Page 74 of Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

Never once had she moaned about the bitter cold or scrolled her phone mindlessly.

Instead, she’d alternated between chatter and silence, patiently waiting when I posted up at a spot, scanning the horizon with my binoculars. She never pressed me to head home early, instead happy as can be, clutching a thermos of coffee in her hands. My ex would have been bored out of her mind, but instead, Rosie was genuinelyenhancing my birdwatching experience. She was so genuine.Trustworthy.

“Alexander. Look,” Rosie hissed, her binoculars trained on a tall tree spearing up from a ravine. “Is that it?”

I raised my binoculars, excitement flowing through me when I saw the cedar waxwing perched in the tree. Quietly, I lifted my camera and took a few photos before turning to beam down at Rosie.

“You’ve just advanced to a new level, Rosie,” I whispered. Helpless not to, I leaned down and kissed her gently, her lips cold against mine.

“What’s the level?” Rosie whispered back.

“Official bird nerd. Welcome to the club. We’re pretty friendly over here.”

“I want a badge.” Rosie grinned at me.

“I’ll make you one. Along with the no wankers allowed for your bird feeder,” I promised her. Happiness ballooned inside me. It was grand, this sharing of small moments together.

Maybe, just maybe, Rosie’s list might have led her to me for a reason.

“Come on. Let’s upload these photos and make the other birders jealous.” Grabbing her hand, I tugged her back home, my heart full.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rosie

We won the next two windows.

Riding a high, the group met to discuss our final window, which would be put up this weekend. It also landed just two days before Christmas.

“I liked the enchanted forest more than the outer space one,” Cherise said. Today she wore a puffin shirt that readHere Goes Puffin. “But I’m partial to unicorns.”

“And the Highland coos with dragon’s wings were inspired,” I agreed. Both the windows had been so well-received that we had garnered more coverage in local media and the bookshop had been hopping. Between that and spending almost every night at Alexander’s, the dayshad flown by.

And, yes, I was spending almost every night at Alexander’s. I made sure I slept at the shop one night a week, just to make sure I was keeping some independence, but it was scary how quickly friends with benefits had evolved into whatever this was.

A situation-ship?

Neither of us spoke about it. It was like if we carefully avoided the topic then nothing would change, and we could just casually keep pretending that we were just friends who occasionally scratched an itch for each other.

Except it wasn’t occasional.

And it was starting to feel like a lot more than just friends. I’d never had a boyfriend that I’d wanted to spend every night with, not that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. But I thoroughly enjoyed his company. He was quiet, reserved, but incredibly attentive.A bonus from his career choice, according to him.Dinners were fun together. We talked as we cooked, and I felt as though I was learning just as much about Scotland as I was him. He was fascinating. Looking after Tattie was enlightening. My life just felt so…full.

Jessica was beside herself, threatening to fly over herself if we didn’t own up to the fact that we were, in fact, dating. I threatened to disown her if she did. I wasn’t ready to admit the depth of my feelings for Alexander, even to myself, and the last thing I needed was Jessica to be a wrecking ball in my carefully constructed fantasy world I was living in.

But, oh my, was Alexander an incredible human being.

I think my favorite was watching him with Tattie. Every morning he’d go out and take his coffee with Tattie, no matter the weather, and soon the puffin was coming to hang out by his side, taking the fish he offered. He talked to him the entire time, too, telling Tattie about the window competition or random current events. The puffin listened, I swear he did, and the two made an oddball pair that pulled at all my heartstrings.

But it wasn’t just his care with Tattie that made him so amazing, it was his care with everyone. The man was a natural-born nurturer, and even though he professed to have social awkwardness, he still managed to show up for the people in his life.

He started buying lemons when he discovered I liked to drink lemon water first thing in the morning. He moved my bookshelves for me whenever I wanted and was slowly helping me recategorize the shelves so they weren’t such a disorganized mess. He bought me bright pink gloves when he realized I didn’t have any. He complimented me constantly and basically had me convinced that my body was his own personal nirvana.

He bought Meredith an alien key ring.

He drove Esther two towns over to check out a bookshop that catered to romance-only books.

He helped Cherise when her computer broke.

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