Page 40 of I’m Dreaming of a New York Christmas

‘Umm, Flora?’ he said, glancing down at my mouth.

Shit, are we about to kiss? I’m kinda… up for it?

‘Yeah?’ I said quietly, briefly moistening my mouth with my tongue.

‘Oh, nothing. You had some hot chocolate above your top lip but you just licked it off.’

Lol, as if this man would want to kiss me.

I extracted my phone from my pocket and checked my reflection in selfie mode, wiping away a tiny brown smudge that my tongue had missed.

‘I think I’m good now?’ I pressed my lips together and angled my chin towards Ethan in an exaggerated manner.

‘Ha, yeah, clean as a whistle.’

I opened up the Wi-Fi settings and connected to the restaurant’s network – Mum and Anneka would definitely be awake by now and I needed to figure out when and where I’d be meeting them. My phone vibrated immediately with a message from Anneka on the group chat.

Anneka:

No fixed plans today so take your time! Me and Mum are heading to Bloomingdales and Macy’s after another McGriddle-based brekky, but realise a shopping spree is probably your idea of hell. We’ll message you afterwards and figure out where to meet up after lunch?

The relief that flooded my body felt delicious but deceitful at the same time.

‘Do you need to head off?’ Ethan asked, as I tapped out a reply to confirm the loose plan.

I repocketed my phone. ‘The opposite, actually: the next few hours have just opened up.’

‘You were due to meet up with someone?’

Here was my opportunity to tell him the truth: how I’d been brought to New York very much against my will by my random-as-fuck family. How this was their misjudged effort to heal my broken heart after my fiancé dumped me the week of our wedding. How I was sleeping in a bathtub and… okay, no, he definitely didn’t need to know any of this.

‘Just an old friend I haven’t seen since they moved over here.’

‘You’re in New York and they’ve bailed on you?’ He sounded outraged on my behalf.

‘She’s just getting over a nasty cold. We’ll meet up tomorrow instead.’

‘Sweet,’ Ethan replied. Was I imagining the tinge of relief in his voice upon learning that the (fictional) person was female? Either way, I silently thanked my subconscious for sending Ethan subliminal ‘I am available’ messages on my behalf. Shit, I was massively and genuinely attracted to this man, wasn’t I? I needed to redivert back onto professional territory, stat.

‘Shall we get back to the speech?’

‘Only if you’re absolutely sure you’re okay to keep going with this?’

‘Scout’s honour. I mean, I’ve never been a Scout, but Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favourite characters of all time. I could never betray her.’

Ethan threw his head back and laughed. ‘Flora Bell, you are full of multitudes.’

‘I am! And I’m very happy to be at your multitudinous service.’

He took a final swig of his hot chocolate before stretching his neck this way and that. ‘Right, then, let’s get back to it. Wanna go back inside or would you prefer to go elsewhere?’

I thought about those plates full of scrambled egg. At this point, I knew even just the knowledge that they were nearby would tip me back over the edge.

‘Can we maybe just sit out here a little longer before we head elsewhere? I’m so sorry, it’s just that—’

‘This place isn’t the one, is it?’

‘No, it’s not. Like I said, it’s not about you, or anything…’