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Cara smirked, then looked down at Mia. “What if we ask Lila first? I don’t want her to feel bad.”
“I’m very happy to give you my ticket,” Lila said.
Apparently she’d walked into the store, too.
The shop owner was probably going to be disappointed not to be selling a lot of books with all these customers.
Lila unwrapped the peach knit scarf about her neck, then unzipped her coat a few inches. “Boy, it’s cold, and I could use a few minutes of warming up.”
“Customers only,” a gravelly voice said from the front desk.
Cara glanced over at the shop owner. “Right,” she said in a cheerful tone. “We’ll be buying something shortly.” She picked up the fairy book again and showed it to Mia. “I thought about buying this for you as an early Christmas present. I could read it to you if you’d like.”
Mia’s eyes widened. “I love that book! I checked it out from the school library once, but had to return it.”
“Oh, should we get another one in the series?”
In the next few minutes, with Lila wandering the aisles, and Roman leaning against a bookcase watching them, Cara and Mia decided to buy three in the series. One that Mia had already read and loved, and the other two newer.
Mia headed over to a corner with a Lego table set up.
“I can pay,” Roman said as Cara walked to the front desk, books in hand. “I don’t think you bargained for buying three books instead of one.”
Cara looked over at him. His dark hair waved against the deep brown of his jacket, and his plaid scarf only completed the look of some guy modeling for a catalog. “They’re five dollars each. I’m happy to grab all three. Besides, I wanted to get Mia something anyway.”
Roman’s eyes didn’t leave hers as they waited for the shopkeeper to scan the books. He was staring. Openly.
“What?” she finally said.
“You’re remarkable.”
Cara tilted her head. “It’s not a big deal, Roman. Mia’s been my buddy, and well, buying her a gift is just as fun for me to do as it is for her to receive. Win-win.”
“You’re still remarkable.”
“That will be seventeen-twenty,” the shopkeeper said.
Cara pulled out her debit card. After she paid, she took the sack of books, then smiled up at Roman. “Be prepared for a lot of fairy talk around the house.”
He chuckled.
And as they wove their way through the book aisles toward the kids’ corner, Cara walking in front, she was very aware of Roman’s gaze upon her. He wasn’t making it easy not to have a crush on him.
“You got them?” Mia said as soon as she spotted her. “Can I hold them?”
Cara laughed. “You can hold them if you want, or I can keep them in my bag for the wagon ride.”
“Okay, you keep them,” Mia said simply.
Cara put the sack of books into her bag, and the three of them headed out into the frosty cold. The air was like a hard slap to Cara’s face, and her eyes watered. Her toes were so going to hate her—they’d just started to thaw, and now, more torture.
There was a line of people at the wagon ride pickup, and a couple of the crew were among them. None of the actors. Cara had seen some of them ice skating. She didn’t know where Stacy was at the moment, and it was probably a good thing.
The wagon ride would have been even colder with her on it.
“Sit by me,” Mia said as they neared the wagon.
“Of course.” Cara reached for the little girl’s hand without thinking. She paused, though, and looked over at Roman. Was she overstepping?
