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She smiled at him, her face luminous in the bright wintry light. “I’m glad. Snowy Pine Ridge can have that effect on people.”
He approached her and handed her a dart, but when she reached up to take it out of his hand, he didn’t let go right away. Her brown eyes darted up to his, and he grinned at her.
“It isn’t just this place,” he said pointedly, and when a blush crept into Colette’s lovely cheeks, his heart stuttered in his chest.
He motioned for her to throw hers, then stood behind her and watched. Her throw was a little wide, but she managed to clip the balloon she was aiming for, and Zach nodded in approval.
“How about you let me take you to the arcade tomorrow?” he began, lining himself up to take his shot. “There’s one at the ice-skating rink, right?”
“There is,” she replied, and he could hear the smile in her voice as his dart went sailing through the air toward the canvas, sending out a spray of orange as it popped a balloon.
He glanced at her. “Perfect. So what do you say?”
“I say…” She brought her thumb and forefinger to her chin in an exaggerated expression of pretending to think. He rolled his eyes at her and laughed. “Yes.” Her smile pulled up higher. “That sounds lovely. But there’s one condition.”
“What’s the condition?” he asked.
Rather than answering right away, she stepped forward and picked up one of the darts. Colette took up the stance he had shown her, and it was better this time than on her previous two throws. Actually, it wasmuchbetter than someone who had only thrown a dart three times. And as she flicked her wrist in a snap, sending the dart flying with absolute perfect precision, hitting the balloon perfectly in the middle, Zach realized that he’d been played. She was a ringer!
Colette turned her gaze back to him, a teasing smile transforming her face so beautifully that it stole his breath away.
“Promise not to get mad when you lose.”
CHAPTERNINETEEN
A snowflake landed directly on Sarah’s eyelash, making her blink as another one came down to land on her nose. She swiped a mittened hand toward her face, trying to clear the tiny white flurries that were falling all around her, but it was no use. She arrived at her destination, her heart hammering wildly as she tried to steel herself for what she knew was about to come, before pulling open the door and striding inside Baking Fiend.
The smell of cinnamon, apples, chocolate, and a pleasant mix of other scents rose up to greet her as she breathed in deep. It didn’t matter where it occurred, Sarah would always find a way to enjoy the smell of sweets in the air.
Mindy stood behind the counter, her blonde corkscrew curls pinned back with little bows as she smiled at the customer she was helping. Sarah hated to admit that the bows were very cute and matched so well with the woman’s bright blue pleated pants and polka dot button up shirt. Mindy had a style all her own, but she managed to pull off her brightly colored, quirky outfits every time.
When Mindy finished helping the customer, her gaze moved to Sarah, and a look of shock crossed her face before she quickly schooled her expression into one of confident disinterest.
Sarah, trying her best to not immediately get off on the wrong foot, gave the woman a small wave as she approached the counter.
“Sarah,” Mindy greeted as she approached. “So nice to see you. Did you finally come in to check out a bit of the competition?”
She waved her hands in a wide, open gesture to indicate the bakery and the beautiful display cases. Just like during her initial visit, Sarah eyed the treats that were up for sale and found a small pang of jealousy winding its way through her. Was it all in her head, or were the details of the treats being offered even more delicate and beautiful than the last time? Is this the kind of stuff that people learned in pastry school?
She tried her best not to let her anxiety show as she gave Mindy a quick shake of her head. “No. I’ve… I’ve actually been in before.”
Mindy’s face lit with interest, and her brown eyes sparkled. “Is that so? Why didn’t I see you?”
“I just popped in for a minute to—how did you say it? Scope out the competition?”
Sarah gave Mindy a smile that she hoped appeared friendly, but when the other woman’s eyes flashed for a second, she thought that maybe she hadn’t succeeded.
She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Anyway, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to pop in with a little proposition for you.”
“Proposition?” the other woman echoed, and Sarah nodded.
“I’m helping out with the town’s annual Christmas party at St. Nick’s Place this year, and I think it would be a wonderful idea for us to have a baking competition, as the two bakery owners in town.”
The last few words left her in a rush, and Sarah’s palms began to sweat a little. She had been so confident when she had first come up with the idea—with William’s help—but now she was beginning to second-guess herself.
Her heart was beating so hard against her rib cage she thought that it would pop out of her chest and land right in front of them on the counter, and a sudden rush of heat swept through her. Mindy was looking at her with amusement lighting her dark eyes, and Sarah found it hard to tell exactly what the other woman was thinking as they regarded each other.
“Hm, interesting. And what exactly would this competition entail?” Mindy asked, lifting her chin a little.
