Page 19 of A Gingerbread Romance

He scratched the back of his head. “I’ll get straight to it. I, uh, I keep thinking about what a great time I had with you on our date, and I wondered if there was any chance I could take you out again? Sometime soon, so we could talk about this some more?”

Greta stared at him as if he were speaking another language. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Look, I had a great time, too, Jonathan, but I’m sorry. I can’t.”

“Why not?” He wasn’t used to women turning him down, even though this was an unusual situation. He thought she would’ve cooled off by now. Besides, he hadn’t done anything wrong—on purpose. And he was trying to make up for it, although she didn’t know that.

She wrinkled her nose. “Well, for several reasons. First of all, because of the optics. It wouldn’t look good for me to date someone in charge of the sale of my building. It would look like I was trying to get to Brett and Elaine by associating myself romantically with you, whether it came down to how much my rent is raised or whether I get evicted in the long run.”

She rubbed two fingers to her forehead as if her head ached. “Jonathan, this place is my livelihood, and as long as you’re a key player in what happens to the building that houses it, it would be highly unprofessional of me to become involved with you.”

He’d thought about this, too, but she was right. It wouldn’t look very good on her part to the other tenants or to her new landlords.

Fortunately, the sale of both buildings would be final in about two weeks, and they could put the awkward situation behind them because his part in it would be over with once the deal closed. Unfortunately, he’d be heading back to Baltimore only a week or so after that. He sighed heavily.

“Second, I’ve got too much on my plate right now. I’ve just started working with a consultant to improve things with the business, and it’s going well. I’ve got to focus on my job more than ever right now.”

“Oh, really?” he asked, glad she’d brought it up. If she sounded this optimistic about it, then she must be feeling better about things. “And is it helping so far?”

He saw her features relax just a little. “Actually, it is.” She pointed out the window. “Did you see the sign in front of the parking spot outside? We’re offering curbside pickup now, and we’ve already had several people retrieve their telephone orders that way. They were ecstatic to have a quick and easy place to park.” He traced the dimple in her cheeks with his gaze. “We’ll be offering online ordering soon, too.”

“That’s so great.” He breathed a sigh of relief to hear it from her own lovely lips. The lips he was regretting now more than ever that he couldn’t kiss again. Right now.

Jonathan glanced over as some customers took their boxed-up goods and left full of smiles, remarking on the gingerbread house they hoped to win.

“The gingerbread house is really beautiful, by the way. I haven’t had the chance to tell you that, yet.” He meant it. Her description last week on their date hadn’t done it justice.

Her expression softened. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

He didn’t like accepting defeat, but clearly, Greta would not budge. Still, he had to ask. “Okay, so where does that leave us?”

Great stared at him again, then glanced over at the customers, distracted. “I don’t know.” She offered a reluctant shrug.

“Leave our date out of the equation for a minute.” He studied her. “I don’t want you to think of me as an enemy. I would really be sorry if that’s how we left things.”

Her green eyes met his. “I don’t think of you that way,” she said, her hand reaching automatically for his forearm. Her touch sent a current of electricity through him, and he swallowed. She still felt it, didn’t she? Something still moved between them. This whole mess hadn’t destroyed it.

She removed her hand as if she’d just now realized she’d reached for him. Then she cleared her throat and directed her gaze to the floor before raising it to meet his eyes. “I guess you did what you had to do.” She paused, pressing her hands into her pockets. “So, maybe we can just be friends?”

Jonathan studied her. It wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted more.

But it was something.

He nodded and forced a smile. “Okay.” Might as well celebrate the fact that she didn’t hate him. He took half a step back before he let himself pull her into the embrace he’d imagined all week since their kiss.

He had to change the subject. He forced his gaze to the bakery cases. “What did you say your favorite cookies were the other night?”

Confusion filled her face.

He grinned innocently. “What?” he said, drawing the word out for several beats. “Can’t a friend help a friend by making a purchase at her store?”

“Oh.” Her brow rose. “Sure, I guess so.” She followed him down the counter on the customers’ side of the case, pointing out the contents as they went. “Like I told you at the pub, the gingerbread is fantastic, but the sugar cookies and the snickerdoodles are also popular.” She’d adopted what sounded like a professional bakery store tone.

He nodded. “I’ll take four dozen.”

Her brow rose again.

“And two dozen chocolate chip.”

“Six dozen cookies?” she said, raising her brow. “Will you be purchasing a gym membership today, too?”

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