Beanie.Was Lumberjack actually taking her up on her offer of complimentary gift wrapping? Ruby turned to look at the front of the store, and yes, it was him. She cringed. Anderson was right when he’d said on Saturday that Ruby didn’t usually care what people thought of her. But this guy had gotten under her skin more than most.
“I owe him a favor.” Exhaling, Ruby headed to the man, the click of her red boots reverberating over the worn wood floors in the store. She put on her best retail smile. “So wonderful to see you again! Are you here for some gift wrapping?”
The guy narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you wearing novelty Christmas ornament earrings?”
Ruby shook her head, smiling. “No, I’m wearingdesignerChristmas ornament earrings. From Milan.” She’d been wearing Christmas earrings the day they met, too, but her shoulder-length hair had been down in loose waves then. Now with her hair slicked back in a tidy ponytail, the earrings were more visible.
The guy literally scoffed at that. “What’s the point of expensive jewelry you can only wear a few weeks a year?”
Ruby sighed. If he didn’t like Christmas, why come into a holiday store? This was easily the Grinchiest person in the Winter Market. It was a shame, because in the soft lighting of the store, the man was even more attractive than he’d been outside on Friday. He was dressed similarly—in jeans and a thick, lined denim jacket. Instead of a flannel, though, today he had a dark green sweatshirt under the jacket. His blue beanie was still pulled down low, and his smooth skin still practically glowed. Ruby agreed with Jenisha—she wasn’t a fan of the knit beanie. She hated that neck-beard incels had ruined fedoras and trilbies for the rest of society, because this guy’s classically handsome features would look great in a fedora. Like a Brown Clive Owen.
Ugh. Ruby needed to stop giving cute men makeovers in her head. After her last few relationships, she should know that fixer-uppers werenotworth it.
She gestured to the white canvas tote bag he was carrying. “So, do you have something for me to wrap?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’m terrible at gift wrapping. I didn’t know there were places where someone would wrap things for you.”
Ruby smiled and motioned him over to the gift-wrap counter. “Let’s see what you have.”
When they got to the counter, he pulled four books out of his tote bag. “They can all be wrapped together,” he said. “And Iwillpay.”
“Nonsense!” Ruby said. “It’s on me. This is repaying a favor, isn’t it?” Upper management didn’t mind if Ruby comped gift wrapping for some customers, because they knew that the more time someone spent in this curated space, the more likely they would open their wallets. That’s why there were so many impulse buys near the gift-wrap station, like fragrance sets and leather gloves.
Ruby looked at the four books he’d placed on the white marble counter: two popular book-club fiction titles and two children’s picture books. She doubted very much they were all for the same person—unless the person equally loved Fancy Nancy and Reese’s Book Club picks. She pointed to the wrapping paper samples on the counter. “Do you have a paper preference? Reid’s signature colors this season are warm burgundy and rich cream, but we also have more traditional holiday colors… royal blue, rose gold, antique silver—”
The man frowned. “Aren’t Christmas colors red and green?”
“Reid’s selects a signature color story every year.” She pointed out the glossy cream wrapping paper and the deep burgundy satin ribbon. “Soft neutrals with jewel tones are on trend this season. But if you’d prefer—”
“They’re not Christmas gifts, though.” His brow was furrowed. “I don’t need Christmas paper.”
“That’s why Reid’s signature colors are perfect. They’remore aboutseasonalitythan a traditional holiday look.” She glanced at the books. “I’m sure she would love this palate.”
He tilted his head. “How do you know these are for a woman?”
Ruby smiled. “Apologies for making assumptions. So, the rich cream, then?”
“Why do you call colors two words?” He pointed at the paper samples. “Rosegold,richcream,warmburgundy… Why can’t you just say pink, beige, or red?”
“Because this is rose gold, not pink.” She flashed a winsome smile.
He harrumphed at that. This guy was a literal caricature of a grumpy Christmas hater. He was so on the nose that Ruby wondered if she was being filmed for some sort of YouTube prank. But she couldn’t deny that she was egging him on a bit. He was too easy to tease, and she found that she liked the look of his confused head tilt, as well as his brows furrowed in annoyance. But she should be kinder. She couldn’t forget that he had done her a major favor by carrying her tree to her building Friday.
“How about thispurple?” she asked. The deep eggplant would work for all genders, and although she thought it was perfectly appropriate for the holiday season, she assumed he wouldn’t find it too Christmassy.
He nodded. “For the adult books. Pink for the kids’ books.”
Ruby turned to the rolls of paper on dispensers behind her and pulled out a piece of eggplant paper large enough to wrap the two adult books together. She centered the books in the middle and started folding one side of paper up to meet the center of the books. After folding the other side of the paper tomeet the first, she pressed the creases crisp with her fingernails, then taped it.
“Why are you wrapping it like that?”
Ruby forced a smile while exhaling. What could he possibly have a problem with now? This was literally the standard way of wrapping presents. She wasn’t doing any of those fancy Instagram origami wrapping techniques. “Like what?”
He pointed at the paper. “You folded the tape under itself.”
“Oh, this is gift wrapping the Reid’s way. No visible tape makes for a cleaner look.” He still looked annoyed, so she added, “It’s company policy.”
He didn’t say anything to that and silently watched Ruby finish wrapping the adult books. Who was all this for, anyway? Wife and kid? He wasn’t wearing a ring—it was a habit to check whenever a man came into the store, so she’d know what to show him. Married men tended to buy robes, pajamas, or skin care sets, while unmarried men bought sexier lingerie or fragrances. This man seemed too surly to have a wife and daughter. But what did she know—it was possible he’d found a partner as grumpy as he was. Or it was possible that his grumpiness was only for the outside world, and he treated his family much better.
