Page 5 of One Sweet Taste (Love with a Price)

“Linz, we’re having a big girls’s night Friday night over at Becca’s,” Tori began.

“You have to come!” Becca gave a little bounce. “It will be so fun. And it will give you a chance to meet some more people in town.”

“I’ll try,” Linzee said with a smile. “I really will. We’ve been so busy getting the place ready—” she gestured around at the restaurant, “—but I’ll try to come.”

Tori looked around. “I can’t believe how far the place has come so quickly. Luke’s done such an amazing job on the new construction.”

“It really does look amazing, doesn’t it?” she asked, spinning around in a slow circle.

“Yeah,” Tori answered. “Those Price boys are pretty darn talented,” she said with a wink.

“Ew!” Rebecca said. “You better not be referring to your sex life.” She reached up to cover her ears as Tori laughed.

“Bec, drag your mind out of the gutter. And you used to beg me to tell you about my sex life before I was dating your brother.”

“Exactly,” Becca exclaimed. “My brother! That is a big-timeew, right, Linzee?” she asked, turning to Linzee for agreement.

She laughed. “Hey, I’m an only child, so I can’t comment on the gross-out factor of siblings.”

“Speaking of siblings, Ethan mentioned that you met Foster the other day.” Tori raised a strawberry-blonde eyebrow as Becca leaned to peer in the box Linzee had set on the bar.

“I did.” She tried to sound nonchalant as she reached in to grab one of the containers she’d brought. Opening it, she held it out to Tori and Becca. “Candied cherries. I’m going to see how they taste on the shortbread.”

Becca popped one in her mouth, her eyes widening. “Mmmm,” she said, reaching for two more.

“So,” Tori said, drawing it out, “what did you think of Foster?” She reached for a cherry. Dang it, she just wasn’t going to let it go.

Linzee tried to think of an appropriate response. “He seemed...” Gorgeous. Sexy. Mouth-watering. “Nice.”

“Nice, huh?” said a male voice from behind her.

A short gasp escaped her as she spun around. Aw hell, she hadn’t noticed Foster behind her. He must have been in the kitchen. Before she could respond, the phone in her pocket chirped. Thank goodness. Saved by the bell.

“Excuse me,” she said, glancing at the display. “It’s my daughter.”

She handed the bowl of cherries to Becca and shuffled past Foster, trying not to notice the heat radiating off of him, or the smell of his aftershave that somehow combined with his own personal scent to create the intoxicating drug of piney, woodsy, sinewy god of a man.

When she entered the kitchen, she hit the answer button. “Georgia, baby, where are you? You shouldn’t be calling from the road.”

Her daughter was planning to spend Christmas with her, and Linzee was excited to show Georgia around Oakville. She knew her daughter would truly love the art scene.

“Mom, I’m not on the road. Haven’t you seen the weather? We got five inches of snow dumped on us in two hours.”

Linzee’s heart sank.

“As soon as it lets up, I’m totally heading out,” said Georgia.

“No! Baby, you are not driving down here in the snow.” As much as she wanted to be with her only child on Christmas, it wasn’t worth the risk.

There was a pause on the other end, and Linzee heard a sniffle. “But Mom, I’ve never been away from you on Christmas. Ihaveto get down there. Besides, I’ve been saving my calories for the Christmas cookies we always make.”

Every year on Christmas Eve, Linzee and her daughter had a cookie party and made a variety of cookies. Linzee had already bought the ingredients and was planning to test some new recipes.

But the cookies weren’t her biggest concern right now. No, right now, her heart ached in her chest at the thought of not being with her daughter on Christmas.

“Georgia, it will be okay. Classes don’t start back up until mid-January. You’ll come in a few days when the roads are clear, and we’ll have plenty of time together.”

“But Mom, it’s not the same,” her daughter whined.

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