Page 36 of Cross Check Christmas
"I'm an English teacher, not a carnival barker."
"Clearly."
I adjust my scarf and spot Hendrix and Tucker strolling toward our booth. Hendrix's cheeks are flushed from the cold,his stupid perfect hair tousled by the winter wind. Not that I notice these things.
"Oh no."
Hendrix is wearing his Titans jacket, because of course he is. Does he sleep in that thing?
"Ladies." Tucker nods at us, then jerks his head at Daisy. "Got a minute?"
Daisy's eyes narrow. "What for?"
"Just... business stuff."
"Business stuff," she repeats flatly.
Tucker rocks on his heels. "Yeah. You know, about the... thing."
"The thing?"
"Can you just–" He gestures vaguely away from the booth.
Daisy sighs dramatically but follows him, leaving me alone with Hendrix. Perfect.
We watch them walk away, Tucker talking animatedly while Daisy crosses her arms. She keeps shaking her head, but I notice she hasn't stormed off yet. They're gesturing wildly, and every few seconds they glance back at us before huddling closer together.
"What do you think that's about?" Hendrix asks.
"No idea." I frown as Daisy throws her hands up in exasperation while Tucker keeps pointing back toward us. "They've been acting weird lately."
"So..." Hendrix picks up one of our ornaments, doing that annoying head-tilt thing he always does. "How's business?"
"Booming," I say flatly, though our empty cash box says otherwise. I snatch the ornament from his hands. "Don't you have some hockey players to terrorize?"
"So..." Hendrix leans against our booth, those blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "I was thinking maybe we could grab dinner sometime?"
I nearly drop the ornament I'm holding. "Excuse me?"
"You know, at a restaurant. With food. Maybe even conversation if we're feeling wild."
"What are you up to?"
"Can't a guy just ask a beautiful woman to dinner?"
"Not when that guy is you." I narrow my eyes. "What's your angle here?"
"No angle." He shrugs, that infuriating half-smile playing on his lips. "Just dinner."
"I know what dinner is." I straighten the tilting ornaments. "I meant, why are you asking me?"
"Because I'd like to take you out."
“No.”
“Just like that?”
I cross my arms. “Just like that.”
