Page 131 of Christmas in Coconut Creek

“I didn’t want to scare you.” Frankie’s voice came closer. “And I was enjoying the view.” Two big palms hooked under my arms and lifted me off the floor and onto the bed. “You okay?”

“I’ll survive,” I muttered, rubbing the crown of my head.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

A trap door, a safe room, a little hole to crawl into if it meant avoiding that final dinner with my friends before I had to go back to Colorado.

The longer I prolonged it the farther away it got, right?

“Not exactly.” I sighed.

Frankie sat next to me with his hands clasped between his knees. His blue jeans were tight around his thighs, the flannel shirt he wore rolled perfectly up his forearms. I started mapping the veins as they overlapped one another.

“You forgot a few things at the house,” he said. “I didn’t know if they were important.” He emptied the contents of his pocket into his palm.

“Bobby pins?” I snorted.

“I’m assumingnotimportant, then.”

I shook my head, letting him dump the straight clips into my hand.

“Then there’s this.” Again, diving into the pocket at the seat of his pants, Frankie pulled my red thong out and dangled it in front of me. “Not really my color. Or size. Not for lack of trying.”

“I’d have to make that judgment for myself.”

“You don’t want to ruin your perfect image of me right before you leave.” He nudged the panties in my direction again but I pushed them back at him.

“They’re all yours,” I said. “A souvenir for all your hard work.”

“I already kept your body wash,” Frankie admitted. “My skin feels like a fucking baby seal.”

“It’s amazing what graduating from bar soap can do for you.”

“You were into me before you knew what was in my shower.” He winked, folding my underwear back into his pocket without another question.

“Well I’m keeping this.” I gestured to the oversized Army sweater I was wearing. Then curled my fingers into the sleeves and wrapped my arms around my body.

“You look better in it than I ever did.” Frankie reached over and tugged on the neckline, uncovering the necklace beneath it and rubbed the little blue butterfly between his fingers.

I dropped back onto the mattress, staring up at the ceiling while Frankie leaned over me. His warm palm skated across my belly and snuck under my shirt, tracing little circles into the hollow of my rib cage.

“This bed is so uncomfortable,” he whispered.

“Thank God some guy let me crash in his.”

“His bed must be really cold and lonely, because you are a sweaty little space heater and now there’s just an Ophelia-shaped divot in the mattress.”

“That feels like it should offend me.”

Frankie dipped down and lifted the sweater just enough to kiss the sliver of my exposed stomach. “You are so perfect I’m not entirely sure I’m not dreaming.”

My eyes fluttered closed. “That’s better.”

Because we woke up naked and hungover in a hotel room and had to opt for a late checkout to make sure there was enough time to drag Tyler Swan and hisguestsout of bed, I hadn’t eaten all day. My stomach started making whale noises as a result.

“There’s a burger with your name on it out there.” Frankie sat up, bringing me with him by my limp arms.

“Bacon?” I mumbled.

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