Page 17 of Just Add Mistletoe

“Oh really?” He found himself smiling. “Is that a rule or something? Maybe I’d enjoy reading more if I’d known about the snacks.”

“You for sure would.” Lori took a bite of her salad. “What was the last book you read?”

That made him pause. “Uh . . . can I get back to you on that? Unless articles on a news app count?”

“That definitely doesn’t count,” she said with a smirk. “Do you like a certain genre? Business books? Novels? Thrillers?”

“Not business books, although I should probably read some,” he said. “I went through a Tom Clancy stage in my early twenties.”

She nodded, looking pleased. “So there’s hope. I mean, if you’ve liked a certain author or genre in the past, then that’s at least a starting place.”

Malcom chuckled. “I’m flattered that you think I can be redeemed.”

Lori’s gaze connected with his, and he saw the interest there—it was unmistakable. And probably relatable too, because he was definitely interested in her. As a friend, of course. They’d both agreed they weren’t looking to date anyone, so that pressure was off. They could just hang out and talk about books he’d never read.

“If you want any recommendations, I have plenty,” Lori continued, then took another bite of the chicken. Her earringsswayed with the movement. “But I don’t want to come at you like a fire hose.”

Malcom had to laugh at this. “I really appreciate your consideration.”

“No problem.” She held up her plate. “Want anything? I’m full.”

He eyed the food. There was still at least half of it left. He could eat more. He hadn’t eaten all day except for a protein bar that morning. “I’ll eat some.”

She handed over the plate, then held up the fork. “Should I grab you a new one?”

“Are you sick or anything?” he asked, mostly teasing.

“Nope. But I could be carrying something. You never know.”

“I can risk a few cooties.”

Lori laughed, which made him smile. He liked her laughter.

His phone buzzed again, but he still ignored it. He wasn’t too worried since the job site was closed today, so it wasn’t any sort of emergency. Maybe it was his brother? Or more likely Penny asking if he had plans tonight. Or maybe it was Jay wanting to talk about the night before, when Malcom had bailed early on their double date.

Lori drew her feet up under her again as he finished off her plate—he was hungrier than he thought. She handed over her half-filled water bottle and he finished that off too.

“Thanks again,” she said. “It’s nice to be waited on.”

He felt his smile appear. “You’re welcome.” Just then, his phone rang. A text he could ignore, but phone calls usually meant something was more urgent.

“You can get it,” Lori said.

He pulled the phone out of his pocket. Bronson’s name glowed on the screen. “It’s my brother,” he said, right before answering.

“Dude, where’ve you been?” Bronson said. “I’ve been trying to reach you. I’m heading out for the rest of the weekend, and I need you to fix a broken gate latch at one of those cabins. Then stay on-call for Sunday. Sorry I have to bail. But Monday, we’ll have Rick be the man.”

“I thought you agreed with Penny to be on-call the entire weekend,” Malcom said. “This was a deal between you and her. Not me.”

“You and I are partners, though, not Penny,” Bronson said. “I’m not going to bail on my wife.”

“Kari told me you didn’t have any plans.”

Bronson chuckled. “You know women. They get to change their minds. Anyway, I’ll text you the work order. Sorry to bail, but I’ll owe you one, and that’s never a bad thing.”

“You owe me a lot more than one—” he started to say, but Bronson had already hung up.

Malcom exhaled in frustration. He stared at his phone for a couple of seconds, trying to wrap his head around the fact that his brother and sister-in-law had put him in this position. He already worked weekdays on the job site from sunup to sundown. He didn’t mind weekend work, when it was for his project. This new maintenance contract had never been his idea, but now apparently he was stuck with it.

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