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Lawson
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I COULD SEE HOLLY THROUGH the glass door of the bakery, and I grinned. It was like the universe wanted us to be in the same place at the same time again, just to revel in each other. The kiss from the night before carried me through to my dreams and made sure I woke up early, happy, refreshed, and with a nearly medical case of morning wood.
Holly was standing at the counter, happily chatting away with the girl behind it, and I wondered if she had any idea how beautiful she was. I doubted it. She seemed so oblivious to the fact that she was absolutely gorgeous. It was another attractive thing about her. She didn’t seem to have any hang-ups about her looks, no ego-driven nonsense or repetitive put-downs. She didn’t overdo her makeup or act like no one saw her as pretty, so why bother with either. I had dealt with my fair share of women at either end of that spectrum, and it was exhausting.
Not Holly. Holly knew people found her pretty and seemed to have a healthy dose of self-esteem about it, without being arrogant about it. That level of confidence without ego just made her even more attractive.
As I opened the door to the bakery, my heart thumping harder than it had before I saw her, she turned toward me, and I delighted in the expression that crossed her face. Her eyes went wide in surprise, her lips curled up and opened to show her adorable smile, her shoulders raised and her hands splayed out in front of her, almost like she was beckoning me to an embrace. There was nothing more in the world that I wanted than to follow through.
I wanted to run to her, to scoop her up and kiss her again. To let the rest of the world fade away into oblivion while our mouths pressed against one another and I tasted her sweet lips. But I didn’t know how she would feel about that. We’d had one kiss, and while she was clearly happy to see me, I didn’t think she was going to be ready to start making out in public.
Still, I wanted her to know how excited I was to see her, and as I crossed the lobby to her, I held out my arms, and she crushed into me for a brief but tight hug. As she pulled away, I kissed her cheek and watched as her smile grew wider.
“Morning,” I said, then crossed over to the counter, trying to act as cool as possible without being dismissive. “Hi, I have an order for Lane.”
“What are you doing here?” Holly asked, gently tugging on my arm to get my attention.
“I thought I would pick up some cinnamon rolls to surprise you this morning,” I said.
The flush of red that streaked across her cheeks was adorable, and I felt my spine tingle knowing that it was because of me.
“Here you go,” the bakery girl said. “Anything else I can get for you?”
“No,” I said. “That should do it.”
I paid for the cinnamon rolls and looked back over at Holly.
“So, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to risk baking again this morning, so I went with a professional,” she said, nodding at the girl behind the counter, who smiled. “I thought coffee cake would be good.”
“Ooh, that does sound delicious,” I said. “Now everyone will have options, too.”
I shook the box of cinnamon rolls and smiled. The smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls was almost too much to bear as it was, but the sudden image of Holly licking sticky, sweet icing off her thumb while eating one was strong, sudden, and made me thank the universe that I had on tight boxer briefs.
We thanked the bakery owner and walked outside together, me taking the box of coffee cake from her so she didn’t have to carry it and backing up to open the door with my hip and let her through. She smiled and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear as she walked through the door.
“Are you going anywhere else?” she asked. “Any other errands or anything?”
“No,” I said. “This was the only thing I was going out for. Are you heading back to the B and B?”
“Yup. I’ll see you there.”
“Good,” I said, then leaned in for another soft kiss to her cheek. Before she could respond, I pulled away, turning to head to my car.
Getting on the road, I ended up right behind her, and though the drive was short, it was cute seeing her check her mirror and look at me. Each time she did, a smile spread across her face even wider, and I returned it. I had never felt anything like this before. It was exciting just to catch glimpses of the reflection of her eyes.
As we pulled into the mansion, I grabbed the boxes and headed for the door, opening it to let her in. She smiled and muttered her thanks in a cute, almost embarrassed way. It was like she wasn’t used to men holding doors for her. I made a mental note of that. There were some things that just weren’t going to be negotiable, and treating her like a lady was going to be one of them.
“Do you think we should set breakfast up in the dining room or in the kitchen?” she asked. “It’s kind of informal, cinnamon rolls and coffee cake. It feels like it might be a little much to set up in the dining room.”
“I think you’re right,” I said. “We could make a display in the kitchen at the tiny table in there.”
Holly nodded and went to the coffee maker, opening the top and putting in a liner.
“I need to remember to get more coffee,” she said. “People are going to have to deal with having Jet Fuel today.”
“Jet Fuel?” I asked.
“It’s the name of the coffee I make for myself in the mornings. Jet Fuel,” she said. “It has more caffeine per cup than any other coffee legally sold in the United States.”
I laughed.
“That’s pretty intense,” I said. “I guess I won’t need any sugar to go with it.”
“You drink your coffee with sugar? I just drink it black.”
“I do too, sometimes,” I admitted. “But at Christmas, I am all about the peppermint flavorings.”
“Fair,” she said. “I just never got into them. I guess I never really tried.”
“Here. Let me do it up for you.”
I stepped forward and poured the water in the coffee maker as she put the ground coffee away.
“I’m not a big fan of sweet coffee,” she said. “So, maybe less than you would do for yourself.”
“No sugar,” I said. “At least no sugar on its own. I’ll be right back.”
I walked away, leaving her in the kitchen with a bubbling coffee maker, and headed to my room. On top of the dresser, I had a pack of the thick, long peppermint sticks that I loved so much this time of year. Grabbing the whole box, I brought them back with me into the kitchen, just in time for it to begin pouring. I took one out and tossed it into the pot.
“Oh, brilliant,” she said.
“I think so,” I said. “Everybody puts one in their mug too. Really Christmas-es up their coffee.”
I pulled out some plates, and Holly took them from me silently, placing them on the table to display the cake and rolls. Then I grabbed some mugs, which she took two at a time and made a little row of them on the bar above the table. We worked that way without talking, and it felt natural, which in itself was exciting. There was a rhythm to how we moved, clearly excited to be near each other but comfortable enough to be close. Every time she had to walk by me, she stepped a little closer to me than strictly necessary, and I would catch another whiff of her intoxicating perfume.
Once the breakfast area was set, the coffee finished, and I pulled the pot out to pour her a glass. Sticking a peppermint stick in it, I handed it to her, and she pulled it close to her nose and breathed in the scent of it for a moment. A happy smile spread across her lips. Part of me wondered if I was starting to bring some of that holiday cheer into her life or if it was simply just the goodwill toward men that coffee tended to have all on its own.
“It smells delicious,” she said.
I grinned as I made a cup for myself. It was still too hot for me to drink and enjoy, but that didn’t seem to stop Holly. She took a big sip and closed her eyes, pulling the coffee tight to her chest.
“Good?” I asked.
“Amazing,” she said. “I don’t know why I never thought of that.”
“Well, now you have that trick up your sleeve,” I said.
“Thank you,” she said. “So, do you have anything else planned for the day?”
I sat down on a stool by the bar and took a sip of my coffee. Still too hot. I put it down and eyed the cinnamon rolls, wondering if I would be a bad guest if, being the person who bought them, I was also the first person to eat them.
“I’m going to go see my mother up at the facility today,” I said. “She texted me this morning and told me that she wanted me to come by around lunchtime, so I’ll probably head over then.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
I nodded.
“She has always been a lunch person,” I said. “It was like pulling teeth to get her to eat breakfast. She preferred to stick to coffee and protein shakes when I was young. But lunch was her favorite word.”
“Her favorite word?” Holly laughed.
“Yes,” I said. “She often said it. Lunch was her favorite word and her favorite meal. There was just something satisfying about how the word sounded to her, and then the idea of sandwiches and fruit and pie, that was Mom. She loved that idea more than anything else.”
“What about brunch?” Holly asked. “Best of both worlds?”
“More like a compromise,” I said. “She always complained that it was too breakfast-focused. She loved mimosas, though, so there was that.”
Holly laughed, and I grinned. I loved hearing her laughter. I could probably record it and listen to it throughout the day, and it would make just about anything more bearable.
“So, visiting your mom,” she said. “Anything else?”
“Well, there was one thing,” I said, “but it’s more to help you out than anything else.”
“Help me out?” she asked. “What, like a chore or something? I am pretty sure I am on top of all those.”
“There’s one you might have missed. The fireplace woodpile is looking really low. With the weather just getting colder, you are going to need more out there to get through the holidays and the beginning of the year.”
“My woodpile?” she asked. “I thought I was just supposed to pay for someone to bring those.”
“Why?” I asked. “There’s a bunch of land out here. We could go and chop some up. Once we finish our breakfast, of course. No use trying to chop a bunch of wood on an empty stomach.”
Silence from her end of the kitchen told me that she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. I smiled. As much as I was actually, really worried for her and wanted her to have a nice stack of wood out there, part of me just wanted to go out in the cold with her in hopes of helping her warm up later.
