Page 10 of Suddenly Mine
He shoved his hands into his pockets and headed towards it, the cold biting into his skin but a strange sense of hope kindling in his chest.
The little café was still there, squeezed between a jeweller’s and a bookstore, its window glowing with soft, golden light.The same faded awning. The same crooked sign swinging in the wind. A rush of nostalgia hit him square in the chest.
He pushed open the door, the bell jangling just as it always had, and the aroma of rich, melted chocolate wrapped around him. The warmth inside was immediate, almost overwhelming after the icy street. And that’s when he saw her. Merry. What a coincidence! Of all the places in all the city, she had ended up here too.
She was curled up at a corner table by the fogged-up window, cupping a giant take-out mug between both hands as if trying to absorb its heat. Her cheeks were pink and her red hair was tumbling out from under her knitted hat. She looked small, a little blue around the edges, shivering even in the warm room. Christian’s heart did a ridiculous little flip.
Before he could gather himself, Merry dipped one finger into the mountain of whipped cream piled on top of her drink, absently swirling it, then licked it off with a quick flick of her tongue. Something low and dangerous shifted in Christian’s gut.
He dragged his gaze away, barely managing to get his brain back online. She hadn’t seen him yet. She looked lost in her own world, staring out the window at the snow beginning to fall, a small furrow between her brows as if the weight of the day was pressing down on her.
Chapter 5
MERRY
Merry wrapped her hands around the hot chocolate, soaking in its warmth as she sat at a corner table, still shivering from the cold. Her hair dripped steadily on to her shoulders, but she was too tired to care. Why did it always have to be hail and sleet in New York? Where were the fairy-tale drifts of snow that fell on Central Park in the movies?
Fairy tales aren’t real, she told herself.And neither are handsome princes.
Or are they? She smiled into her cup. She’d met one earlier that evening and she was going to get to work with him too. A stranger who could have stepped straight from the pages of a storybook. Handsome, kind, actually listened when she spoke, hands that could do hard work. She giggled into her drink at the heat creeping up her neck. When she finally looked up, still smiling to herself, a jolt shot through her, just like someone had plucked a string inside her chest.
Christian was standing there like Prince Charming, tall and steady, watching her with eyes the exact rich, warm colour of her hot chocolate.
He lifted a hand in greeting, his mouth tipping into a small smile, and he made a questioning gesture towards her cup, miming a refill. Merry shook her head quickly, hugging her drink closer. She watched as he crossed to the counter to order his own drink, moving with an easy, unhurried confidence that made something inside her spin. She wanted to bottle the moment and keep it for ever. Because somehow, impossibly, his being here felt a little bit like magic.
Christian crossed the café towards her, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Merry’s gaze caught on it, finding the wayhis bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top, softer, completely distracting. She dragged her eyes back to his.
“You ordered a hot chocolate too?” Christian said as he reached her table. “You obviously have great taste.”
“I would have put you down as a scotch guy,” she said, hoping he didn’t hear the scratch in her voice.
“Sometimes,” he replied. “But on a day like today, and this close to Christmas, nothing beats a bit of liquid heaven.”
“Amen to that,” Merry said. She brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes, trying to ignore the drumming beat of her heart behind her ribs.
He nodded towards the empty chair across from her. “Mind if I join you while I wait?”
“Not at all,” she said, a little too quickly, and his smile deepened into two of the cutest dimples she’d ever laid eyes on.
“So, you come here a lot?” he asked, chuckling to himself at the awful chat-up line.
“Sometimes.” She smiled. “It’s close, and the staff are nice, and the hot chocolates are the nicest I’ve ever tasted.”
As if on cue the waitress returned, placing a steaming mug on the table in front of Christian.
“Here’s one for your man, too,” she said, flashing a smile at Merry.
“Oh, he’s not my—” Merry started, then she caught sight of Christian shrugging off his lumberjack coat and her insides turned to heat. Somehow, he looked even hotter in a sweater. Even the waitress had fallen silent at the way his biceps moved through the fabric.
Christian, oblivious to the effect he was having, took a long sip of his drink and sighed deeply, licking the cream from his top lip in a way that made Merry want to jump over the table and help him. The waitress took her leave with a flustered shake ofher hands and Merry took a sip of her drink to spare her some time.
“Oh, boy,” Christian said, as he licked the spoon from the mug clean. “I have missed these.”
“You’ve been away?” Merry squeaked.
“Yeah, for a while now,” he replied. “Nearly five years, to be exact. In Southeast Asia, mainly the Philippines.”
“Oh, wow,” said Merry. “That’s amazing. Don’t they have hot chocolate over there?”