Chapter Three

Alex

I spent an hour shopping and then headed out to my dad’s fifteen-year-old Buick. He’d insisted on picking me up at the airport and refused to let me rent a car. I’d gone along with it, mostly because I had no intention of going anywhere during my time home. When the Santa gig got sprung on me, he’d offered up the keys to his Buick and I had serious high school flashbacks.

I arranged the shopping bags in the spacious trunk and climbed behind the wheel. Santa’s workshop closed an hour before the mall did, giving enough time for the elves to clear out the reindeer and get them loaded back into the horse trailer that took them to their holding pen across town. I’d changed out of the suit and ripped off the fake beard and hat. Six hours in the damn thing had been more than enough. For the most part the kids had been great. Sure, there’d been a couple of criers and even a handful of kids that were scared of me, but the parents were the real nightmare. All bitchy and impatient, rushing their small ones through the photo op as though all that mattered was the glossy photo package handed to them on their way out of the indoor winter wonderland.

It had been a while since the last time I thought about having a family of my own, but I knew, sure as shit, that I wouldn’t be one of those bullying parents, barely listening to what their kid had to say before shuttling them off to the next activity.

As I pulled out of the massive lot, I passed a brightly lit bus stop and did a double take. There, under the narrow shelter, hiding away from the light snowfall was the woman who’d joined me at my table in the food court. Maci. She didn’t notice as I pulled up alongside the bus stop. She was engrossed with whatever was on her phone. I wondered what it was. Did she catch up with friends and family on social media? Was she reading a book? The news? Her frown deepened at whatever it was.

I leaned over the center console and cranked the window down. “Hey! Maci, right?”

She looked up, surprise registering on her pretty face. Her long, dark hair was currently concealed by a wool stocking cap. Even though she’d bundled herself into a thick winter coat, I’d gotten a glimpse at what she wore underneath earlier in the evening. And based on the way the jade wrap dress had clung to her soft curves, I’d come up with a pretty good idea of what she looked like underneath that too. Granted, I certainly wouldn’t pass up the chance to inspect it for myself and see if my mental images came anywhere close to the beauty of the real thing. She certainly hadn’t been trying to get my attention, but when she’d hustled away from the table, my eyes had been firmly glued on her shapely ass.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her tone wary.

Right, you look like a fucking stalker, I reminded myself.

“I was just headed out and thought I’d see if you needed a ride somewhere.”

She cocked her head. “The bus is on its way. Thanks though. Have a good night.” She waggled her fingers.

I laughed. “I swear I’m not some crazy ax-murderer, even though I do realize this is how 99% of Criminal Minds episodes start out.”

That got a smile. My pulse quickened. God, she was beautiful, especially when she smiled. Her full lips were made for kissing. Maci was one of those striking women who had absolutely no idea they were so fucking gorgeous.

“I’m glad to hear that. I try to avoid having dinner with serial killers.” She laughed, a puff of chilled air surrounding her for a moment. “I’m really okay though. Shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes? Damn.”

She shrugged.

“Come on, please, I can’t leave you out here shivering, alone at a bus stop.” I stretched and popped the lock on the passenger door. It took a little straining against my seat belt but I pushed it open. “It’s warm in here. I’ll let you pick the radio station.”

She dragged her luscious lower lip between her teeth, looked up and down the street, and then back at me. “All right, fine. But as a warning, I have a pepper spray key-chain. So no shenanigans.”

I placed one hand over my heart. “This is a shenanigan-free zone. You have my word.”

She got up from the metal bench, brushed off her backside, and then headed for the passenger seat. She slid inside, shut the door, and buckled up. “You actually had me when you said I could pick the radio station. I’ve been up to my eyeballs in Christmas music since about six-thirty this morning and I’m about to lose my shit.”

I laughed out loud and cranked up the heat. “Six-thirty?”

She nodded, peeled off her gloves and spread her fingers over the heating vents. “This is my second job. I work at a dentist office and then come here. I have a car but it broke down on me, for the third time this year, on my way from my office to here. That was who called at dinner, my mechanic.”

“Ouch. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Needs a new transmission.”

“Damn.”

She chuckled, the kind of what-else-can-you-do laugh. “I probably should just offer to sleep with the guy. Maybe he’d just charge me for the parts.”

My eyes went wide and I glanced at her.

“I’m kidding!” A horrified look crossed her face. “Sorry, sometimes I don’t have a filter. I’m not a hooker. I promise.”

“Strange role reversal we’ve got going on here. You didn’t want to get into the car out of fear that I might be a psycho killer and now I’m kind of worrying this is some kind of sting operation.” I grinned and leaned closer, as if speaking into a mic planted on her. “Just to clarify, I am not soliciting anything, just giving a nice lady a ride home.”

She smacked my arm playfully and laughed. “I see I’ve met my match tonight.”

Her words hung in the air for a moment, our eyes locked.

“You know what I mean,” she said with a shaky laugh.

“Course.” I straightened in my seat and set both hands back on the wheel. “So, where to? You’re going to have to give me directions. This thing doesn’t exactly come fully loaded,” I said, patting the expansive dashboard affectionately. It was the car I’d learned to drive in. It was a beast of a machine, but would always hold a special place in my memories.

“You wanna go that way,” she said, pointing down the street. “I’m in the apartments across from the Olive Garden on Sycamore.”

“Got it.” I merged into traffic and headed in the direction she’d indicated. A lot of things had changed since my childhood. I visited home once or twice a year, usually around the holidays. A few times I’d flown my family out to LA or some other—warmer—locale but this year had opted for the traditional Christmas at home. I knew right where the Olive Garden was though, it had been there since my teen years. The apartments, however, were new.

“How was the rest of your shift?” I asked. “Besides wanting to stab out your eardrums.”

“Right. Besides that.” She laughed. “You know how it is, cranky, stressed out people trying to cram too much into too little time. Christmas-time in a nutshell.”

“That’s pretty cynical. Isn’t it?”

“Hey, you try working retail this time of year. It more than covers my license to be a Grinch every now and then.”

I laughed. “Fair enough.”

I couldn’t give her too much shit, even if I wanted to, as I’d had the same thought during my stint as Santa.

“There must be something you’re looking forward to for Christmas. Do you have family nearby?”

“My mom lives across town and then …” She paused and glanced over at me. “Well, I have a daughter, actually.”

“Oh?” We rolled to a stop at a light, the front of the car bathed in a soft red glow. “How old?”

“Six going on sixteen.”

“That’s great.” I couldn’t help but glance down at her left hand. I hadn’t thought to when we were eating together. There wasn’t a ring on her finger.

Maci noticed my meaningful glance. “I’m not married.”

I wanted to kick myself in the ass. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t—”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. Divorced, four years now.”

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry. My—uh—my sister is going through that right now. This is her first Christmas without her husband. They have two kids. Their daughter is only eight months old. She was barely old enough to sit up by herself when my jackass brother-in-law decided to peace out.”

“God, that’s awful,” Maci said, shaking her head sadly. “What is wrong with people?”

The light changed and I pulled forward. “I stopped trying to answer that question a long time ago.”

“Did you like him?”

“My brother-in-law?”

“Yeah.”

My fingers gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “Not really. But Jamie’s two years older than me and thinks she knows everything so I didn’t have much choice in the matter. She’s my sister, my job isn’t to ask too many questions. I just gotta support her as best as I can.”

Maci nodded. “She’s a lucky girl then. My sister lives on the other side of the world and never calls me. We’re seven years apart and don’t have a lot in common.”

“Where does she live?”

“She’s in London. She used to work as a flight attendant until she fell in love with some guy in first class. Steve.”

I smiled at the disdainful way she curled his name. “Not a fan?”

“I’ve only met him twice. Once at their wedding and then few years ago when they came over for Christmas. He’s rich and kinda stuck on himself. I don’t know…” She drifted off and looked out the window. “It was probably me more than anything else. I was in a rough spot. Not in the friendliest mood.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. Other than the pepper spray threat, you’ve been delightful all night and I barely know you.”

She laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Oh! This is me—” she pointed ahead at the illuminated outline of a row of nice looking apartments. They weren’t big, but the building looked like it was fairly new.

I turned into the wide entry and then followed her instructions to a parking space in front of her unit.

She unbuckled and then turned to face me, wearing a wide smile. “By the way, I don’t actually have a pepper spray key-chain. That was kind of for bravado’s sake.”

“Aww, man, and here I’d just scrapped my master plan.”

She giggled and shoved her hands back into her gloves. “Thank you for the ride, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” I said, realizing how ridiculous it sounded.

“You vowing to be my personal Uber driver now?”

I chuckled. “Well I was trying to find a creative way to ask for your number, but I guess you just set up the perfect way for me to give you mine.”

She handed over her phone.

I grinned at her and tapped my number into her phone, labeling myself: Non-serial killer Alex.

Maci laughed out loud when she saw what I’d written. I stared at her pretty smile, thinking how easily I could get lost in it. “Cute.”

“Hey, I’m going two-for-two here, but would you want to do dinner tomorrow? A real dinner? You know, something with actual flatware and sans paper plates.”

Maci gave me the same look she had prior to hopping into the passenger seat; lower lip pulled in at the corner, her eyes moving between mine. Finally, she smiled and gave me a nod. “Sure. What the hell?”

“Do you work tomorrow?”

“Not at the mall,” she said, shaking her head. “Tomorrow is a normal work day.”

“All right. I have a few things going on. Would eight-thirty be too late?”

She considered it for a moment and then shook her head. “No, that’s perfect, actually.”

“Great,” I said, a rush of relief surged through me and I laughed at myself. I hadn’t realized how eager I’d been until getting her answer. “I’ll come pick you up.”

“Here?” She glanced up at what must have been her apartment. “Tell you what, I’ll meet you at the coffee shop just down the road from here. Is that all right?”

At my confused expression she continued, “Sorry, it’s nothing personal. I just don’t want my daughter to see you and ask a bunch of questions. I don’t really … date. If that’s what this is…”

I chuckled. “Well I was hoping so. And sure, I don’t mind picking you up at the coffee shop. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

She smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Alex. I’m really glad the food court was insane tonight.”

“Ha! Me, too!”

She pushed out into the cold and I waited until she was upstairs at her front door before I threw the Buick in reverse, already wishing it was time to pick her up again.