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I rub my hands together. We’re back in the chase. “Sounds like that’s it.”
She puts the car into gear, and we speed off toward the next clue—and the end of our adventure together.
ChapterTen
Amelia
“Sorry, Amelia. I have no idea what you’re talking about. A clue? About a book? At a hardware store? This sounds like some kind of trick to me.”
I stare at Harley, wracking my brain for any other person or location in town that could possibly fit the clue.
I’m coming up blank.
Oliver shifts his weight from one foot to the other. He doesn’t say anything, but I wonder if he’s got faith that I’ll figure this out. Or if I’ve hideously embarrassed him by dragging him to the wrong place on my wild goose treasure hunt.
The corner of Harley’s mouth twitches, and before long he’s full-out laughing. He slaps the checkout counter with glee. “Man, you should see y’all’s faces. Thanks for that. It was hilarious.”
Oliver and I trade looks as Harley beams at us. We’re not nearly as amused as he is.
“Harley, can—” I start.
“I’ve got your clue right here, darlin’” he interrupts me and heads toward a shelf behind the counter. He holds the envelope out to me, but when I go to take it, he snatches it away.
He giggles. “Not so fast there, Ms. Taylor. Sadie said anyone on the hunt has been bona fide in love and stamped with approval by her.” He raises his eyebrows and gestures between me and Oliver. “Y’all don’t look so stamped to me, standing there scowling.”
“I didn’t know you needed proof, too,” Amelia says as she crosses her arms in front of her.
Harley shrugs. “I don’t. At least Sadie didn’t say anything about me needing to verify anything. It’s more what you’d call…apersonalinterest.” He eyes Oliver with a head-to-toe look.
Great. Another Cherry Creek resident who’s far too appreciative of Oliver’s looks.
And Harley’s always been interested in everyone else’s love lives. I pull my features out of my supposed scowl and turn adoring eyes on Ollie. “Oh, we’re very much in love.”
“We certainly are.” Oliver puts his arm around me. “So in love I forget to breathe. She has to remind me.”
“Uh-huh.” Harley looks unconvinced. “Y’all walked right under that mistletoe when you came in, and neither of you so much as glanced at it. That to me does not proclaim hearts full of love.” He purses his lips and shoots us a look. I take it for the challenge it is.
I pull both of Oliver’s arms around me. To his credit, he picks up on my cue and wraps me in close, molding me against him. After a beat, he leans down and kisses the top of my head. “We’re very much in love,” he says, his voice low and rough, convincingly hitching on the last word. I beam all my pretend happiness at Harley like I’m on a teeth-whitening commercial, even as I’m wondering why Ollie didn’t lay another showy kiss on me.
“Uh-huh,” Harley says again, folding his arms and leaning his side against the counter.
“Yes. I’ve just been so preoccupied with finding the book for Felicity that I haven’t been thinking about anything else. Believe me, if I’d seen that mistletoe over there, I definitely would have been all over this guy.” I pat Oliver’s chest with the back of my hand. It’s remarkably solid.
“Uh-huh,” he says for the third time. I’m striking out here. Harley’s going to call Sadie and tell her he can’t give us the clue because Oliver and I being a couple is a total fraud.
I glance toward the giant festoons of red velvet ribbon surrounding the perfect dangling branch of mistletoe. “In fact, now that I do see the mistletoe, we’re going to make good use of it, posthaste.”
I raise my eyes to Oliver in a silent plea. He nods to me, and in no time, I’m steering us under the supposedly unmissable mistletoe. I rise on my tiptoes and kiss Oliver for all I’m worth. He’s rigid at first, as if keeping part of himself in reserve, but after a moment, he leans into the kiss. He cups the back of my head with one large hand and the other holds my back as he bends over me.
Lights, music, and fireworks all explode in my body at the same time. The pressure of his lips on mine is tantalizing, perfect. My fingers stroke through his short hair. A satisfied sigh escapes me, and my eyes go wide as I realize I’m having very real physical and emotional reactions to a kiss that’s not supposed to be real. I pull away.
“Love that mistletoe!” I stumble a bit, and Oliver catches me. I just can’t seem to keep my balance around him.
Harley claps wildly. “Okay, I believe you! No one could fake that level of chemistry. Here’s your clue.” He lifts the envelope in our direction. Oliver strides over to the counter with more balance than I have and takes it. Harley rests an elbow on the counter and props his chin in his hand, openly ogling my pretend fiancé.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Superman?” Harley bats his eyes.
“I don’t—” Ollie starts.
