My pulse quickened.That's right.Today was Sunday.What was he doing, anyway?
I watched in stupefied silence as he opened the mailbox and removed a few envelopes. And then, to my holiday horror, he opened one of them right there near the street.
I gave a little groan. "Oh, no."
Gwen asked, "What now?"
"You realize what this means, don't you?" At her blank expression, I explained, "Thatmustbe his house. He'd never open the mail if it wasn't addressed to him."
She made a scoffing sound. "He would the wayyoumade him sound."
I returned my attention to the guy outside. At the office, he'd always worn a suit and tie. Now, in more casual clothing, he looked almost human.Almost, but not quite.I mean, I'd never seen abs likethatbefore.
Absently, I mumbled, "Sorry, what?"
"The wayyoutalked, the guy would do just about anything." Gwen snickered. "You never know. He could bestealingthe mail."
I gave a slow nod. "You know,that'sa good point, too."
She gave me an odd look. "I was only joking. You know that, right?"
Did I?
I wasn't quite sure.
By now, I was in full denial mode, grasping for any reason to believe that I wouldn't be stuck living across the street from my arch-enemy –andduring the holidays, too.
It didn't help that the last time I'd seen the guy, I'd been dressed as a freaking elf. He'd been my boss for only two weeks.Ten workdays.I did the math and wanted to groan all over again. This meant I'd been dressed as an elf for a whopping ten percent of the time that I'd worked under him.
My breath caught.Under him.
As I considered those two little words, an image popped into my brain. On the upside, I wasn't wearing the elf suit. On the downside, I wasn't wearing anything at all.
And neither was he.
Oh, boy.
I gave myself a mental slap. As far as being "under him," whether literally or figuratively, this was the last thing I wanted. The guy reallywasa monster.
I was still crouching behind the tree when Cole Henster did something that I had never seen him do before.He smiled.
I frowned.What the heck?
It was a nice smile, too – warm and wistful like a favorite Christmas card. I squinted through the branches.Wait a minute.That thing in his hand…itwasa Christmas card.
It must be.Even from here, I could see the red envelope and the Christmas-tree shape of the thing in his hand. But who would sendhima card?
Iwouldn't, that's for sure.
As he held the card in those all-too familiar fingers, I swallowed in spite of myself. His fingers reallywerequite nice, just like the rest of him – well, on the outside, anyway.
He was still smiling.Iwas still frowning. On the branches above me, the two kittens were still frolicking, making the tree shake with their movements.
Gwen said, "He looks nothing like I expected."
"Really? What were you expecting?"
"Well…" She paused as if thinking. "There are no devil horns, for one thing."
