Page 2 of Everything Christmas

“You got a copy of the condo association rules, I assume.”

“Yes, but I haven’t had time to read them yet.”

“Better get to it unless you want a fine on your first day here. The board can be strict.”

“But they’re flowers,” she insisted.

“Hanging baskets used to be allowed. Wind chimes, wind socks, dream catchers, and so on soon followed. It got quite out of hand, so there was a crackdown back in the spring.”

“On flowers,” she repeated. What the heck?

“Yeah. It sounds crazy, but those are the rules. I’m just trying to help you out.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“No problem.” He climbed up another step. “Reese Morgan,” he stated as he stuck out his hand. “I think you already know I live across the street.”

Even standing a step below her, he towered above her. And his shoulders were immense, blocking out everything except for him.

“And you are...” he prompted.

Realizing that, like an idiot, she’d left him hanging while she gawked at him again, she took his hand. Warmth and strength enveloped it when he squeezed rather than pumped.

“I’m, uh, Merry,” she choked out.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, Merry.” He squeezed her hand more firmly for a moment before releasing her. “Well, I’ve got to get back to my guest.”

“Yeah. I saw her. Cool car.”

He didn’t leave, just stared down at her. She felt a tingling sensation stirring inside her before he eventually murmured, “Good night.”

“Night,” she returned softly, IQ points dropping even more.

When he jogged down the steps and strode down her sidewalk, she hurried inside so she wouldn’t get caught staring at his butt, which, from only the briefest of glances in the dark, could only be described as spectacular in snug-fitting jeans.

Once she locked the door, she leaned back against it and groaned. Could she be any more obvious? For heaven’s sake, he had a girlfriend. Like she had a chance with a man like him anyway. Merry replayed the whole embarrassing scene in her mind until her nose detected something burning.

“My pizza!” she exclaimed, rushing into the smoke-filled kitchen just as the smoke alarm screamed.

In her aired-out kitchen, 15 minutes later, she tore a piece of over-browned pizza crust in two with her teeth. Not an easy task.

“I bet the blonde with the big...hair isn’t dining on half-burned, tough and chewy, really bad deli pizza tonight.”

From the look of the smoldering lip-lock they had shared, food was the last thing on their minds. Merry let the dried-out slice fall to her plate. She carried it to the trash can and dropped it in with a thud. She didn’t need the fat and calories anyway.

As she double-checked that the oven was off and turned out the kitchen lights, she remembered the way her across-the-street neighbor palmed the blonde’s ass.

“With hotties like Reese Morgan who have the size, strength, and stamina to go all night, it’s no wonder beautiful women stay so skinny.”

Since she’d never had the chance to find out and probably never would, Merry pushed thoughts of her sexy neighbor and his equally hot blonde from her head and dragged her tired butt up the stairs to call it a night.

---