Page 56 of Mistletoe Latte

“But…?” Emma started to argue when Nick popped up. The apron only hid away the edge of his nipples, leaving his shoulders, the sides of his chest, and whole back exposed. Gathering up their lost clothing in her arms, she tried to push Nick’s pants at him, but he was too focused on the interloper. Emma skittered on her knees for the employee door, well aware there was a gap between it and the counter where anyone could see her.

“Sam,” Nick said, his voice dropping. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting a cup of joe,” the old man said. “Found these fools out in the snow.”

Oh, god.A gaggle of people quietly took umbrage with being labeled fools.

“The sign said we’re closed,” Nick explained. He sidled to the side, bent down, and hefted up a huge box from behind the counter. It blocked any side views of Emma. For only a second, he looked back at her and nodded. This was her one shot.

“Tried the door, it wasn’t locked. So I’ll take my usual and at least three of those lovely lady’s donuts, if you please.”

Crud. Emma pushed on the employee door, opening it as much as she needed to slip in. After she vanished without anyone crying out or hooting, she stopped directly inside and peered back out.

Nick rang Sam up and began to turn around to start up the coffee machine when the whole of his nude back turned beet red. With exaggerated movements, he stomped backward, never turning to show his naked derriere to the customers. Though, Emma got to enjoy one last look before she raced to the backroom. Thank god she’d left her luggage here. She changed as quickly as possible and combed through her gnarled hair with her fingers. After tying her apron on, she stuffed her ponytail into the hat and joined Nick at the front.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she called cheerfully to hide away any panic.

“The lady of the hour! Here I feared the grouch had chased you off.”

Nick stared sheepishly over his shoulder at her. As he caught her eye, his embarrassed frown softened to a tender smile. Emma placed a hand on his shoulder and helped to guide him to the employee door. “Why don’t I take care of them while you…check on the fryer? It’s been acting up.”

“Sounds good.” Nick eased around her, his naked ass gliding across her belly as he went. She couldn’t help herself and dropped her hand to cup the passing skin. He jerked in shock and slapped a hand to the front of the apron. With a wider stance, Nick took two steps, then dashed for the back room. No doubt he’d find his clothing in the storage room and hopefully no one would ask why it was the same thing he wore yesterday.

“Who’s next?” Emma asked, trying to get into the swing of things. She managed to ring up and start the next person’s praline mocha before Nick barreled through the door.

“I forgot to pick up Skylar!” he shouted, rushing past the customers. “You got this?”

“She’s fine, you worrywart,” Sam spoke for her.

Even with the regular’s assurance, Nick stopped and gazed back. Emma gave him a little nod, and he dashed out the door straight into the snow without a coat on. A little chuckle grew in Emma’s chest at how frantic he was, but she couldn’t deny how adorable it was either.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” One of the older ladies approached the counter, her face knotted in concern.

“Yes?”

“I found this on the floor.” With care, she laid Emma’s black bra on the counter.

HOLY SHIT IT’S cold.Nick stomped straight into a snow pile, the frozen slush winding up in his jeans and shocking his calves. Sure enough, at that moment the town’s only plow rolled past shoving all the street snow onto the sidewalk for the shop owners to deal with. He gritted his teeth and was about to raise a middle finger in a wave, but he shook it off. Even with a crick in his back and snow in his socks, his good mood couldn’t be broken.

Of course, there was a damn good chance his bare ass would be the talk of church tomorrow, but that was a problem for another day. Skylar’s last message came in a half-hour ago and was just the word, “Now.” That couldn’t be good. Nick checked his phone one last time, making certain nothing changed, and he barreled ahead…

“Ah, shit!” He nearly walked straight into Mrs. Wilkins who had his niece in tow. “Sorry.” A blush burned on his cheeks as he realized he almost plowed face-first into her chest range. To his surprise, she didn’t step away in horror but moved closer.

“Nick.”

“I was just coming to get her. Skylar?”

“What?”

Pink covered the bottom quarter of her hair, but Nick didn’t have the wherewithal to turn that into a fight. She had an arm wrapped around Abby’s, the two chittering together. At least she had her backpack on, so maybe there’d been some studying in between the surprise slumber party. Girls did that, right?

“Get to the cafe and clock in.”

Skylar groaned. “But it’s Saturday.”

“I know, which means school won’t interfere with you making up your missed shift.” He tried using authority, but the lip on her wasn’t budging. May as well try a different tactic. “Thanks to the blizzard it was a late start, and Emma could use your help.”

Her eyes opened wide, then that know-it-all teenage grin took over. “So she didn’t leave.” Skylar turned to her friend and they both giggled.

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