Page 23 of Mistlefoe
Her teeth scrape against her lower lip and it occurs to me that right now, her lips must taste of Christmas—sugar, cinnamon, and hot chocolate.
I must’ve lost my mind somewhere along the way.
Shaking my head heard, I shift my focus away from her and onto the merchant stands. There’s one with themed jewelry that looks like something out of a high end store. Then one with illustrations depicting realistic nativity scenes and snowy houses decked in decorations. I take pictures of some oversized gingerbread cookies that would take a whole family to eat, and in that process I lose track of my coworker.
I spot her a moment later chatting with an old man dressed in full Santa outfit, who seems to be trying to push an elf on the shelf on her.
“Um, thank you, but I really am just looking.”
The man shifts his attention to me once I join them. “How about you, young man? Would you adopt one of my children?”
From the corner of my right eye, Sierra gives me a warning look. I put my hand on her shoulder to steer her away. “Sorry, I was just looking for her.”
“A young couple such as yourselves should adopt one of these elves, so you’re ready for when you have children of your own.”
What the—My brain glitches and I say, “We’re not a couple, she’s my sister.”
“Oh.” Santa-look-alike drops his jaw.
“Haha, see ya!” Sierra all but runs away and when we’re a few paces away, she hisses at me. “Your sister? Excuse me, but we couldn’t look less alike.”
“I know but it worked. He was so shocked that he couldn’t keep peddling his creepy little creations.” I grin.
She twists her lip in a grouchy way. “Good point. Maybe we should dress as creepy elves for the party so everyone leaves us alone.”
“Damn, that’s a solid idea.” I trail behind her and mull it over for another moment. “Actually, we should have a ridiculous but very festive dress code for the whole thing.”
“Like, we dressed like elves and Richard as Santa because we’re his minions?”
I snort a laugh. “That’d be great if we can convince him.”
“I’m sure that if you pitch it, he’ll be—Stop!”
I freeze.
Sierra’s eyes are wide as saucers and she puts both hands up as a barrier, even though one still carries a steaming cup and the other one a half eaten churro.
“What?” I whisper, looking down at myself to find something offensive.
“Don’t move a single step.”
“Sierra, what? You’re freaking me out.”
She swallows hard and slowly looks up.
I do the same and find a big sprig of mistletoe hanging right above her.
“Oh.” I relax.
“Don’t you dare take one more step, Mahoney.”
I take out another churro from my pouch and dip it in my chocolate. “And why’s that, Fernandez?”
“Don’t play games, you know why. There’s no way I’m going to?—”
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Someone shrieks off to my left. I turn and it’s the same chick in the sexy outfit from earlier. She’s looking at us like we’re the most entertaining thing that’s happened all day.
“Shush, you.” Sierra casts a mean glare her way and the woman smiles sweetly. But then my coworker sets her laser beams on me again. “And you, stay where you are. I’m going to walk away carefully and then that way neither of us will have a chance of standing under this cursed plant at the same time.”
