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“Hoss!”
One pair of those shoulders turned and electric blue eyes danced over the boy rushing his way, only to bounce up and to me, too. The skin between my shoulder blades tingled all the way up to the base of my skull. With my hands full, I couldn’t rub the sensation away. I gave Hoss a frown.
“And what have you been up to with Ms. Rae, Bomber?”
“Creed’s here!” The remnants of his cookie wreathed the boy’s mouth as he turned back to take his place at Hoss’ side as the pair made their way back to me. My frown softened at the boy’s enthusiasm. “And he brought Precious Candy. He stopped right in front of the bakery. Didn’t he, Ms. Rae?”
I tilted my head, pretending to consider. “Creed was the loud red one?”
“Precious Candy, fastest car ever!”
Hoss laughed. “A little exaggeration. Creed’s influence, I’m guessing.”
“He said I could come by once he’s set up and he’ll let me sit behind the wheel.”
The boy’s happy enthusiasm soothed my nerves at being so close to Hoss again.
Hoss hiked a hand on his hip and stared down at Timmy. “Weren’t you on clean-up duty?”
Timmy’s eyes widened, the whites of his eyes stark. “Yes, sir.”
“So how’d you come to be keeping company with Ms. Rae, then?”
“Well,” I said, stepping into the line of fire. “Timmy lost his hat.”
The corner of his mouth curled. Not quite a smile, but just the hint of one brought a tingle to my scalp. Or maybe my ponytail was too tight. I couldn’t even check for holding the drinks and snowballs. The man stared down at me, his eyes sparkling, as though he knew the quandary I was in and was just waiting to see how it played out.
Timmy solved the dilemma when he tugged the bakery box from my hand. My attention darted down to him, his gleeful grin easing a little of the tightness from my shoulders.
“And Ms. Camille sent these as bribery, Hoss!”
“Bribery, huh? For stealing my best worker?”
Timmy inhaled a sharp breath and quivered like a puppy on the cusp of exploding into a fit of the zoomies. “I sure am sorry about that, Hoss. I saw Candy and got really excited and then Creed gave me a fist bump. . .”
As the boy’s voice rambled on about meeting his hero and the subsequent loss of his hat and the new one, my gaze drifted over the big man’s expression. His focus on Timmy, his eyes gentle and encouraging as the boy rambled on. Never a hint of impatience or irritation. Something did a little twist in my stomach as I remembered the times I’d come home from school, eager to share my day, only to find my dad slumped in his recliner, his focus a hundred percent on whatever news story blared on the television. Sometimes he’d grunt a response in my direction, but eventually even those disappeared.
I bit my lip, pulling myself out of unwelcome memories and back to the man and boy before me. When Timmy sucked in another breath to go again, I stepped forward and into their line of sight. “Camille sent you those snowballs and here,” I said, holding out the coffee from the drink carrier. “Take this coffee.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Kyle’s fingers brushed mine as he accepted the to-go cup. His eyes flicked over my face, telling me the touch wasn’t accidental. I probably should have worn my mittens. “She sent creamer and sugar and all, too.”
He moved, his big frame suddenly right in front of me, forcing me to look up in order to catch his eyes. “Hold the lid for me, Rae?”
He asked like I had a choice, handing me the cup and setting the lid on the carrier I still held. He dumped in all the sugar packets, ignoring the creamer entirely. “Sweet tooth, huh?”
He had that tilt to his lips again, and my fingers itched to reach up and smooth over the little curve fanning into his cheek. “You know it.”
I played table as he stirred his coffee. At some point in the last thirty seconds, Timmy had wandered away, leaving me at Hoss’ mercy. I swallowed in a suddenly dry mouth.
Once he’d added more sugar than should be legal, he reapplied the lid and took a tentative sip.
“Too sweet?” I asked. Becausereally.
He winked. That same cocky wink he’d delivered last month over Mr. Hillbanger’s shoulder and it did the same thing to my insides that it had then. Sent a wave of warmth from my belly out, filling my limbs all the way to my fingertips until even my lips tingled. He stood close, the carrier I still held up brushing against his bright orange vest.
He pulled the remaining cup from the carrier and then took the carrier from my nerveless fingers. “This one yours?”
