Reed’s brows rose.“Where are you going?Don’t tell me you’re tired.Your internal clock is an hour behind the rest of us.”
“It’s not that,” Brad said.“I’ve got some emails to respond to.”
Reed rolled his eyes.“I thought we talked about lightening up on our workloads, including no work on the weekend.”
“But technically this isn’t the weekend yet.”Brad sent his partner a grin.
Reed rolled his eyes.“It’s Friday evening.It’s the same difference.”With a sigh, he said, “I can’t stop you, but I hope you know that tomorrow, you’re off the clock.”
Brad’s gaze skirted to Abby before returning to Reed.“Agreed.”
That seemed to get Reed to relax and smile again.
Brad said goodnight to all of the people he’d just met.He had no doubt with this being a small town that he’d be seeing each of them again before he caught his plane back to Chicago.
By the time he turned to leave, he noticed Abby had already left.He took long, quick strides to the exit.He pushed the door open and stepped outside.
He looked one way and then the other.Then he spotted her.“Abby!Wait up.”
He took hurried steps to catch up to her.Lucky for him, he didn’t step on any ice.She stopped beneath a street lamp that was decorated with festive red ribbons and colorful ornaments.
When he reached her, he said, “Hey, I just wanted to say that you don’t have to show me around town.”
She arched a brow.“Why not?”
He thought that was perfectly obvious.“You don’t want to spend time with me any more than I want to spend the day with you.So, why bother?”
She crossed her arms and frowned at him.“Because I made a promise to my friends that I would show you around, and I intend to keep my word.Shall we meet at the coffeeshop at say ten?”She didn’t wait for his response as she rushed on.“If you don’t show up, well, there’s nothing I can do about it.I’ll either see you tomorrow morning or I won’t.”
Before he could say anything, she turned and walked away.It would have been so easy for her to bail on their proposed guided tour.And yet, even though she disliked him, she was willing to spend part of the day with him because her friend had asked her to do it.In that moment, she’d earned his respect.
Chapter Five
Sheshouldn’thaveagreed.
The next morning, Abby yawned.She’d had a hard time going to sleep the night before.Every time she closed her eyes, she’d envisioned Mr.Grumpy Pants’ vibrant blue eyes staring into her own.Just the memory made her heart beat faster.
There was something about the way he looked at her.It was almost like he could see straight through her—like he could see her hopes and dreams.The feeling was utterly unnerving.He was the last person she’d want knowing her so well.
She gave herself a mental shake.Why was she making such a big deal of this?All she had to do was show him around town, and then he’d be flying back to Chicago.She wouldn’t have to deal with him again until the wedding.
Still, she’d found herself standing in front of the bathroom mirror longer than normal.She might have put on eyeshadow and a little eyeliner, in addition to her usual powder, mascara, and lip gloss.
And there was the fact that she’d put more effort into fixing her hair.With a pixie cut, her styling options were limited.But with a little extra pomade, she achieved more definition and lift.
It wasn’t until she stood in front of her closet for five minutes as she tried to decide what to wear that she admonished herself.With a frustrated groan, she put on her usual jeans with an older purple Steaming Brew sweatshirt.She grabbed her coat and boots.Then she was out the door.
She moved through her normal opening routine of getting all of the machines up and running.She checked the refrigerator to make sure they had plenty of milk…and eggnog.She was just opening the cash register when her assistant manager, Mia Fernsby, arrived.
“Good morning.”Mia sent her a warm smile.“Brr… It’s cold out there.”She grabbed a purple apron and put it on.“Maybe we should see about putting in an electric fireplace in the seating area.It’d be great on mornings like this.”
After Abby had filled the cash register, she closed the drawer.She turned to Mia.“That’s a good idea.But I definitely can’t do it this year.I’m already hoping the espresso machine will make it another year.”
Mia nodded.“Understood.”Then she paused and stared at Abby.“What did you do different?”
“What?”
Mia was quiet for a moment as she studied her.“I know.You have on eyeshadow.It looks good on you.”
