Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses(75)

“You don’t have a scarf,” Nick said. “Aren’t you freezing?”

She was freezing. “I’m fine,” she said. They were there to shop for Max and, since it was the first year she had a sizeable amount of money coming to her, she was eager to get started. She didn’t care in the slightest if she had on a scarf, even if she was shivering.

“I’ll feel better if you’re wearing a scarf. Do you want gloves?”

“No, I’m fine.”

They kept walking. Everywhere she looked the surfaces of the giant Christmas trees and wreaths were still covered in snow and ice. The walks had all been shoveled, but the white snow on the edges of the paths, the grounds, and the branches of the trees gave it all such a festive feel. As she looked at Nick in his tailored coat and scarf, she wished she could remember like he did. She wanted to keep this moment forever.

“I know. Come with me,” he said, warmth in his eyes. She didn’t want to notice it, but she had. Nick placed his hand on her back again and led her to the coffee shop where he opened the door and motioned for her to enter. He found a table, nestled along a dark wood windowsill that was big enough to double as a bench, and pulled out her chair. “Tell me what kind of coffee you like.”

“Just a regular coffee is fine,” she said with a smile. True, it was cold out, and a coffee sounded wonderful, but there was a buzzing energy to him that made her think he wasn’t just there to get coffee. He was grinning at her, his eyes full of some sort of insider knowledge. What was he doing?

“Cream and sugar?”

“Just cream, please.”

“Be right back,” he said with another grin.

As she watched him standing in line, making his order, she wondered why he’d asked to come today. He knew as well as she did that any connection they had wasn’t going anywhere. So why was he doing this? At that moment, as she caught him stealing glances at her, she didn’t care. She didn’t want to think about anything other than him and her right then.

“Here you are,” he said, returning and setting her coffee in front of her. “Sit tight for just one more second. I’ll be right back.”

To her surprise, he left the shop. Where was he going? As she sat by herself, with her thoughts, she wondered if she was being too careful, worrying about how everything would play out. As a young girl, she’d thrown caution to the wind and she’d done whatever she felt in that moment. Should she jump in with both feet and do that now? Max had changed her; he’d made her more careful about things, and now she had her family—Gramps—to think about. She just wasn’t that young, naïve girl that she’d been. But that girl was still there. She could feel the impulsiveness lingering under the surface, telling her to just go for it. The only problem was the grown woman that she’d become was reminding her of how badly all those impulsive acts had turned out. All but one: Max.

Max was that one light in her life, that one good thing that had come in the midst of all her troubles. And when she looked at him, she didn’t mind the money struggles, the job juggling, or the fact that things hadn’t worked out with his father. None of it mattered because she had Max. And she felt so lucky and blessed to have him in her life.

Nick walked past the windows carrying a paper shopping bag. She didn’t recognize the store name. She hadn’t been to this mall very often—most of the stores were out of her price range—but given Max’s Christmas list, it had been the most logical place to come. Nick came inside and sat down, a look of satisfaction on his face. He reached into the bag and pulled out the most gorgeous pearly white scarf Abbey had ever seen. It looked so soft. He stood up again and wrapped it around her, then sat back down.

Abbey ran her hand along the luxurious surface of it. It was soft, softer than anything she could remember feeling. Her fingers slid down to the very end where the price tag still hung. She caught sight of the numbers just as Nick reached across and grabbed it, obscuring it in his fist and pulling it off into his hand.

“Did that say one hundred fifty dollars?” she asked in horror. There was no way she was letting him spend that kind of money on a scarf that, given her lifestyle, would get stuffed in a handbag, dragged on the floor, or lost in a closet.

“No,” he said, but his eyes gave him away. “It said a dollar fifty.”

“It did not.” She reached for his fist.

He squeezed it tighter and then threw the balled paper behind him over his shoulder. She watched it land across the room. He was looking at her playfully, clearly enjoying the fact that he’d just spent a ton of money on her and she couldn’t do anything about it. Then he leaned close to her—too close. His face was right in front of hers. “Let me buy you something, and just enjoy it,” he said softly. “I know you’ll be just fine without it, but I wanted to buy it.”