Page 24 of A Love Like Christmas Time
Her eyes are darting around the room, a sly grin tugging at her lips, and she’s evading my eyes. She’s got something planned.
Something I’m at least going to pretend I disagree with.
“You know?” she says, straightening her shoulders and walking closer, slowly putting one foot in front of the other, arms behind her back and blinking up at me with innocent, wide eyes. “I think you could do something to make the atmosphere here-” She waves her hand through the air. “More welcoming. Jolly, I might say.”
“The atmosphere here is great, thank you very much.” The door chimes as Henry comes back inside with two giant boxes stacked in his arms. It's a wonder he made it back in one piece. He can barely see past them.
“Well, I disagree. It’s Christmas time.” She grins as slaps her palm on the counter, then grimaces when it hurts and shakes her hand. “It’s time for holly, for pine garlands, fake snow on the windows, a mistletoe above your door.”
“Not a chance,” I say dryly, but her grin only widens.
“I think that is our cue to go,” Henry says with a chuckle. He puts on his coat, then calls Jensen over and picks his leash up from the ground. Before I can protest, he lifts his hand for a wave, motions for Jensen to walk ahead and lets the door fall closed behind him.
Suddenly it’s eerily silent in the café. You could hear a pin drop. For a moment we stare at each other.
Right. It’s the first time the two of us are alone since I dropped her off on Thanksgiving.
Do I mention it? Apologize? Or hope she forgot about it?
Okay, considering the blush spreading across her cheeks, I can tell the latter is not the case. Fuck. Did I mess this up?
“So? Are we doing it?” Lauren finally breaks the silence with a small grin and opens up the first box. “Maybe some holiday cheer will put you in a better mood too.” She ignores my deathly glare.
“Come on! Pretend I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past and I’m forcing you to enjoy the season. Here!” She throws something red and plushy my way. Instinctively, I catch it.
“You should totally wear that until Christmas. You know, instead of that beanie.” Crinkling my nose, I unfold the thing to reveal a Santa hat, bell in the pom-pom and everything. To her credit, at least it feels like a high-quality Santa hat, not a cheap discounter one.
“No way in hell.”
“Then I think the least you can do is help me put up this wreath on your door.” She holds up a fake pine arrangement that’s admittedly tastefully decorated with red and gold baubles and a red velvet bow. As she puts it on the counter, I catch a glimpse of the box’s contents through a tiny gap. God, it’s full of red, green, and gold in all kinds of textures.
“Lauren, I really don’t want to decorate my café for Christmas,” I say, scrunching my nose as I imagine my pride and heart decked out in tasteless Christmas-wonderland decor. She gets up, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Caleb, as a business owner, it’s not only about what you want.” She tries to stay serious, but I see the corners of her mouth twitch. “And since I’m probably your best customer at this point, I think I should have at least some say.” She does spend a lot of time here and drinks a lot of coffee. “And as the center of your demographic,” she pulls out a giant red bow, clearly proud of all the business jargon she’s throwing my way. “I’m just saying, you could increase your revenue by a significant percentage if you got people into a Christmas mood.Happy people drink and eat more. I’m sure there is a statistic somewhere to back me up.”
“Sure there is,” I say, voice dripping with sarcasm, and I cock my eyebrow. But deep inside, I already know I’ve lost. I can’t even be mad at her, not when she grins at me in that way that makes my heart flutter.
“Want to bet on it?” she grins and pushes the wreath my way. “Do you have nails and a hammer?”
I look at her for a second, then another. My shoulders sink dejectedly, and I shake my head. Let’s be real, I never had a chance.
“You do realize that I’m going to lock you in here and not let you leave until you take all of that shit down again once Christmas is over?” I mumble and pull open a drawer that holds several tools. Screwdrivers, knickknacks needed to fix the coffee machines and a hammer.
“Fun,” she says, her whole face lighting up when I place it on the counter. “To make space for Valentine’s Day decorations, you mean?”
“No, absolutely not.” I say gruffly, knowing it falls on selectively deaf ears.
But when her sweet giggle fills the room as she turns her back to me, I realize I might just let her do whatever she wants. Even though every single time I see the decorations will make me miss having her around.
Chapter 9
Lauren
I can’t get a read on him.
While I have a feeling Caleb needs to be nudged into leaving his comfort zone, it’s hard to tell when I’m going too far. That man has an incredible poker face, all hardened jaw and perpetual frown, and I’m not trying to make him hate me.
Yes, his café could use some holiday cheer. After all, every other store in Wayward Hollow is decorated, with thick pine garlands and the most adorable images sprayed on their windows with fake snow.
