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“That’s a good idea.” Reed nodded as he grabbed one of the door handles and pulled it open, reaching for a few boxes of frozen perogies. “How are these?”

I smiled. “Not homemade like Nana’s, but I can improvise.”

He popped the boxes in my cart and we ventured down more aisles. I tossed in an array of items—instant mashed potatoes, canned green beans, jellied cranberries, and a few sticks of butter.

Reed’s cart was still empty.

“How’s your job going?” I asked, watching as he reached for a box of Rice Krispies with holiday colors, thought about it, then put it back.

“Grueling. Rewarding.”

“Self-defense training, right?”

“Yeah.” He glanced at me like he was surprised I remembered. “A past client from my east-coast location sent me a letter the other day, telling me I saved his life with training. It was a great feeling.”

“Wow.” My chest was heavy with warmth. Saving lives was no small feat; I didn’t even know how to save my own. “I’m sure you’ve made a big difference in the world.”

A smile twitched on his mouth. “What about you? Have you been capturing any blips lately?”

Every jaded piece of me shimmered at the question because I knew he’d been paying attention to my words that night. My mess of hopes and dreams. “Just in here.” I tapped my temple. “But I’m volunteering at a local animal shelter for the holidays. We did a photoshoot with the dogs and cats up for adoption with one of those disposable cameras. I dressed up like Rudoph—which was basically just a headband made of antlers and a red nose—but they turned out great.”

We headed out of the cereal aisle, but I made a last-minute decision and snagged the box of Rice Krispies, tossing it in my cart before we moved to the next aisle.

“Rudolph, huh?” He glanced at me, his eyes trailing over my face like he was imagining me with reindeer ears and a red nose. “Cute.”

I relished in the sentiment, my pinkening ears hidden by my hair. “It was.”

As we finished shopping and inched closer to the checkout lines, my chest strained with trapped emotion. I wanted to give him the apology he deserved, even though he didn’t seem to be holding a lifelong grudge. Which was strange. I probably would have.

I reined in my nerves and took in a breath. “You know…I’m really sorry about that night at the party,” I blurted out, refusing to look at him. His head tilted toward me in my periphery while I chewed on the inner lining of my cheek. “I didn’t mean to lead you on. It was stupid and in poor taste. I was just lonely and lost, and I thought you’d stop talking to me if I told you my real age. And…well, I liked talking to you.”

Silence festered.

It spanned so many seconds, I wondered if I should ditch my cart by the gift-wrap display and make a clean break while I still had a fragment of my dignity intact.

Finally, he spoke. “I liked talking to you, too, Halley.”

My face was hot, my cheeks as rosy as jolly ol’ St. Nick’s.

Did he like kissing me?

Touching me?

I heaved in a shaky breath, the sound of my name on his tongue sprinkling goosebumps all over my skin. “It wasn’t right. I lied to you. And I’m really sorry?—”

“Hear that?”

I blinked, his question cutting my words short as I frowned, confusion settling in. “Hear what?”

A smile hinted as he leaned forward on the cart with both leather-clad arms and glanced up at the ceiling. “Listen.”

The clamoring of squeaky carts, busy shoppers, and checkout beeping drowned out as I focused on whatever it was he wanted me to hear.

And then my belly pitched, a sharp breath leaving me.

A song filtered into my ears.

Oasis.

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