Page 53 of Merry Mayhem
His gaze lifts from my ass to my face. His eyes and tone are serious. “I amnotyour sister’s boyfriend, Thea.”
I feel warmth rush through me. “Remember, you’reacting likeyou’re my sister’s boyfriend,” I amend.
“Yeah,” he nods. “For a couple of days.”
“Right.”
“Onlyfor a couple of days,” he repeats. “Don’t make me resist you in public longer than that.”
I’m smiling all the way upstairs, through getting ready, and the whole time he holds my hand on the drive downtown.
At two minutes to seven, Josh and I are standing at a long table in the town’s square along with all of the other contestants. Before us are plates of plain sugar cookies, bowls of frosting, and multiple decorations—colored sugars, sprinkles, piping bags filled with more frosting in various colors, and tiny candy snowflakes, stockings, and candy canes.
We are also bundled together into one winter coat. We have our arms around one another inside the coat, and my left arm isin the left coat sleeve, Josh’s right arm is through the right coat sleeve. I also have a mitten on my left hand, and he has one on his right.
All of the other pairs are in coats and mittens as well.
Muriel and Patty fought over who should get the right and who should get the left mitten. Jesse and Brad, the married couple, are just now putting on their coat and mittens because they have all their kids home for Christmas and couldn’t get into the bathroom on time to get ready and get down here. The two teens, Mitchell and Max, were the first ones here and are directly across the table from us, grinning and seemingly excited about the contest. Sam and Ashley are cuddled up in their coat, whispering together, and smiling at each other like love-sick fools.
“If I’d known I’d get to be right up against you like this, I would have beenveryexcited about this first challenge,” Josh says, for my ears only. Beneath the coat, his left hand slides down to my ass.
“Behave,” I tell him softly. But I really like his hand there.
Thank goodness it’s only about fifty degrees this morning. It will be way too warm for a winter coat later. Not to mention being pressed up against this guy’s hot body. Literally. He’swarm.
“You’re going to decorate as many cookies as you can in the next ten minutes, but you can each only use one hand. You need to work as a team!” Nora is grinning as if this is the most fun thing she’s ever seen.
But Nora looks like that about every activity during Merry Mayhem.
Okay, she looks that way about almost everything the Parks and Rec department does.
“Whichever team has the mostwell-decoratedcookies at the end wins. But therewillbe judging. The cookies need to look good, too.”
“Really good!” a voice calls from the audience that has gathered to watch despite the early hour.
I look over and see Thurman Lafitte, otherwise known as Brewser. He’s the retired town doctor, but was given the nickname long ago because, as a kid—the story varies between ten years old, six years old, and fourteen years old—he started helping an uncle brew beer and moonshine in their backyard. Considering that was sixty-some years ago, he’sverygood at it by now.
“You’re one of the judges?” I ask.
“You know it!”
“And me!” His constant companion, William Bienvenu, whom they call Wilson because his bald head reminds them of a volleyball in some Tom Hanks movie, is right beside him.
“Are they tough?” Josh asks.
I laugh. “Very. But they also like you a lot because you’ve been so good to Harley, and they’re Harley’s best friends.”
“Harley has a lot of friends.”
“He sure does.”
“Does that mean we can get by with some sloppy cookies?”
“Maybe a couple of smudged edges, but nothing major.”
“Okay then, let’s go.”
I grin up at him. “I’m ready.”
