Page 4 of Snowed In With the Snow Queen
“Dangit,” a woman’s voice says from behind the boxes. She’s so bundled up for the weather–huge jacket, hat, gloves, fluffy scarf, the works–it’s impossible to see much of her face. “Ugh. Could you help me?” she asks, but I’m already reaching for the boxes.
Our eyes meet as I straighten up, and I realize the bundled up woman is not some random church lady, but Soojin, the owner of the Korean restaurant that shares the parking lot with the Wild Hare. It’s only been three days since I last saw her, but mystomach still twists in knots at the sight of her. It’s like being fifteen and hormonal all over again.
She sucks in a breath and looks down quickly. “Randy. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
There’s several feet between us, but now that I’ve stopped and paid attention, I can smell everything about her–her perfume, her shampoo, her laundry detergent. For as old as I am, my sense of smell seems to be just as strong as it ever was. Underneath all the artificial scents is the one that makes her unique, the one that drives me crazy every time she’s anywhere near me. It fills my head and lungs, making me dizzy. My fingers itch to touch her, to skim along the side of her face, to feel her soft lips against the pad of my thumb.
“I came to fix the alarm,” is all I can think to say. Of all the things I could say, it’s the absolute lamest. I hold the door open for her and Michelle greets her excitedly.
“Soojin, you’re such a blessing to us,” she says, tearing her eyes away from Eddie for the briefest of moments.
“Where should I put these?” she asks Michelle. The younger woman turns in a circle, taking it all in. She doesn’t say a word as her eyes scan over the stripper poles. Maybe she’s truly serious about not caring.
“You know, I don’t know. I was going to use the DJ’s area to give my sermon, so maybe you can set up chairs in that direction and we can have some tables lined up in the back of that?”
It’s not my job anymore to worry about anything that happens here, but I get the feeling Soojin will be setting up by herself as Michelle and Eddie continue their conversation. Soojin sets her boxes down on the bar. I follow her and watch as she pulls off her scarf, hat, and gloves, her long silky black hair falling across her shoulders.
Now that more of her skin is exposed to the air, her scent sends shivers up and down my spine. My mind wanders and Ifind myself balling my hands into fists as I force myself to keep from reaching out and running my fingers through her hair. The temptation to brush back the strands that have fallen in her face is just too much. I stick my hands in my pockets and look away as she shakes it out and then turns to me. “Would you mind helping me set up?”
I’d do so much more for this woman, if she’d ever shown the slightest interest. Retirement hasn’t changed that.
I nod.
“Of course.” I set the boxes down and follow her to the DJ’s table.
Chapter Three
Soojin
This man, I swear.
Even after all the crap my ex-husband put me through, it seems I’m still a sucker for wolves–or at least I’m a sucker for this one.
He’s supposed to be retired. We all went to the ceremony. Retirement means you stay home or play golf or get a RV and travel. It doesn’t mean you keep showing up back to work.
Here I thought I was finally safe from having to constantly run into Randy. I could finally stop letting him fill my every waking thought with the silly hope that today would be the day he’d make a move.
“I didn’t know you went to church.” Randy says as we head toward the DJ’s stand and start unstacking chairs.
Be calm. He’s just a man, I remind myself as I turn from the chairs I’m unstacking and find him so close I can smell the laundry detergent he washes with. Wolves have insane hearing. Can he hear my heart picking up as his face moves closer to mine? “You assumed I was a heathen?” I deadpan.
He huffs a laugh and rubs the back of his head. “No, I never assume. Just–your hours are pretty brutal. Sunday morning seems like a hard day to make it to services when you’ve spent all night cooking for everybody.”
“It is, but I make it when I can. You don’t come across pastors like Michelle very often.”
At that exact moment, Michelle and Eddie burst into laughter, and our eyes are drawn toward the sound. “A pastor and a demon, though?” he says, shaking his head.
I shrug. “Stranger matchups have happened.”
“While matchups that aren’t strange at all, somehow have never happened,” he mutters under his breath.
I’m speechless for a moment.
The audacity.
I snort dismissively. “I’ve never seen that be a problem for anyone.” I lean close, so my scent can invade his space. His eyes grow wide as I meet his gaze. “Ifsomeonewantedsomethingto happen, they had every opportunity, but they–”
“Sue! Suuuuuuue!” a woman with pink hair calls out from the door. I turn to find a small group of men and women pulling off hats and scarves and gloves just inside the door. The woman hurries over and follows us as we continue to arrange chairs. “Sue, it’s been a while! It’s so good to see you! Who’s your handsome fella?”
