Page 5 of Christmas Punch

“Maybe I can put a call out on the town’s Facebook group,” Liz mused, almost to herself. “I’m sure someone has space.”

“Your mother didn’t raise you to be unhospitable,” Evelyn chided. “She’d be rolling in her grave knowing you’re turning away a stranded traveler in need of help.”

“You never even met my mother. She also told me not to trust strangers.”

“He’s not a stranger,” Evelyn shot back. “Why make him stay with someone that he doesn’t know? You know this lawyer fella better than anyone in town.”

“I’m not a lawyer,” I said.

“I don’t know him at all. I just met the man,” Liz said at the same time.

Evelyn pulled on her giant coat and slipped the bear hat over her head before turning to Brian.

“Great, well now you can get to know him better, and he can get to know you too. I’m sure you’ll both get along great.” She tapped the cop’s elbow. “Now how about you walk an old lady home Brian? I don’t want to slip in the snow and break a hip.”

She looked between us one last time and sent me a wink.

“You kids have fun now.”

Liz

I was going to kill Evelyn. She might be one of my dearest friends, but that wouldn’t keep me from strangling her. The fact that she was thirty years older than me wouldn’t protect her either.

When we’d been behind the counter making coffee Evelyn had been making kissy faces in Nathan’s direction and sending me hand gestures that clearly conveyed her belief that I should sleep with the county inspector. And now she was trying to play matchmaker with me and Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass.

I had no doubt she was already busy notifying everyone in town that they should say they didn’t have space if I hit anyone else up for a guest room. Damn it. The last thing I wanted to do was spend any more time with a rude and rigid bureaucrat who wouldn’t even take the time to review my appeal before he smashed my dreams. There was no scenario where I wanted to spend any more time with Nathan Holly. When he’d written “denied” on my packet, it had taken everything in me not to jump across the table and punch him in his stupid handsome face. And I wasn’t normally a person who was prone to violence.

I was practically shaking with anger. Taking in a deep breath through my nose, I slowly exhaled through my mouth. When it didn’t work, I tried three more times, then gave up. What use was yoga if the breathing failed you when you needed it? Maybe I should have opened up a yoga studio instead of a café because those online classes clearly weren’t helping me learn how to find calm when I needed it the most.

“I guess you’re welcome to stay here then,” I said grudgingly. “Given the unique situation.”

“Thank you Ms. Delaney, I appreciate that,” he said, looking even less thrilled than I was.

“You might as well call me Liz since you’re going to be staying here for a couple of days.”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause before he added stiffly, “I still have a lot of work to do today. Is it possible to set up in here and do some work? I assume you have Wi-Fi here?”

“No, we don’t believe in Wi-Fi up here in the mountains. We prefer to use tin cans and string to communicate messages.”

Those dark eyebrows lowered in a frown. I grabbed a piece of paper off the notepad on the table and scribbled down the password.

“Here you go. Choose the Liz’s Café network.”

I handed him the paper and suppressed a gasp as our hands touched and I felt that little shock again. What the hell was that? My nipples tightened in confirmation that it wasn’t just the dry air causing static.

I didn’t care how long it had been since I’d gotten some action and I certainly didn’t care that Nathan Holly looked like my favorite TV lawyer; there was no way I was going to spend more time with this grouchy bureaucrat than I had to.

“Let me know if you need anything,” I instructed. “I have work to do as well.”

Nathan spent the next few hours hunched over his computer while I worked on setting things up behind the counter and testing the point of sale system. Several people stopped in for coffee, obviously curious about the stranger, but Nathan rebuffed any efforts at conversation.

It was too bad he had the personality of a dead fish, because he was hot as hell. Probably too young for me, but I wouldn’t have minded a little fun if the situation had been different. I was definitely picking up a vibe with him, at least I thought it was a vibe. I was out of practice at this whole dating thing. Other than a mediocre one night stand to break my post-divorce cherry, I hadn’t gotten laid in years. Maybe it was the perimenopause talking, or maybe it was Evelyn’s matchmaking, but I’d been feeling surprisingly horny since my unexpected guest had appeared.

For his part, other than asking me where the rest room was and asking if he could pour himself another cup of coffee, Nathan had studiously ignored me all afternoon. He was focused on his laptop, glaring at the screen and tapping away on the keyboard in furious bursts. It probably took all of his attention smashing the dreams of unsuspecting business owners.

Darkness fell early, between the time of the year and the storm, and I decided to go upstairs just after five o’clock. It was the kind of night that made you want to hunker down and relax with a good book and a hot toddy. I was sure Nathan didn’t like hot toddies either. He probably only drank water, coffee, and disgusting smoothies made with spinach and wheat grass. He definitely seemed like the type.

“Hey Nathan, I’m going to go upstairs and get the guest room ready for you.”