Page 25 of Christmas in Coconut Creek

If it were up to Frankie, I would have gone gallivanting in his clothes all day, completely unshowered, but even Mateo had the mind to make a pitstop for us back at the apartment.

I hadn’t exactly had a chance to settle in the night before—going from the airport, to dinner, and then chaotically unpacking every item of clothing from my luggage while playing mix ‘n match with Natalia’s closet. The guest room had turned from pleasantly primped and welcoming to “department store on Black Friday” in a matter of minutes, and my pre-game brain never slowed down long enough to fix it. It was a sight for already sore eyes as I dashed in and out of the room with no time to clean despite the way I itched to organize.

My shower was much quicker than I preferred given the company lurking around, and I couldn’t exactly leave the bathroom nude like I would have if it were just Nat and me. So, I skipped across the hallway into my bedroom wearing Frankie’s clothes again with my hair wrapped in a towel.

“It looks like a bomb went off in here.”

“JesusChrist,” I gasped with a hand over my chest. I turned to find Frankie lying on the bed with his hands under his head, surrounded by the disarray of my belongings and half-opened suitcase.

“I appreciate the sentiment, beautiful. But you can just call me Frankie.”

“Get out.” I pointed a finger toward the door.

“You know, there are perfectly good drawers for all of this?” He began rooting around in the pile next to him until something caught his eye.

“Yeah, well I didn’t exactly expect to have a man in my bed this morning.”

“Surprise,” he replied, half to me and half to the lacy red pair of panties he lifted off the bed and dangled from his fingers. “Wear these for me?”

“Get fucked.”

“I’m trying.”

I grunted and flipped the towel off my head, ignoring him and the twinge in my lower stomach. I sorted around the floor and the mattress for shorts, a tee, and the light zip-up sweater I’d worn on the plane—actively ignoring my pair of panties and how tiny and…shreddablethey looked in Frankie’s hands.

“Fine, I’ll just imagine it for myself.” He stretched the cherry red elastic from ear to ear over his face, the crotch lying perfectly over his sharp nose.

“Giveme those,” I scolded him, hopping onto the bed to snatch them away. Frankie chuckled when I finally wrestled them out of his grasp. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be besides up my ass?”

He quirked an eyebrow.

“Don’tfuckingsay anything,” I rebuked, kicking myself.

“We’ll call it even, then.” He smirked. “And no, Cap and Tally are summoning spirits so I figured I’d take a page out of your book and give myself a tour.”

“Go and tour the kitchen.”

“Sure. Right after I get my clothes back.”

I looked down at the outfit I was wearing over my freshly showered body. I might have tried to steal the sweater all together in true one-night-stand fashion if I thought I’d never see him again. It fit like an oversized glove.

“Right now?”

“Take ‘em off.”

“I’m not wearing anything under it.”

“I’ll close my eyes.”

“Oh, okay, in that case…” I shoved an arm up the inside of the sweater, letting my hand disappear. Frankie sat up off the pillows in anticipation as I brought the same hand back out a few seconds later sporting a middle finger.

“You’re a cold woman.” He frowned, standing from the bed and walking toward the door. “I think you’re enjoying this as much as me, though.”

“Out.” I crossed my arms over my chest when he got close enough that we were sharing air.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Frankie said, then snagged the red panties out of my hand, tucking them into the pocket of his shorts before walking out the door.

“Whatareweevenlooking for?” Mateo lifted his sunglasses off his face, squinting at the rows of trees lined up under string lights in the supermarket parking lot.

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