Page 9 of Reindeer Flames
"Either is fine with me," I said, though my beast wanted to suggest the sooner the better.
The bell over the door dinged repeatedly. Only one customer stood beneath it and shook the door back and forth to alert us to his arrival: Bopp Comet.
"Hey, Cuz! I heard I might find you here!"
Hart groaned and rolled his eyes for my benefit, since his back was to the door.
"Why are you two sitting here? Shouldn't the help be working on Santa's order?"
I bristled. This guy always got under my skin. By "the help," he obviously meant me. "I own the place," I reminded him. "That means I choose who can enter my place of business, and who I serve."
"No need to get all riled up, lizard breath. I'm not ordering, just giving my cousin a message. Tinsel had a great time on Sunday and would like to see you again."
I swallowed hard, hoping it would stop the horrible ringing in my ears. Did I hear him right? Had Hart gone on a date on Sunday after spending the wee hours of Saturday with me?
"He's hot for your knot!" Bopp continued. "You should totally go for it!"
Hart stared at me, his mouth half-open, head slowly shaking from side to side. Finally, I understood what all my favorite books meant when they said someone looked like a deer in headlights.
"I knew it." I sighed and pushed to my feet, shoving the table a little harder than necessary against Hart's chest where he leaned over it, the hand closest to the window outstretched toward me, like he wanted to stop me. "Both of you need to leave."
"Silver—" Hart's face was a mask of anguish.
"You should audition for the Christmas pageants," I said. "You're a great actor."
"I'm not acting!"
Gold stood at the counter behind an overstuffed bag of goodies and a two-carafe carrier for the team's hot chocolate and coffee. Her eyes widened when she met my gaze, and then she called, "Order up!"
"So what should I tell Tinsel?" Bopp asked. "You want to see him again, don't you?"
"Wait for me outside." Hart glared at his cousin, and my heart shattered into a million pieces. None of it had been real, and now he was already dating someone else, all while still trying to date me.
This was my order and my sale, but I couldn't bring myself to approach the cash register. Instead, I fled to the back room to hide the tears streaming down my cheeks.
CHAPTER 4
HART
My Sunday dinnerdate had been a disaster. I couldn't stop thinking about Silver the entire time, and my cousin paired me with the most petite omega elf I'd ever seen. Tinsel looked like he was part fae wood sprite, he was so tiny. No way would I choose him over my sexy take-charge omega.
My omega who was nowhere to be seen when I approached the counter to pay for my order. "What the fudge did you say to him?" Gold asked. Her short, no-nonsense hair the color of spun gold lay flat against the sides of her head beneath her white chef's hat. Her blood-red nails looked longer and sharper than usual, and her eyes glowed like hot coals.
"It's all a huge misunderstanding. My cousin didn't know I'd already met someone Friday night, so he set me up with an omega at Sunday dinner."
"You sat through a Sunday dinner date with someone else without telling your date, or your family, about Silver?"
"I ..." I hadn't known what to say. Silver and I had agreed to go on a date, but that was all. If I mentioned the word "boyfriend" at Sunday dinner, my parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins would have ganged up on me. They would want to meethim, and then they'd know I was as weird as they all thought I was.
Fuck. This was a fucking mess.
"I'm calling Santa 30," Gold said. "The rest of his team can handle the breakfast runs from now on."
"What? No!" The thought of never seeing Silver again stung like a sharp blade through my chest. I tried to breathe, but the pain pooled behind my ribcage.
"The next time I see you in here, you'd better have a damn good reason." Smoke rolled out her nostrils as she spoke, and she pounded her fists on the countertop.
"Okay, okay. I'm going."
