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“Delighted to hear it.” With a regal nod, she turned her attention to the couple behind Abigail.
Dismissed, she continued on.
Since Santa was occupied by the scantily clad woman on his lap, she stopped to say hello to Kaylee. “How’s it going?”
She shot a scowl at her boss. “He’s terrible at work. But dealing with him being half-naked and watching people fawn over him, feeding his ego?” She rolled her eyes. “I keep focusing on the fact I get a week of vacation out of putting up with him.”
After giving her friend a quick hug of commiseration, Abigail slowly walked back toward her booth. With every step she told herself she was checking out the dungeon scenes while she had a chance. The truth was, she was looking for Hayes.
Was he still in the bar? Or had he left the Quarter without her knowing?
Not that it mattered. Expecting anything from Hayes would throw her onto an emotional rollercoaster.
When she made it back to the booth, a couple of customers were waiting for her.
Quickly she tied back the flaps and invited the potential patrons inside.
For the next hour and a half, she was kept busy, then business abruptly dropped off.
She recalled the same thing happening last year.
People played for a while after the parade and finished up their last-minute purchases before leaving to go home or out to breakfast.
When other vendors started to close up, she followed suit, placing items into boxes and sealing them shut.
She and Raven planned to meet up tomorrow morning to load the inventory into the company van, but the more Abigail got done, the faster they’d finish tomorrow.
Half an hour later, she sent a text to Raven, letting her know she was heading home and that the event had been a huge success.
Abigail crouched to grab her purse and the cashbox from beneath a table. Then she saw the handle bag with the corset that Hayes had bought her.
His gesture was far too extravagant, and the gift was the kind of thing he should have purchased for a lover, not a woman he didn’t know.
Still, she’d wear it and remember him.
Now that it was close to being time to leave, all she could think about was relaxing at home with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate—most likely spiked. And it would be a blessing to get out of her boots and corset and into a warm bath.
Before leaving any event for the night, Raven always took the precaution of securing the stall by zipping it closed instead of just tying the flaps together. So Abigail grabbed the small ladder they’d used earlier. After opening it up, she climbed onto the first step. Even while standing on tiptoe, she couldn’t quite reach the top of the canvas.
“Let me help you with that.”
Immediately recognizing the mesmerizingly deep voice, she froze.Master Hayes.
“Those boots were meant for a lot of things, but I’m sure climbing isn’t one of them.”
“I… Ah…”Don’t have the courage to turn around and face you. “Thank you, but—”
“The gentleman in me can’t abide seeing a damsel in distress.”
“Thank you. I can manage.” But she couldn’t, and the hasp remained a fraction of an inch out of reach.
“Since you won’t get down…” He moved in closer to slide an arm in front of her for support. Then he pressed himself against her back.
His body was all muscle and hard planes, in contrast to her soft curves. As if they were meant to fit together.
Abigail froze.
He reached over her head to grab the zipper, then drew it downward.
