Chapter 4
four
. . .
Rosalie
Ghost of Christmas… Neighbors
How is it that I had absolutely no idea we were even getting a new neighbor, and now suddenly, he’s everywhere?
Literally everywhere.
I wish that were an exaggeration, but it’s not.
Every time I look up, there he is.
The other morning, he was at Frosty’s just as I was picking up my beloved caramel cold brew, and he promptly ruined my morning with his stupid half smile and muscles that have no business looking that hot beneath his worn black hoodie as he stole the last blueberry muffin right in front of me.
The same muffin he saw me order multiple times.
And, honestly, how can anyone look so hot in a hoodie?
Yesterday afternoon, he was helping Doc Jones shovel snow off his front step, and all of the ladies from Pokeno were practically in a circle fawning over him. They even clapped when he was done.
The man was shoveling godforsaken snow, not solving world hunger!
Then there was the whole mercantile fiasco, where, of course, yet again, he swooped in and took my parking spot and had the audacity to tell me I look hot when I’m mad.
Like he’s enjoying being the one to make me that way.
Ugh!
Sighing, I watch from behind the counter as he helps Gramps unload bags of sugar from the back of his pickup and carry them inside the store like they don’t weigh fifty pounds.
No matter what, I can’t seem to escape my frustratingly hot, infuriatingly charming, but annoying new neighbor.
And despite his dickish demeanor, everyone seems to love Wells McCoy.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why. It’s not like he’s got a laundry list of redeemable qualities.
Okay… maybe he has a few qualities to be admired. Like helping the elderly in our town, like lending a hand to Gramps when he needed it.
But still. To me? He’s annoying and infuriating.
Okay, and also maybe I am slightly projecting because I don’t want to find him attractive. Not only is he my neighbor, but I’ve met many guys like him before.
Handsome, charming, have the world eating out of the palm of their hands.
Like… Bradley. And we all know how that ended.
I’m wary, especially after the few times I’ve been around him.
I found out that he did indeed purchase the building next door and is renovating it with the help of his best friend, Collin. Information courtesy of Kennedy, of course. If there’s an attractive, single man anywhere in this town, she’s on them like a bloodhound.
The fact of the matter is: he’s not going anywhere, no matter how many glares I send his way.
Something Grams points out as soon as the bell above the door jingles when she shuts it behind her. “You know, Rosalie, I just don’t understand why you don’t like the darling man. He’s a peach. Just sweet as pie,” she muses, a dreamy look in her eyes.
A groan nearly bursts past my lips, but somehow, I manage to keep it contained. “God, Grams, not you too. He’s… annoying and rude. And obviously self-centered.”
Her brow lifts higher as her lips purse, saying so much without saying anything at all.
I toss my hands up. “What? He is! I can’t help it that he has a fan club fooled. I, on the other hand, am not so easily fooled by good looks and a blinding smile.”
“Oh, so you think he’s cute?” she smarts, her lips pulling into a grin the second my eyes go wide, and I’m already backpedaling.
“Uh, no, that is not at all what I said, Grams. Actually, can we just not talk about him, like at all? Ever again, preferably?”
She hums as she rolls her lips together, busying herself with the glass canisters on the counter in front of us.
“Sure, darling, whatever you say. As soon as Gramps is done unloading, then we’ll be on our way and out of your hair, but…
Are you sure you’re okay with closing up tonight?
I feel bad that we’re having to leave early. ”
“Of course it’s okay, Grams. I literally live right above the store, and there’s nothing that’s more important to me than Sweet Sullivan’s. You know that. Kennedy is going to come by and keep me company while I close up.”
Her face softens, her eyes shining with affection as she steps toward me and slides her arms tightly around me in a hug. “It wouldn’t be the same without you here, my darling girl. Your Gramps and I are so lucky to have you.”
The words cause a sting of hot tears to prick behind my eyes and emotion to swell beneath my chest.
My grandparents might think they’re the lucky ones, but I’m the one who’s lucky.
Lucky to be surrounded by family who have always pushed me to follow my dreams. Those dreams just have always been here, with them.
At Sweet Sullivan’s. This place is our family’s legacy, and being a part of it means everything to me.
I don’t work here out of obligation, but out of love.
Because there’s truly nowhere else I’d rather be.
“You know what I think?”
Turning my head, I glance over at Kennedy, my brow arched as we walk down Main Street.
Although I know exactly what she’s going to say before she even says it.
“I think that for someone who claims to dislike her new neighbor, after only meeting him a couple of times in passing, you sure do talk about him a lot.” Her blonde brows wiggle.
“I think you actually want to bang him, Rosalie. All up and down that bar. And you’re just pretending that he’s sooo awful so you don’t have to admit it.
That’s exactly why you’re being so harsh on him. ”
My mouth falls open, and I reach out, pushing her shoulder, nearly tripping along the sidewalk in the process. “I do not.”
“Admit it, you think he is so hot, and you want him.”
I scoff. “I’d rather bang Trader Joe’s Santa than that guy, Kennedy.”
Okay, that is actually a lie, but then again, I don’t need her to know that despite the fact that he is absolutely a grumpy dick, who may also be a mail thief, I am unbearably attracted to him.
It feels like possibly the universe’s biggest joke.
That somehow, this man seems to have walked off the pages of my wish list, right into the building next door, and he’s infuriating. And oh, did I mention… a dick.
This entire situation makes me feel slightly off-kilter and entirely not like myself. I’m usually levelheaded and pragmatic, but the second that he enters the conversation or, heaven forbid, the room… it’s like my brain just shuts off, and I’m driving in the dark.
“You’re being ridiculous, Rosalie,” Kennedy says as I literally tell myself the same thing internally. “He’s probably just giving you the same energy you’ve been giving him, and honestly, to be fair, you did accuse him of stealing from you.”
I halt on the sidewalk and turn to face her. “I’m regretting telling you that.”
She shrugs, and the dimples in her cheeks pop as she grins. “It’s my duty as your best friend to tell you exactly like it is. I’m just saying, maybe give him a chance. Everyone else seems to love him but you. Not sure I’m convinced that he’s the problem.”
“Well, good thing you don’t need to be convinced at all.” I glare at her. “Now, can we please go eat because I’m so hungry I’m going to pass out.”
“Way to deflect. You know, I bet if you ask him, he’d probably put a Santa hat on his dick too. Look—the best of both worlds.”