AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah.” I stepped away. “So I’ll let you get back to…groomsman duties.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m all caught up with those. I’m free. I was prepared to spend the whole rest of the day and night on bodyguard duties.”
“And the dress was well and truly protected—so that’s all done. You can go enjoy your free time.”
“More than the dress needed protecting—I’m your bodyguard too, remember. Here, we’ll share a cab.” He stepped into the street and waved his hand. I didn’t see a cab, but he’d probably draw one on charisma alone.
“If we were going to pay for a cab, we should’ve done that on the ride here with the dress. Then I wouldn’t have needed a bodyguard.”
He shook his head. “See, there you go trying to put me out of work.” He smiled, showing his dimples, and that warm tingling in my belly made my brain broadcast a danger signal—get away, get away, get awaynow. Warm feelings involving Josh only ended in heartbreak.
“Hot chocolate!” he called after me. “I bet you could use a cup.”
The words floated over like steam tendrils curling from a mug of, well, hot chocolate. I stopped and turned around, my resolve melting. “Hot chocolate?”
He smiled, a light coming into his eyes at my obvious interest. “Yeah. You know. Sweet, rich, chocolatey.” He put his hands in his pockets and stepped off the curb, closing the distance between us. “Tradition, remember? Christmastime and hot chocolate. Your favorite.”
Oh, it was. Just the idea of a cup of hot chocolate warmed me up from the inside. My belly rumbled with anticipated joy. Still, I hesitated. The price tag on this hot chocolate was prolonged time spent in Josh’s company. Danger signs flashed in my brain.
“Well?” He lifted an eyebrow and stuck an elbow out as if offering his arm.
I didn’t take it. “Do you even know where to get good hot chocolate here?”
His smile stretched wide. “I really do.”
I sighed, feeling myself give in to more than just the beverage. “Okay, then. For the hot chocolate.”
“To the hot chocolate.”
Ten minutes later we were seated at a round bistro table at Serendipity3 studying the large black-and-white menus of the iconic NYC restaurant.
“But the hot chocolate here is frozen,” I said, my words frosted with disappointment.
“Not all of it.” He pulled his chair closer to mine and pointed to the lower right of his menu. “Look. Here’s a whole section devoted tohothot chocolate. You can even get it spiked.”
I set my menu down. “Just the hot chocolate. It’s perfect on its own.”
He placed his menu on the table. “Whatever you want.”
I nodded and folded my arms. “That’s what I want.” If only he’d always been this accommodating.
When the busy waitress paused at our table, I ordered a plainhothot chocolate and glanced at Josh, expecting him to do the same.
“I’d like thefrozenhot salted caramel chocolate, please.”
The waitress nodded and ran off to place our order.
“Frozen?” My eyes darted to him in a look that contained plenty of judgment. “It’s freezing outside. The whole point of hot chocolate is to fortify oneself against the cold.”
“I like to try new things. Start new beginnings.” He tried to meet my eyes, but my gaze drifted to the table. “Besides,frozenhot chocolate is their specialty. I’m not going to settle for a subpar beverage. And I don’t mind a little chill in a chilly atmosphere. I’m persistent.”
I felt the weight of his attention. Yes, I was chilly, but he’d made me this way. Persistence was futile. “If the atmosphere’s so chilly, then why are we here?” My eyes rested on him for a second before glancing away to take in the colorful paraphernalia on the wall behind his head. Nervousness stirred in my core. I didn’t want to dig beneath our surface conversation.
The corners of his lips turned down. “I guess I’m just hoping for the thaw.”
My breath caught, and I coughed to cover it up. I didn’t want him to hope for a thaw. I didn’t want him to hope for anything. I certainly didn’t want to hope for anything. Hoping hurt.
The waitress delivered Josh’s frozen hot chocolate and my hot one. I took a sip and immediately burned my tongue. “Ow.”
