Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“That’s all I need.” I don’t take my eyes off Ariadne. “Is there something wrong, miss?”
She finally looks at me. “Something is definitely wrong!”
I do my best to keep my face neutral, but it’s difficult when she is doing her best to make me smile. Does she know how cute she looks when she’s all worked up? Pink cheeks, angry eyes, and a racing heart I can see in the pulse at her throat. She wants to rip me apart. I want to spread her.
“Can I help?” I maintain my innocent tone.
“Help?” She rolls her eyes. “Can you help me? Are you kidding? Is this your stand-up routine? Are we being filmed for some new season of ‘Punk’d’? Where’s that jerk Ashton Kutcher? Hiding in the paint aisle with his camera crew?”
“Do I need to call someone?” Carl looks at her apprehensively.
She erupts. “Call the police, and tell them Satan Claus has stolen Christmas!”
I finally break, a laugh rolling out of me at ‘Satan Claus.’ Is that what she calls me? I love it, actually. I already knew I’d gotten under her skin, but a special nickname is the cherry on top.
“I’m done here.” She turns to storm off.
I step toward her. “Hang on, miss.”
Whirling, she points a finger at me. “Don’t you ‘miss’ me. You know who I am!”
“I do? Have we met?” I adopt a curious expression.
She chews her lip. “Well, no.”
“I’m Brendan.” I hold out my hand.
She frowns at it.
“I can call someone.” Carl’s hand hovers over the receiver to the store telephone.
“It’s all right, Carl.” I wave him away. “Just ring me up.”
“Sure thing.” He shoots Ariadne one more glance and starts scanning the lights.
“My hand’s getting kind of lonely.” I waggle my fingers.
She stares for a while longer, the beep of the scanner going off at regular intervals. I think she’s going to leave me hanging, but she finally puts her hand in mine.
“I’m Ariadne.” She shakes with efficiency, though I sneak in a stroke of the back of her hand with my thumb.
Soft. Just as soft as I’ve always thought it would be.
“I’m going.” She gives her head a swift shake.
“You’re here for some lights?” I point at the counter.
“Not just ‘some’ lights.” She crosses her arms over her stomach and looks up at me with defiance. “You know full well I want the lights you stole out from under me.”
“Stole?” I lean on the counter. “I special ordered these and had Carl set the stock back a while ago, didn’t I, Carl?”
“Yes, sir, you sure did.” He nods.
“But—” I shrug. “I’m pretty sure I’ve over-bought. My house isn’t big enough for all these lights. I live over on Oak Lane. Do you know it?”
“Of course I know it. I live across the street from you, as you are well aware,” she snipes.
“Oh.” I nod, still trying for that Oscar. “Yeah, it’s coming back to me now. You’re two houses down in the Craftsman-style with the big tree on the corner. That’s a great hou—”
“You know full well I live across the street from you.” She’s on the verge of blowing up.
I shouldn’t keep pushing her, but she’s so adorable right now I can’t seem to stop. “Oh, so you live across the street. Whoops.” Then I cock my head to the side. “Funny, I thought some sort of cat lady lived there.”
Her eyes widen, but I continue before she can retort, “Good to finally meet you, Ariadne. As I was saying, I bought too many icicle lights, and I’m happy to share with you, if you’re interested.”
“Well, isn’t that convenient? So convenient that you bought the exact lights I need to perfect my holiday display.” She glowers, her lips pursing, but she doesn’t storm away. Instead, she keeps stealing looks at the pile of lights.
“I guess it’s convenient?” I give her what I hope is a disarming smile. “After all, I’ve been hoping to meet you for quite some time, so this is pretty serendipitous.”
“Big words aren’t going to save you. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about my box of busted lights? The one that fell in my garage, would you?”
Carl clears his throat, then gives me the total.
I swipe my card. “They fell and broke? That’s terrible. I lost some of mine the same way over the summer.” I don’t exactly lie. I just turn her question into a question.
She points to the card machine. “You just paid for all of them. Right after you said you’d share.”
“I will.” I scoop up the boxes in my arms.
Her gaze goes to my biceps, and I add a little extra flex. Vain? A bit, but I work out with her in mind.
“Come on. I’ll take you to breakfast, and then we can go back to our street and divvy these up.” I head toward the doors, a frigid blast of air whooshing inside when they automatically part.