“Zane,” she complains. “Quit fooling around, this isn’t funny.”
I love how our banter is strangely normal, even though I’ve only known this woman for a few hours. “I need those hands in good working order,” I say. “No good leavin’ mittens roamin’ around town when it starts to snow. You heard what my dad said about the storm comin’ in.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“You know, they make those mittens for kids that have the loop between both arms so they don’t get lost. You should pick up a pair.”
She looks like she’s about to give me the finger, but instead, smiles tightly, thinking better of it. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” She turns swiftly, flinging the curtain behind her as she enters the changing room once more.
“You’re welcome,” I call after her.
It’s the second time today I’ve found her mittens, and it’s the second time today my heart skipped a beat when she narrowed those baby blues at me.
Keep it together, hotshot.
Sadie is the shiny new toy in town, that’s all it is. Which reminds me, I’d better warn her about all the guys around here who’ll no doubt hit on her the second she steps foot into one of the bars in town. My watering hole, Whiskey Business, ain’t no place for a lady, but I’m sure Sadie is too much of a snob to show up there in her Manhattan high heels. I smile at the thought. Maybe this holiday won’t be so bad after all.
CHAPTER 14
Sadie
“He said what?” Bailey scrunches her nose up.
“Oh, I know, and that’s not the half of it,” I sniff after recapping this morning’s highlights — hanging out with Zane Lawless and his unwitty comebacks. The man is infuriating. “I think he’s trying to get me to quit before I’ve even proven myself. He’s more of a pill than you gave him credit for.” I leave out the part where I cried. It wasn’t his fault, and he did look apologetic.
“Is he really that bad?” Jo-Beth pipes up. I only just met the pretty redhead, but I committed to Margarita Mondays, so here we are. “I mean, I’ve heard the rumors about him not being able to keep staff because he’s a big grump, but I thought with ski season fast approaching he’d have pulled his head out of his cute ass.”
“I feel bad I got you all the way out here and you want to stab him with your stiletto.” Bailey winces. “Though I’m sure he deserves it.”
“It’s not that he’s rude, he’s just… ugh, I don’t know how to describe it. The man actually held my mittens out of reach soI had to jump to get them off him, his maturity level is non-existent.”
“Jerk,” Bailey mumbles. I can see her cooking up a revenge plot as we speak.
“Wait, he made you jump in the air? Like a childish game?” Jo-Beth looks just as confused as I felt at the time.
I nod sagely. “That’s about the gist of it.”
Her eyes bug out of her head. “Hold up. Zane Lawless joked around with you?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess you could call it that, though the joke was on him, because I got them back. I might not be a six-foot heathen, but I can still jump pretty high.” Bailey high-fives me, because we’re so much more mature.
Jo-Beth slowly nods her head. “I see it now.”
I frown. “See what now?”
“I’ve known Zane for a long time, since we were in kindergarten, and he doesn’t joke around. Likeever.”
Bailey, getting in on the act, makes a face. “Yeah, you’re right, JB. Wait, did he actually smile while he was doing it?”
“I wouldn’t call it a smile,” I huff. “More of a smirk.” I’m not a hundred percent certain Zane knows how to smile.
Bailey and Jo-Beth share a look. “It’s official,” Jo-Beth says. “He’s into you.”
My face goes through four different stages: disbelief, confusion, denial, and then hilarity. “Oh, god, that’s good. You really had me going there,” I laugh, almost choking on my extra-large margarita.
“I’m not kidding,” Jo-Beth goes on, her face serious. “Tell her, Bails, Zane doesn’t have a sense of humor. Kidding around is a foreign concept to him.”
“She’s right.” My best friend shrugs. “We all know he’s a pain in the neck for the most part, but this takes workplace romance to a whole new level.”
