“Finley! Tell us everything!”
Bethany rushes over to join her. “Was it everything you hoped it would be?”
My face flushes. “That and more.”
Maggie lets out an ear-piercing squeal. “Oh, my God, girl! You slept with him!”
My eyes fly wide. “Maggie! Shh! The whole office building’s going to hear you!”
“Tell us everything!” Maggie insists.
“Everything!” Bethany echoes, grinning like a kid on Christmas.
“I don’t think there’s enough time before we open to tell you everything,” I say, laughing. “But let’s just condense it: the first two days were magical, Christmas Eve night and Day were awful, and everything after that was a dream.”
Maggie narrows her eyes. “You never said a word about your Christmas being awful.”
“I didn’t want to worry you, but it all worked out in the end.” I glance around the shop. “How were things here?”
“As I predicted,” Maggie says in a smug tone, “We were slow. Everyone here takes off between Christmas and New Year’s and we handled everything just fine.”
“It’s true,” Bethany says. “So back to you and Alex—was this a holiday fling or an actual relationship?”
Heat creeps up my neck. “We’re definitely going to try to make it work.”
They both squeal and I cringe, laughing. “Why are you both so invested in my love life?”
“Because you deserve good things, girl,” Maggie says. “And if that man has a lick of sense in his head, he’ll make sure this works.”
“Now give us more details!” Bethany demands. “We’ve about fifteen minutes until we open. You can talk while we work.”
So while I set up the espresso machine, I give them the highlights—Christmas caroling, the Christmas market, and how Alex surprised me and took me to a Christmas tree farm to cut down a tree for our room.
“And then Grant showed up, and it all went to hell,” I say, wincing. I tell them how furious he was, how he blamed me for his girlfriend breaking up with him. Then I tell them about Mirna and Barb swooping in to rescue me—renting a cottage across from the square and insisting I stay with them so I can still have my white Christmas. Until Alex showed up in a sleigh like something out of a Hallmark movie.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Maggie demands. “An honest-to-God sleigh?”
“With a horse and everything.” My cheeks heat again. “He asked me to go back to his parents’ house, but I told him I couldn’t—and asked if we could date instead.”
“You went on dates with the man who hired you to pretend to be his girlfriend?” Bethany asks in disbelief. “And he was okay with that?”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “He was.”
The truth is that week was magical. We did go on dates, sometimes all-day long dates that left me so exhausted I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow. He taught me how to ice skate. We made snowmen, went sledding, and even had a snowball fight with his entire family—where I got sweet revenge by accidentally plastering Grant right in the face. We made a gingerbread house that collapsed five minutes after we finished and laughed until we cried.
Things went so well that on December twenty-eighth, Mirna and Barn announced they had to get back to Atlanta. The next morning, I stood on the front porch, waving goodbye as they drove away. I thought I’d feel sad, finding myself alone again, but I wasn’t. I knew they’d come back in a heartbeat if I needed them. Besides, I had Alex. And his family.
After another fun-filled day—complete with visiting Santa and his reindeer—Alex took me to a festival in the square. A live band was playing, and when the music swelled, he held out his hand. He didn’t say a word, just gave me a look I’d become addicted to over the past few days—a slow, mischievous grin.
I took his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. We danced under the twinkling lights while snowflakes drifted down around us. There were people everywhere, but it felt like we were the only two people in the world.
And when Alex took me home that night, I asked him to stay.
And he did.
Last night was the first night I’d been alone since leaving for Hollybrook, and now, back in reality, I’m terrified Alex will change his mind. That he’ll wake up in his real life and realize this was all a mistake.
But minutes before we’re set to open, a knock sounds on the glass door.
