Page 31 of Peppermint Bark

“Nah, Grace is the kind of girl you marry,” Kate laughed.

I restrained a wince. That’s the exact phrase the last two people I’d dated had used, right before, ‘but I’m not ready for that commitment.’

Kate wiggled the diamond on her finger and added, “Like me.”

Oh. Maybe she hadn’t meant it as an insult.

As Cruz faked a shudder, Kate explained, “Cruz has a one night policy.”

“I like variety,” he shrugged. “If you’re not propositioning me, what can I do for you?”

“The women’s shelter is looking for a self defense teacher. Any interest?”

“Cool, I taught my two kid sisters, and worked in my stepdad’s karate studio. I’ve been meaning to volunteer more, but haven’t had the time.” His expression was eager, a black lab puppy whose owner was walking up the driveway.

“The shelter would be a volunteer position, which requires 30 hours of volunteer training and a background check —”

“No problem,” he said, bolstering my confidence.

“But also, women in the community might not be willing to go to the shelter. Our friend Mallory owns hOMe Stretch Yoga, you could teach it there? Women could tell their partners that they were going to yoga class. After your paperwork clears, we could do a trial class.”

I stumbled at Cruz’s enthusiastic clap on the back. “How soon can we start?”

Chapter 12

Alex

One Week Until Christmas

Mom kicked me out. Inconceivable.

Since Dad had been discharged, the house was as quiet as a library. ‘Dad’s trying to sleep,' and ‘You shouldn’t talk to your poor assistant that way.’

I packed up my laptop, snatched Dad’s key fob, and swiped into his office at Clarke & Associates. Dad’s employees lingered in the doorway until I greeted them, I wished everyone would shut the hell up.

When the door frame darkened for the fourth time in an hour, I scoffed at my sister’s silhouette. Things had finally quieted, and now she arrived to bug me. She’d hung out in Dad’s hospital room last week, always cracking jokes and flirting with staff. What could she possibly want from me?

I cocked an eyebrow over the laptop. “Why are you here, Mallory?”

“Good afternoon,” she sauntered in and lounged in the client chair. I glowered until she lifted a covered plate. “I’m here to share homemade peppermint bark with my favorite brother.”

Sighing, I closed my laptop. The girl knew my weakness.

“I’m not your favorite brother,” I said, peeling off the foil to reveal dark and white chocolate adorned with crushed candy canes.

“You’re my favorite to fight, Nick’s my favorite to tease.”

My thumb made a satisfying crack in the chocolate before I popped it in my mouth. An involuntary moan slipped out and I dove for another. I pointed to the bark and spoke around the bite. “You made this?”

“Nope, Grace did,” she reached for a piece, and I almost smacked her hand away. “She works at the studio.”

I almost snapped that of course I knew Grace, she was my Mrs. Claus. Instead, I chewed, enjoying the rich chocolate and cool peppermint. “We met at the hospital.”

“She loves baking for her students. Sometimes I wonder if they come more for her treats than the yoga,” she said around a mouthful of chocolate, “but as long as they pay for the class and put some aside for me, I don’t care.”

I snagged the last bite before my sister could get her grubby paws on it. She pouted. “I said share the bark, Alex.”

“You should have brought more,” I said around the last mouthful. I considered picking up the plate and knocking the crumbs into my mouth like a heathen, except Mallory might tattle to Mom that I’d lost all my table manners.

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