Page 34 of Mistletoe Latte

Emma froze, her back against the door, her arms bulging with possibilities.

With a smile, Nick said, “Follow your heart.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE LUNCH RUSH was dying down when the back door opened. He smelled it first, a heavenly temptation of sugar spiraling in the air. It drew every head in the cafe. Some even staggered to their feet. Nick half expected a few to float like cartoon characters when Emma emerged with a tray.

“What is that?” Sam asked, his life’s work to catalog every potential crime in the county abandoned.

Her cheeks pinked and she hefted the wide tray higher. Poor thing looked about to buckle so Nick swept over to help. He got a hand under while Emma said, “They’re nothing special, just cake donuts. There wasn’t time to let the yeast rise so I tried for these.”

Nick’s fingers glanced against hers as he took the weight of the tray, and she looked over at him. A spot of white had stuck to her cheek. “You’ve got a bit of…” He moved to help wipe it away, forgetting the pile of donuts in his care.

Thank god she had enough sense and caught the tipping tray before all her hard work wound up on the floor.

“Christ, man, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Sam said as he reached over to take a donut.

“These are the cinnamon sugar ones, and those I glazed.” She sounded so proud, that even Nick felt a smile tugging on his lips.

Without pause, Sam snatched up a glazed one and bit down. His eyes rolled back and he sunk into his chair. “I’ve never had anything so good, especially here.”

“Hey.” Nick reached over and caught Sam’s hand before he could snatch up a second. “You’ve got to pay for it.”

Sam blinked slowly and stared behind Nick. “I don’t see them on the menu, which means I don’t have to pay. Them’s the rules.”

“No, it…” Nick realized he was losing this argument fast as the horde abandoned their drinks to pick out a donut. A good two dozen quickly whittled down to nothing but crumbs. “You can only take one.”

“First one’s free, eh? Gotta get ‘em hooked so they keep coming back for more,” Sam jibbed even while reaching for a second. At Nick’s withering glare, he had enough sense to drop back and fiddle with the knobs on his scanner. Though he kept staring forlornly at the tray.

The cafe filled with the sound of happy chewing, every corner echoing with pleased comments. “I can’t believe this,” Nick said in shock, “you shut them all up.”

Emma snickered. “That hadn’t been the plan, but maybe next time I’ll make a peanut butter and jelly donut.”

He too laughed at the idea of the ML twerps all struggling to unstick peanut butter off the roofs of their mouths. Emma slipped the lighter tray to one hand and picked up the last cinnamon sugar donut. “You should try one. See if it was worth the investment.”

Nick already knew it was by the greedy eyes hunting for more. But he was curious, and his stomach growled in hunger. With a smile, he accepted the donut and was about to bite in. Emma placed the empty tray on the counter, only crumbs remaining. “Here.” Nick broke the donut in half and passed her the left side. “So we can both try one.”

She laughed and took the half. Gently, she nibbled a small end, her red lips pressing into the sugary crust. Nick gulped, so enthralled with the cinnamon sugar coating her mouth he forgot about his donut. When Emma darted her tongue out to lick away the sugar, he stuffed the donut in his mouth to keep from doing anything stupid.

God.How did he forget how amazing fresh donuts were? The spongy cake crumbled with the cinnamon and sugar, all of it slipping down his throat. He lost himself in the surprise flavor lurking below. “Is there nutmeg in here?”

“I saw some on a shelf. Is that okay?”

“It’s brilliant. And good. Very good. Think you could make them for tomorrow? Once I add it to the menu.” His comment only caused Sam to hunch closer to his scanner.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, no problem. Maybe I could do pastries as well, if I make the dough tonight.” She rocked back and forth on her heels, causing the light to catch on the white spot.

Without thought, Nick placed his thumb over the spot, and her big brown eyes gazed up at him. The warmth of her skin danced up his, causing the whole of his spine to tingle. It was like plucking a sweater out of the dryer but in a good way. Slowly, he brushed his thumb over the apple of her cheek. It rounded as she smiled. Her lips glistened with a sprinkling of sugar like diamonds.

“You…” The bell jangled, and a cacophony of young voices bounced around the cafe. Nick dropped his hand, revealing her cheek was wiped clean. “You had a bit of flour.”

“Oh.” Emma cupped her palm over where he’d touched her. “Thank you. I should check on the next batch.” Blushing, she picked up the tray and slipped into the back room.

“Yeah, you…next batch?”

Before he could even ask, the Junior League of Explorers not in any way associated with the Boy Scouts stampeded to the counter. “What’ll it…? Oh. Nope. No, thank you.”

“Mister. We’re selling these beautiful Christmas trees,” the head boy who barely fit into the hunter green shorts spoke up. He waved a hand to the kid behind them and, like clockwork, a four-foot pine tree was pulled through the front door and passed hand to hand.

---