I rolled my eyes but took a sip of my hot chocolate. “You can’t make fun of them singing carols when we were literally just singing carols ourselves,” I said.
“Like hell I can’t,” Lyla laughed. “Besides, I’m not making fun of it. This is the most fun I’ve ever had watching Christmas movies with you… we should make this a drinking game every year.”
“Yes! And next time, we could make little bingo cards,” Kandi said. “Really amp this game up a notch.”
“Oh, my God.” My eyes widened and I snapped my gaze over at Chris. “We should make Christmas movie Bingo games for the store!”
He lowered his eyes skeptically at me. “Our store is mostly for kids… you think a drinking game would sell?”
His gaze latched onto mine, his jade eyes bright, and I felt my cheeks heat with my blush. “You just said our store,” I pointed out. “You’ve never called StoryBook our store.” In fact, he’d been adamant that it was his store since the moment he’d arrived in Maple Grove.
His expression shifted, seeming taken aback with this revelation himself. “Huh. So I did.” He took a final swig of his beer, draining the last of it, and I noticed it was the only drink he’d had all night. “Well, at this point, it’s more your store than mine. I can’t exactly take credit for how well it’s doing.”
My heart skipped a beat. Jack Pohle, for all his amazing attributes as my boss, had never once told me this location was my store. That small gesture meant more to me than Chris could or would ever know. And the fact that he wanted me to pitch directly to the board? It made me nervous and excited and sick to my stomach… and incredibly grateful. “Thank you, Chris.”
He smiled back at me, his thumb peeling the label of his beer like a nervous tick. “You’re welcome. I can’t wait for the board members to meet the woman behind our most successful store.”
Kandi cleared her throat and tapped Ford on the thigh. “We should get home, babe.” Ford kissed the top of her head before standing and shuffling them toward their coats.
“Yeah,” Ford said. “The cats haven’t had dinner yet, and I have to wake up early tomorrow… life on a farm doesn’t stop just because I had one too many the night before.”
Kandi laughed and snatched the keys out of Ford’s hands playfully. “Then I guess I’m driving.” She shifted her attention to Lyla. “C’mon. We’ll give you a ride home, too.”
Lyla’s gaze shifted between Kandi and me. “Sure… that’d be great.”
I set my mug aside and moved to stand up as Kandi waved me off. “Stay. You two were having fun and about to talk business. Chris can give you a ride home, right?”
I looked to Chris who shrugged, checking his phone for the time. “Of course. You’re welcome to hang out longer. But… don’t you guys need a ride back to your car? You were walking around the neighborhood caroling, weren’t you?”
Ford waved him off. “We drove from neighborhood to neighborhood, then parked and got out to walk each street and sing. Our car is at the beginning of your cul-de-sac.”
“Don’t you at least want a ride to your car—”
Lyla waved him off while giving Kringle a final snuggle. “Dude, we’re fine. We grew up around here. Walking around in the snow is kind of Maple Grove’s thing.”
Chris seemed hesitant but didn’t fight them anymore. Instead, we walked them to the door. Uncharacteristically, Kandi pulled me into a hug before leaving. “Kiss him,” she whispered.
I blinked, pulling back to stare at her incredulously. “What?” I laughed, half-aghast and half-confused.
I felt her press something into the palm of my hand and when I glanced down, I saw it was a sprig of the mistletoe we sell in our store. “When the hell did you get this?” I looked over my shoulder to see Ford, Lyla, and Chris engaged in a conversation, not paying attention to us at all.
Kandi shrugged. “I bought it today. I was going to surprise Ford with it later.”
I scrunched my nose. “Well, then you should—” I held it out for her to take it back and she quickly pushed it back into me.
“No, no. Ford and I don’t need an excuse to kiss.” Her gaze flicked over my shoulder to where everyone stood. “But I get the feeling you do.”
“You think I need an excuse to kiss someone?”
“When was the last time you did? Because I know for a fact you never used that condom from St. Paddy’s Day.”
I opened my mouth to answer and quickly snapped it shut when I realized how embarrassing that answer actually is. I not only hadn’t been laid since February… but I haven’t had a single kiss since then either. And it wasn’t even a good kiss.
“That’s what I thought,” she said. “Use the mistletoe. He’s really cute… and I think he likes you.”
Right at that moment, Chris looked over his shoulder at us, delivering a heart-melting grin. Did he like me? He seemed really into me earlier today at the store… like he was going to kiss me. Our flirting had been increasing over the last couple of days, but if someone had asked me two days ago, I would have guessed he hated me—resented me, this town, and the store. Maybe I had him all wrong?
I quickly tucked the mistletoe into the front pouch of my sweater and shook my head at Kandi. “You’re shameless.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know.”
We said the rest of our goodbyes, and as Chris shut the door behind them, I felt suddenly and completely out of place. Hanging out in his home had felt natural when it was the group. But now that it was this arranged thing—like we were supposed to keep watching a movie and pretend like it wasn’t totally and completely awkward—well, now it felt wrong. I was regretting not going home with my friends.
Kringle barked and hopped up on two legs to try to kiss Chris. From within my pocket, I clutched the sprig of mistletoe tighter in my palm, the pointy leaves indenting against my skin.
“So…” I said.
“So…” he led the way back into the kitchen and poured more milk into the saucepan to heat, making another hot chocolate. “Regular or adult hot chocolate this time?”
“Regular,” I said. I needed to keep my wits about me. He nodded and plopped a candy cane into the hot chocolate, using that as a stir stick.
“Here you go.” He grabbed another beer from the fridge for himself and leaned against the counter. His gaze lifted to the light fixture above us, and he chewed the inside of his cheek, deep in thought.
My heart thrummed from within my chest, rapidly slamming against my breastbone with each pulsing beat. I took a step toward Chris, clutching the mistletoe. Was Kandi right? Did I just need to go for it with Chris? If my sweaty palms and fluttering pulse were any indication, then I definitely wanted to. But my brain… my stupid brain was getting in the way.
This was my boss. A man that I had to see no matter what for the foreseeable future or until I got a new job. But I didn’t want a new job. I loved my job.
I also really, really wanted to kiss Chris.
Which begged a whole new question… When do I bring the mistletoe out to make that happen?