Page 8 of Reindeer Flames
"That still seems really early," he said.
"I love it. Christmas Village is so peaceful in the early morning. I can fly to work without anyone pointing and staring."
"You fly to work?" He grinned. "I would get up early to see that. I bet you're magnificent."
I tried to turn my head, to bury it in my pillow, but he grabbed my chin and held me in place. "Say it. 'I am magnificent.'"
I scoffed, and his scowl deepened.
"I am … " I swallowed hard. My body didn't believe me. "Magnificent," came out as a croak.
His face softened into a grin. "This was a ton of fun. Thanks for taking me back to yours."
Here it came, the moment he would let me down easy.
"I would love to take you on a date sometime."
"What?" It must have been wishful thinking. He didn't say what I wanted to hear, did he?
"Dinner sometime between the hours of five and seven, of course, or maybe some night when you don't have to open."
I opened my mouth to ask the same question again, but he pressed his finger to my lips. "Think about it. Monday's my day to pick up Santa's order, so you can let me know then."
I shook my head. "No way. I'm …" His bright smile dimmed with each word. I'd said all the wrong words out loud. "Yes! Yes, I'd love to."
"Wonderful." His bright smile returned, and then he leaned down to kiss me.
The weekend passed in a blur.By the time Monday rolled around, I'd convinced myself I'd slept right through my alarm and never made it to the Halloween party. My hookup with Hart had been nothing but a wild and wonderful dream.
When the gorgeous reindeer alpha approached the counter to place Santa 30's order on Monday morning, I couldn't meet his gaze. I was so embarrassed, certain he didn't even remember me.
"Hi, Silver." The smattering of pink across his cheekbones hinted at more than our standard morning greeting.
"Hi." I adjusted my cap on my head.
He smirked. "No rats up there today, I see."
"Nope." My chest lifted like it was filled with helium, and I was about to fly up into the air like a giant dragon-shaped balloon. We'd met up at the party. It had been real.
I jotted down the order as he read it off his phone. "I'll have it ready for you in a moment."
"I was hoping we could talk while your sister made the drinks." He pointed to the large pass-through window, where wecould both see Gold swaying to whatever music she played in her earbuds.
"Gold!" I had to shout a couple of times to get her attention. When she saw Hart, her eyes widened for a moment, as though she hadn't believed my Halloween hookup story, either. She recovered by the time she whipped through the swinging door, tossed her gloves into the trash, and pulled on a new pair.
"Hart-eyes Comet, is that you?" she asked, giving Hart her best teasing smile. "You've had my little brother tied in knots all weekend." She winked. "Emphasis on knots."
"Don't mind her," I whispered. I led him to the table in the corner where we could sit out of the way of prying sisterly eyes.
"I'd love to have you on my knot again," Hart said as he slid into the booth seat.
I almost choked on my own saliva. "You what?"
"Was that too forward?" The pale pink across his cheekbones spread down his neck. He shook his head. "Forget I said that. I want to take you out, and your early bedtime kinda puts a damper on sex."
"I wouldn't be opposed to more sex." My voice was so low and gravelly, I didn't know if he could even hear me.
"Good." He grinned at me. "But first, what date and time work best? Where do you want to go? We've been training from dawn until dusk, but we'll start late-night runs next week, if an earlier time would work better?"
