Chapter 3 #2
“Just let me know if you want to sample anything,” she said, daring him to find fault with her or her shop.
Mr. Alders grunted, gave the shop one last look of disapproval, and turned on his heel.
Her new friend Zoe breezed in before the door had even clicked shut. She felt her shoulders drop, a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding easing out as Zoe’s energy filled the room.
“What in the world did you do to Mr. Alders?” she asked, rushing in, arms full with a bouquet from her flower shop. It was full of red carnations and white lilies, with sprigs of evergreen and holly arranged in a gold vase.
“I have no idea.” Cassidy shrugged.
“Well, these are for you! Opening day flowers. Thought they might give you an extra pinch of good luck—not that you need it. This place looks amazing, and it smells like heaven.”
“Aren’t I a lucky girl.” Cassidy reached over and accepted the flowers. “These are perfect, and so Christmassy.”
“I try.” Zoe beamed.
“Hot cocoa?” Cassidy offered, walking over to the makeshift cocoa station.
“I’d love some. It’s freezing outside. I heard we’re supposed to get six inches of snow tonight.”
“That much? Really?” She’d forgotten how much snow fell in the Midwest. Would it distract customers or bring in more locals? Should she make an extra batch of white hot chocolate if school was called off?
“That much and probably more,” Zoe said. “Looks like we’ll have a couple of storms roll through in the next few days. Hopefully they’ll hold off until after the Santa House opening tonight. You are coming, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Cassidy replied.
“Can I get one of those chocolate-covered graham crackers to go with this?” Zoe asked.
“I’ve got croissants, too,” Cassidy said, pulling a fresh tray from the back.
“Then why didn’t you say so? Give me one of those.”
“It’s even better if you dip it in the cocoa. Trust me—I had three of them before the shop even opened,” Cassidy confessed with no shame whatsoever.
She waited until Zoe dipped the croissant and took a bite, making a sound that could only be called pornographic.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” Cassidy asked with a laugh.
“‘Good’ doesn’t do it justice. You, my friend, have a gift.”
“Just like you and these flowers. Thank you—it was really very sweet of you.”
“You’re welcome. I know you’ve been nervous about opening day. But by the taste of this cocoa, you have nothing to worry about.” Zoe looked around. “Have you given any thought to how you’re going to decorate for your light-up night?”
“I’m working on it. I just wanted to get the shop open first before diving into full-blown window display holiday mania.”
She paused, then added, “I met Liam, by the way.”
Zoe’s eyebrows rose, a knowing look in her eyes. “Oh? And what did you think?”
Cassidy let out a half-laugh, half-groan. “Tall, grumpy, and somehow still manages to look like a lumberjack who could model for a flannel ad.” She shrugged, trying to sound casual. “He’s up against me in the light-up contest. Figures he’d be annoyingly attractive.”
Zoe smirked. “Hey, I’m competing too, you know. And Emily.”
“Yeah, neither of you is planning a full light show with cocoa flights and a marshmallow bar,” Cassidy teased. “Liam’s got all that competitive energy going on. I can tell. You’re both just in it for a bit of fun.”
“And you’re in it to win,” Zoe said, amused.
“Someone has to,” Cassidy shot back with a grin, then sighed, staring into her cocoa. “I just didn’t expect my biggest rival to have that whole rugged, sexy thing going for him.”
Zoe’s eyes sparkled. “So, you think he’s cute.”
“I think he’s going to be a pain in my ass,” Cassidy corrected, ignoring the way her cheeks warmed. “Anyway, I’m here to launch my shop and win this competition, not get distracted by a guy with broody eyes.”
“Whatever you say.” Zoe lifted her mug in a toast.
Cassidy narrowed her eyes but couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her lips. “Don’t start.”
But the truth was, even as she said it, she couldn’t stop fantasizing about Liam. She’d thought about him all through the early hours of this morning, as she lay wide awake in bed after he’d helped her get back inside. He’d made for some very interesting thoughts indeed.
She supposed that’s what you got when you took a year off of men.
No matter how many times she scolded herself, her mind kept drifting. Back to the way Liam had looked standing in the snow, boots planted wide, jaw set, looking every inch the grumpy lumberjack.
And now she couldn’t stop picturing him hauling wood through the forest, flannel shirt rolled up to reveal forearms that could probably split logs without an axe.
Sweat beading at his collarbone, those stormy eyes locking on her as he set down the bundle.
Reaching for her, pressing her back against a pine, his rough hands on her hips.
His mouth taking hers with the same quiet intensity he seemed to carry in everything he did.
In her mind, his fingers would find the button of her jeans, flicking it open with practiced ease, and she’d arch into him, the cold pine at her back contrasting with the heat of his body, giving him access.
Fantasy Liam wasn’t slow or patient.
His rough, callused fingers would slip under the waistband of her panties, finding her with a sure touch, stroking exactly where she needed it most—where only she knew she liked it, until now.
She imagined gasping against his mouth, her hands tangling in his messy hair as he pressed her harder into the tree, taking control, giving her everything she hadn’t even known she’d been craving during her year off men.
And in that secret, wicked daydream, Cassidy didn’t care about the Christmas Light-Up Display Competition, or her vow to go a whole year with no men.
All she wanted for Christmas was Liam.
As if he could sense her desire, the man himself walked in.
She froze, the bell above the door chiming as if to mock her. Liam stood there in jeans and a long thermal shirt, snow dusting his boots, those storm-cloud eyes taking in everything. Including her.
Zoe, catching the shift in the air, made a quick excuse and ducked into the back kitchen.
Cassidy forced herself to move, her cheeks flaming, her pulse throbbing in places she’d rather not acknowledge. She propped a hand on the counter and it slipped a little, trying and failing to look casual. “Scoping out the competition, are we?”
Liam’s gaze flicked over her, slow and infuriatingly unreadable. “Please. Like I’m worried.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You should be.”
He stepped closer, and the air snapped between them. “That so?”
“Mm-hmm.” She swallowed, refusing to back down. “Your grinch energy won’t save you when the lights go up and the cocoa starts flowing.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, but his mouth curved, just barely. “You think you’re tough, don’t you, Sugarplum?”
She lifted her chin, ignoring the warmth curling low in her belly. “Tough enough to beat you.”
Liam smirked, stepping even closer, close enough that she could smell the cold air and cedar clinging to him, close enough that her brain stuttered. “I’m not the one who should be worried about getting beaten.”
“Oh, you’ll see.” She jabbed a finger at his chest, regretting it the second her finger met warm, hard muscle beneath the thermal. “I’ve been dreaming about this—Maple Falls, my shop, having the best Christmas window display ever—since I was a kid. You don’t stand a chance. You’re going down.”
His eyes darkened, his gaze dropping to her lips before sliding back up. “Dreaming about me going down, huh?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Too late.” His smirk was pure trouble.
She glared at him. “Can I get you anything?” She turned, flipping a braid over her shoulder as she moved behind the cocoa bar. “I’ve got a spiced French hot cocoa that’s heavenly, but maybe that’s too much holiday spirit for you.”
His eyes flicked to the simmering pot, then back to her. “I’ll pass. Just wanted to come and congratulate you on your big opening day, neighborly soul that I am.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Not man enough to handle it dark and spicy, I guess?”
That earned her a sharp laugh. “You’d be surprised. Just not a fan of fancy chocolate.”
“Oh really? I bet I can change that. Let me guess your favorite. I’m freakishly good at it.”
“Oh yeah? What do you peg me as?”
Cassidy bit her bottom lip thoughtfully and eyed Liam up and down. Focus on your chocolate spidey senses, she reminded herself. Do not picture this gorgeous man naked and standing between your—
“You good there?” He cocked an eyebrow.
She snapped her head up. “Perfect. Never better. Sometimes it just takes a minute. The chocolate goddess and all…” Cassidy marched confidently over to the display case and plucked out a single square of milk chocolate sprinkled with sea salt.
She was pretty sure this would do the trick. “Here, try this.”
Liam stepped forward. His eyes didn’t leave hers as he took the chocolate, brushing her fingers in the process, sending a zing of heat up her arm.
He bit into it, chewed, and shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Cassidy’s mouth fell open. “Fine? That chocolate won me a Parisian chocolatier award!”
She wasn’t just offended—she was personally attacked. That chocolate was blood, sweat, and hours of tempering perfection, and this flannel-wrapped farm boy had reduced it to “fine”?
Liam wiped his thumb across his lower lip, where a fleck of chocolate had caught, completely unbothered. “Huh. Maybe it’s a French thing.”
Indignation sparked in her chest. Who is this man? Her first instinct had been right: He was definitely a psycho.
Then he added, “I told you, I’m not a fancy kind of guy. You’d probably be better off handing me a Snickers,” and Cassidy’s patience snapped.
“A Snickers? A Snickers?” she repeated, her voice rising. She planted her hand on her hip, glaring at him. “Are you kidding me right now?”
His mouth twitched, but he didn’t smile, dark eyes steady and infuriating. “Just not into luxury chocolate. Never saw the point. Not in chocolate, and not in Christmas either.”
She was actually scowling at this point. She couldn’t help it. “I bet you think Die Hard is a Christmas movie!”
“Only one I like. Anyway, what’s that got to do with anything? Does it matter?”
“Of course it matters! How else are you supposed to plan your Christmas movie checklist?” She looked at him like this was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Christmas movie checklist.” He repeated it flatly, as if tasting words he wasn’t sure he liked.
“You don’t have one?” she asked, horrified.
“You do?” He raised a brow, unimpressed.
“Obviously. Tonight is The Santa Clause—parts one and two. Tomorrow is Home Alone.”
“Yeah…” He shook his head. “Like I said, I’m not really into Christmas. Hate it, actually.” His jaw tightened, daring her to comment.
“Hate it?” She threw her hands up. “What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” His voice was low, edged. “Last time I checked.”
To Cassidy, Christmas had always been special, but even more so after the accident that took her parents’ lives.
It was the one thing that still held magic after everything she’d lost. Lights twinkling through tears.
The smell of Grand-maman’s cocoa when she brought it to her in a flask, in a quiet hospital room.
A nurse who made her a handmade stocking.
Christmas had been her lifeline. Her anchor.
Cassidy swallowed that emotion down and gave him a mock glare instead. “That’s basically blasphemy in Maple Falls, you know.”
His eyes softened just slightly, one corner of his mouth lifting. “Whatever you say, Sugarplum.”
Zoe reappeared, her gaze flickering between her two friends.
“Guess that’s my cue,” Liam said. “Gotta get back to the store and serve people their Christmas presents. ’Tis the season and all. Five dollars cover the chocolate?” He didn’t wait, placing the five-dollar bill on the counter. “See you later,” he said, turning and waving on his way out.
Cassidy quickly stepped behind the counter, ignoring the cash. Her eyes were too busy following Liam across the street.
Zoe didn’t say anything for a beat. She just sipped her cocoa and smiled.
“What?” Cassidy said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Zoe leaned on the counter and whispered conspiratorially, “If you stare any harder, you’re going to fog up the glass.”
Cassidy shook her head and pocketed the five. “I wasn’t staring. I was glaring.”
“Staring, glaring, what’s the difference?” Zoe laughed. “Both require passion, don’t they?”
“Passion, ha! I’ll show him passion, Mr. I-Don’t-Have-a-Christmas-Movie-Checklist.” Cassidy grabbed a cloth and started wiping down the already spotless counter.
“You realize that’s not really a thing, right? And here I thought you said you were off men for the year?”
“I am,” Cassidy said firmly. “Anyway, Liam is definitely not my type. And he’s clearly not into me.”
“Ha, whatever you say, Sugarplum.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I am off men.”
She’d thrown everything away, including her identity, on a man before. She couldn’t afford to lose focus now. That’s what her year of abstinence was all about. “No men. No distractions. No charming, rugged, stupidly good-looking farm boys who show up when you’re barefoot and brain-dead.”
“Don’t forget that tousled hair and those long, long lashes.”
Cassidy peeked toward the window again, even though Liam was long gone. “I promise you I am not getting involved with that grumpy grinch of a man.”
Zoe patted her hand. “Famous last words, honey.”