Page 53 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
Toweling her hair dry, she dressed quickly and resisted the urge to poke around Mads’ bedroom. It was a calm, serene space in creams and tans. The bed looked stiff and starched, like no one had ever slept in it. Actually, the entire room resembled a hotel room expecting a guest.
She grinned and brushed out her wet hair.
The kitchen had been outfitted in the latest in stainless steel professional-grade appliances. Judging from their sparkling appearance, no one used them. Expensive black granite countertops went on for miles without a speck of dust. The floor, unforgiving polished white tile, sparkled under the wrought iron light fixture and soft under cabinet lighting.
The house tried so hard for rustic coziness with the cream and stone color palette and missed the mark, veering into cold and clinical. It had no personality, just generic landscapes with a majestic stag staring off in the distance. The entire decorating scheme was perfect. She had no doubt that every room would be tasteful and unobjectionable with lush fabrics and comfy furniture.
It was boring. Mainly what made the house bland and overly perfect, she noticed, was the lack of personal effects. Not even a stray T-shirt on the floor or a pair of shoes at the door. The entire house was as barren as a hotel.
Odessa laid out the ingredients. She had planned for a simple and impressive meal of steak, roasted potatoes with rosemary, and green beans with almond slivers. “Do you have olive oil and a cast iron pan?”
They worked together, Mads searching for barely-used cookware in cabinets, and Odessa chopping the potatoes.
“Interested in dinner and a movie?” he asked, watching her assemble the meal.
“Only if it has a lot of swears and explosions. If I have to watch one more episode of that little pony cartoon, I’ll scream.”
“I think we can handle gratuitous violence and explicit language.”
“So grown up.” She fed him a sliver of almond, pushing the piece into his mouth. His lips clamped down, trapping her finger and he licked the length before he released her with a grin.
“Delicious,” he said.
Desire, warm and soft, coiled in her stomach.
Okay. Sex was totally on the table.
They sat on the enormous sofa, plates balanced on their laps as they ate, and watched a film on the flat screen above the mantle. At first, Odessa was overly aware of her body, her breathing, everything. This felt different, like the next step, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was the correct step.
Something buzzed. Mads removed a phone from his pocket and set it down on the coffee table.
“You got a new phone?” She meant to search for his missing phone but hadn’t had the time yet.
He shrugged. “The screen is cracked on the old one.”
She eyed the glossy, top-of-line new phone and felt a touch of envy that Mads could drop so much money replacing a phone he hadn’t even tried to look for. Her old phone—ugly with the glass shattered on the back—kept working, despite being an older model when she got it two years ago. One day she’d be able to spend money to replace a functional but aesthetically unpleasing phone without guilt or researching the best prices, but that day remained a long way off.
She carried the plates into the kitchen. Mads waited in the doorway, arms folded over his chest, a hungry grin on his face, looking at her like she was dessert.
“Mistletoe,” he said, pointing up.
So it was.
She licked her lips. He leaned in.
“Wait,” she said, pressing her hands flat against his chest. “What are we doing?”
Chapter 15
Mads
“If it’s not obvious, we’re doing something wrong,” he said.
“No, seriously. What is this?”
“Are you asking what my intentions are, Miss Muller?”
“I guess I am.” Odessa leaned against the doorframe. “The last few weeks have been fun.”
