Page 19

“Your pants size. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You have a side gig at the fair guessing age and weight, too?”

“No, but I like to keep my options open. Get me your Santa suit and I’ll have it looking as if it was made for you.”

“Deal.” Because he sure hadn’t had any luck with it. After the mess he’d made, he had bagged it up, planning to bring it back to the firehall to see if one of the others knew what they were doing. “I’ll pay you. What’s your rate?”

“That depends. Why do you have a Santa suit?”

“Didn’t you hear the good news? I’m the fire department’s Santa in the Christmas parade.”

Sophie’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? You?”

“My sentiments exactly.”

She flushed, as if she was worried she’d offended him. “I’m sure you’ll do great—it’s just that I wouldn’t have guessed you for a stand-in Santa.”

“It’s not by choice.”

Her lips twitched. “Ah, I see. You lost a bet?”

“You might say that. One involving a green candy cane.”

She eyed him curiously. “I suspect there’s a story there. Let me tell Isabelle I’m leaving, then we’ll get this party started. You can fill me in on the juicy details while we’re on the road.”

He hadn’t realized there was anyone else in the shop and glanced around, still not seeing anyone.

Sophie grinned. “You may not see her, but I’m sure that she saw you the moment you walked in.”

“The security cameras?” He’d noticed them upon first entering the shop but had figured they were there for theft prevention and detection—the kind of thing you checked after the fact if there was a problem rather than actively manning them during store hours.

Sophie nodded. “She insisted we have them since she works from the office a lot and doesn’t like me out front by myself. Frankly, I think she really just wants to keep an eye on me at all times.”

“She’s the boss?”

“She thinks she is,” Sophie laughed, but her gaze was still wary, as if she expected him to roar at her at any moment and was braced for such. “From the time I was born, she’s been bossing me.” At his blank look, she added, “Isabelle is my sister as well as business partner. She’s three years older and thinks that makes her smarter and better at all things in life. I let her keep thinking that.”

Sophie put her thumbs to her ears and wiggled her fingers around, making a face toward the ceiling camera, much as a child might do.

Completely caught off guard, Cole arched a brow. “What was that?”

Sophie shrugged. “Our secret code that I’m ready to go to lunch—and also that I know she’s been watching my every move, and it’s time to stop. I call it the Ready-to-Go Reindeer.”

“Are you kidding me?”

She gave him a pointed look. “Please. Have you seen some of the secret signs baseball players use? Think of this as a sewing store secret sign that you were lucky enough to witness.”

Cole stared at her. “I’m one hundred percent sure no baseball player in the history of mankind has ever used that particular sign for anything—and they never will.”

“No?” She gave him a pert smile. “Well, they should. It would catch the other team off guard and give them a huge advantage.”

“No doubt.” Suppressing an unexpected almost-laugh, Cole shook his head. “Or have the umps tossing them from the game.”

“There is that possibility,” Sophie agreed, still smiling.

“I can’t believe you just did that in front of a customer,” the blonde he’d seen at the toy drive meeting said as she came out onto the sales floor.

While he’d noticed her before, Cole hadn’t realized the woman and Sophie were sisters. But that explained why Isabelle had kept glancing over at them at the meeting. Sophie had probably told her what a piece of work he was, and the woman had been keeping a watchful eye on him in case he got out of line.