Going for a recovery, I said, "Sorry, bad joke." As I said it, it suddenly struck me that I had been waiting on this woman for far too long. While I'd been serving this single customer, my nearest co-worker had waited on three.
But this wasn'tallmy fault. I mean, it's not like I could shoo her away or anything.
Meanwhile, Cole Henster was still browsing the gift baskets. Maybe he was just killing time, waiting for his sister to finish up – assuming the two of them were related at all.
By now, I didn't know what to think.
Across from me, the woman said, "That's okay. Helovesfork jokes." Her tone grew urgent. "Hang on. I'll get him for you."
My stomach twisted. "Sorry, what?"
She set the bag of cashews onto the glass countertop and turned away before I could even think to stop her. Over her shoulder, she called back, "Trust me, you're gonna love him."
With growing dismay, I stared after her.Oh, no.She was heading straight toward – yup, you guessed it – Cole Henster.
Chapter 7
Cole
I was still eying the gift baskets when a crazed brunette jostled past me like the shop was on fire. Over her shoulder, she called back, "Sorry about that!"
I watched with wry amusement as she bolted toward the side entrance, shoved open the glass door, and disappeared down the sidewalk.
I gave a slow shake of my head. The holidays – they did funny things to people. Apparently, I was no exception, because here I was, dealing with the crowds and commotion when I should've been alone in my office getting caught up on paperwork.
This would've been my normal pattern, but sometime during the past few months, I'd been growing restless for something more. What that something was, I had no idea.
I just knew that I was tired of looking for it at the office.
So here I was, doing my Christmas shopping early – looking at gift baskets when I should've been looking at year-end financials.
It made no sense. And yet, here I was.
As far as the baskets, I wasn't seeing anything I liked – not for me, but for my sister. Jenny loved coffee the way snowmen loved the cold, meaning she couldn't survive without it.Her words, not mine.
What I needed now was a custom basket, not filled with nuts or candy, but with gourmet coffee and maybe a few cookies. Shortbread was her favorite.
The baskets in front of me had neither coffee nor cookies. But this wasn't a deal-breaker. The store sold plenty of coffee, and the right cookies shouldn't be too hard to find.
I'd simply get the store to create something special. There was no sign offering such a service, but I knew from experience that when you had money, it wasn't hard to get things custom-made.
I glanced toward the main counter and did a double-take.
Holy hell.It washer, Lexie Sullivan, the assistant who'd quit in July. She was facing my direction but looking toward the nearby door, the one the crazed brunette had used just moments ago.
But me? I was looking at Lexie.
Once again, she was dressed as an elf. This time, the season fit, and I fought a ridiculous urge to smile.
But I didn't. As an employee, she'd been a major pain in the ass, stirring up more trouble than she was worth.
As I frowned at the memory, her gaze slid in my direction. At the sight of me, she froze like a reindeer in headlights.
Our gazes locked, and her lips parted. She had nice lips, soft and full, like they were made for kissing. Her face was flushed, and her deep green eyes were just as pretty as I remembered.
But I still didn't smile, and neither did she. The moment held for another heartbeat until she yanked her gaze from mine and returned her attention to the small crowd gathered at the front counter.
Standing at the front was a big, burly guy in a bulky winter coat. Lexie greeted him with a smile and some words that I couldn’t quite catch. He pointed to something in the display case and said something too low for me to make out over the chatter of the other customers.
