She nodded. “Sure, that’s fine.”

  Brooke beamed a smile. “Great.” She gathered up her things and stuffed them into her backpack. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, Maddy. Thank you for letting me come over tonight, Mr. Snow.”

  “You’re welcome anytime, Brooke.”

  Sullivan and Maddy walked them to the door. Claire’s heart squeezed when Brooke hugged Maddy. She was so happy the two girls had connected.

  Brooke had a lot of friends, but it was nice having a friend who lived right next door.

  And if her next-door friend had a super fine-looking single dad? That didn’t hurt, either. Even if he was overly into Christmas, which so wasn’t her thing at all. At least he was nice to look at, and he was friendly and accommodating to allow Brooke to come over and do homework.

  She decided to keep her thoughts about the reindeer doormat to herself.

  Brooke hightailed it out of there, but Claire turned and smiled at Sullivan. “Thanks again for letting Brooke come over.”

  “Hey, anytime.”

  He leaned against the doorway, raising his arm to rest it against the doorjamb. She couldn’t help but take in a deep breath. He smelled like woodsmoke and pine, and she wanted to do dirty, dirty things with him that would require both of them to be naked and sweaty.

  Whoa. Back that thought up, Claire. You are not going to jump the neighbor and your daughter’s friend’s dad.

  Then again, he had sparkling blue eyes and those wrinkles at the corners crinkled when he smiled, and his lips looked soft, and who had soft lips like that when it was so cold outside? She found herself licking her lips. He looked down at her mouth, and then all her thoughts and synapses went haywire because all she could think about was grabbing hold of his sweater, tugging him against her, and kissing him until his clothes fell off.

  “Claire. Claire?”

  She blinked. “Yes?”

  “You sure you don’t want to stay for some coffee? I could make tea, too.”

  “Oh. No. I need to get home.” What she really needed was to stay far, far away from Sullivan Snow. He made her think…thoughts. Decidedly filthy thoughts.

  “Good night, Sullivan.”

  As if he knew exactly what direction her thoughts had headed, his lips curved. “’Night, Claire.”

  She noticed he was still watching her when she made her way up the steps to her own porch. She waved and dashed inside, her traitorous heart pounding like…like…

  Ugh. Like a teenager’s. It was a good thing Brooke hadn’t been witness to the way she nearly fell all over Sullivan. Brooke would have either died of embarrassment or laughed at her.

  What was wrong with her, anyway? Sullivan was just a guy. A good-looking guy, but just some man.

  As she took off her coat and hung it up, she leaned against the door and pondered her visceral reaction to him.

  She’d dated since her divorce. Nothing serious, but she’d definitely gone out. She’d had sex. Some of the sex had been really good. Nothing like getting back on a man after another man had thrown you off. But no man had made her feel that spectacular…oomph. That spark. That need to keep seeing him.

  Whatever. She didn’t need the oomph anyway.

  Then why did her insides tingle every time she got near Sullivan? And he hadn’t even touched her.

  Yet.

  Oh, no, Claire. You get that yet out of your head. There will be no touching of any kind. You are not going to play with Sullivan Snow.

  She was right about that. Because if she got Sullivan naked, she’d be dead serious about what she’d want to do with him.

  Shaking her head, she pushed off the door and went to make herself another cup of tea.

  Chapter Four

  Sullivan’s house had been turned into a pink palace. There were nail polishes and pink cups and pink, purple, and green glitter and potions of stuff that smelled all kinds of feminine and way out of his league. And teenagers were squealing. Good God, so much squealing. He had no idea how girls could pitch their voices so high, but everything they said brought out the extreme heights of their excitement. Apparently they were excited about every five minutes. Hence the squealing.

  He was desperate to slide on his noise-cancelling headphones to drown out the sound, but then he wouldn’t be able to monitor Maddy and the girls, so he’d just have to suck it up and take the loud music. And the squealing.

  He’d tried to read a book, but his concentration was shot, so he turned the TV on, but the decibel level upstairs was somewhere in the jet-takeoff range, so he muted the TV and just stared at the picture. When the doorbell rang, he was surprised he’d actually heard it. He got up, happy to see an adult human on the other side.

  “Hi, Claire. Please come in and save me. The noise level here is high and I might be losing my mind.” He stepped aside to let her inside then shut the door.

  Claire laughed. “I’ve been there before.”

  He took her coat, and as he did, there were several loud squeals.

  Claire gave him a half smile, half wince. “Ah. I see what you mean. They’re having fun, then?”

  “I guess so. No one has run downstairs saying someone’s bleeding yet.”

  “A good sign.” She rubbed her hands together.

  “Coffee or something cold to drink?” he asked.

  “Got any wine?”

  “Definitely. Come with me.” He led her into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of Merlot off the shelf. “I have this one and there’s a Pinot Grigio in the fridge that I’ve been chilling.”

  “Merlot sounds great.”

  He pulled the cork on the Merlot and poured two glasses, handing one to her.

  “Thanks.”

  “Let’s go sit by the fire.”

  They went back into the living room, though they were closer to the hellishly loud sounds coming from upstairs.

  Claire took a sip of her wine. “This is very good. How long has that been going on?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve lost all track of hours and days.”

  She laughed and set her glass on the table. “Mind if I go check on them?”

  “Go ahead.”

  He took a sip of the wine. It was a new label, but he’d read about it and wanted to try it out. It was smooth and a little oaky. He liked it.

  And, blissfully, the screaming quieted down after he saw Claire reappear down the stairs.

  She sat and picked up her wineglass.

  “You didn’t kill them or toss them out the window, did you?” he asked.

  “No. I just told them they were being too loud and to quiet down, and if one of us had to go up there again to tell them they were too noisy, then the slumber party would be over.”

  “Huh. Never thought of that.”

  She shook her head. “Such a guy.”

  “Hey, they’re girls. They’re supposed to have fun. And Maddy is new at the school, this is her first time having her friends over, and I didn’t want to come across as Mean Dad.”

  “It’s fine for them to have fun. Just not that out-of-control fun. If you had boys up there, would you be so generous?”

  “No.”

  “There you go.”

  “Okay, you have a point. Maddy is a good kid, by the way. It’s not like I let her get away with anything.”

  “I believe you.” She sipped her wine and smiled at him over the rim of her glass, and his stomach tightened.

  She was beautiful. And not in the untouchable-movie-star kind of way but in the real-woman kind of way that he appreciated. She had buttery-blond hair that always seemed to swing toward her face like a caress, and her eyes were the most incredible color. At first he thought they were green, but then he noticed they had little yellow or maybe brown flecks in them. In the firelight just now, he could swear he saw a touch of blue. Unusual, just like the woman.

  Her lips were full, but he’d yet to see her wear lipstick like a lot of women he knew, which just meant she’d be much easier to kiss. Not that he’d thought at all about kissing his new neighbor.

  Or maybe he’d thought about it once or twice, since she had such a pretty mouth. And a banging body no doubt sculpted by all that yoga she did. Which then got him wondering just how flexible Claire Asher was.

  And thoughts like that could make his dick hard, so he cleared his throat and reminded himself that six teenage girls were currently upstairs, so he should probably get his mind off his sultry next-door neighbor.

  “Are you feeling more settled in?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Everything’s unpacked and I cleared away the last of the boxes yesterday.”

  “That’s great. And is your ex already here in St. Louis?”

  He nodded. “Her company did the move for her, so she was here a few weeks before us. Maddy spent some time with her the other day, because she’ll be off to Frankfurt for a week.”

  Claire blinked. “Wow. That’s fast after such a big move.”

  He shrugged. “Victoria loves the travel. Which was one of the biggest roadblocks to us staying married. I like feeling more settled, and Maddy couldn’t just up and go at a moment’s notice. Or at least that’s not what I wanted for her. She travels with her mom some during breaks and in the summer, but I wanted more stability for her. And after we talked about it, Victoria realized it was the best thing for her as well.”

  “But not the best thing for your marriage.”

  “Not really. She was gone so much, and my head is always in my graphic novels, so communication and romance between us suffered. We both realized that while we cared for each other, we had different life goals. So we ended as friends.”

  “I’m glad you two could work that out. It’s not always that easy for people who divorce.”

  “No, it’s not.” He watched as she stared into her wineglass and wondered if she was thinking about her own marriage. “Hard for you?”

  She lifted her head. “What?”

  “The way your marriage ended. I know you said there was another woman.”

  “Oh. I’m over that.”

  She probably wasn’t. Who could get over being cheated on? He wouldn’t have been able to. Fortunately, that hadn’t been the reason he and Victoria had decided to end their marriage. Victoria’s other love was her career. He’d never been able to compete with that and hadn’t wanted to.

  He went into the kitchen and grabbed the wine bottle, brought it in, and refilled their glasses.

  “Somehow I don’t think you ever get over someone breaking your heart, especially under those circumstances.”

  She shrugged and picked up the wineglass. “I’m fine, really. And better off without someone who couldn’t put me first.”

  He raised his glass to hers. “You’re definitely right about that. You deserve better.”

  She smiled at him. “I do. And so do you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Maddy poked her head down. “Dad. We’re starving. Can we order pizzas?”

  “On it. Figure out what everyone wants.”

  They took a break and waited about fifteen minutes for all the girls to debate pizza toppings. Sullivan asked Claire to stay for pizza, and he was happy when she so easily agreed. Since they were ordering so many, it would be an hour before it arrived, so he turned the TV on and they browsed something to watch, totally doable now that Claire had come in and toned down the screaming-girl party.

  “Sports?” he asked.

  “I like baseball.”

  “Not the right season for that.” He kept scrolling. “I don’t suppose you’re in the mood for a nice, old-fashioned Christmas movie.”

  She snorted. “No.”

  “Not even National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? That one’s funny.”

  “Not even that.”

  She was definitely a hard holiday sell.

  “What kinds of movies do you like?

  “Romantic, but with action.”

  “Die Hard?”

  She shot him a look. “That’s a Christmas movie.”

  “It is not.”

  “Is, too. It takes place during Christmas. And there’s a Christmas tree in it.”

  Damn. He scrolled through and stopped on one she was sure to like. Not a holiday movie. No Christmas trees in sight.

  “True Lies.”

  “Sold.”

  His lips curved and he pressed Play on the movie, the two of them settling in to watch Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fun spy action, sort of romantic movie but not in-your-face romantic, which meant he could enjoy it, since gushy romance movies were so not his thing.

  The pizzas showed up within an hour, so they paused the movie and called the girls downstairs. Fresh drinks were poured and everyone piled into the dining room to eat. Sullivan and Claire stayed mostly quiet while the girls talked amongst themselves.

  “But the way Warren looks at you, Maddy, you have to know he likes you,” Brooke said.

  Sadie nodded. “I saw it when our two schools met up for the chemistry program. He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

  “Ha,” Nisha said. “You two had chemistry. In a chemistry program. Get it?”

  The girls all laughed.

  Sullivan watched Maddy blush. She glanced over at him, which made him keep his focus on his pizza. The last thing he wanted was for his daughter to think he was prying into her personal business.

  “How are you settling in, Maddy?” Claire asked. “Do you like all your classes?”

  Maddy gave Claire a grateful look. “I am, thank you.”

  “Which one is your favorite?”

  “Probably language arts. I like to write.”

  “That was always one of my favorites, too. Though some of the papers they made me write were tedious.”

  Maddy nodded. “Some can be boring, but I don’t mind them.”

  Claire quizzed all the girls on their favorite subjects, and after that, they moved off the topic of Maddy’s love life and on to some pink jacket they decided they all had to have for Christmas. Once they’d devoured the pizzas, they cleaned up and headed back upstairs. Claire and Sullivan went into the living room to finish watching the movie.

  “Thank you for that,” Sullivan said as he held the remote in his hand.

  “For what?”

  “For taking the conversational heat off Maddy and some boy who might be interested in her. That would be the last thing she wants her dad to hear about.”

  “That’s what I figured, so I thought I’d introduce some innocuous ‘how’s it going in school?’ conversation.”

  “I appreciate it, and I know Madison did, too. I owe you one.”

  She laughed. “You owe me nothing. I have a daughter, too, you know. While they don’t mind talking boys in front of each other, they definitely don’t want a parent to hear it.”

  “I understand. But I am glad to know Maddy’s settled in so well.”

  “She seems to be doing just fine.”

  “Brooke has been a big help in that area. You’ve raised her to be a good person.”

  Claire blinked, warmed by his compliment. As a single parent she didn’t know if the decisions she made regarding Brooke were the right ones or not, and she sure wasn’t going to ask her ex if she was doing a good job. She thought Brooke was amazing, but knowing others did, too? That meant a lot. “Wow. Thank you for that.”

  “You don’t get credit for her very often, do you?”

  She let out a small laugh. “Or at all. But who she is is her doing, not mine.”

  “Not true. Kids are a product of their upbringing. You spoil them and give them everything, or treat them like dirt, it’ll show in how they relate to other people.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Brooke was kind and welcoming from the very first day.”

  “I had to force her to come over here with me.”

  He laughed. “Hey, she’s still a teenager. They’re not exactly open to new experiences. Maddy wasn’t thrilled with the idea of leaving her friends and moving to a new city where she didn’t know anyone.”

  “And look at them now,” Claire said, listening to the sounds of stifled giggling upstairs. “It’s like they’ve known each other forever.”

  “Some people just click instantly.” He stared at her over the rim of his glass, his meaning clear.

  She was hit with a zing of electricity so intense, she felt it all the way to her toes. Just the way he looked at her, those blue eyes trained on her with such heated intent, made her want to launch herself across the sofa and put her lips on his.

  Wow, talk about wandering thoughts. And there were six teenage girls upstairs, so how inappropriate. Then again, she was an adult, and so was Sullivan, and this was nothing but mild flirting. It wasn’t even flirting. It was Sullivan making an innocuous comment that likely had nothing to do with her.

  Then again, a woman would have to be dense to miss the directness of that look. And Claire was not dense.

  “Yes, they do,” she finally managed.

  “Claire, have dinner with me.”

  She nearly choked on the sip of wine she’d been taking when he’d asked the question.

  “What? Why?”

  He managed a smile. “Because you’re attractive? Because we’re both single? Because I feel some chemistry between us? Would you like me to make a list of the reasons I’d like to take you to dinner?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “No to the list, or no to dinner?”

  “No to…” She didn’t know how she was going to answer that question, and Sullivan arched a brow.

  “No list. Of course, I don’t need a list. I’m flattered, really.”

  “But?”

  “But it would be complicated. We live next door to each other.”

  “I didn’t ask you to marry me. I just asked you to dinner.”

  He was right and she was making more out of this than necessary. What harm could dinner do? They were both adults, and it might be nice to have dinner with another adult. A gorgeous male adult at that. Her only objections were her own wayward thoughts.

  “Sure. I’d love that.”

  “Great.” He settled back against the sofa. “Let me know what night works for you next week or next weekend, and we’ll do it.”

  She’d like to do it. With him. Several times. With lots of orgasms included.