Page 21 of Sleighing You
Chapter 8
Avery
The next morning, my head was pounding as I made a pot of coffee and got dressed for work. It wasn’t that the two cocktails at Nick’s had done me in… no, no… it was the half a bottle of wine I had consumed angrily afterward while watching Hallmark Christmas movies.
You know it’s been a bad day when Dolly Parton in a Santa hat singing you Christmas carols can’t cheer you up.
Kringle barked and hopped around the top of the staircase. “I know, I know,” I said. “I know you need to go potty. Just give me a second.”Because mamma really needs a sip of coffee first.
Ignoring me, Kringle charged downstairs. That wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Most mornings, he was downstairs waiting for his walk before I was. The only difference this time was the fact that I was moving a lot slower than normal.
It took a few more minutes for the coffee to finish brewing, and then I got dressed in a festive enough outfit. Today was going to be crazy—day two of Christmas Fest involved a big letter writing campaign. Kids of Maple Grove came and wrote their letters to Santa, depositing them in our North Pole direct mailbox. Of course, we then get those letters to their parents so they can see their kids’ lists themselves. We also partner with the pottery place and have participating kids paint a cookie plate for Santa. It was always a huge hit.
I took another sip of coffee and did a quick twirl in the mirror. My red a-line skirt fanned out around my legs, and the cream, long-sleeved shirt hugged my curves well. For not feeling well, I didn’t look half bad. And the coffee was helping clear the cobwebs from my brain.
Eat your heart out, Chris. At the thought of my boss, my cheeks warmed, turning a shade of red that was just shy of my skirt.
I was hard on him last night. Maybe too hard. Itwasa stupid contest… and not even one that had a good prize. It was only bragging rights. And he had kept his sweater on most of the day… I could understand how it would seem acceptable that you could take it off in the privacy of your own home or car.
I owed him an apology. And Ihatedapologizing.
From downstairs, Kringle gave another bark. “I’m coming!” Jeez. Demanding dog. I took a final sip of coffee and set my almost empty mug in the sink before grabbing my coat and rushing down the stairs.
I froze at the bottom step as Chris knelt in the entryway to the store, his black peacoat dotted with snow, unclipping a leash from Kringle’s collar.
“Did you… did you take my dog for a walk?”
“Yeah. I hope that’s okay. It seemed like he really needed to go.”
“What if I had come down here and freaked out that my dog wasn’t here?”
Chris tapped his finger against a piece of paper taped to the wall between me and the front door. “I left a note. Besides, we didn’t go far… I just took him quickly across the street to do his business.” Chris lowered his chin and gave me a look. “And good lord did he have business to do.”
I chuckled and scratched at Kringle’s head. “Yeah, he’s like the CEO ofbusiness.”
Kringle rushed to his toy bin to grab his favorite Kong and plopped down on his bed to chew.
“Thanks… for, um, walking him.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And Chris—” I started, trying to find the words for the apology that was so owed. But his next thought quickly interrupted me.
“I also brought you breakfast.” He grabbed a paper bag that was sitting on the counter and thrust it toward me. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I grabbed a bagel and cream cheese, a Danish, and an egg sandwich.”
I opened the bag as the scent of delicious warm bread flooded my nose. “Breakfast? What for?”
He shrugged. “I felt like I needed to make up for last night.”
“You felt thatyouneeded to make up?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m really sorry about the sweater thing. You told me not to take it off and I did anyway, totally ignoring you. I didn’t mean for you to lose the contest, but I wasn’t respecting your priorities.”
“I…” I stood there stunned. Chris didn’t strike me as the kind of guy to apologize too easily. Maybe I had misjudged him completely. “I was planning to apologize toyoutoday.”
“You were?” He slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“I think I overreacted.” I paused and pinched my fingers together. “Just a tad. It’s a stupid contest and… admittedly, I get pretty competitive. But I had no right to yell at you for that. You didn’t expect to be thrust into a competition last night.”
