Merry Kisses (Riverbend Romance 5) (2 page)

Consulting the list, he loaded the requested toys into the cart then angled toward his target. A large woman scooted a mounded buggy in front of him.

Heath groaned. Two other lines were open, each with only a few shoppers. It would look stupid to stand at Sonya’s till, but she’d been the reason he’d come. Now what?

“Samantha can take you at number four.” The manager rested her hand on Heath’s arm and pointed out the obvious. “Almost closing time.”

Sonya looked up from the toy she was scanning and her eyes widened slightly as they met Heath’s. She glanced at his cart and her eyebrows pulled together.

Heath grinned. At least she’d remembered him. Making a scene wouldn’t help, so he turned his cart into the shorter queue. A few minutes later his purchases were bagged. “Merry Christmas,” he said to Samantha.

“Happy holidays,” she replied.

He glanced at the manager, who hovered nearby, and read her nametag. “Merry Christmas to you, too. Deborah.”

The woman’s smile seemed frozen in place. “Season’s greetings.”

Okay, so... store policy? Whatever. Heath pocketed his wallet and pushed his cart toward the exit as Sonya bagged the last of the large order.

“I’m so glad I was able to find prisms! The kids will love seeing the colors dancing around on sunny days,” the customer said. “Merry Christmas!”

Sonya smiled. “Merry Crystals.” Then her gaze caught on Heath’s and a little grin toyed with the corners of her mouth.

That did it. He was definitely following through. Heath edged his cart closer as the woman, waving, left the store. “Hi, I’m Heath Collins. I’m wondering if you’d like to catch a coffee when you’re off work?”

His timing was perfect. One of the other cashiers rolled displays in from the mall corridor while Deborah tugged the security grille across the wide gap.

Sonya’s eyes captured his for an instant then she looked down. “I, uh, don’t go out with married men.”

He held out both hands, tanned and rough from work, but no rings. “You’re safe with me.”

“Or single dads with a pile of kids.”

Heath could be tempted to keep teasing. “Still safe.”

Her brow furrowed. “But...”

“Shall we start this conversation again?” He was having way too much fun now. “Hi, my name is Santa Claus. Can I buy you a coffee?”

The smile slid off her face as she narrowed her gaze at him. “Santa?”

“That’s me.” He rested both hands on the counter between them. “Or you can call me Kris Kringle if you like. Or Saint Nick.”
 

“Seriously?”

Her reply wasn’t quite as warm as he’d hoped. “I’m not actually a saint, nor do I play one on TV.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Then where do you play one?”

Heath waved a hand. “Down the mall. At schools and daycares. At the old folks’ home. Nearly anywhere I’m asked.”

“You’re serious.”

“Sometimes.” Getting more so by the moment. “Now that we’ve established that I’m relatively safe, although not a saint, would you like to have a coffee?” He held his breath.

Sonya searched his face.

“Socialize on your own time, Sonya,” called the manager. “I don’t mean to rush you, sir, but it’s two minutes past closing, and we’re waiting on you. Unless there’s a problem with your receipt?”

Automatically Heath glanced at the long paper in his hand. “No, it’s all good.” He looked at Sonya, raising his eyebrows. “Tim Hortons has a street entrance. How long will closing up take?” Yeah, he knew he was pushing. Just a little.

“Fifteen minutes?”

His heart soared rather a lot, all things considered. He tried to hold back the exuberant smile. “See you there. Merry Christmas!”

She smiled back at him. “Merry kisses.” Then her eyes widened, and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

The manager whirled toward her. “What did you say?”

“Merry kisses,” Sonya mumbled, eyes downcast.

“Speak up. I can’t hear you.”

“Kisses!” Her chin thrust up as she narrowed her glittering eyes at Deborah. “I said
merry kisse
s.”

The woman sniffed. “Yeah, right. To a man you don’t know? Haven’t we talked about how to respond to greetings? Please take your cash drawer to the office.” She turned to Heath, anger at Sonya obviously warring with her need to be polite to a customer.

“I was just leaving.” Heath pushed the buggy toward the small gap remaining in the security grille. Man, he hadn’t meant to get Sonya in trouble. Had she really said kisses instead of Christmas? That meant she was thinking of... well, he shouldn’t get too excited about her evasion tactic. It had backfired.

He paused, blocking the opening, and faced Deborah, who’d followed him to lock the store. “I’m sorry I distracted her. It was my fault, not hers.”

“She knows the rules.”

What could Heath say that wouldn’t get Sonya in even more hot water with her boss? Nothing he could be sure of. He nodded slowly and pushed the cart into the mall corridor. “She didn’t say Christmas, if that’s what you’re so upset about.”

“I heard what I heard.” The grille clanged shut behind him, and Deborah locked it.

“But I’ll say it. Merry Christmas.” It was the proper Santa Claus salutation at this time of year. He couldn’t help himself, but he could spare her the
ho, ho, ho.

The woman on the other side of the grille raised one eyebrow then spun on her high heel and stalked away.

Good job, Saint Nick.

CHAPTER 2

Sonya bit her lip hard and stared at her boss. Her former boss. “You are seriously going to fire me because you think you heard me say the dreaded word Christmas?” She leaned closer. “Christmas is not a dirty word, no matter what you think.” She was sealing her doom now, and she knew it, but she was past caring.

“I heard you say it, and then you lied. You expect me to believe you said
kisses
to a man you don’t even know?”

She couldn’t believe she had, either, but it was a fact. “You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true.” Actually, Deborah did have to believe her, or she’d be out of a job. She already was. Her boss would never admit she’d made an error in judgment.

Sonya took a deep breath. “You may not celebrate Christmas, but most people in Riverbend do, and so do most people in Canada. I notice you’re not against them buying Christmas presents for their kids in here. I bet Toy Treehouse is like nearly every other retail outlet in town. The sales in November and December float the store through the remainder of the year. If anything, you should be shouting
Merry Christmas
in the streets. Without it, you wouldn’t even stay open.” Which was a troubling statement about the job Sonya was leaving behind. All that commercialism paid her rent and bought her groceries.
 

Deborah crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze. “Are you quite done?”

“No, I’m not.” Might as well go for it. “I get that there’s more than one holiday in December. I get the whole inclusive thing. I even get not saying
Merry Christmas
to customers unless they say it first. After all, they might be in here for a birthday gift or, I don’t know, a solstice gift. But it’s just plain dumb not to allow us to say
Merry Christmas
back when a customer says it first.”

Behind Deborah, Annie’s jaw gaped. Samantha gave her a thumbs-up.

If she was going to lose this job — and she was now, even if Deborah might’ve had second thoughts earlier — she’d go out saying her piece. “Do you have any idea how strangely they look at us when we don’t respond in kind? They think we are being downright rude. Some of them even say so.”

“Anything else?” Deborah’s toe tapped on the tile floor.

Sonya had blown it. She’d once entertained visions of gently explaining to Deborah how much the birth of Jesus meant to her. That opportunity was good and gone.
Oh, God, please forgive me for letting pettiness get in the way.

She took a deep breath and met Deborah’s gaze one more time. “I’m sorry for lashing out at you.”

“Sorry isn’t enough. I told you — all of you — that this was grounds for dismissal. Company policy. You can stop by Friday for your pink slip and final check. Please drop off your laundered uniforms at that time.”

“I wasn’t apologizing in hopes of making you change your mind. I’m sorry because I don’t make a habit of losing my temper, and I regret doing so just now.”

Deborah didn’t even blink. “See you Friday.”

Sonya raised her chin. “I might not make it in until next week sometime.” She grabbed her coat and purse off the hook and left the office without a backward glance, tears stinging her eyes.

“You can’t give me any more shifts, Deborah,” came Annie’s voice. “I’ve already got forty hours this week.”

Sonya was halfway across the parking lot to her car when she remembered Heath Collins. She had a few things to say to a guy who played Santa, even if he was crazy attractive.

* * *

Fifteen minutes slowly ticked by into twenty, then twenty-five. Heath rotated his coffee cup against the table, round and round, while keeping an eye on both the mall entrance and the street door.

Had Sonya stood him up on purpose, or was she still hashing it out with Deborah?

Heath ran a hand across his stubble and grimaced. If he’d cost her her job... but surely she wouldn’t get fired for a bit of flirting. Or for the word
Christmas
, which she hadn’t even said.

No, she’d definitely said
merry kisses
. She’d been flirting, too.

Thirty minutes. The mall security guard dragged the grille across the entrance and latched it.

One door left, and Heath angled to focus on it. Was she coming, or wasn’t she? How much longer would he wait? He didn’t know her last name. Didn’t have her cell number. If she didn’t work at Toy Treehouse anymore, where would he find her again?

Of course, it shouldn’t matter this much. He didn’t even know her. There were plenty of other women in Riverbend, but no one had really caught his eye until yesterday. Until Sonya.

The street door opened, and a shaft of frigid air blasted in along with Sonya, wearing a knee-length black wool coat over black trousers.
 

Heath shot to his feet as relief washed over him. She was here. “Can I get you a coffee? Or maybe you prefer tea or hot chocolate. Would you like a doughnut? Or it’s suppertime. I was thinking of getting a sandwich. Would you like one?”

She crossed the small coffee shop toward him, a tired smile creasing her face.

Man, he was blubbering. “Any of those sound good?” he finished lamely.

“I’d love a hot chocolate and a Canadian-maple-glazed doughnut. I have stew in the slow cooker at home, so I’ll say
no
to a sandwich.” She slipped out of her coat before he could round the table and help her. “But thank you.”

“Okay. Here, have a seat.” He pulled out a chair for her then headed to the counter.

A minute later he returned with a tray and set her hot chocolate and the treat in front of her. “I’m sorry I got you in trouble with your boss.”

She tore her doughnut in half and shrugged. “It had been coming for a while.”

“So is everything okay?” He dared to breathe.

“I guess it depends on your definition of okay. Know anyone who’s hiring?”

“No way. She fired you?”

Sonya nodded and lifted the hot chocolate to her lips.

“I’m so sorry.” Wow, that sounded totally inadequate.

“Like I said, it wasn’t a big surprise, other than the timing. She was already short staffed. Now she’s desperate, but she’ll never back down. It’s not her nature.”

“What will you do? If there’s anything I can do to help, I will. I feel so responsible.”

“I’ll pound the pavement for another job. It’s a bad time to be looking because everyone already hired their Christmas staff, and then they often lay off workers come January. But I’ll find something, I’m sure.”

Heath heard the unspoken words.
Sooner or later
. “I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if I hear of an opening. But, uh, I’ll need your cell number.”

A bit of life came back into her eyes when she met his gaze. “Now there’s a unique pick-up line.”

“I’m not the one who talked about kisses.”

A flush rolled up her cheeks. “Deborah never did believe me. I can hardly believe it myself.”

“Believe what?”

“I’ve become pretty adept at almost saying
merry Christmas
but not quite. But that was the first time I’d said something... ah, inappropriate while evading.”

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “Inappropriate? Not prophetic?”

She pulled her hand away and lifted her cup. “Prophetic is an interesting choice of words.”

Oh, how she dodged. He could enjoy this game. “Prophecy simply means foretelling the future. Maybe there are merry kisses in our future.”

If he hadn’t been watching closely, he’d have missed that quick snap of her eyes to his then away.

“I rather doubt it,” she said instead. “I don’t date casually. I have pretty high standards.”

Heath took a sip of coffee and watched her face until she looked at him again. “And you’ve already decided I wouldn’t meet them? Because you thought I had a dozen kids to buy gifts for?”

“No, sorry. You explained that.” She hesitated. “I’m a Christian. I don’t go out with guys who don’t share my beliefs. I hope you understand it isn’t anything personal.”

“And if I said I was a Christian, too?”

Again with the quick sharp glance. “Then I’d ask you questions about your faith and about where you go to church.”

“To make sure I wasn’t just being agreeable so you’d date me.”

“Right.” She took a bite of her doughnut.

“But having coffee after work doesn’t count as a date.”

“I’m happy to pay for my own snack.”

He shouldn’t be having this much fun stringing her along. “No way. I invited you and, besides, I’ve already bought it.”

“I can see that agreeing to meet you here makes it seem like I have a double standard. I was distraught and not thinking clearly.” She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m sorry, Heath. I should be going.”

He leaned back in his seat. “But you haven’t asked me the questions yet.”