Page 5 of Snowed In With the Snow Queen
I can’t, for the life of me, remember her name. It doesn’t matter, she’s not here to talk to me. She turns her back to me before I can answer, sticking out a hand for Randy to shake. He takes a step back before he shakes it. “I’m Randy Lamar–”
“He’s just a friend, Jessica,” I blurt out as I remember her name. “He used to own this place, but he’s retired now. His nephews run it now.”
“Oh.” Her face lights up. “I don’t see a ring on your hand! Are you single, by any chance, Mr. Lamar?” Jessica’s voice takeson this annoying sing-song quality that makes me cringe with second-hand embarrassment and, if I’m honest, something akin to jealousy. “We have a big singles group that could definitely use some more men.”
Randy looks at me, amusement in his eyes. We may not have ever gotten together, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting the church ladies have him. Without thinking, I step between him and Jessica. “He’s not interested in church. He’s an atheist. He hates religion and everything about it.”
Jessica looks equal parts shocked and confused as I grab Randy’s arm and drag him away to the bar.
“So I’m an atheist?” He grins, resting his hand over top of the one I have on his arm. His hand is warm and distracting, and I’m tempted to look down at it, but I refuse to admit I’m affected by something as simple as the touch of his hand. “I never remember getting a chance to sit down and chat with you about religion or much of anything.”
“Jessica runs the singles group. You don’t want to get stuck in it. It’s just a bunch of thirsty, middle-aged–”
“That might be kinda fun, actually,” he teases.
I give him a dark look and pull my hand out from underneath his, turning away and pretending to be incredibly interested in setting the boxes of donuts out. He moves to the opposite end of the bar and works his way toward me. Michelle moves up to the DJ’s area and takes the microphone as the chairs we’ve set out fill up.
We meet in the middle, and if I’m just a little overly aggressive with the last donut box, it’s mostly because I’m mad at myself. I’m a big girl. It’s not like I couldn’t have asked him out myself over the past year, but now it feels too late, like asking the neighbor you’ve lived next to for years what their name is. Still, if he’d ever been clear, if it had ever been more than just flirting…
“If we never got to sit down and talk about anything, it’s because you never asked,” I say softly before walking away. I take the last open seat in the very front between Terry, who’s sitting with his husband, and Jocelyn, one of the vet techs at Campbell’s Clinic.
It’s not brave at all, but I know he heard me. I spent years of my life as a young woman biting my tongue, knowing that wolves could hear every mutter and whisper.
I force myself to sit up straight and stare straight ahead during the singing and announcements. It’s only during the morning greeting when Michelle encourages us to stand and greet those around us that I dare to sneak a look at the back. Randy’s still hanging around, standing awkwardly in the back with Eddie. His eyes seek mine. I should meet them, challenge them.
But I don’t. I’m such a chicken.
I drop my eyes to the floor immediately, as if I’m still a twenty-five year old Luna standing in front of her disdainful Alpha and not a forty-five year old woman who can stand on her own.
Wolves…I swear. I should learn to just leave well enough alone.
Chapter Four
Randy
The service seems to go on forever. I decide maybe Soojin is right, maybe I am an atheist. I have no patience for it. They sing, a man comes up to make announcements, there’s more singing. Another person comes up to talk about Christmas services, then finally Michelle takes the mic. Eddie straightens up and watches as she speaks, his eyes never flickering from her once. They’re singing again when my oldest nephew, Zach, wanders in.
“Whatcha doing here, old man? We missed you at dinner last night. Mom’s worried about you out at that old cabin all by yourself.”
I wave him off. “I’m fine, just here to help them shut off the alarm.”
He grins. “And you stayed for church?”
“Soojin’s here,” Eddie says, his eyes never straying from Michelle.
Zach chuckles. “Ah, there it is. Hey, since you’re here, can you look at the spreadsheets for inventory? It’s been giving me some trouble.”
Things don’t seem to be wrapping up anytime soon. “Yeah, sure.”
I follow him back to the office and get caught up in the mess that he’s made of the inventory spreadsheets. The pack has two new babies–they can’t afford to have things go to shit with new mouths to feed. My nephews are solid businessmen, but they’re still so new to everything. I can’t let them fail this early on. I spend the next hour caught up in trying to fix things and don’t even realize the time until Zach’s asking if I want him to grab me lunch.
“No, I’ve got to catch Soojin,” I tell him.
Out in the club, there’s only a few people left hanging around talking to Michelle. None of them are Soojin.
“Have you seen Soojin?” I ask Eddie as I step outside.
“She left a bit ago. She had a bunch of old ladies in her car. I think she was giving them a ride home.”
