Page 88 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“By using them to write another article and move to Colorado far away from me.”

“First of all, not everything is about you,” she said, nudging him. “And second of all, you were right and so is Holly. I don’t really want to take a job that has nothing to do with what I like to write, but I do want to at least try snowboarding and maybe submit another freelance article, because it does pay well.”

Anthony dipped his head to kiss her. “Then I’m happy to teach you the power of snowboarding.”

“You’re such a dork,” she said, accepting his kiss with a sweet little sigh that he could listen to for the rest of his life.

Oh damn, where did that come from?

Chapter Twenty-three

Delilah stood off to the side with her clipboard, taking notes as Holly and Merry addressed the room full of bachelors, who were acting like middle schoolers instead of grown men. Several were shoving each other, half of them had their phones out, listening to Merry’s instructions with half an ear, and Delilah was pretty sure Paulie the bouncer was nodding off in the back row. It was almost seven thirty at night and Friday to boot; Delilah understood they were probably anxious to head out and tie one on or sleep off the work week like her.

Delilah had grabbed another latte on her way there to wake up, but she was ready to go home and crawl into bed. It had been a long day researching what and who she needed to self-pub her books and the information out there was overwhelming. There were hundreds of freelance editors, all with great references on their websites, but some of the price quotes were daunting. She didn’t have thousands of dollars in disposable income. Add in the cost of website hosts, formatting software, and cover artists and she had no idea how to justify the cost if she couldn’t at least break even.

If Delilah could cut costs on some of the other items, she might be able to pay for a copy editor at least. She needed to talk to Holly about marketing strategies, but she might have to corner her tomorrow. Tonight, she looked ready to knock a couple heads together and Delilah didn’t want to aggravate her more by making her think. Holly had owned her shop for more than five years and had helped Merry launch her online craft business two years ago. She was a social media genius.

Delilah would bring it up while they set up for the Festival of Trees in the morning. It was an all-day event that didn’t end until seven in the evening, and then it would take several hours to get the place cleaned up and the trees loaded up with each buyer. Plenty of time to pick her brain.

The sensation of someone watching her tickled the back of her neck and Delilah looked up, catching Anthony’s gaze. He sat a few rows back on the end next to Pike and Sam, and that little smile playing across those full lips made her heart race with anticipation. Since their breakfast Wednesday morning, they’d struggled to find time to be alone. Wednesday, she’d been with Holly, helping her organize everything for tonight’s orientation and Thursday, he’d been with Pike and Merry, going over the final details for the winter games. She’d hoped they’d get out of here early enough to go out for dinner, but at the rate it was going, they might have to snag a bag of tacos and head back to her place.

Although that came with its own form of issues. If they were sleeping together, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to spend the night, but they were taking things slow. They both needed that at this point, but when they were together, Delilah forgot that in the overwhelming urge to kiss him senseless and rip his clothes off.

Delilah caught his eye again and the smoldering look on his face made her face burn. God, had he guessed what she was thinking about?

She turned her attention back to Merry, who was trying to bring the rowdy group under control.

“Guys, can we hurry up and get through this so we can go home?” Merry asked, her tone exasperated.

Holly wasn’t so subtle. Putting her fingers into her mouth, she released a high-pitched whistle and the room quieted.

“Listen up!” Holly shouted.

Merry nodded toward her sister, addressing the crowd with a strained smile. “Thank you. Next week after the Parade of Lights, you’ll come straight here and get ready backstage. Please dress appropriately in a coat and tie. We’ll call your name alphabetically and when you cross the stage, smile, dance, show off, whatever you want to do.” Merry pointed to the elevated stage behind her before continuing, “You’ll see on stage we have a backdrop and a camera set up because we want to get everyone’s picture for the program including a brief bio. Delilah, Holly, and I are going to call your names and gather that information while you’re waiting for your picture. Once you are finished with your picture and bio, you’re welcome to leave and enjoy the rest of your evening. I want to thank you again for being here. Your participation is going to make a world of difference for our school extracurriculars this year.” The room erupted in applause and Merry’s smile became a genuine one. “Let’s get started. Trip!”

“Pike!” Holly hollered.

“Brodie,” Delilah called, watching as he stood up from the back row and headed her way. She was glad he’d ended up on her list so she wouldn’t have to track him down to cancel her snowboarding lesson. While she’d been sincere previously about not wanting to ask Anthony, it didn’t make sense now. The lesson gave them the excuse to spend time together, which was something she’d been dreaming about for days.

Brodie ambled over and flashed a wide smile. “Hi, there.”

“Hey.” She tapped her pen against her clipboard nervously, rattling off, “I need full name, age, occupation, height, hobbies, and your idea of the perfect date.”

“Easy enough,” he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his workman’s jacket. “Brodie Williams. Thirty. Roofer. Six foot. I like camping, fishing, hunting, snowboarding. My idea of the perfect date is one where we are enjoying each other’s company.”

“Great,” she said, finishing the last of his bio before she gave him an apologetic smile. “Speaking of snowboarding, I know we were supposed to go on Sunday, but I actually need to cancel.”

Brodie’s face fell. “Oh, man, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn,” he said, suddenly flashing a grin that bordered on smarmy. “I was looking forward to teaching you a thing or two.”

How had she ever found his attention flattering? The way he leered at her now made her skin crawl. “I appreciate that but I started seeing someone exclusively and he really wants to teach me.” Delilah’s gaze flicked to Anthony, who was standing with a few other men, his attention fixated on Brodie and her.

Brodie turned around to see who she was looking at and let out a snort before facing her again. “Would that be Anthony Russo?”

Why did he have to say it so snidely? “Yeah, it is.”