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Frannie heard a group of carolers come up the street. Someone noticed the man standing atop the roofline and the warbling chorus of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” died out. A harsh whisper barely reached her ears.
    “Dear God, he’s going to jump!”
    The words seemed to galvanize Jinx. He began rocking to and fro. Tongue thick with fear, Frannie hacked like Hocus with a hairball before she could find her voice. She’d never had a lunatic try to commit suicide from her roof before, and she wasn’t quite sure of the protocol required. Should she go out there after him? Try to talk him down? Run and get towels to clean up the mess?
    “Jinx, please, come back in here.”
    Not moving a muscle, his voice melted on the wind, teasing her ears. “Will you marry me, Frannie?”
    “I’m not going to marry some idiot who’s jumping off my roof. Now get in here, Looney Toon!”
    “Man, lady, that’s cold-blooded. Have a heart, it’s nearly Christmas.” A voice from the sidewalk made her bury her face in her hands before once again pleading with the swaying figure outside her window.
    “Jinx, come inside. Let’s talk about this.”
    He wouldn’t even face her. Back stiff, perched like a blackbird high on a wire, his silhouette was nearly artistic in grace. Tinged with opera, that glorious baritone voice bathed her in frigid song. “There’s nothing to talk about. You couldn’t even be bothered to answer the phone today when I called you. You told me to drop dead.”
    The wind picked up a lock of his dark hair and sent it dancing across his forehead in a lover’s caress. Her face stung with the cold and she frantically grasped at anything to get him inside.
    “I—I was wrong. I didn’t mean I wanted you to really drop dead and certainly not from my roof. Please, come back inside. I’ll do anything you like, just come in here where you’re safe.”
    Finally turning his gypsy eyes to her, Jinx asked hopefully, “Will you marry me?”
    “She ain’t worth it, buddy!” A different man yelled from below the roofline.
    Frannie ignored the insult. Feeling the wind whip and seeing his white-socked feet so close to the edge made her mind up for her. If the worst happened, she would never forgive herself, and how high would her insurance premiums be?
    “I—if you come inside right now, yes, I’ll marry you.”
    “Okay.”
    Effortlessly, Jinx turned, strode across the shingles and crawled back in the window. He smiled rakishly at her and cocked one dark brow.
    Blood rushed to her temples. He had played her like a scratch-off lottery ticket. Heat boiled through her veins and she had a brief mental image of Elmer Fudd, red-faced with steam coming out his ears, screaming like a train whistle.
    “You son of a bitch! You never were going to jump.”
    “I never said I was going to jump. You just assumed it.” He closed the window with a soft thud.
    “You are a sick, twisted individual.” Vehemence made her voice trembly and shrill.
    “I was desperate. You’re being bullheaded. Okay, maybe I went a little too far—”
    “A little? Try about four miles too far, fruitcake. A little far? That’s like saying the Titanic had a little ice problem.” Her loud voice echoed in the dim attic. Red flooded her vision and her fingers itched to pluck every one of those black brows out without tweezers.
    “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
    “You’re damn right, I’m right. How on earth could you have thought that was a smart move?”
    He hung his head before a smile carved a dimple into his cheek. The dim bulb lent an otherworldly eeriness to his features. “Can I claim temporary insanity due to extreme sexual frustration?”
    “Ha! There’s nothing temporary about your insanity. You’re a full-time fruit loop!”
    A chocolate-rich smile curving his lip, he started to wrap his arm around her waist but she shimmied away. “Come on, be nice. I’m a decent guy. I promise you’ll never, ever regret marrying me.”
    “Oh,