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“Are you promising? Or threatening?” And do I want to know the answer to this question?

“I haven’t decided yet.”

"What are you thinking?" Nic lowers her voice and inches closer with her chair, ready to conspire. "Because at this point, the two of us ought to team up against this guy."

"I don't know yet. Or perhaps I do and want it to be a surprise. But it will be grand, and it will be over the top, and it's going to be good."

"But is it going to be as fun as a carousel?" I point out with a grin and take another bite of my cinnamon roll. I’d know how hard the question is to answer. After all, I also spent a good bit trying to come up with an even better, even more grand idea.

"Did I mention I hate you, Kieran?"

"A time or two.” I grin. “But no, you don't."

The bell above Caleb's announces a new arrival, and the red hair I notice from the corner of my eye makes my head whip around.

As Brooke scans the café. She’s got her scarf pulled up to her nose, and she’s wearing a jacket so thick it makes her resemble the Michelin Man.

Caleb smirks. As soon as she sees me, the frown crinkling her forehead smoothens. She exchanges a few words with Caleb, then weaves her way through the tables until she arrives at ours.

"There's the woman of the hour." Lauren pulls back a chair for her to sit down.

"Someone built a carousel?" She asks with a mixture of awe and amusement as she shrugs out of her jacket. Lauren and Nic both point at me. "You? Seriously?"

"Surprise!"

"You're ridiculous." She giggles, eyeing my cappuccino. Wordlessly, I slide the cup over to her, and she happily takes a sip. "Oh, thank you. I needed that. I'm freezing."

I reach for her hand under the table and slip my fingers between hers. Damn. It resembles an ice block.

"Aw, look at how love-struck he is," Lauren coos. "Anyway, congratulations, you two."

Thank God they don’t define what exactly they’re congratulating us on.

Lauren flicks her wrist to check the time on her watch. "I have to get back to Amanda's. But Kieran..." She points at me and fixes me with a glare so deadly it makes me gulp. "I swear to God, if you don't invite me for testing once you get the carousel running, I will be so sad."

"Noted."

Nic also gets up. "I have another course in fifteen minutes," she shrugs, "but I will skip it if I get to ride the carousel."

"I'll send a message to the group chat once it’s ready." As soon as the two of them are out of earshot, Brooke tugs on my hand.

"A carousel? Seriously?" she hisses, but there’s no anger in her tone. "Isn't that really fucking expensive?"

"Oh, yeah, it is." I grin and take another bite of my cinnamon roll, slowly chewing while her eyes burn a hole into the side of my head. "But one, I will totally make that money back, because it’s going to be a hit. And two, I don't give a damn. It's fun, and Christmas time is about having fun. Would you rather I stand behind an improvised bar, freezing and not having fun?"

"I don't." She drags her hand across her face. "But I can’t get over how expensive it must have been."

"Yeah, well..." I grin and take another bite of my cinnamon roll. "Deal with it, princess."

Peeking out the window, I can see they're almost finished building it.

"Okay, I'm going to get myself a pastry and a coffee. And if you think I will let you have your first ride on there without me, you're thinking wrong." Brooke gets up.

"Wouldn’t have it any other way."

She leans in for a quick kiss, then saunters over to Caleb's counter to order.

Chapter 35