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To distract myself from…him, I moved closer to the village, taking in the figurines. “Is that fromCharlie Brown?” I asked, shocked.
Harrison’s cheeks pinkened. “Uh, yeah. I’ve always been aPEANUTSfan, so my aunt gave that to me for Christmas the first year I bought a house.”
I nodded, letting my gaze continue to wander over the holiday splendor. A tall red mailbox sat next to the fireplace, a red cardinal on top, and a large envelope addressed to Santa Claus sat halfway out of the open door. Around the room were poinsettias, and in the entryway from the front door, he had a large mirror hanging on the wall. Under it sat a small table with a huge clear vase full of silver and gold sticks and big red and white flowers. They didn’t look fake, either. “Wow. This place is really… Wow. Are you hosting a holiday party or something?”
His eyes widened in horror. “Me? No. I’m more of a go-out-to-eat kind of guy. I wouldn’t mind hiring Toby to cater something here, but the idea of cleaning up after gives me hives.”
“Are you having family over?”
He barked a laugh. “Are you kidding? My aunt would skin me and my cousins alive if we tried to steal hosting one of her precious holidays.”
Curious despite myself, I held my arms up to encapsulate the whole room. “Then what is this?”
“I love Christmas,” he said simply, like that explained everything. “Follow me.” We left the festively decorated room, and he led me down a long hall until we reached a bathroom on the left. “You can shower here. Let me run to my room and grab you some clothes.”
Waiting for him to get back, I glanced into the bathroom and bit back a chuckle. He had a shower curtain with a snowy scene and the red truck you saw everywhere this time of year. The hand towel next to the sink matched, and there was a red and white striped toilet cover and bath mat. He wasn’t kidding about loving this holiday.
He rushed back down the hall with a small stack of clothes. “They’ll be big on you, but the sweats have drawstrings so you should be able to pull them tight enough to keep them up.”
This whole night, especially seeing this other side of Harrison, had me so completely flustered. I didn’t know what to make of it, of him, and I needed him back firmly in the bad-guy box before I jumped his bones. “I’m surprised none of your boys have left clothes here.”
Harrison stared at me, then shook his head. “I don’t bring hook-ups home.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really bring anyone here. This is my sanctuary, so I don’t have much company.”
That was not the answer I was expecting. At all. Who was this guy? Had I misjudged him so badly? “Okay, well, I’ll just…” I pointed behind me and stepped back.
“Yeah, you do that. You can just dump your wet clothes out here on the floor, and I’ll put them in the dryer with your other stuff.” Then he went back down the hall.
After peeling off my wet clothes, I shoved them out a crack in the bathroom door. It felt weird giving him my laundry, but I didn’t want to leave a wet mess sitting on his floor either. The last forty-five minutes ran through my head. Harrison wasn't anything like I thought he'd be. Was he still a Daddy who didn't want a permanent boy? Yes. But if I was honest with myself, did that really make him the worst guy in the world? If he was upfront about it, then it was his right to live his life the way he chose.
No, my problem with him was that he was exactly the kind of man I was attracted to, and all that had ever led to for me was heartbreak. Plus, why fixate on a man who didn't want a relationship? Right? But then, I didn't want one, either, so what was my deal? I was literally confusing myself.
Getting into the shower and under the hot spray, I sighed with relief. I'd been way colder than I'd let on. It wasn't Harrison's problem that my car broke down, and yet, he’d rescued me. The last thing I needed, though, was for him to play Daddy with me. Taking care of me would only stir up how much I missed having a person. Someone who cared about me and my life. Not that I'd had a Daddy like that before. Not really.
Getting angry with myself and my swirling, mixed-up emotions, I washed my hair and body briskly, then got out of the shower and dried off just as quickly. I'd go out there, thank him, find out where he wanted me to stay tonight, and then go to sleep. Tomorrow, I'd be able to leave, and I’d act like our interludes outside of Samuel and Toby's house and tonight never happened. There was no point in dwelling on this softer, kind of quirky, side of the man.
Opening the door, I wasn't surprised to find my clothes gone. What did shock me was when I entered the living room. On the TV was a crackling fireplace with Christmas music playing. On the coffee table was a tray with apple slices, chunks of cheese, and two reindeer-shaped mugs, with marshmallows floating on top. From where he sat on the couch, Harrison turned to the side so he could see me and pointed. “I made some hot chocolate to warm us up.”
Fuck!This man was going to be the death of me.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Harrison
For the life of me, I couldn't think what I’d done wrong. Luca stood stock still, staring at me like a deer in headlights. “Luca?”
He did a full body shutter, then walked slowly toward the couch. It gave me plenty of time to take in how precious the petite man looked in my much larger clothes. Damn, he was hot. I heard friends wax poetic about their person wearing their clothes many times over the years, but it had always sounded like a load of nonsense to me. Clothes were clothes, right? But I was wrong. Something about seeing my sweats falling low and him swimming in my t-shirt made me want to gather him up in my arms and keep him close forever. He was seriously more appealing in this moment than made sense.
Pointing at the other end of the couch, I said, “Have a seat.”
His cheeks flushed, but maybe that was from the shower, and I’d missed it by checking out the rest of him. “Thank you.”
I gestured at the tray. “Go ahead. Drink your hot chocolate and have a snack, then I'll show you to the guest room.”
“I'm not really hungry,” he said.
Looking at him as sternly as I dared, I said, “Luca, it's been an exhausting couple of hours for you. You were trapped in your car in the snow with no heat, then we had to make the trek here, which was kind of dicey, and you're unexpectedly not sleeping in your own bed tonight. Come on, put a little something in your stomach before you go to bed.”
“Yeah, okay.” He picked up a napkin and set an apple slice on it, then popped a piece of cheese in his mouth. He groaned, then quickly grabbed three more pieces of cheese and a couple more apple slices. Sitting back, he shrugged sheepishly. “I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”
