“That’ll be lovely.” I eyed the first stall. “I’ll wait.”
“Awesome.” He tapped my shoulder. “Be right back.”
After he took off, I attempted to survey the room. I was shorter than he was. Hell, I was now shorter than my daughter. I liked to think I made up for my height deficiency with my robust and oversized personality.
You mean oversized ego.
I rolled my eyes at my inner voice. In truth, I tried to be confident without being cocky—no small feat.
As my gaze roamed the various stalls, I saw my Ghost of Christmas Past.
Chapter Two
Jarrod
Holy fucking shit.
Like crap on a cracker.
Stay calm, for fuck’s sake.
He might not even recognize you
Even though you sure as shit recognize him.
I smiled at the lovely woman before me with her long auburn hair and her lovely brown eyes. Her husband stood just behind her.
Like me, he was a big guy—tall, muscular, and fit. His dark skin matched my own, only where my smile was now forced, his appeared genuine. He touched his wife’s shoulder.
Well, I assumed wife. They wore matching wedding bands, after all. She’d introduced herself asLoriana, the librarian,and the gentleman asMitch.
“What are you thinking?” He gave her a dazzling smile.
“I’m thinking soap for everyone at the library, including Miss Edna.”
“Yes, we can’t forget Miss Edna,” said with clear affection.
“Do you think the male-identifying volunteers would like them?” She picked one up and sniffed it. Her eyes glazed with bliss. “Oh, and I would need to take one to make certain.” She held the lavender soap in her hand.
Crap. Is she going to take that home and only come back if she likes it?All my scents were amazing. My goat’s milk soaps were popular year-round, but I made the most money working Christmas markets up and down Cedar Valley as well as a few in the suburbs of Vancouver. Tables were expensive, though, so I had to watch how many I secured.
My first love stepped closer.
The woman turned to him. “Hey, Anderson, great to see you.”
“Lovely to see you too, Loriana.” He pivoted his attention to the much-taller gentleman. “Mitch.”
The height difference between the men was pronounced. But then, Anderson had always been on the short side. Hell, Loriana was a couple of inches taller than him.
“Okay, man’s opinion.” She held a bar of vanilla soap to his nose.
He inhaled deeply and shut his eyes in obvious ecstasy. “Oh yeah, I’d buy all of them.” He opened his dark-brown eyes, and that powerful gaze settled on me.
Okay, he totally remembers.
“That’s the vanilla scent.” I gestured to my table. “I have twelve different scents…” I just couldn’t pull out the sales pitch I normally used.
Loriana nodded, gazing intently at Anderson. “Would you want to receive one of these?”
