Page 6 of Christmas in Coconut Creek

“I actually have the opposite of that, because I’m pretty sure even thinking it would get me fired.”

“That’s true.” He unsubtly ran his eyes down my neck, right to the curve of my neckline. “Well—now I have it, so thanks for that.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been ogled for simply existing.”

“Do you hate it?”

I pressed my lips together and folded my half-eaten chip bag. “Not as much as I should.” Frankie eyed the crinkling aluminum longingly. “Do you want the rest?”

“Thank God you offered. I’m so hungry.”

I snorted and handed the bag over, then sat in silence while he finished the crumbs. “So why not try to find a job closer to home?” I eventually asked.

“The opportunity pretty much fell into my lap, so to get my roommate off my ass I figured, why not? Two of my buddies are a state over in Salt Lake City, so I could see them more often. A change of scenery might be good for me. Like you so rudely pointed out, the AARP has started contacting me about my retirement savings.”

“And howdoesthat look, out of curiosity?” I teased.

“Ah, there she is. It was never my body or a uniform you were after. The truth always comes out.”

I shrugged.

“What about you?” he asked. “Running away from an ex?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re on a plane, flying two thousand milesawayfrom home just in time for Christmas. There’s gotta be something chasing your tail. So, what is it?”

“Not an ex,” I said. “I’m visiting a friend from college for a few weeks in Coconut Creek.”

“No family?”

“Oh, I do, yeah. My parents are more like my friends at this point. They were married for a while after I was born but now they’ve been divorced a long time and have these perfect second families. My closest half-sibling is only fourteen, so I figured I would do something different this Christmas. Trade the pine trees for palm trees.”

“It’s nice to do something for yourself every now and then.”

“I agree.”

I stacked my empty plastic cup and soda can inside one another and shut the tray, unbuckling the flimsy seatbelt to stand. “I’m going to use the restroom now.”

“Yeah?” He raised his eyebrows and unbuckled his own belt. “How long should I wait? Two—three minutes?”

“Alone.” I patted his shoulder before squeezing through the tiny space between his squashed legs and the seat in front of him, ass first. “Nice try though.”

“Tease,” I heard him mumble from the aisle. I smiled to myself all the way down the row and into the miniscule bathroom.

The mirror wasn’t much to look at, and the fluorescent lighting in the stall wasn’t doing anything for me either. I still patted the undersides of my eyes to make sure my concealer wasn’t creasing and fluffed my unwashed hair.

I was borderline catfishing the guy—the glamoured girl in my profile photos was not the same one staring back at me with barbeque chip dust on my chest.Shit. To be fair though, if I was on anactualdate, I would have dressed the part. This was the steady relationship, comfortable not showering for three days Ophelia, and Frankie got her right out of the gate. Not that it deterred him in the slightest. I wasn’t sure he even noticed.

I spent another few minutes checking for anything in my teeth and taming the halo of frizz over my forehead, and as I was about to leave, someone knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!”

Another knock.

Oh—no way.

He didn’t actually think the two of us were gonna get each other off in the airplane bathroom? And why didn’t that disgust me as much as it did an hour before?

---