Page 7 of Snowed Under

Me

Fine. Be all chivalrous. Who am I to stop you?

Cole

All part of being a good neighbor. See you at4

I bite my lip.Do not read into it.I remind myself that Cole is the biggest flirt in Silver Pines. It’s what he’s good at. And hey, if he wants to assist me and I get to check out his buns again, who am I to argue? I smile to myself. I think today is going to be a very good Monday, after all.

CHAPTER 3

COLE

I driveinto town early to grab a coffee before work and run into Travis and Presley right outside the cafe. She holds their baby, April, against her chest, snuggled in a peaceful sleep.

“You buyin’ today, boss?”

Travis cocks a brow. The pair of them look pretty good, considering it’s their first baby and I’m fairly certain the little sweetie keeps them up most of the night. “Did you join a comedy act since yesterday?”

I give Pres a playful nudge as I open the cafe door to let them in first. “Not that I recall.”

He shakes his head at me. He’s used to me by now. Nothing else is new.

They say never work for your friends, but Travis isn’t like that. He owns Cedar Construction and has been running it since the year before last, when he moved back here to settle down and renovate his own ranch. That’s when he met Presley, and after a brief battle of wills over a 40 foot blow-up-snowman and Christmas decorating from Hell, the two of them gave in and admitted their feelings for one another. Ain’t love grand?

“How about I’ll buy this round, if you can let me clock out early today?”

Trav lets out a laugh. “You’re kiddin’ right?”

I pop a shoulder. “Ainsley just moved in next door and the rest of her stuff is coming at four. I said I’d lend a hand as she has no helpers.” That slight little thing, Emma, isn’t exactly a heavy weight that can lift couches, a fridge, furniture and God knows what else. I know the moving guys will do most of the lifting, but I know those dudes and they’ll do a half-ass job if they can get away with it.

“And you didn’t know until now?” Trav asks as we all walk up to the counter.

“No, I didn’t know until the U-Haul came yesterday. I’m the Get It Done Guy.” I give Pres a wink.

“Why didn’t she tell any of us? We could have helped,” Pres chimes in, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I think she’s the kind of woman that doesn’t like to ask for help.” I shrug. “That’s just my guess, anyway.”

“She only has her mom in town, and Emma,” says Pres. “And she’s a bit of a loner.”

“She works at the library, right?” Trav asks me as he tilts his cowboy hat to quickly browse the menu. I don’t know why he bothers, he always has the same thing.

“Yeah. She reinvented the place after Margaret left,” Presley goes on. “Everyone loves her, she’s like homemade sunshine.”

That description suits her perfectly. It’s widely known how generous she is because of what she does within the community. She’s always lending a hand somewhere. But I wouldn’t have a clue about books, libraries or otherwise. But it is kinda cute she’s a book nerd. I don’t have a type, but a hot librarian is definitely up there with the best ofthem.

A thought pops into my head about what Ainsley would be like out of her work uniform, because I hardly ever see her dressed in anything but that cute skirt and blouse of hers. Another smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. “Is that a yes, boss?”

He sighs. “For Ainsley, then yes. Provided we can finish up with the Town Hall on schedule.”

“Consider it done. I can work the weekend if I have to.” It ain’t like I got much else to do after this job, now that the winter has set in and the ski season is well and truly here.

“Me and the guys are having drinks Saturday night if you wanna join us?” Trav suggests. He’s talking about Rich and Justin, possibly even Jake.

“Sounds good. First night out since the baby?” I quirk my eyebrow at Presley. “You letting the man loose, honey?”

“Just for a few hours.” She smiles as I fish my wallet out of my back pocket in between ordering coffees to pay for us all. Trav throws in a couple of muffins for good measure, since I’m paying. I would have done the same, too.

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