Page 19 of A Billionaire's Holiday Love

“Noah, are you purchasing flooring too?”

“No, I’ll buff out the floors I have. I helped my granddad install the floors when I was ten.”

She smirked as we strolled toward the tool aisle.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” She turned down the aisle in front of me.

“Plenty of stuff, I suppose. I can’t fly an airplane.”

Hope watched as I loaded my cart with various tools, we needed to complete the renovations.

She laughed. “Tell me something you love to do.”

“I don’t have time to enjoy myself. But I had a passion for snowboarding. I could snowboard all day before I focused on my company.”

“Noah, that’s cool. Do you think you could teach me how to snowboard while we’re here?”

“I’m a little rusty. But I could show you the basics. There was a time when I could’ve become a professional snowboarder.”

That wasn’t my dream. Brewing beer was my passion.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. I chose a different path.”

“You’re not very open about your life.”

I shrugged. “You don’t want me to bore you with the drama.”

Hope didn’t need to hear me reminisce about the verbal abuse I endured from my father.

She turned up her lips. Guess Hope didn’t like my answer.

“Are we ready to check out?”

“Yeah.”

We strolled to the checkout counter.

“Hello.” She waved at the blond-haired guy who appeared to be perfectly fit without a strand of hair out of place.

He stood smiling at her from behind the long wooden counter. I narrowed my eyes. Fuck, I knew this guy. He hung out with my brothers and I when we were kids. I didn’t expect him to work at his family’s hardware store. Thought he’d be off doing something else in the world. What was this guy’s name?

He flashed his white teeth. “My dad’s bringing your order to the front as we speak.” His hair was swept to the side off of his forehead.

I didn’t recall seeing his father when we were kids. But he mentioned his family owned the local hardware store. So that was his father who assisted us. I found it odd he wasn’t doing the heavy lifting. He was officially a douche bag.

“Did you find everything you were looking for?” his starry eyes remained on her.

Hope’s lips parted. “Now, I think I have everything I need.” She inspected the imitation gold pendant of a little girl blowing a horn.

“Happy you like it. The gift shop down the street delivers a box every week. They sell out fast.”

It dawned on me I never spoke. Guess their interaction threw me off just a little, not by much.

“Thanks-”

“Ismael.” He reached for the pendant.

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