Page 31 of The Holiday Grump
Noelle bit back on a grin, clearly enjoying herself.
“Nobody has slept in that room for years,” I told her. “You might want to do your own deep clean. I was just clearing my stuff out of there.”
Noelle’s eyes widened in earnest. “I will clean it! Gimme.” She took the cloth from me and skipped to the bathroom to run it under the faucet.
“I’ll just do one last check…” I wandered back to the office.
“Make sure you check for stiff socks under the bed,” Kailee called after me.
“Hey!” I turned to give her a piece of my mind, but she was already running down the stairs, giggling at her sudden audacity.
She never acted like that around me. It must have been Noelle’s influence. Or maybe she was just growing up. I’d have to get used to that.
Noelle joined me by the desk with the cleaning cloth. “Kailee’s funny.”
I frowned. “She’s usually so quiet. Reads in the corner for hours. I forget she’s there.”
“Maybe she’s quiet because you’re quiet?” She lifted an eyebrow as she approached the desk with the cloth.
I jumped in to help, lifting the hole punch, stapler, and pen holder out of her way.
“Thank you!” She beamed at me. “We make a great team.”
It felt strange to stand so close to someone. I could hear her breathing. I felt the warmth of her body and smelled that vanilla-berry scent. What was I thinking by offering her this room? She’d be here in my space. She’d be everywhere, eating and showering and talking and making my niece talk. Everyone talking, all the time, having opinions and ideas… sitting on desks. Moving things.
I bristled.
I couldn’t back out, though. If I did, I’d be left tossing and turning at night, wondering if she was being evicted from her illegal back room. She’d made her awful living situation my problem, and I couldn’t escape.
It felt good, too. I couldn’t deny it. Maybe I wanted to be the one to save her. The one she would run to. The one she could count on. It had been a while since anyone had counted on me for anything. And it wasn’t like she smelled bad or left a huge mess in her wake. She was cleaning, after all.
Done with the desk, Noelle turned to face me, standing so close I could see the golden starbursts around her irises. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but held there, her lips ajar, eyes soft and expectant. The berry-vanilla scent intensified, and I stopped breathing, waiting for her next move.
Was she looking at my mouth?
“Everything okay?” I asked to fill the silence that was getting loud.
“I was just thinking what it would be like to kiss you,” she said casually.
I nearly choked on the little saliva left in my mouth.
Her smile was all innocence as she shook her head. “Don’t worry, I won’t! I know it’s a bad idea to kiss your landlord.”
I swallowed air, my throat now desert dry. She wanted to kiss me?
“You have a thing for bookish hermits?” I asked, covering my nerves with an awkward laugh.
“I told you, it’s the elbow patches!” Her eyes were comically wide.
This was a dirty game, and she had an unfair advantage, being all cute and sexy and full of flirt.
“I’m not even wearing that jacket,” I grumbled.
“But the image is seared into my imagination!” She reached around my arms to touch my elbows, and her mouth fell open.
Yes. My cardigan also came with elbow patches. I was starting to think my grandpa had them specially sewn on every piece of clothing he bought—and donated to me.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “You’re always ready to dramatically lean on a desk, aren’t you?”
