Page 5 of Mistletoe Love Match
Shit!There was nowhere to hide, and he couldn’t allow the Dagbys to find them like this. Louise and Ralph were friends with his sister and her fiancé, Erasmus Cress. If the community center directors caught them in a broom closet, they’d surely mention it to Libby or Raz. And while Raz was a great guy, Calliope’s brother was also the world’s heavyweight boxing champion. He sure as hell didn’t want to get on the wrong side of a man who could knock a dude out with one punch.
Not to mention, he had enough to worry about these days.
His brother seemed to be attached at the hip to Calliope’s sister. Callista Cress was a perfectly lovely human being, but he and Anders didn’t have time for distractions. They had to focus on their studies. And they certainly couldn’t entertain a serious romantic relationships. They had to return to Ecuador. They’d completed their first semester of med school in Colorado, and he’d loved spending time with Libby, but a plan was a plan. They’d agreed to study abroad, and he couldn’t let his brother get sidetracked.
“Alec!” Calliope whispered-screamed, then whipped his stethoscope off the shelf and used it to smack him in the chest.
“Ow!” he whisper-yelled back, taking the medical instrument from her and resting it around his neck. He should educate her on how to properly handle his equipment, but there was no time for a lecture—or even a stern rebuke. He had to act. He straightened his stethoscope, scanned the snug space, and spied salvation.
Toilet paper to the rescue.
He swiped two rolls off the shelf and handed one to Calliope. “Follow my lead,” he hissed, not exactly sure what that would look like, but as a doctor, he’d need to think quickly and make snap decisions.
He swung open the door and burst into the hallway. “See, Calliope, this is where they store the toilet paper. Anytime you require an extra roll, you can find it here,” he announced like a deranged tour guide. He glanced over his shoulder and met Calliope’s gaze.
She cringed, then patted her lips. Why the hell would she do that?
Dammit, he didn’t have time to ponder her bizarre reaction. He had to address the Louise and Ralph situation. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Dagby, aren’t you looking festive.” Somewhere between greeting him this morning and now, the Dagbys had changed into Mr. and Mrs. Claus costumes.
“We do it for the kids every year,” Ralph said, glancing into the supply closet, then sharing a curious look with Louise.
“You’re probably wondering how we ended up inside the closet with the door closed,” Calliope blurted.
Oh shit!
“And there’s a very good and very reasonable explanation,” she continued.
All he could do was pray she actually had a reason.
“And that is?” Ralph asked with a perplexed bend to the question.
She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. “An immersive experience—in the supply closet.”
“An immersive experience?” Louise repeated with a crinkle to her brow.
“Absolutely,” Calliope beamed. “As a teacher, I need to be prepared, which means identifying the closest location to procure items for the loo. It’s important to ingrain the closet into my memory because children go to the bathroom and require toilet paper. It’s . . . biological,” she finished, then threw him a glance that saidhelp a woman out.
She’d rattled off one hell of a word salad, but he could work with biology.
He nodded vigorously, channeling a bobblehead doll. “As someone training to become a doctor, I agree with that statement. Children do, in fact, use the restroom. It’s a biological bodily function.”
Now they sounded insane.
“And speaking of children,” Calliope said, jumping in, “they enjoyed it when you stopped by the classroom.” She blessedly steered the conversation away from excretion and freaking toilet paper. Her posture relaxed for a second until she glanced down. She inhaled a sharp breath, then went as stiff as a board before turning almost as white as Ralph’s fake Santa beard.
What had gotten into her?
As far as he could tell, they were in the clear.
Then he looked down too, and what he saw encasing Calliope’s ankle damn near had his heart beating itself out of his chest like he was experiencing the most severe case of tachycardia known to mankind. He blinked, but the image remained the same. And what had his heart ready to explode?
A pair of emerald-green silk panties that just happened to be haphazardly looped around her booted foot.
It was weird enough that they’d emerged from the broom closet. Their bullshit toilet paper explanation was a flimsy excuse at best. How were they supposed to explain the location of her underwear?
Louise Dagby eyed him closely, which was a good thing. He had to keep the couple from looking down.
“I see someone enjoyed the doughnuts Cupid Bakery donated,” the woman commented.
