Page 78 of The Mistletoe Kisser

She held out her hand to him. “In that case, I’ll see you around, Ryan.”

He took her hand and held it firmly in his own. “I can’t wait,” he said.

With a smile hovering on those kissable lips, she slid her hand free and walked down the aisle. He watched her all the way, hoping for one final look. He should have kissed her again. Might have seriously considered it if they hadn’t been surrounded by an entire municipality.

Finally, once she’d reached the concession stand, Sammy paused and glanced over her shoulder. She found him in the crowd and gave a little wave. He blew out a breath and tried not to think about how much he was going to miss those blue eyes despite the fact that it made no sense.

When she was out of sight, he wandered over to the volunteer table and got in line. For once, he had nothing but time on his hands.

Which was convenient since he ended up waiting nearly twenty minutes. The woman in front of him, Kathy Wu, went into great detail about her qualifications due to an at-home vibrator business.

By the time he got to the front of the line, a sweaty Bruce Oakleigh was hovering behind Rainbow.

“Evan, put Kathy on the Only If Absolutely Necessary list,” Rainbow said to the kid next to her. Gia and Beckett’s oldest, Ryan guessed. He had an owlish, serious look.

“You got it. That brings us to forty-seven Only If Absolutely Necessaries and three Actually Know What They’re Doing. And two of those weren’t volunteers. They were nominated.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Ryan!” Sweaty Bruce exclaimed, mopping his brow with a hand-stitched Team Angel handkerchief. “Ryan will save us. He’s a corporate accountant, you know, Rainbow.”

“I am aware of Ryan’s qualifications,” she said testily. “What I don’t understand is why he’s here.”

“Obviously he’s here to help,” Bruce scoffed.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Rainbow said.

Evan glanced back and forth between them, then shrugged. “I’m gonna see if there’s any popcorn left.”

Rainbow steepled her fingers. “What can we do for you, Ryan?”

“I think the question should be what can I do for you?”

“What can you do for us? Tell us!” Bruce begged. He was leaning so far over the table that he was almost prone.

“I have experience related to your problem,” Ryan announced.

“What kind of experience?” Rainbow asked as if she had zero interest in the conversation.

“Ever hear of the town Red Rock Bay in Washington state?” he asked.

“Nope.” Rainbow sounded bored.

“I could Google it,” Bruce offered, patting his pockets for his phone. “Do you want me to Google it?”

“You’ve never heard of Red Rock Bay because I stepped in at the eleventh hour and saved the town from a very public bankruptcy.”

“Bruce, why don’t you go get Amethyst some water,” Rainbow suggested, leaning back in her chair.

“Yes. Good idea! Don’t say anything important until I get back. Amethyst, my pearl! I’m coming,” Bruce said, charging into the crowd.

“Let’s step outside,” Rainbow suggested, pulling on her coat.

Ryan followed her out the exit door. The alley was dark and frigid. He dragged on his hat while Rainbow lit another one of her clove cigarettes.

“Let’s get down to brass tacks,” she said.

“I came across some interesting information regarding my uncle’s loan today,” Ryan said.