“I warned you.” Liz steps in with a baby wipe and cleans her son’s hands. “Don’t tell him anything you don’t want him to repeat.”
“He asked,” Jonathan mutters defensively, pointedly not meeting my eyes. “What was I going to do, lie?”
Jonathan’s mentioned me to his family? He thinks…I’m pretty? I mean, we’ve kissed each other, so I suppose I knew he found me attractive, but there’s something different about hearing it, about seeing the way he looks at me now, serious and a little shy.
He glances away.
“We’re going to look for a few more books, with clean hands,” Liz says, taking Jack back to the children’s section and leaving the two of us alone. The jazz trio’s rendition of “The Christmas Song” plays softly in the background as Jonathan and I stare at each other.
“He’s really sweet,” I say quietly.
Jonathan throws his nephew a glance and buries his hands in his pockets. “He’s a chaos demon.”
It’s so his humor, so obviously a deflection. I wonder how often dry wit has covered what Jonathan really feels. “You love him. He’s got you wrapped around his finger.”
He glances back my way. “Unreasonably so.”
“Lucky him,” I whisper.
Jonathan’s eyes hold mine. The jazz trio’s music fades as the song ends, leaving a new, weighty silence between us.
But then the upbeat melody of “Ocho Kandelikas” colors the air, and the door opens to a rush of customers, the silence trampled by their arrival.
I’m tying a sparkling silver bow around a recycled paper bag stamped with Bailey’s Bookshop logo when I sense Jonathan behind me, big and warm, smelling like woodsmoke and Christmas trees.
My customer senses him, too, and looks a little intimidated.
“Thank you for your business,” I tell them brightly as I set the receipt inside the bag. “Don’t forget to fill up on a complimentary hot beverage before you head outside, and have a happy holiday!”
I spin around and face the grinch behind me. He’s scowling.
“Turn that frown upside down, Jack Frost.”
His scowl deepens. “Have you stopped since the place opened?”
I scrunch my nose, thinking. “Maybe?”
“Eat.” He sets a chocolate cookie with candy cane chunks on the counter, takes my elbow, and plops me on a stool. “And drink that.” He points to a big cup of ice water.
“Wow.” I’m already chewing the cookie. It tastes like heaven. “This is incredible.”
He pastes on a polite almost-smile for the next customer whose books he’s started ringing up and says over his shoulder, “Cardboard would taste incredible after how long you’ve gone.”
Warmth floods me. “Have you been keeping an eye on me?”
“Absolutely.” He starts scanning the next stack of books. “You’re not passing out and leaving me alone in this glitter-bomb hellscape.”
I snort a laugh. “Ah, c’mon, Frost. It’s not that bad.”
He arches an eyebrow, slipping the customer’s card into the chip reader and throwing me a stern glance. “Drink your water, Gabriella.”
“So bossy,” I mutter into the cup before draining it in one long gulp.
I get a grunt in response.
“There you are!” Eli’s voice comes from right behind me. I spin around and see him, shoulder to shoulder with Luke and June.
“Look at you two,” Luke says, sighing happily as he admires Jonathan and me. “The portrait of professional bliss.”
Jonathan gives his friend a death glare while Eli and I hug hello. Before I can unpack exactly what’s happening, June throws her arms around me next. “The place looks great,” she says.
“Thanks,” I whisper, hugging her back. “Um. So.” I clear my throat as we pull away and throw a thumb over my shoulder. “Don’t dismember him, but this is Jonathan Frost. Jonathan, this is my dear friend, June Li.”
June peers up at him, and it’s quite a journey, seeing as June is 5’2” on a good day and Jonathan’s well over a foot taller than her. She gives him a pursed lip, blank look. “Hm,” she says.
“We have a truce,” I tell her out of the side of my mouth. “Remember?”
Eli sighs. “June. Be nice. It’s the holidays.”
“Bah humbug,” she mutters.
Jonathan arches his eyebrow. “That’s my line.”