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His words took my breath away. “I never thought my grumpy neighbor would turn out to be the first person to make me feel alive in a long time, too.”
His eyes went to my lips as he leaned in and took my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and savored his taste as we fell into a deep and passionate kiss. My hands raked through his thick hair as our chests pressed together. It had been forever since I’d felt so turned on by a kiss, and my body buzzed with excitement. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t be returning across the street tonight.
After several minutes, we finally came up for air. I moved back to look at his gorgeous face. Then my eyes travelled down to his crotch and landed on the impressive erection straining through his jeans.
I raised one eyebrow. “Is that a lightsaber in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?”
His eyes sparkled. “That’s no lightsaber.”
Muffled noise registered from outside, drawing our attention to the living room window, which we were standing in front of. It seemed a few spectators had arrived late, probably hoping to see the lights. Instead, they’d watched us kissing.
Cole reached over to the lamp and clicked it off before pulling me back into his arms. “We seem to have lost power again.” He spoke over my lips.
I smiled. “Oh, did we? That’s a shame. Shall I get the generator?”
“No, ma’am. We’re about to make enough electricity of our own to light up the block.”
HOT ITEM
Getting into a fight with a sexy stranger over the last hot toy on the shelf was not the way I intended to spend Christmas Eve. And I certainly didn’t plan on spending hours more trying to win a contest to decide who would get to buy it. But when our time is up, would the toy be the only hot item I wanted to take home?
CHAPTER 1
* * *
Holly
“That’s mine!”
“Really? Because I don’t see your name on it, and it’s in my hands.”
I pointed to the cart next to me. “I was making room for it.”
Ugh.
Figures.
Turning back, I got my first good look at the guy.
Dark hair, tanned skin in December when the rest of us look pasty, a chiseled jaw, and bright eyes that were annoyingly blue.
Gorgeous.
Of course.
And a jerk.
Aren’t they all?
He peeked around me, and his brows shot up. “Is that all for one kid?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Trust me. Your kid isn’t going to miss this one toy with all that.” He started to turn away and I just…no. No. No. No! Five hours of shopping on Christmas Eve was enough to make the sanest of people snap, and I wasn’t one of those to begin with. I lost it.
“Give me that!” I attempted to yank the box from the guy’s hands, but he had too good of a grip on it. “I have been searching for that damn robot for weeks. You aren’t going to just walk away with it when I had it first. Give it to me!” When he didn’t relent, I started to scream—like a lunatic. “Security! Security! Someone help!”
The guy took a few steps back and held up his hands. “Did you forget to take your meds this morning, Ma’am?”
My eyes widened. “Ma’am? Did you just call me Ma’am!”
Security came running over. “What’s going on here?”
I pointed to the guy. “He stole my toy, and now he just called me Ma’am. I’m thirty-one!”
The guard’s brows pulled together. “You purchased that toy?”
“Well, no. I couldn’t. Because he took it from me.”
“So, he didn’t steal the toy…”
“Well, he stole it out from under me! Tell him to give it back!”
“Ma’am…can you please keep your voice down.”
Oh. My. God. “Can you stop calling me Ma’am, too!”
The guard put his hand on his walkie-talkie, which was holstered to his hip. “Ma’am.” He shook his head. “I mean, Miss. You need to calm down, or I’m going to call the police.”
“I will. As soon as you make him give that box to me.”
The guard looked at the thief. “Sir, did you take that box from this woman?”
He shook his head. “It was sitting on the shelf, and I walked over and picked it up. She wasn’t even touching it.”
“Is it the only one or something?”
I answered. “It’s the only one in the state of New York. I’ve been searching for it for a month.”
The security guard pointed at the man. “I was speaking to him. What’s your name, sir?”
“Bryce.”
“Pfft.” I rolled my eyes. “Bryce. Figures.”
Bryce’s brows dipped together. “What’s wrong with my name?”
I waved my hand around at him. “It just goes with the whole package.”
“The whole…package…”
“Yes, you know…handsome with a fancy name. You probably come from money, too. It’s what gives you that sense of entitlement you so obviously have.”
