Page 126 of The Merry Matchmaker

“Kind of up there with people telling me Kaitlyn is in a better place,” he said, and she could hear the frustration in his voice.

“Or people telling me to be glad that at least Richard and I didn’t have kids.” She sighed. “I mean, it is a good thing we didn’t. I still wish I had a couple, though.” She dropped the roll and turned to him, putting on a determinedly bright smile. “But here’s another mom-ism. Don’t waste time on what you don’t have. Either get it or get on with your life without it. So I am. And maybe someday my life can be like those movies.”

“Maybe it can. You never know,” he said.

“You never know,” she agreed. “I’m ready to be pleasantly surprised.”

“I already am,” he said. “And I’ve gotta say, I’m not mad at my sister anymore for interfering in my life. In fact, I’m glad she did.”

Stef didn’t need any more soup to warm her up. The way Griff was looking at her did that.

His phone buzzed with a text, and he checked it. “Looks like my lunch break is over.”

“I need to get back to work, too,” she said.

He paid the bill, and she insisted on paying the tip. They left the warm, spice-scented restaurant and emerged into frosty air and a gray sky.

Stef sniffed. “Smells like more snow is on the way.”

“You can tell just by sniffing?”

“I can,” she said.

“How does snow air smell?”

“Fresh. And...snowy. There, how’s that for a great description?”

He laughed. “Oh yeah. I can tell you’re a writer. You have a way with words.” He sobered. “You also have a way of making a guy smile.”

“You have a nice smile,” she said, and tapped his lips. That was a mistake. Now she wanted to do more with those lips than give them a friendly tap.

His eyes told her he wanted more, too. He took a step closer. “You are going to go out with me again, right?”

“I am,” she said.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“You do know how you seal a promise, right?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He leaned down and kissed her.

It wasn’t a long enough kiss to make a scene right there in downtown Carol—although she wouldn’t have cared if they had—but it was enough to send a jolt to her chest.

“We need to make a lot more promises,” she said, and he grinned.

“Yes, we do,” he said. “I’ll call you.”

She watched him walk away down the sidewalk in his business attire and overcoat. There was something sexy about a man in an overcoat.

Correction, there was something sexy aboutthatman in his overcoat—tall and lean and broad-shouldered. And now that he had relearned how to smile...wow! This man, taking tentative steps into a better life, this man, who hated Santa but loved his kid, this man was worth investing more time in. Unlike Richard, who had been slick and polished and thought he was so perfect, Griffin Marks was perfectly imperfect.

Oh yes, she wanted to spend more time with him.

A very long “talk” in Mitch’s office was followed by a very long lunch at La Bella Vita and a slow stroll back to their workplaces that included a stop by Treasured Jewels to look at the diamonds winking at them from the other side of the window.

“Too soon to be looking at those,” she said.

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