Page 12 of Suddenly Mine

“At the top?” Merry asked, glad of the change of direction. “There are only two people in head office. Lewis Carroll is . . . Well, he seems okay. He’s pretty much Santa Claus, right? But he’s mostly in the office. Pops down to the shop floor to say hi regularly, though.” She frowned. “Actually, I haven’t seen him at all recently, now that I think about it, which is unusual. Most of the jobs he used to do are carried out by Margot Miller. She’s the other person in the head office and she’s pretty much running the place now. You’ll meet her. She’s nice, so long as you do what you’re told.”

Christian nodded, his eyes clouding over. It took him a moment to look at her again.

“This is probably a weird question,” he asked. “But have you noticed anything odd about the store, anything out of place? Recently, this is.”

That was a weird question, Merry thought.

She shook her head. “Odd in what way?”

“Just somebody told me something was going wrong at Carroll’s,” he said, waving the question away. “Warned me about taking a job there in case the company suddenly went under. I just wondered if you’d noticed anything.”

“No,” she said, suddenly worried about her own job. “It’s been busy,reallybusy, like people queuing to get in the door busy. Everything seems okay. But I’ve only really known the Christmas rush, remember, fellow newbie.”

“Okay, good,” Christian said. “I’m glad.”

He took a deep sip of his hot chocolate, smiling at her over his cup. It hit her low and deep, sending a pulse of heat straight to her core. God, she wanted to take him home, but she knew herself too well. A one-night stand with a new colleague, nomatter how good his hands looked wrapped around his cup, was a disaster waiting to happen.

So she pushed back her chair, gave him a smile that she hoped didn’t look as hungry as it felt, and stood up.

Chapter 6

CHRISTIAN

“Wait,” he said, standing so quickly his chair screeched against the tile floor.

Merry paused, one hand still on the back of her chair, her brows lifted in surprise.

He almost lost his nerve. The soft, wide-eyed look she gave him did something to his chest.

“I just . . .” He glanced down, searching for something that would make sense, something that wouldn’t sound like he was desperate to keep her there. Even if he kind of was. “You look cold. Your coat isn’t warm enough.”

Her mouth opened. Then closed. She glanced down at her duffle like she’d only just remembered it was still soaked through. And her jeans looked frozen stiff with the damp cold. He didn’t know how she’d even made it to the café like that, let alone how she was planning to get home.

“You’ll freeze,” he added, more quietly now.

She looked up again, eyes locking on his with a wicked little glint. “You just said I was hot,” she teased.

Christian blinked. Then he barked out a laugh, one hand going to his chest like she’d actually hit him there.

“God, you’re trouble,” he said, shaking his head and pulling his lumberjack coat from the back of his chair. “Here, wear it. I insist.”

She slid her arms into the sleeves and the coat swallowed her whole, hanging off her frame like a blanket with legs.

“I look ridiculous,” she murmured, tugging the sleeves over her hands.

“You look warm,” he said. “And kind of like a Christmas burrito.”

That earned a soft laugh, which made every bit of him light up. Her cheeks were pink again, this time from heat and not from frostbite, and she tilted her head at him like she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.

“You heading home?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve gotta go get the train.”

“I’ll walk with you,” he said. “I’m not letting you get sleet-stabbed on my watch.”

She raised a brow. “Sleet-stabbed?”

“It’s a thing,” he said. “It’s when the wind turns against you and starts hurling frozen knives at your face. Happens a lot here.”