

The double meaning isn’t lost on me or my dick. I draw a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Doa o akeru. Warugaki.”

I flip the lock and jerk the door wide as he demands, “I’m not a brat. Uzai.”

Arlo’s triumphant smile turns into a serious line. “I’m not annoying.”

Droplets of water cling to their clothes and hair. Several clumps of snow nestle in Hailey’s flowing red locks while a thin blanketing of it sits atop their coat-covered shoulders.

“Why are you covered in snow?” I hadn’t noticed it snowing. Then again, I haven’t been the master of my surroundings this morning.

“The North Pole, obviously.” He offers me a light eye roll and half smile. Then it dies and vanishes and is replaced by a pretty pout. “I’m not annoying.”

“So you’ve said. You’re also at my door unannounced and uninvited before I’ve had my morning tea. Sounds synonymous to me.”

“It’s almost eleven o’clock and not my fault you’re lazy,” Arlo shoots back.

“Lazy? It’s Christmas morning. I can sleep in if I want to.” After wandering the city until the early morning hours, I needed to more than wanted. Walking always clears my head. As does boxing and fucking. Usually.

With the dynamic duo in front of me…nothing seems to work. They haunt my thoughts, even in sleep, hence the mattress humping.

“Gentlemen?” Hailey rasps. Her green eyes are narrow and as serious as I’ve ever seen them. “If you two don’t feed me pronto, I’m going to rip out your hearts and eat them.”

“Move.” Arlo barrels inside. I’m forced to lift the hand I have braced against the doorframe. Still, his trench-coat-covered shoulder brushes against my chest. He shucks his shoes by the hall closet, dumps his coat in a hurry, and carries two reusable bags toward the kitchen.

“I don’t have any food,” I call after him.

He doesn’t acknowledge me. Just keeps walking. At least he’s walking in and not away. Guilt twinges my belly.

“What do you think is in those bags?” Hailey slips inside and stands directly in front of me. She toes off her shoes, tosses them by Arlo’s, and lifts her chin to study me.

“I have no idea.” I close the door and lock it, and then stare into her fresh face. There isn’t so much as a smudge of mascara on her lashes.

I’ve only ever seen her with a full face of makeup, which is the stuff of my fantasies. I love the art of it. And I want to make it run down her cheeks.

A dusting of freckles plays across her nose and the slant of her cheeks. I have trouble taking a full breath.

“Dinner from last night. Board games. Wine. A deck of cards. Dessert.” She counts them off on her fingers but pauses on the last. “And if you’re a good boy, another surprise.”

“I’m the best boy.” I smile. The corners of her mouth tip up, warming me from the inside out. “Good morning, sunshine.”

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