Kissed By Christmas. Jamie Pope

      “You want to see my lease?”

      “That would be nice, but just show me that you can get into your apartment.”

      “Okay.” For a moment he wanted to refuse, but the last thing he needed was for the little schoolteacher calling up the FDNY and complaining that he was stalking her.

      He took a step back and she came out of her apartment with a metal baseball bat.

      “You always answer the door with that?”

      “When I’m not expecting visitors. My mother got it for me when she heard I moved here.”

      “Smart.” He had to give her that. She should bash the head in of any man who tried to mess with her. He stopped in front of his door and pushed it open to reveal his large studio apartment.

      “It’s twice the size of my place!” She stepped inside, her mouth agape, and even though he was annoyed with her he had to admit that she was still mighty cute.

      “Here’s some of my mail. Addressed to me here.” He thrust some envelopes at her. “And here is a picture of me with my parents when I completed my training with the FDNY.” He pointed to the framed black-and-white photo on the wall.

      “Oh.” She placed his mail back on the little side table he had taken it from. “I’m sorry. You do live here. You’re the guy who had all the big, hot guys move him in. You apologized to me for the noise the day you moved in. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

      “You hit your head and I keep irregular hours. It took me a little while to place you, too.”

      She placed a hand on her forehead as if she were in pain. “What did I say to you today? Was it crazy? I know I was out of it, but was it as crazy as I think it was?”

      “No.” He started feeling the need to tease her a bit. “It was just something about me being an angel with a perfect body.”

      “Oh, no.” She groaned deeply and walked toward the door. “I’m going to crawl under my bed and die now.”

      “Hey!” He grabbed her arm and turned her around. “I know you were joking, but don’t joke like that, especially after a head injury. What did the hospital say?”

      “That I’m not allowed to go to work and that I need to rest for the next few days because I might have some lingering pain and dizziness. But I’ll be fine. I’m going to go in.”

      “No, you’re not.” He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her large almond eyes. “Your eyes are watery. I can tell that you’re still in pain. You’re not going to work tomorrow. You’re going to follow the doctor’s orders and rest.”

      “How exactly are you going to stop me?” She looked up at him defiantly.

      “I liked you a lot better when you were dazed from a blow to the head.”

      “Listen, I just spent the last five days alone in my apartment due to this stupid freak snowstorm we had. The last thing I want is to spend another week alone in my apartment. Those kids are the only reason I’m still living here. I don’t want to miss a week of work.”

      She was dedicated to her students, and maybe she was lonely being all alone in this big city, but he couldn’t allow her to risk her health.

      “I’ll come by tomorrow.” He hadn’t meant to say it, but it slipped out and he couldn’t take it back. He felt the need to look after her. Like there was a reason that he and Miguel, out of all the EMTs and paramedics, had responded to the call when they were technically off duty. “Just to check on you, and just in case you get any ideas it’s not to stalk you or take advantage of you, or any other twisted thing you thought up.”

      She nodded and it was then he realized he still had her face in his hands. Her face was so small in his hands and her skin was so smooth. He resisted the urge to run his thumbs across her cheeks. He removed his hands from her face and stepped away from her.

      “Get some rest, Hallie.”

      “I will. Good night, Asa.”

      She left then and Asa was sure that he was going to be seeing a lot more of his neighbor.

       Chapter 3

      Hallie could barely move the next morning. She had really thought about defying Asa and going to work anyway, sure she would be feeling a hundred percent better when she woke up, but that wasn’t the case. She felt like she had been hit by a large truck that had backed up and run over her again. The noise from the television hurt her ears. Looking at a computer screen caused a sharp pain to go right through her head, so she just lay in bed and reached for her cell phone.

      Her cousin was on speed dial. She missed her family painfully, but it was her cousin whom she had the hardest time being away from. Derek was the mayor of their small town of Hideaway Island. He had encouraged her to move on after her breakup with Brent. He had given her the courage to step away from everything she had known and live a life that was simply just for her and no one else. But while she was living just for herself, she found herself missing the slow-paced life of her island home and the people that made living there so wonderful.

      Her head throbbed steadily as she placed the phone to her ear, and she wanted to curse her cousin. If it weren’t for his unfailing support, she would have never slipped on the ice in the first place.

      “My favorite cousin!” his deep voice boomed through the phone.

      “Bite me,” she replied.

      “Whoa. I’m pretty sure your mother taught you that you aren’t supposed to greet people like that.”

      “I have a concussion. Spent all day in the hospital after I slipped on the ice heading to work and hit my head in front of a bunch of teenagers, and it’s all your fault. You big dumb jerk.”

      “Did I cause you to fall?” he asked seriously. “I don’t remember flying to New York and giving you a shove. But if I did, I apologize.”

      “You made me move to a terribly cold place.”

      “I didn’t. I encouraged you to get off the island and be away from that pretentious jackass who you were giving up your dreams for. You took the job in New York because it was a great opportunity. I happen to like New York. It’s a great city. I would live there if my heart wasn’t so connected to this place.”

      “I miss home.” She sighed. “I miss you, too.”

      “You must have really hurt your head if you are admitting to missing me. Are you okay?”

      “I’m fine,” she said, but could hear the weariness in her own voice.

      “I’m serious. Are you really okay? I can catch a flight out of Miami this afternoon and be there tonight.”

      “No.” He was protective of her. The big brother she needed. “You don’t have to. I was just calling to ask you to look for flights for me. I have a long winter break this year and really need to be home for Christmas. I would look myself but I’m not supposed to be on the computer.”

      “Does your mother know that you got hurt?” The worry in his voice was clear.

      “Of course not. She would have heart failure if she did.”

      “She worried all Thanksgiving about you. She was sure you were going to starve that day because nothing would be open for the holiday.”

      “That’s one thing I love about New York. There’s always something open.” She suddenly got extremely tired, almost letting the phone slip out of her hand.

      “Hallie? Hallie!”

      “I’m here. I just zoned out for a moment,” she said as she heard the knock on her door. She already suspected she knew who was