All I Want for Christmas Is You by Lisa Mondello Read Free Book Online

headed to her attic apartment.
     
    "Thank you once again, Kyle." She shifted Kristen in her arms and rattled her keys in her hand, but made no move to unlock the door. It was clear to him that she was debating whether or not to invite him in.
     
    Without a word, he took the keys from her hand. "This one?" He lifted one of the keys for her to view.
     
    She nodded. "There's a light switch on the left side as you open the door."
     
    The door swung open and Kyle grazed his left hand against the smooth wall until he found the switch that illuminated the living room. He stepped in and Lauren breezed straight by him into a back room.
     
    "I'll be out in a minute," she said in a voice just loud enough for Kyle to hear.
     
    He pulled the key from the lock and closed the door behind him, jingling the keys in his hand as he scanned her home. It was a cozy attic apartment with slanted walls in the gable ends and old style woodwork that spoke of the craftsmanship of the building's earlier years. He brushed his hand over the stained wood grain in admiration. You didn't see moldings and cabinetry made with such detail in new construction. He'd have to remember the detail work when he added the finishing touches to his house.
     
    As he walked into the open living room, his boot kicked something pliant, spilling its contents. He stooped to see the damage and found a wicker basket filled with magazines, some of which had scattered on the floor by the slipcovered sofa. He quickly refilled the basket with what would fit and placed the rest on the end table. He lingered a moment to read the cover of one of the magazines before placing it down next to a course catalog from a local community college.
     
    The furniture, although worn from years of use, felt homey and invited you to sit down and get comfortable. Kyle guessed that everything was either a hand-me-down or bought at the Salvation Army store with limited funds. A picture frame perched on the television caught his attention. He picked up the wooden frame, a double oval containing a portrait of Lauren with a man and woman he guessed were her parents on one side, a candid shot of Kristen at the park in the other.
     
    "She was asleep before I took her coat off. Didn't even stir." Lauren bounced into the room as if there had never been a moment of tension between them. Kyle leaned against a built-in bookcase and realized this was the first time he'd seen her without her bulky coat on. "Nice, isn't it?" she said.
     
    "Hmmm. Oh, the woodwork? Yes, it's beautiful."
     
    "It's one of the things I love about this apartment. Want some coffee? I have decaf."
     
    "Yeah, sure."
     
    She stretched to reach some mugs in a cabinet over the sink and he noticed that her long legs, accentuated by her form fitting jeans, were like that of a dancer's. They almost seemed too long for her torso. The coral turtleneck she wore tucked neatly into the waistband set off the color of her eyes and put a rosy glow on her creamy complexion.
     
    She busied herself in the tiny, but functional kitchenette, seemingly unaware of Kyle's study of her. He had to admit he liked just gazing at her, the way she shuffled her socked feet on the floor, the way she unwittingly pushed her hair behind her ear to reveal the soft flesh of her earlobe.
     
    "I hope you don't mind instant. As you can see, counter space is nearly non-existent so there is no room for a coffee maker. Why don't you sit on the sofa and take off your coat? It's almost done. Oh, and how do you take your coffee?" she asked. Lauren knew she was babbling, but she couldn't help it. She always tripped over her own tongue when she was nervous. It was the first time she'd had a man who wasn't there to make repairs in her apartment. The first of many first's, she guessed.
     
    "Black, please."
     
    With a trembling hand, she poured the boiling water into the two mugs, sloshing liquid over the brim of the second. She wiped up the spill with a dish towel and