Page 27 of Ghost of Ex-mas Past
“You’re very welcome,” he says, and stands, turning to face me.
“Hey, I’m Kit Hutchinson.” He offers me a hand and a wide smile, completely unfazed by the fact that I’m wearing nothing but a towel.
I squint at his hand, then squint at him. “Who are you, Kit?”
He retracts his hand and chuckles good-naturedly. “There seems to have been a mix-up. I’m with the rental company, and we offer a light cleaning for our guests every few days. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be home.”
Oh, I had responded to an email from the rental company saying we’d be out skiing. My mouth opens but Bea interrupts. “Are you a local?”
“Indeed I am.” Kit puts his hands in his jeans pockets in an almostaw shucksmove and then sits on the coffee table to be eye level with Bea. “Born and raised.”
I move closer and cross my arms. I’m going for looming.We don’t need a cleaning service, surely you’re a busy man, move along now.He doesn’t take the hint.
Bea glances at me—or maybe it’s a glare—and then asks him some questions about the area. He’s a walking travel guide, suggesting places to eat and telling her she’s got to come back in the summer to hike.
Finally, Kit claps his hands on his thighs and stands. “Well, unless you need anything, I better get going.”
“Well, actually...” Bea starts. She smiles up at Kit. “Could you chop some firewood for us?”
He chuckles. “Been enjoying the fireplace? It’s very romantic.” He winks at her.
What am I, invisible? Chopped liver? I’mright here.
“We don’t need more firewood,” I say to deaf ears. Bea definitely glares at me this time.
Kit saunters over to the window to gaze outside. He turns back to Bea, his brow wrinkled but still a teasing smile on his lips. “Thereisplenty of wood outside. It should be enough to last the rest of your visit, even if you use both the fireplace and the firepit every night.”
“We eat a lot of s’mores,” she confesses. She’s flirting with him!
“There’s an axe in the shed, so it won’t take me long to replenish your supply. You can just call me if you need more.”
“Sounds great, Kit.”
Bea picks up her phone and Kit rattles out his number. She texts him, and there’s an answering ding in his back pocket.
“All right, well, enjoy your time in Here, and if you need anything, let me know.” He smiles at Bea, nods at me, and then shows himself out.
Bea watches him leave the room and then sighs when the door closes.
“Chopping wood, really?” I ask.
She picks up her headphones from the table and shrugs, not even bothering to look at me while she puts them in. “What? It would have been hot.”
My back teeth grind, and I spin around and stomp upstairs.
Hot? I’ll show her hot.
14
Bea
Wow.
It takes everything in me not to watch Charlie walk away, the white towel wrapped around his cute butt straining.
It’s a good thing Charlie has been using laser death ray eyes on Kit. He was too focused on the hunk of small-town charm in the living room to catch me staring at him.
Charlie sure has grown up. Obviously I knew he was attractive. There’s a vast difference between the twenty-year-old Charlie of our breakup and the twenty-eight-year-old Charlie of now, but the changes that I’ve noticed have all been, well, pretty vague from the neck down. It’s not like we’re spending the holidays wearing bathing suits, and while I knew that Charlie had bulked out, I hadn’t realized the extent of it.
