"Oh." She hesitated. "Well that's good. So…can I come in?"
This made me scoff. "For what?" If she was offering a holiday booty call, I wanted no part ofthateither.
Don't get me wrong.The thought of welcoming her into my bed – or even into the house for a non-naked whatever – was nearly impossible to resist. Key word –nearly.
Backsliding was not part of my plan.
Like a dumb-ass, I'd come close to falling for her. Or maybe Ihadfallen for her. Either way, there was no way in hell I was willing to open myself up for another round of grief.
I'd been feeling enough ofthatalready.
On the porch, she took a half step closer. "I just want to talk, that's all. And I know why you're angry."
I shrugged. "Who says I’m angry?"
"Well, youlookangry."
"Yeah, well looks can be deceiving."
With a ghost of a smile, she said, "And, youdidthreaten to shove a fruitcake up someone's ass."
Shit.So she'd heard?Still, I gave another shrug. "Well, I didn't, so I couldn’t have beentooangry."
"That's not the way it sounded tome."
"Yeah? Well, maybe I’m over it."
It was a lie – and not a small one either.
The threat she'd mentioned had happened only three days ago.Yeah, I'd been angry. What of it?
And just when I'd managed to choke down my anger, the thing I'd seen last night had almost sent me over the edge. Some Christmas Evethatwas.
I'd been such a sourpuss, my family had taken to calling me Captain Grinch, which might've been funny if I still had a sense of humor.
Harper said, "I'm here to apologize."
I gave her a look. "Again?"
"Yeah, but for something totally different – except I'm not sure apology is the right word because I think you misread something."
I was in no mood for word games. "So you've got me all figured out, huh?"
"I wish."
"Oh, yeah? Do you wanna know whatIwish?"
"What?"
I flicked my gaze to the walkway out front. "That you'd get off my porch."
Chapter 48
Harper
Yup, he was angry, alright.
Given what he thought, I couldn’t say I blamed him. Still, I would be lying if I didn't admit that his words stung.
