Page 36 of The Gingerbread Bakery
‘How about we take a break?’ he suggested.
Annie looked at him, her cheeks rosy above her scarf, and his mind returned to mulling over his new plan. The one in which he kissed Annie, preferably by the end of the day. It had taken precedence over figuring out his cross-country plan. That one seemed significantly less important at the moment.
He still wasn't quite sure how to go about it, though. He had wanted to kiss her when he rolled over and saw her next to him in bed—like his dream had somehow come to life. But kissing her in bed seemed like way too much of an escalation, and one that Annie would not have appreciated, especially after he mentioned brushing her teeth. That was a dumb move. Now they were out of bed, and he still wanted to kiss her and he still couldn't figure out how to do it.
‘Yeah, a break sounds good. It’s freezing out here.’ Annie rubbed her mittened hands together.
‘We can grab hot cocoa in the warming hut,’ he said.
‘Perfect.’ She smiled at him, and he wanted to do it right then. He wanted to take her face in his hands and press his mouth to hers until they were both warmed up, no cocoa required, but they were in the middle of the crowded path and Annie was moving toward the hut before he could do anything about it. He followed her through the other Christmas shoppers into the little makeshift cocoa cabin. It was more of a tent than a cabin, and it wasn’t much warmer inside than outside but at least they were protected from the wind.
They went up to the table and got their cocoa and found a seat at a picnic table in the back corner. An older man with a guitar was playing Elvis Presley Christmas classics in the other corner and two of the tables were filled with a mix of kids and their parents. It wasn’t exactly a romantic setting, but Annie was cozied up next to him, so Mac was feeling pretty good.
‘You warm enough?’ he asked.
Annie laughed. ‘I’m sure I’m warmer than you,’ she said. Mac still couldn’t bring himself to put on a hat.
He lifted up his hands. ‘Hey, at least I'm wearing gloves today.’
Annie nudged him with her shoulder, snuggling in closer. ‘Well, I guess that's progress.’ She took a sip of her cocoa and gave a little sigh of contentment. Mac wondered if she would make a noise like that if—no,when—he kissed her.
‘So,’ Annie said, ‘your mom…’
And that killed any thoughts of the noises Annie would make.
‘… what else does she like?’
So far, the only things Mac had come up with for possible gifts had to do with cooking—which Annie immediately vetoed, saying he could not get her something chore-related for Christmas—or a new scarf, which they had seen at every other craft table and Annie vetoed as being too impersonal.
‘She likes…’ He was stumped. Annie sighed like she was disappointed in him, and Mac hated that. He thought harder, racking his brain for something else his mom might like. Now he needed this gift not only to soften his mother up to his drive-cross-country plan, but it was becoming more and more important in his impress-Annie-enough-to-kiss-her plan.
‘She likes to read, I guess,’ he said.
‘Okay, that’s good. We can work with that.’ Annie perked up and Mac’s chest swelled with pride.
She was fully leaning against him now, her arm pressed against his and it reminded him of the way her body felt wrapped around his, so warm and soft. She took another sip of her cocoa clearly deep in thought about things other than Mac, even though all his thoughts seemed to keep circling her.
‘I think I saw e-reader covers at Bernadette’s stand. We could look there,’ she said.
‘Right, yeah, that’s a good idea.’ But neither of them was in a hurry to leave the protection of the tent. They sat pressed against each other. The warmth of Annie’s thigh against his took up all of his attention. He barely heard the man crooning ‘Blue Christmas’ or noticed when the families traipsed back outside. They were alone in their own little corner of the tent, and it felt like how the past few days had felt, like he and Annie were the only two people that mattered.
Eventually, Annie shifted next to him as she finished her cocoa. She turned to face him on the bench and Mac thought maybe now was his moment.
‘I have to ask you something,’ she said.
‘Okay, anything.’
He leaned in a little closer and took Annie’s glance down at his mouth to be a promising sign.
‘I just…’ She started and then shook her head like she was being silly. ‘I just…’
‘You just what?’
Annie’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘I was just wondering if you had ever woken up next to a girl before? I mean it was new for me, and I felt awkward about the whole thing, and I was just wondering if you felt the same.’ She shook her head again, clearly embarrassed by the whole situation. ‘Sorry, it probably doesn’t matter. I don’t know why I said anything.’
‘There's been a few girls…’ he started.
‘Right. Of course. Of course there has been. I shouldn’t have asked.’
