He turns back to me. ‘It’s the Bag Of Shame. I’m so sorry about last night.’ I can see him cringing through the bag. ‘I’m too embarrassed to show my face this morning. I thought this’d help.’
‘You have nothing to be embarrassed about,’ I say. He’s come near enough to the counter that I can reach him, so I lean across and pluck the bag off his head, pulling his hair up with it so it stands on end and then flops down again, revealing his gorgeous face and cheeks that are redder than the marker pen on the bag. ‘Good morning, Grinch.’
He ducks his head, trying to hide his smile which is so wide that it almost touches each ear.
I’m so glad to see him that it takes all I have not to launch myself across the counter and pull him into a hug.
After I properly introduce him to Stacey, James turns back to me. ‘I’m seriously so sorry. I can’t believe I fell asleep on you. That was not meant to happen.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Stacey jumps in before I can say anything. ‘Nia’s had far worse happen with some of the guys she dated.’
‘It wasn’t a date,’ James and I say in unison, then meet each other’s eyes and smile. He holds my gaze and puts first the coffees and then the plant down on the counter. ‘Apology in plant and caffeine form. I’m so sorry about last night. I’m not usually that …’ He trails off, not managing to find the right word.
‘It’s fine, Nia’s not usually that either.’ Stacey helps herself to a coffee.
His cheeks are still as red as the leaves of the poinsettia plant and I reach out to run my fingers over them. The leaves, not his cheeks. That would just be weird.
‘Flowers and hot drinks.’ Stacey takes a sip of her coffee and looks between us. ‘I’m still waiting for an explanation about what exactly happened between you two last night.’
‘Nothing,’ James and I say in perfect unison again. We look at each other and I have to bite my cheek to stop myself giggling, and he quickly drops my gaze and takes his own coffee out of the cardboard tray on the counter.
‘Thank you for the flower.’ I stroke the stunningly bright leaves, edged with glitter by the florist up the lane, and lift the pot across the till and settle it in the little gap on the other side by the wall.
‘You’re welcome. Thank you for … everything.’ He looks down and kicks one foot against the other and I’m kind of glad that he’s struggling for words because I am too.
‘She appreciated the washing up.’
‘Stace!’ I hiss.
His cheeks burn even redder and he sips his coffee to avoid eye contact. I want to say something funny and witty, but my mind’s gone blank so I take the last cup out of the tray and try a sip too.
‘This isn’t festive!’ My face contorts and it takes all my willpower not to spit it out. ‘It’s December and you bought a coffee that isn’t a festive one?’
‘I don’t like festive coffees?’ He asks like it’s a question I might know the answer to.
‘Have you tried one?’
‘I don’t need to. I don’t like anything festive.’
‘You liked the Yule Log last night.’
He sighs, trying and failing not to smile. ‘Have I failed in my first assignment, oh Christmas master?’
‘We’re supposed to be un-Grinching you. You cannot drink a non-festive drink in December. It’s the law. You can have normal coffees the other eleven months of the year. In December, they have to be cinnamon, or hazelnut caramel, or clementine, eggnog, toffee nut, or spiced shortbread.’ I point a threatening finger at him, hoping he knows I’m only half joking. The variety of Christmas-themed hot drinks from the coffee shop on Nutcracker Lane is one of the best things about this place.
The look he gives me is both impressed and concerned that I know the coffee shop’s menu off by heart. He salutes me with his coffee cup. ‘Duly noted.’
I grin at him and he grins back at me and it’s like everything else disappears. Stacey isn’t there silently appraising him, that customer wiggling the antler of a reindeer to see how much force it’ll take to break isn’t there, the couple walking past arguing about the height of the Christmas tree they’re going to get aren’t there – it’s just him, his ridiculously wide smile and light brown eyes, and the bubbles I feel in my chest from seeing him again. I want to ask him if he’s okay, how his ribs are, if he got home all right, but Stacey is waiting for every morsel of info she can get from this conversation, and he’s clearly embarrassed.
We realise we’re just standing there staring at each other at the exact same moment because we both jump and avert our eyes, and I’m surprised to see that three people have come in and are browsing the decorations and jewellery.
‘I should …’ He points to the door.
‘Yeah. Er …’ I nod towards the customers. ‘Busy.’
‘I’ll see you around …’ He starts walking away while I’m still desperately searching for something to say to make him stay a bit longer.
‘Hey, last night …’ He abandons walking away and comes back to the counter. ‘Was there a movie about a giant elf or did I hallucinate that?’
I giggle with relief at him not leaving. ‘It was real. I seem to remember you enjoying it.’
‘I seem to remember you promising me it wasn’t funny. How will we ever know if I fell asleep or just lost consciousness from the pain of laughing so much?’
I give him a self-satisfied grin because he was so proud of announcing there would never be a Christmas movie he’d enjoy. And I’m certain he only fell asleep. Probably.
‘So you know how I kind of slept through the end … What, er … what happened?’
I do an overexaggerated gasp and
