“I like your socks.”
She blushed. And he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything.
“I was going to text you with a photo of them later.”
“You remember what I said about those.” It wasn’t a question.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and nodded.
Drew pulled in a long breath, resisting the urge to grab her and put her up against the front window of her shop that looked out on downtown Autre. That was not the type of sweet, Christmasy scene they wanted displayed in their shop windows.
Except for those socks, she looked completely relaxed and casual and like she was ready to just hang out at home for the evening. Completely different from the tiny red elf dress he'd first seen her in and from the yoga pants and shirt she'd been in last night at the barn dealing with the sleigh and reindeer.
But she was just as gorgeous. Maybe more so because she was relaxed and clearly truly happy to see him.
He cleared his throat. It was probably a good thing he had his hands full.
“I brought supplies. Thought you could use some wrapping help.” He held up three roles of wrapping paper in one hand and two rolls of tape and a pair of scissors in the other.
She looked surprised, then intensely pleased. “That was sweet. Come on in. I was just heading up there to start wrapping. Do you want some cocoa?” She turned and led him into the salon. She wasn’t insisting that he didn’t have to do this. She wasn’t telling him not to worry about it. She was letting him in. Literally.
And maybe figuratively too.
He fucking liked that idea way too much.
But he turned and locked the door behind them, before following her through the salon. He was staying.
He glanced around as he walked, taking in a few details about her workspace. It looked very much like any other hair salon, but it was decorated in a multitude of bright colors and seemed welcoming and warm.
“So this is where people come to get their hair dyed green, huh?”
She gave a little gasp and spun around. “I can't believe that you said that.” But she was smiling.
He laughed. “No luck washing it out?”
She lifted a hand to her hair. “No, it hasn't faded at all. But I guess it's okay. The kids keep telling me how much they like it. I guess nobody cares that neon green isn’t really Christmasy.”
His palm itched to touch it. Damn the wrapping paper rolls. “I really like it too.”
“You’ve never see me without it.”
“I don't think it would matter. I think you could probably have bright orange hair, purple skin, and dress in a brown paper sack, and I would still want you.”
Her pupils dilated and her lips parted and Drew mentally cursed himself. So much for keeping this light and friendly and not getting sucked into all of these emotions that he was feeling so quickly for this woman.
Of course she was the one who’d put on the candy-cane-striped socks.
“Well this is how I normally look.” She leaned over grabbed a photo off one of the shelves, holding it up for him. “This is me and Lennon, my friend and business partner.”
Lennon was beautiful. She had dark hair and large almond-shaped eyes and a gorgeous smile. But Drew was having a hard time looking away from Rory. She was a blonde. A very light blonde. Her hair was nearly white, except for the last four inches or so that were dyed bright pink in this photo. She also had a bright pink gem pierced through her nose and the crop top she was wearing showed off a matching bellybutton piercing. The top also revealed the flowery tattoo that ran from her left elbow to her shoulder.
He hadn’t seen any of this yet. She’d been in long sleeves and had apparently taken her nose piercing out. He looked at her. “Yup, you're gorgeous. No matter what you're wearing or what color your hair is.”
She seemed pleased as she set the photo back on the shelf.
She turned and led him up a staircase at the back of the salon and through the door at the top of the landing. It opened into an apartment that smelled like chocolate and peppermint and was lit by a crazy number of multicolored twinkle lights.
“You do really love Christmas.”
“I really do,” she agreed as she crossed to the tiny kitchen. She started pulling mugs and spoons out of a cupboard and a drawer. “I love the way the season just seems to permeate the air. It seems to touch everything. Even grumpy Bob down at the gas station has little decorations on his countertop. I know some people complain that it's become commercialized and it isn't just religious the way it was supposed to be initially, but I kind of like that. It's bigger than that. I like that people from all walks of life, no matter what they do the rest of the year, still have little ways of celebrating this same season. It feels like it brings us all together. I mean, anybody can watch Frosty the Snowman and enjoy it, or get a peppermint hot chocolate and think it's delicious, or listen to Christmas carols and smile. Sure, we could do those things any time of the year. But there's just something special in the air in December.”
He knew exactly what she meant. And it made him want to reach out and pull her in for a hug. It was interesting how this woman turned him on more than he could remember a woman turning him on in forever, but he also seemed to have the constant urge to hug her and hold her and kiss the top of her head and just make her smile too.
“I completely agree,” he finally said.
There was no doubt in his mind that he would rather be here with her doing this, than on the blind date Mitch and Paige and Jordan and Fletcher had tried to set him up on. Or had pretended to set him up on, anyway.
Rory's grin indicated that she was just as happy as he was in this moment. She finished prepping the cocoa and Drew looked around her apartment.
It was small. Cozy. She had a tree in the corner near the stand that held her TV. One wall was a large window that overlooked Main Street below. There was a short divider between the living room and the kitchen, which was a narrow space with a countertop, cabinets and sink on one side, and a stove and fridge on the other. There was a small window on the far end and she had a tiny table tucked below it with two straight-backed chairs. To his right were two doors. He assumed one led to the bedroom and one to the bathroom.
Rory came into the living room area with a tray that held two mugs of hot cocoa, a little bowl of marshmallows and four frosted sugar cookies in typical Christmas shapes. She carried it to the coffee table that sat in front of the couch. It was the only piece of furniture in the room to sit on other than a wicker Papasan chair.
She dropped onto the floor in front of the coffee table where she also had rolls of wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and ribbon laid out on the carpet. Drew joined her on the floor, and she lifted her remote and pressed play. “Is The Family Stone okay?”
“Never seen it.”
“Oh, it’s so good.” Then she shot him a smile. “Thanks for coming over to help me do this.”
And he officially admitted that he was falling for her. He was wrapping presents, watching a Christmas movie, and drinking hot chocolate with a very sweet woman who loved Christmas, and thinking about when that woman could come visit Iowa rather than dancing and drinking at a bar with a hot woman who was all in for a short-term fling.
“No place I'd rather be,” he told her honestly.