12 Days of Mistletoe

22. Elliot

TWENTY-TWO

elliot

I think I’ve learned more about Bonnie Miller in two days than I did about Jess in a month.

“Can I ask a question?” I say, my hands on the wheel of my car.

“I think you just did,” she says, smiling over at me.

I blow out a strained breath. “Why haven’t you had a boyfriend since college? For real?” It must be her choice because I don’t know many men who could say no to a girl like her—I’d bet money on it.

She leans back into the passenger seat of my hatchback. “Are you really asking me this?”

“Yeah.” I glance over at her. “You asked me all about my relationship. I’m curious why you don’t want a relationship.”

“Ha!” She barks out a humorless laugh. “Don’t want? You’re kidding, right? Oh yeah, guys are just lining up for a twenty-six-year-old who needs her dog with her wherever she goes and who may panic at any second. ”

“I’m not buying that.” I was honest with her—soul-killing honest. She could be the same with me.

“Buy it or don’t. Guys aren’t interested, Elliot. I have baggage and apparently not the sexy kind.”

She’s serious. According to her, this isn’t a choice. “Hmm…” I say, keeping my tone playful. I don’t want to offend her—again. “Maybe it’s the way you look at them when you first meet.”

She scoffs. “What does that mean?”

“Well, do you always look at men the way you first looked at me?”

She shakes her head and puffs out a breath. “Like what? How did I look at you? What does that even mean?”

“Well,” I say, “you looked at me like you could kill me, and then bury me, and then plant grass over the evidence before anyone knew any different.”

She rolls her eyes, but then she laughs. “You do remember you were trying to evict me two days ago, right?”

Two days. Or another life?

“Oh, right,” I say. “For the record—” I peer over to her, taking in her pink cheeks and bright eyes. “I was wrong. How many times do you want me to say it?”

“As many as you need to believe it.”

“Oh, I believe it. Although more information was helpful. Once I met Noel”—I shrug—“I made a better choice.”

She bats her eyes at me, those long lashes making me think thoughts I shouldn’t—especially since we are on our way inside my grandmother’s house for kissing lesson number two.

“So, that’s all you’re giving me on the boyfriend thing? No reason you’ve kept men at bay?”

She breathes out a laugh. “That’s all I have, Elliot. Though I appreciate you believing my lack of dating is by choice. Believe me, getting dumped by Joey and staying single wasn’t my idea. But it all worked out. I got Noel right after I dropped out of school.”

“Wait. You dropped out of college?”

She shrugs one shoulder. “Yeah. I didn’t know what to study. Joey had dumped me. My dog was in training and in a different state. When I finally got Noel, I found my passion: helping others get the service animals they need.”

“I’m sure a business degree would help.”

“Maybe so, but I like where I’m at. Right now. You know?”

We pull up to Gran’s house and I shift into park. “Day two,” I tell her, seeing as we’re on a countdown.

“Ten more to go.”

But eleven kisses. I’m not sure how I feel about kissing Bonnie. Not sure, as in I possibly enjoyed that first kiss way too much. It feels wrong kissing someone without better intentions—and yet, it’s getting her what she needs and what I’ve always wanted. Right? Can those be my good intentions?

“You up for this?” I ask her—because her closeness and my feelings are confusing me. So, let’s focus on her feelings.

“Of course. Let’s go, boyfriend .” I don’t miss the pitch in her voice and the silliness in her tone—the same I heard when she lied to Brooke Jones and couldn’t remember my last name.