Page 23 of Sleighing You
“Ed’sa lifesaver? It was my idea to send them to Nick’s.”
“Aw, you want a cookie, too?”
He shook his head. “I’m not much for cookies,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course not. So… you want a pat on the back?”
His gaze flicked to where Ed was walking toward the Pizzeria. “Well…Edgot a kiss on the cheek for his contribution.”
I gulped, my mouth going dry. “You want a kiss?” I was speechless. He was seriously asking me to kiss him? Right here in front of my employee? My customers?
“Well, you are both underneath the mistletoe,” Tina said, pointing up above our heads.
His eyebrows arched as we followed the line to where Tina’s point was directing our attention. Sure enough, the sprig of mistletoe hung directly above our heads.
“Oh…” Chris said. “I was just kidding.”
What the hell was that doing there?“I’ve never hung mistletoe in my life! How did that get there…?”
“I hung it,” Tina said. “It was in the storeroom yesterday as a new product, and the note on top said to display it somewhere in the store.”
I blinked. I wasn’t told about a new product coming in.
“Sorry! It’s a Christmas tradition,” Tina squeaked and ran out the front door to distribute the tickets to the folks still in line.
“You don’t have to,” Chris said, taking a step away from me. “In fact, we probably shouldn’t.”
“It’s fine.” I narrowed my eyes at him and ignored the flutter of excitement that soared within my chest. “Tina’s right. It’s a Christmas tradition.” I took a step closer to Chris. “Close your eyes.”
He looked momentarily shocked that I was agreeing to this and he stuttered over his words before closing his eyes. “Oh… uh, okay.”
I brought my lips close to his ear and whispered, “Just the cheek, though…”
“That’s best,” he said. “We want to keep this professional.”
I backed away. “Okay, I hope you’re ready for me.” I said, and reached for the can of whipped cream, spraying the frothy cream into a dollop on his razor-sharp cheekbone.
