Tangled in Tinsel: The Celebration Series, Book 1

“Oh my god!” I put my hand over my mouth as the officer bounced off the wall. “That’s gonna leave a mark.” I couldn’t help but chuckle as I cringed. Why was it that when others had the misfortune of hurting themselves you laughed?

There were titters around the tavern from people who had witnessed it. “He’ll be fine. He’s got a hard head,” Dabby said as he stopped in front of us.

“Did you say he was her neighbor?” Brandy asked as the door closed behind Thad.

“Yeah, he lives right next to you. Do you ladies mind dropping the food off at his house on your way home? I’m sure they would all appreciate it.”

“Sure, I’d be happy to.” I gave Dabby a smile and glanced at the door again. I had only caught a brief look at the officer’s face, but it sure was a mighty fine one. I handed Dabby the money for our dinner.

“Man, did you luck out,” Brandy said as she slid off the stool. “You’ve got one hot man living next door to you.”

“And he has a family,” I reminded her as I held the bag up as proof.

She shrugged, “So?”

“Don’t even go there, Brandy,” I hissed at her. “I’m not in the market for a man, especially not a married one.”

“Fine,” she replied dryly. We called out a final thank you to Dabby and headed back to my new home.

By the time we pulled in the driveway, my bladder was ready to explode from the two beers I’d consumed. “Brandy, can you walk this over there? I have to pee so bad I’m about to wet myself.”

“Sure.” She headed across the lawn while I rushed up to the door. I wasn’t ready to meet the neighbors yet anyway.

I was coming out of the bathroom when Brandy walked in the front door. “You’re not going to believe what that woman asked me.” She dropped her purse and coat on the edge of the couch.

“What’s that?” I said as I ripped open a box.

“She wanted to know how long we’ve been together.” She giggled.

“What?” I didn’t get what was so funny.

“She thinks we’re a couple.” She laughed and she pointed back and forth between the two of us. “She wanted to know how long we have been together.”

“She did not!”

She nodded dramatically, “Oh, yes, she did.”

“What did you tell her?” Why would the woman next door think Brandy was a lesbian? Maybe it was so she didn’t have to worry about someone hitting on her husband. Well, she didn’t have to worry about that.

“I told her we’ve been together since high school.” She laughed, “You should have seen how round her eyes got.”

“Stop! You did not!” I laughed with her as she nodded dramatically. “I can’t believe you said that.” I went back to opening the box. “So what’s she like?” I dug through the box and pulled out a bunch of packing paper. I wanted to find my coffee mugs so I could make sure I had coffee first thing in the morning.

“She is beautiful, thin, kind of a dark complexion, big blue eyes, and you should see the little boy. He looks just like his dad.”

“Oh great, so I have the beautiful family living next to me who thinks I’m gay.”

“Hey, at least you won’t have to worry about a married man hitting on you,” she threw back.

“Like he would anyway,” I muttered and changed the subject. “What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Eleven. You sure you don’t want me to stay the weekend and help you get this place in order? Although, I don’t think a weekend will do it justice.”

“Would you leave my house alone? I happen to love it! And no, I know you have things to get done at home. You have already been a tremendous help.” I dug deeper into the box. “Aha! Found them.” I pulled out two mugs wrapped in heavy packing paper. “Now we’ll have coffee in the morning.”

“Thank god! Do you know where the coffeemaker is?”

I stopped what I was doing and looked at the other boxes. “Um, no, but I’m sure it’s in one of these boxes.” Brandy laughed behind me.

We ended up unpacking the rest of the kitchen and filling most of my cupboards. There were only eight cabinets, and I had the bare minimum of kitchen items. Even so, they were slowly filling. I wondered where I was going to put food.

I also realized that the kitchen was definitely only meant for one person at a time. Before long, Brandy and I got tired of rubbing up against one another to put things away, and she went about unpacking while I stowed things in cabinets.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright all by yourself here?”

I shrugged one shoulder, “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Casey, you’re used to having people do things for you, like unpack things. Have you ever had to cook food for yourself? Or clean?” She shook her head. “I feel like you have bitten off more than you can chew, especially with this rundown house.”

I pushed the last plate onto the stack and turned to her, leaning back against the chipped Formica counter. “Brandy, I’ll be fine. You forget I did live on my own while I was in college. I’m looking forward to having the space to myself.”

Brandy glanced around. “Be hard to share the space with someone else. I think this whole house is smaller than your old bedroom suite.”

I sighed, “Brandy, I know you didn’t want me to move all the way up here, and, believe me, I’m going to miss you like crazy, but I needed to get away from there. I couldn’t take the way people looked at me and constantly wondered if I was involved or why I was with him and didn’t know.” Her shoulder rose and fell, and I approached her and put my arm around her while we walked back into the living room. “You know I am going to miss you so much, and I’m going to call you all the time.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back for Thanksgiving? It’s only two weeks away.” We stopped in the middle of the room.

I winced. “Brandy, I start my job next week. I can’t take time off that soon. Besides, I already said I would cover the day shift so others could be home with their families.”

She sighed, “I know, but I hate that you are going to be alone.”

I hugged her tightly. “It’s okay. I think I need some time to be alone.”

“Yeah, I know,” she whispered.

“Why don’t we go get some sleep?” I pulled back from her and swiped a lock of hair off her face before I began to laugh. “I hope my neighbors aren’t peeking in my windows tonight.”

She looked at me funny, “Why is that?”

“Well, she might really get the idea that we are together since we’ll be sleeping in the same bed.”

Brandy burst into laughter while I turned off the light, and arm in arm we walked back to my bedroom.

Brandy and I talked into the wee hours of the morning even though we were both exhausted. We chatted and giggled about everything from high school, to jobs, to men. Of course, that conversation was short as I didn’t want to think about my past experience, although as I drifted off to sleep, the image of a man dressed in a police uniform flitted through my mind.

“Jesus H. Christ,” Brandy muttered. “You need freaking drapes on your windows.” I felt the covers pulled taut and knew she was hiding under them. I tried to open my eyes, and the bright sunlight that I had been longingly looking forward to blinded me.

“Yeah, I’ll put that on my list to buy.” I rolled over and looked at my cellphone clock. “Oh, crap! Brandy, get up! We should have been up two hours ago. You’re gonna miss your plane.”

That got her moving, and she jumped out of the bed grabbing her stuff as I ran into the kitchen to put on coffee. I knew where the travel mugs were now, so I could at least get us coffee to go.

Twenty minutes later, we hustled out of the house and got in my car. I barely had time to brush my teeth, much less do makeup. A ponytail was as fancy as I was getting today, but Brandy flipped down the passenger mirror and began ”putting on her glamour” as she called it as soon as the car was in motion.

Ten minutes down the road, a siren caught my attention, and I saw the telltale red and blue lights flashing in my rearview mirror.

“Shit. How fast was I going?” I glanced at the speedometer. “Only sixty-five. What’s the speed limit here?”

“I don’t know,” Brandy said as she glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe it’s your neighbor.”

“Crap, let’s hope it’s not.” I slowed and pulled over to the shoulder, hoping he was only trying to get around me. No such luck as he stopped behind me. “Damn, I think it is him,” I said as I stared harder into the mirror.

“That’s good. I’m sure you can get out of this then,” Brandy said as she put mascara on. “Actually, I’m glad you got pulled over, now I can put my mascara on without getting it all over the place.”

“Figures you would find something good in me being pulled over by the police,” I retorted as I dug through my purse for my wallet. A tap on my window brought my head up fast, and I lowered the window as I glanced up.

Lord, have mercy on my soul! This man was incredible looking. His short hair was light brown and parted on the side. His blue eyes were striking as they stared down at me.

“Morning, ma’am. I’m Officer Wagner of the Celebration Police Department. Do you happen to know how fast you were going?”

I opened my mouth to speak and found words escaped me as I watched his lips to see if they would continue to move. He had the most incredible lips I had ever seen, and I wondered how they would feel.

He tipped his head to the side and studied me. “Ma’am, are you alright?”

“Casey,” I stuttered out.

“Excuse me?”

“My name is Casey, not ma’am.”

Brandy snickered beside me, and I almost elbowed her.

A smirk raised one side of his mouth and displayed the cutest damned dimple I had ever seen. “Okay, Casey, do you know how fast you were going?”

“Um,” I cleared my throat. Did I tell the truth? Of course I tell the truth! Jesus, I knew what happened with the police when you didn’t. “Sorry, I was going about sixty-five, but I don’t know what the speed limit is.”

“Actually, you were going sixty-nine when you were clocked, and the speed limit is thirty-five.”

I cringed, “I’m so sorry. We woke up late, and I’m rushing my friend to the airport. She has a flight out at eleven. I honestly didn’t know the speed limit.”

“Well, Casey, now you do, and I hope that in the future you will obey it.” He grinned down at me and held out his hand. “I’m Thad, by the way, I believe we’re neighbors.”

I looked at his long elegant fingers as they came my way. Why was my heart beating like it was trying to get out of my chest? I placed my hand into his and we both stared at one another. “Casey,” I said again lamely.

“It’s nice to meet you, Casey. Do me a favor and slow down. Get your friend to the airport safely.”

“Yes, sir,” I stated automatically while I realized I was still holding his hand. I yanked mine back, embarrassed at my reaction to him.

He laughed a deep laugh and put a smile on his face that made his eyes seem brighter than they had been just moments before. “I’m letting you off with a warning today, not because you are my neighbor, but because you did me a favor last night. Thank you for dropping the food off at home for me.”

“You’re welcome, and thank you for not giving me a ticket. I promise I’ll pay better attention.”

“Drive safely, Casey,” he leaned down and peered past me to Brandy, “and have a safe flight.” Thad’s subtle cologne reached my nose with his movement. Thank god I was seated, or my knees might have buckled.

“Thank you,” Brandy replied.

Thad stared at me for another moment before he stood up, “I’ll see you around, Casey. It was nice meeting you, and welcome to Celebration.”

“Thank you.” My voice came out huskier than it should have, and I cleared my throat as he walked away. I used the side mirror to watch him; his back was as nice as his front. When he reached his driver’s side door, he turned and our gazes locked in the reflection. He winked and climbed into his truck.

“Talk about a hottie,” Brandy said as she fanned her face. I put the window up and checked my mirror again to make sure it was safe to get back onto the road.

I’d learned two things just then: One, Officer Thad Wagner was an extreme hottie; second, he was also a very dangerous man, if only to my starving hormones.