Page 14 of Reindeer Flames
"We could scout around," I said.
She swatted my arm. "Go on a real date!"
"What are we scouting?" Hart asked.
Gold sighed. "There's no helping you two. If you must know, someone is stealing our business on Thursday mornings. Santa 30's order is the only one we can rely on all five weekdays." Santa 30 was the only Santa who came in on the weekends as well. He was our best customer, no contest.
"Hmm." Hart stroked his smooth chin, and I wondered what he would look like with a beard. "I'll ask around and see what I can find out. It should be pretty easy when I tell the team I'm going on a breakfast date."
Gold clapped her hands. "Perfect. And I'll get some Christmas shopping done while you're out on the town!" She loved to shop online vintage and novelty websites all over theworld. Last year, she'd gotten me a jade and obsidian bracelet from the Philippines.
"It's a date, then!" Hart tucked the bag of pastries under his arm and waved before picking up the box that held the two carafes of coffee and hot chocolate. He twinkled with a magical aura, and I wondered if Santa 30 had anything to do with it. He really liked our sugar cookies.
I tried not to think too much about how much I liked Hart. It was less than a week since the Halloween party, and my heart was still a little sore about his date on Sunday. Finally, we were going on our own date. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, though, even when my dragon insisted he was my mate.
CHAPTER 6
HART
I couldn't waitto share my new intel when I arrived for my date with Silver the next morning. "A chocolatier in the village offers free hot chocolate with any purchase on Thursdays. They started making chocolate croissants early this summer."
Gold sighed. "I was still working my way through the bakeries. It would have taken me forever to find that place. Thank you!"
"Chocolate croissants?" Silver frowned. "I'll bring you one so we can taste them for ourselves."
"They must be pretty spectacular, if they're pulling the bakery crowd."
"I can't wait to taste the hot chocolate," I said. "Everyone but Santa raves about it." Santa was too loyal to Silver and Gold's, though even he admitted the competition's hot chocolate was tasty.
"Enough chit-chatting," Gold said, shooing us away from the register. "Go forth and sleuth! Wear my hat!" She tossed a seasoned fedora at Silver's head. He ducked.
I caught it and swooped it up onto my head, not even caring if it gave me a hat ring. "I'll have him back by the lunch rush."
"Have fun!" she called as we walked outside.
The cold blast of wind through the door pounded into my chest and made it hard to breathe. Silver pretended not to notice as he nudged me out of his way. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and guided me toward the subway station. I curled into him, my body absorbing his heat until finally, it didn't hurt to take a breath. Already, I loved the perks of walking down the street beside my gorgeous dragon omega.
No. Not, "my" omega.
"Mine!"my reindeer insisted."Mate. Bite. Claim."
I ignored him the rest of the walk to the subway, expecting him to calm down once we were on the train. He hated the subway, but since my visit to Silver's apartment, he seemed more comfortable underground, especially with Silver's hand clutched in mine.
We boarded the train and sat on a side-facing bench near the back of the car. "The hat looks good on you." Silver looked me up and down, checking me out.
"Is that all? Only the hat?" I teased.
I love the way his cheeks blushed deep red whenever I fished for compliments. He reminded me of how responsive he'd been to my advances. I longed to touch him again. The train car was practically empty. No one would see us.
My hand hadn't traveled far from his knee when a young mother and her toddler entered the car. The toddler was a little fussy, and the mother looked like she needed somewhere quiet. Our car certainly fit the bill.
"Later," Silver said, as though he could read my mind, or maybe he was talking to his dragon as much as I'd been talking to my reindeer lately.
Our stop was two blocks from the chocolatier's, but we could walk there through a wide underground tunnel etched from the glacier. The stairway looked icy, but a magical spell providedtraction. The sign above the door warned of allergens, directing anyone affected to go around to the main entrance.
Inside, the chocolate shop contained rows of candy bins from floor to ceiling, of every variety of chocolate. Each stack of bins had the same main ingredient covered in different varieties of chocolate. The first stack before me held candy orange slices. The top bin had them drenched in white chocolate. The next one down, milk chocolate. Beneath that, a bin filled with semi-sweet chocolate orange slices. And of course, at the bottom, a bin full of dark chocolate orange slices.
"I didn't know there were so many varieties," Silver said.
