Skipping Christmas #4
“Old neighbor, new friend,” Micah says, like he’s about to tell Santa that the only thing he wants for Christmas is for us to be more.
“Hmmm,” Santa says with an impressed nod. “I’m a happily married man, but if I were you, I’d upgrade this to more than friends before New Year’s Eve.” He taps his watch.
“Dang, Santa!” I burst out laughing. “It’s our first date!”
Mall Santa shrugs. “I calls ’em like I sees ’em. Now you two crazy kids get in here and let’s make some first date memories.”
I have no idea who this guy really is, but I hope they are paying him one million dollars.
I think I like Micah. We stop at my door, this pretty perfect night coming to an end, and I know I want a second date.
And I definitely want him to kiss me. Dinner was perfect.
Our pictures with Santa turned out hilarious and adorable, and Micah made me feel comfortable and like he’s interested in really getting to know me.
I can feel his eyes on me as I dig out my keys.
“How many clients you have tomorrow?” he asks, his voice all sexy and low.
“More than I should for Christmas Eve. I should be done around six.”
“Oh, all right. Well, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day might be a little heavy for a second date, but I’ll be around and I would like to see you.”
“Mmmm. Well, since we’ll both be around and I’d like to see you, too, maybe we can grab something real fancy like pizza and watch a Christmas movie. We can even do a little gift exchange. Ten-dollar limit.”
“That’s like two dozen eggs.” Micah laughs.
“Hey, I’ll take free eggs. Just a little something so it’ll still feel like Christmas around my little pink tree.”
“We can do that,” Micah says, his voice dropping even lower. I watch his gaze as it drops to my mouth, and, like a desperate invitation, my tongue peeks out and wets my lower lip. It’s all the hint he needs, and he takes it.
Micah leans closer and then we’re kissing.
His lips are perfect, full and soft. I feel the trimmed hairs of his mustache, and it makes me want to kiss him deeper, so I do.
My tongue slips out again, and he meets me where I’m at immediately, his relaxed but focused mouth playing with mine.
He’s good in bed, I just know. I want to find out for sure and at the same time, I don’t want to rush it.
It’s fresh. He’s my neighbor. I’ll take a slow burn any day if there’s a chance that this all just gets better and better, if there’s a chance I can keep him.
A moan slips out of me, muffled by his mouth as he gently backs me against the door frame.
Suddenly, I’m picturing what his tongue would feel like between my legs and I know we need to stop.
I press my hand to his chest, meaning to push him away, but my fingers grip his T-shirt, pulling him closer, and then his knee is between my thighs, pressing the denim of my jeans and the cotton of my panties against my soaking, swollen center.
I pull back with a gasp, letting my forehead drop to his shoulder.
He kisses my temple, my cheek, and I know we need to stop because the rest of our neighbors are just as nosy as I am and the whole third floor doesn’t need to hear me come on his leg.
“I’m gonna wait,” he whispers, his lips brushing my ear, making me shiver.
“But if you think about us tonight while you’re touching yourself…
” He lets the words hang in the breath between us.
I. Am. In trouble. I look at his dark eyes and I’m so close to inviting him inside, so close to begging him to come with me.
Instead, I just nod, letting him know that touching myself is exactly what I’m going to do.
“Go on,” he says.
I hate being ordered around, but this time I’ll allow it. I kiss him one more time before I turn and let myself into my apartment.
It’s been a while since I had someone to look forward to, and this time, it’s Christmas!
I lock up my studio space and like I’m starring in my very own holiday rom-com, I practically skip back to my car, humming the tune to Frosty’s magical journey through small-town life.
I have Kendra’s and Amaya’s blessings. My best friend desperately wants me to sleep with Micah.
She needs to know if he lives up to the legends we’ve created about the man in 2A.
I can’t lie: So far, he’s exceeding them.
Once I send Amaya a picture of the pictures we took with Santa, she’s convinced the universe left us both alone and without a friend on Christmas so we could smooch each other. I think the universe is busy with more important things, but maybe she’s onto something.
I blast my Christmas playlist all the way to the store where I scoop up Micah’s gift, and then I blast it even louder as I make my way home, thinking of the perfect thing to wear for our night in. I pull into my parking space, then send Micah a text.
I’m back.
Gonna freshen up and throw in a batch of cookies.
I’ll teach you about royal icing this time.
He’s pretty quick with texting back, so I’m sure I’ll hear from him by the time I get up to my place.
I drop my phone into the center pocket of my new caramel-brown pebbled leather shoulder bag and make my way inside.
A quick stop at the mail room and then I head upstairs.
I’m showered and almost done getting dressed when Micah responds.
Ordering dinner now.
I’ll be up in a few.
I do the most: fresh makeup and a skintight sleep romper with long sleeves that does absolutely nothing to hide my curves, especially the cleft between my legs.
After I step into my fuzzy slippers and put on the mistletoe headband I found at the checkout, I head into the kitchen to preheat the oven and get my sugar cookie dough ready for rolling.
I’m putting Micah to work icing and decorating.
Right on time, just after I’ve turned on my perfect pink Christmas tree, there’s a knock on the door.
I stop myself from ripping it off its hinges as I move to let him in.
I slide a seductive hand to my hip, but as soon as I see the look on Micah’s face, the HO HO HO dies on my lips.
“Hey,” I say cautiously.