“Ingen kommentar.”
Quinn chuckled. “You do realize that ‘no comment’ is as good as an admission of guilt, right?”
Nora’s answering laughter was music to Quinn’s ears, and there was a distinct smokiness in her voice as she repeated,“Ingen kommentar.”
Grinning at the easy flow of their banter, Quinn teased in Norwegian,“Well, I hope you enjoy the view.”
“Oh, I am,”Nora assured her in a richly appreciative tone.
Quinn shivered as her body reacted to Nora’s response as if those velvety words had been whispered directly against her skin, her pulse stumbling into a sprint as her nipples tightened and arousal, hot, wanting, and ready coiled low in the cradle of her hips.Good lord. This woman just might be the death of me.She stole a glance over her shoulder and nearly tripped over her own feet when she saw Nora smirking at her—so cool and collected and obviously pleased with the effect she was having on her.But damn, what a way to go…
The middle of a holiday market was nowhere near the appropriate place to ‘go’ anywhere, however, and Quinn cleared her throat as she turned her attention back to where she was walking. “Are you trying to make me drop this thing on my foot?”
Nora laughed and, in a mildly contrite tone, said, “Sorry.”
“That was not at all convincing,” Quinn pointed out as she stopped beside the carving stand the boys had left where she’d instructed. She was grateful that Nora refrained from replying as she carefully bent down to set the base of the sculpture into the stand, and she heaved a sigh of relief when it slid easily into place on the first try. “Okay.” She wiped her hands off on the seat of her bright orange chainsaw protection pants. “Glad that’s done.”
“Anything else, Quinn?” Oakley asked as his buddies hovered nearby.
“Nope. I think that’s it. Thanks for the help, guys. See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow,” the boys chorused, waving to her and Nora before they scampered off, no doubt intent on hitting one of the food stands before reporting back to their boss for their next assignment.
Quinn made a mental note to stash a twenty for each boy in the pocket of her work pants so she could thank them properly for their assistance the next night. She tossed the “be back soon” sign she’d left out under the table, and offered the stained-glass artisan in the booth opposite hers a smile and a wave of thanks for keeping an eye on things while she was doing her demonstration. Her breath caught when she turned to Nora and found her watching with a thoughtful expression.
It was such a stark contrast to the casual confidence she’d been wearing a moment before that Quinn couldn’t resist drifting closer to run a light finger along the side of her wrist as she asked, “Hey. Everything okay?”
Nora nodded. “I…” She shook her head and huffed a little laugh. “I don’t even know. There’s just…”
Quinn’s heart squeezed as Nora’s voice trailed off into a wry smile that said everything she couldn’t put into words. Those words were lost to Quinn, too, but the strength of indefinable emotions rang in her chest, fierce and insistent and loud enough to drown out the voices of reason that might have persuaded her to keep her hands to herself.
The voices of the public were much more successful at the task, however, and Quinn sighed as a woman’s voice pierced the bubble of possibility that had surrounded them.
“Hi, how much are the ornaments?”
Quinn tore her attention away from Nora to see what type the woman was asking about. “Those are sixty.” She looked back at Nora, and stroked a finger along the inside of her wrist as she murmured, “Come watch the parade with me later?”
A slow smile lit Nora’s face as she nodded. “I’d love to.”
Perfectly oblivious to what she was interrupting, the woman asked, “Do you take cards?”
Quinn gave Nora’s wrist a little squeeze. “Yep. I sure do.”
“Do you need help here?” Nora offered as Quinn’s hand fell away. “I can handle the ornaments if you want to focus on the seahorse.”
Quinn bit the inside of her cheek. That would actually be all kinds of wonderful, but the last thing she wanted was to put Nora out. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.” Nora nodded. Laughter danced in her eyes as she added, “Besides, it’ll keep me from being disappointed at the complete absence of marzipan vendors.”
“Well, if it’ll distract you from disappointment…” Quinn smiled. “I’d love the help. Let me get my Square set up, and I’ll walk you through what I’ve got.”
“Is there anything else?” Nora asked as Quinn slid the last of the plastic totes with the ornaments that didn’t sell on top of the three remaining sculpture logs that filled the bed of her truck.
Quinn shook her head and slammed the tailgate shut. “Nope. That’s it for tonight. My rental is close enough to walk, so I got permission to leave this parked here.” She climbed onto the hitch to grab the edge of the hard bed cover she’d lifted out of the way to make loading easier. “And Silvia’s team has the seahorse put aside for the person who commissioned it, so I’m good to go there, too.”
“Silvia?”
“Sorry. She’s the president of the creative council,” Quinn explained as she pulled the cover down and locked it. “They’re the ones who organize this whole thing every year.”
