Page 67 of The Christmas Fix
Cat sidled up next to Noah, her cheeks flushed from the cold and snow.
“Is this the famous hot chocolate I’ve been hearing about for weeks now?”
“It is indeed,” Noah announced. “Elva must have gotten the truck back from the garage.”
Cat craned her neck to peer past the dozen kids in line in front of them. “Ugh. This is going to take forever.” She cupped her hands over her mouth. “Hey, guys! Snowman making contest happening right now at the bottom of the hill. Winner gets a free hot chocolate!”
Like magic, the kids whooped and dashed out of line in a mad rush to create an award-winning snow man.
“Nice work, Cat,” Paige praised.
Cat stepped up to the window. “Elva, I’d like to buy these snow monsters a drink.”
Elva, a stern-looking woman in her late fifties leaned through the window conspiratorially. A stout New Englander, she was most often frowning and squinting at the sun than smiling. But the woman had the best hot chocolate recipes on the East Coast. She made a fortune every Christmas Festival and had magazines and food bloggers begging for her recipes.
“Would you be wanting the regular hot chocolate or the special hot chocolate?” she asked, producing two metal flasks from beneath the counter.
Cat looked at Noah and grinned. Noah bit back his instinctive reply. Of course, Elva was breaking who knew how many regulations by not having a liquor license. But was it really a battle he felt he needed to win today?
“What the hell,” Noah shrugged. “It’s a Snow Day. We’ll take the special. Just make sure none of the kids get one.”
Elva tossed off a salute. “You got it, boss.”
Gannon joined them with Gabby riding on his shoulders. The little girl yanked his cap off his head and threw it in the snow, giggling at her own joke.
“Give me that beautiful little girl,” Cat demanded, reaching up to pluck the baby off Gannon’s shoulders. “Who’s the best niece in the whole universe?” Cat asked, nuzzling Gabby’s chubby cheek.
The little girl grabbed a fistful of Cat’s braided hair.
“Ouch!”
Gabby laughed and pulled again. Cat freed her hair from those tiny fingers and held the little girl over her head. She brought her down to give her a noisy kiss on the cheek before holding her aloft again.
Gabby squealed with delight.
Gannon slung his arm over Paige’s shoulders and snatched the phone out of her hand. “Work can wait for an hour,” he reminded her, tucking the phone into his jacket pocket. Paige frowned up at him, but let her husband kiss away her annoyance.
“Drinks up,” Elva announced.
Cat turned to Noah. “Here. Take this,” she ordered, depositing the baby in his arms.
Noah looked down into the blue, blue eyes of Ms. Gabby King. She frowned up at him, assessing his worthiness to hold her. He crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, and she grudgingly gave a tiny baby chuckle.
He did it again, this time throwing in a pair of duck lips for kicks. Gabby squealed and made a grab for his face. He avoided her tiny talon-like fingers and jostled her higher up his chest. She laughed the baby belly laugh that had melted him hearing it from Sara for the first time.
Had he held a baby since his own? He’d felt both powerful and powerless staring down at the tiny creature he’d help make and who had enslaved his heart simply by existing.
Gabby leaned in, resting her forehead against his. He could feel her breath on his face. She stared him down. Blue eyes wide. Finally, she squished his cheeks between her chubby little hands and laughed at some inside joke that he would never understand.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Cat watched Noah juggle her niece, making the little girl roar with laughter in her snow suit. It made her feel warm inside to see him enjoying himself like that, and maybe, just maybe, it was pretty sexy watching him expertly handle a baby. Ugh. Thinking with her ovaries would get her nowhere.
Kids weren’t on her radar. Neither were serious relationships. She had nothing against either and hoped to one day enjoy both. But right now, her life was exactly perfect, and she wasn’t willing to give that up. Not for a wiggly little girl who cooed and crowed. And not for a stubble-jawed, hometown hero of a man who was beaming at her like this was the best day of his life.
Cat heard the throat clearing and shot her sister-in-law a glare. Paige smirked. Great, now she’d been busted swooning over a hot guy and a baby. This was only going to strengthen Paige’s, “You’re attracted to each other” argument.
Cat shoved a hot chocolate into Paige’s hands. “Shut up.”
