Page 28 of Everything Christmas

“I’ll check her out for you, Sarge.” A howl of pain followed the blond’s suggestive offer. “Hey! What was that for?” he protested.

“To get you to shut up, Hansen,” another man replied. “That’s Merry, and she’s taken. Or haven’t you heard the boss droning on and on about her all week?”

Their laughter muted when Reese stepped out on the porch and shut the door behind him.

“You’ve been talking about me to your men?” she asked, beaming up at him and feeling suddenly less tired.

“I have because you’re all I think about.” He slid an arm around her waist and hauled her in for a heated kiss, which left her tingling all over and breathless.

“Okay, then,” she exhaled softly, her breath forming a small cloud in the chilly air, to which he chuckled.

“What’s going on with your garage door?”

“I don’t know other than it’s not working,” she said, trying to keep pace with his much longer legs as he led her by the hand across the street. “Are you sure all this security is necessary? It seems to me, it’s just more that can tear up and another service call.”

“Yes,” was his only answer.

They’d had this same discussion over the phone, via text, and face-to-face when he insisted she needed an alarm system and had a friend install it one day while she was at work. They had another “discussion” over the cost, which he was covering. He told her it was as much for him as for her, since it gave him peace of mind, and she needed to let it go. So she did until now.

Merry smirked when he tried her remote and it didn’t work for his manly touch, either, but then he took out and replaced the batteries, which she hadn’t thought to do. When nothing happened, he went to the cover on the keypad and flipped up the plastic cover. He glanced over his shoulder at her in question.

“Doesn’t your keypad light up?”

“It’s supposed to.” She looked around his broad back at the dark panel. “It was light enough when I tried. I guess I didn’t notice.”

“Give me your keys.”

She went to her car and pulled out her purse and the mail she’d grabbed on the way in. She began digging around in her large bag. When she couldn’t find them, she started taking items out of her purse. Eventually, she dumped everything out on the seat of her car and sifted through it. Glancing at the ignition, she sighed, glad they weren’t there. She could only imagine what Reese would have said about leaving her keys in the ignition. Standing, she patted down her pockets—empty. Scooping everything back into her bag, she grabbed her things and, with a frown, slammed her car door.

“Do you think it’s wise to leave your car unlocked with your purse inside?”

Before an imprudent and sassy remark came out of her mouth, she stomped past him and headed for her front porch. Retrieving her spare house key from under one of the flower pots, she turned and held it up.

“I’ve got an extra car key inside.” Frowning, she strained as her gaze wandered the path she’d taken to his front door earlier. “I must have dropped the others.”

Reese, who had followed her up the walk, shook his head as he grabbed the key she held up. “Not a wise place to leave a spare. It’s the first place a thief would look.” He unlocked the front door and reached in to flip the light switch once, twice... Nothing. “You don’t have power. That’s why your door won’t open.”

Stepping out onto the walkway, he looked at the units on either side of her. “Your neighbors have lights on. Did you pay your bill?”

“Of course,” she said indignantly then hesitated. “Um, I think I did.”

Their eyes simultaneously dropped to the pile of mail she had in her hand. Reese reached for the corner of a pink postcard that was sticking out. Merry stifled a groan, having seen one like it before.

As he slid it from the pile, he revealed a red box with Disconnection Notice printed in bold letters. Holding it up, he stared at her in question.

“I guess I forgot.”

She pulled it from his hand and studied it. “The disconnect deadline was today,” she muttered in frustration. “What kind of notice is it when the card arrives on the same day?”

“I’ll open the door from inside. Do you have a flashlight handy?”

“Yeah, but it needs batteries.

He didn’t say a word, but his look of disappointment was palpable. He pulled out his iPhone to light the way. “Get your spare keys and park the car.”

A few minutes later, she was driving into the garage. He closed the door once she shut off the engine then came around to help her out. He was one of the few men she knew who still did that.

Standing beside him in the dark, she could barely make out his shadowy movements, but he definitely raised his hand as keys jangled.

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