Page 39 of Falling for the Grinchy Bad Boy

13

JOY

Iburst through Aunt Victoria’s front door like a woman on a mission, my arms already full of extension cords and zip ties. The lighting ceremony was in exactly six hours. I still had approximately seventeen things left on my to-do list.

I should have gotten out of bed earlier. It was my fault. I had been caught up in the best dream ever and I didn’t want to open my eyes and face the day. Yes, that dream had a certain firefighter in the starring role. I told myself I was suffering from hero worship. He saved the day and now I was all twitterpated.

I just had to remember he was still a Grade-A Asshole.

He could be handsome and maybe have a couple of good qualities, but still an asshole.

“Aunt Victoria!” I called out, dropping my supplies on her kitchen table. “Please tell me you have duct tape. I need duct tape like I need oxygen right now. I looked in the garage and can’t find it. If I have to go to the hardware store, that’s going to take an extra fifteen minutes I don’t have. And if someone is in there that wants to chat because you and I both know there will be, that’s another fifteen minutes. I don’t have fifteen, let alone thirty.”

I was rambling. I rambled when I panicked. Cause and effect. The rambling only served to panic me more. I wondered if this was what it felt like for a hamster on a wheel.

“Good afternoon to you too, sweetie,” came her voice from the living room, calm as ever. “And yes, I have duct tape. Same place it’s always been—junk drawer next to the stove.”

I dove for the drawer, rummaging through batteries, rubber bands, and at least fourteen different types of screwdrivers. “Where’s my left glove? I know I left it here yesterday when I was organizing all the extension cord connections, and now I can’t find it anywhere, and what if my hands freeze during the ceremony and I can’t work the light switches properly?”

“Breathe, honey,” Aunt Victoria said, appearing in the doorway with a cup of coffee and the most annoyingly serene expression on her face. “Your glove is probably by the front door where the other one was when you took them off last night.”

“Found the duct tape!” I announced triumphantly, brandishing the silver roll like I’d just discovered buried treasure. “Now for the glove crisis.”

I rushed to the door and looked around the bench that served as a catch-all. Sure enough, there was my red glove.

“Crisis averted,” I said, stuffing the glove into my coat pocket. “Now I just need to double-check that all the outlet covers are secure, make sure the backup generator is properly positioned, verify that the hot chocolate station has enough cups, and⁠—”

“Joy.” Aunt Victoria’s voice cut through my mental list-making with gentle authority. “Sit down for a minute.”

“I can’t sit down! I have a hundred things to do before tonight, and if even one thing goes wrong⁠—”

“Nothing is going to go wrong.”

“But what if⁠—”

“Honey, I drove past the square this morning. Everything looks absolutely perfect. The tree is gorgeous, all the lights are connected properly, and that beautiful star is sitting up there like it was always meant to be there.”

I paused in my frantic pacing, clipboard clutched to my chest. “Really? You think it looks good?”

“I think it looks magical,” she said with a smile. “Cooper did a beautiful job getting that star positioned just right.”

At the mention of Cooper’s name, I felt that familiar flutter in my stomach that I’d been trying to ignore for the past twenty-four hours. “He really did save the day, didn’t he?”

Aunt Victoria’s smile turned knowing. “That he did. Which makes me wonder if maybe your nervousness about tonight has less to do with event coordination and more to do with a certain heroic firefighter.”

Heat crept up my neck. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m just focused on making sure everything goes smoothly.”

“Uh-huh.” She settled into her favorite chair, clearly preparing for one of our heart-to-heart conversations. “So the fact that you’ve been glowing like a Christmas ornament ever since yesterday has nothing to do with Cooper Frost climbing up a fire truck ladder to help you out?”

“I do not glow,” I protested, unconsciously touching my cheeks.

“Sweetie, you absolutely glow. And every time someone mentions his name, you get this little smile that you try to hide behind your clipboard.”

Damn it, she was right. I had been smiling every time I thought about Cooper and the way he’d shown up with that fire truck. I smiled every time I thought about how big of an asshole he had been at the school but ended up saving the day. And the way he looked at the finished tree with something that might have been actual appreciation made my heart sing.

“Okay, fine,” I said, sinking onto the couch. “Maybe I’m a little affected by what he did yesterday.”

“A little affected,” Aunt Victoria repeated with amusement. “Is that what we’re calling it?”