Carol Chaos (Pinch of Grinch #6)

Chapter 1

JOSIE

“Josephine, I’m so glad you’re moving back to town.” My aunt’s neurotic voice came through the speaker of my phone at a decibel no one should hear. I pulled the phone away from my ear and set it on my dash.

My car was too old to support Bluetooth. Hell, I still had to do the cassette trick. But it still got me from point A to point B.

This time, Point A being New York City back up to Point B, a tiny town no one has ever heard of in Upstate New York.

Lake Placid.

“And Josephine? I’m so sorry I can’t offer to let you stay with me. You know my house just has too much going on.”

I sighed, knowing she wouldn’t hear me. First, I hated being called by my official name.

Everyone but my aunt calls me Josie. They always have and they always will.

But she was the one who got to name me. Also, I’m so glad she couldn’t offer me space.

There’s no way in hell I was going to be able to handle her house.

It was about as chaotic and loud as she was.

Unfortunately, it did leave me with only one option. My high school nemesis needed a roommate, and I needed a place.

Killian “Ian” Montgomery.

Why was he my nemesis? Because he broke my best friend’s heart. He blamed it on something about him being into someone else but he never told anyone who it was.

I shook the history from my mind. If I was going to survive living with Ian, I was going to have to try to get over the past.

I knocked on the door and waited. After several minutes, the door finally opened and an older Ian stood in front of me, shirtless. I looked him up and down, noticing hints of a tattoo creeping over from his shoulder blade as well as another one on the inside of his forearm.

I couldn’t let my eyes linger too long. But I certainly noticed the muscles too. He certainly had a glow up.

I suddenly felt overly self-conscious despite the fact that I desperately didn’t want to care what he thought of me, almost as badly as I didn’t want to care what I thought of him.

“Well, hey there, city slicker.” His crooked smile was still the same.

“Ian.” I answered with a curt tone.

“I go by Killian now.”

My eyes widened in shock. “Seriously? I thought you hated it?”

“Some things change, Josie. I’m sure you’ve gone through some changes over the last fifteen years.”

“Don’t remind me how long it’s been.”

“Josie, we’re in our thirties now. My knees remind me of that every day.” Ian attempted to joke, and I knew it was to try to lighten the tone.

So, I gave him a small smile. “Should I unpack here?” I looked around his porch.

“Oh, no.” He stepped aside and motioned me inside. “Here, let me show you around.”

Killian, as he now preferred, showed me around his house. It was simple, with only two bedrooms and one bathroom, but it had plenty of space. Our bedrooms were separated by the bathroom, so at least there was that. The kitchen was workable.

I’d have the B&B kitchen, sure. But that would be while I was working. I needed to be able to use a kitchen outside of there.

“So, I know it isn’t much, but it’s my home. And I guess it's yours now too.” Killian leaned against the doorframe of what was now my room.

He had a queen-size bed, dresser, and simple desk in the room. Which was just enough for me.

“At least you have central AC.”

It was nearly the middle of September, and despite it being about as far upstate New York as you could go, it was unseasonably warm and still Satan’s ball sack outside. Central AC wasn’t the most popular thing.

“Shit, I couldn’t survive without it.” He half-smiled at me, but I just nodded.

I was exhausted and ready to unpack and sleep. I wasn’t ready for small talk with Killian Montgomery.

“I’m going to take a nap.”

Killian slowly nodded before pushing off the doorway. “I’ll probably be heading out soon.”

As soon as he was out of the doorway, I shut the door and then pulled off my sweaty tank top, bra, and shorts just to switch into a new tank top and lounge shorts.

“Fuck,” I muttered, realizing I needed to pee.

I made my way to the bathroom, but wasn’t paying enough attention and ran smack into Killian’s bare chest.

Killian grabbed my waist, holding me against him for a moment to make sure I didn’t fall.

“You can let go now.” I gave his chest a pat, pulling back and hoping like hell he wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t wearing a bra anymore. I’d had enough of my bra for one day, but my boobs did not like to behave on their own.

He held up his hands and backed away. “Yes, ma’am.”

I rolled my eyes and closed the bathroom door behind me.

Would it really be so bad to stay with my aunt? Surely that would be better than Killian’s. It hadn’t even been an hour yet, and I was ready to leave.

But I was going to have to just deal with it.