Page 10 of Baby, it's Cold Outside
I slip out of my suit jacket, tossing it on the couch. “Well, my friend, why don’t you help me get this tree in the stand? Maybe all it wants is a permanent home. Some nice decorations. A drink of water.”
“I have to water the tree?”
“Yes, Harlow. You do.” Shaking my head, I grab the box with the stand in it from the drugstore bag. “It’s a good thing I’m here.”
“I’ll drink to that,” she says, picking up her mug again and taking a sip. “Okay, tell me what to do to help.”
We manage to get the tree into the stand, the bolts secured, and some water in the base. Harlow doesn’t have a tree skirt, but she does have a red fleece blanket she drapes around the base of the tree, and once it’s in place, she stands back and claps her hands. “I love it! Let’s decorate!”
I glance out the window. The snow is falling even heavier now, and if I stay even one more minute, I will never make it to my sister’s house. She’ll make me pay too—my entire family will. Nobody can work a guilt trip like my mother, and my sister can hold onto a grudge like it’s keeping her alive. They have the ability to make my life very unpleasant.
But when I look at Harlow again, she’s standing on tiptoe to hang an ornament high up on the tree, her bare legs beckoning. My cock stirs again in my pants.
Yeah, fuck my family Christmas. There’s something I want to unwrap right here.
“Hey, I need to make a phone call real quick,” I tell her.
“No problem. You can use my room if you’d like privacy,” she offers, pointing to a door off the living room.
“Thanks. I’ll be right out.” I head into her bedroom and shut the door behind me.
Curious, I take a moment to look around her room before I make the call. It’s feminine and neat, no surprise there. Pink, black, and white bedding. A million decorative pillows perfectly placed. One nightstand stacked with books, the other holding only a lamp, which is on. I lower myself to a bench at the foot of her bed and call my sister.
“Hello?” She already sounds peeved.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Let me guess—you’re not coming.”
“Laura, the weather’s terrible! I can’t drive in this.”
“How convenient.”
“Look, I wanted to come this year. I really did.”
“It’s like youknewI was planning to set you up tonight!”
“Set me up?” I frown. “With who?”
“I forget her name. She’s a friend of Reid Fortino’s fiancée.”
“Who the fuck is Reid Fortino?”
“God, you don’t remember anybody! He’s a co-worker of mine, and you’ve met him atleastfive times.”
“Oh. Well, thanks but no thanks. I don’t need to be set up.”
“Michael, you can’t keep turning down every single girl I send your way!”
“Um, yes. I can, actually.” In the living room, I can hear Harlow singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and it makes me smile because it’s so off key.
“You’re going to wind up old and alone.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” I get up and open the door to peek at Harlow, stifling my laughter at the sight of her stringing Christmas lights around her body.
“Good Lord, what’s that noise? Did you adopt a sickly cat?”
“No,” I tell her, quickly shutting the door again. “It’s a neighbor singing. I have to go.”
