From somewhere behind them, an older guy grumbled, "Hey,Iwas next."
The woman turned to look. "Sorry." She pointed toward the bag of cashews that she'd abandoned however many minutes ago. "I was in mid-order when I got interrupted."
I bit my lip.She'd been interrupted only by herself.Still, I knew better than to say such a thing, lest I start a riot.
The woman turned back to me and said, "Anyway, this is Jeff."
Jeff was tall and thin with light brown hair and soft blue eyes. He wasn't a bad-looking guy. Or rather, he wouldn't have been bad-looking if only he weren't twitching like a prisoner in a hostage video.
The poor guy.
The woman turned to Jeff. "And this is Lexie." She gave him an encouraging smile. "Look. It says so on her nametag."
I looked down.Yup, it sure did.
When Jeff said nothing, the woman persisted. "Isn't she adorable?"
Oh, God.
Sarah, the gal working next to me, flashed me a sympathetic smile before sidling a few paces away – well out of nabbing distance.
Gee, thanks a lot.
From the other side of the counter, Jeff gave me a long, sullen look before complaining, "She's the wrong kind of elf."
I drew back. "Excuse me?"
He turned to his sister. "I don't likeChristmaselves. I like the other kind."
"Yeah, I know," she said. "But you can't haveeverythingyou want."
But Jeff wasn't done. "And her ears are too big."
My jaw dropped.Seriously?
The woman winced in my general direction. "Sorry. It's just that he's got this thing for dainty little ears. But hey, everyone has their quirks, right?"
"Um, well…" As my words trailed off into silence, I fought a sudden urge to yank down my elf hat, pulling it low enough to cover my gigantic ears.
What was I? A Dumbo or something?
The guy said, "And pointy, too."
I shook my head. "What?"
"Elves have pointy ears." He made a sound of disgust. "Yours are all normal."
I muttered, "Well, that's a relief."
The woman gave her brother an exasperated look. "Oh come on! No one has pointy ears. You're just being difficult."
"So what?" he said. "That's better than being easy."
Her eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"
"You'll go out with anything. But me?" He gave a little swagger. "I've got standards."
The more he talked, the more insulted I felt. And of course, it didn't help that Cole Henster of all people was witnessing my humiliation – and not from afar either.
