All's Fair in Love and Chocolate (Marietta Chocolate Wars #1) - Amy Andrews Page 0,55

the Graff.

But she loved the carolers the best. A dozen strong, they moved up and down the street serenading at will in their Victorian costumes. The women wore long dresses and bonnets, their hands stuffed into faux fur muffs. The gentlemen wore long coats and top hats. And with the lights and the festive air abounding it was just like a Hollywood movie set.

Reuben arrived at their stall at about six looking sexy as ever in his uniform, his hat pulled low despite the sun having gone down well over an hour ago, a hot dog in his hand. He was on duty till six thirty, just in time for the hot chocolate judging, although clearly he was already indulging in some of the goodies.

He leaned in for a kiss and he looked big and hale and hardy and so freaking hot beneath the twinkle lights it caused a hitch in her breath and she let him linger a little despite there being a queue. He smiled as he withdrew. “Could I get a Pop Rocks hot chocolate to go?” he asked, his smile morphing into that smile, the one that told her he remembered how skilled she was with a hot chocolate stirrer.

She shot him a prim and proper look but he only smiled bigger and she rolled her eyes and handed it over. “Come for a hayride with me after the judging,” he said, placing his elbows on the makeshift benchtop and leaning in again showing no signs of moving on.

He was lucky the people in the queue were full of the season of good cheer. Or maybe that was the mulled wine.

Viv also leaned in, bringing her lips close to his ear. “Given how badly I’ve wanted to do you on a haystack since I found out about you losing your virginity in a barn, I think we better skip it. I’m pretty sure your boss wouldn’t appreciate one of his deputies making an X-rated spectacle of himself at such a family-oriented gathering.”

His gaze shifted to her mouth as a low growl reverberated at the back of his throat. It was audible only to Viv but hell if every cell in her body didn’t hear it loud and clear. “It’s too damn PG around here,” he muttered.

Robbie, who’d been filling all the hot chocolate orders pushed Reuben’s across to him. “You want me to put ice cubes in this one?” she asked with a cheeky grin. Reuben often called in at the store so she’d gotten very used to him leaning in and whispering things that made Viv blush.

“Only if you put them down his pants,” some guy said from farther down the queue followed by another saying, “Ain’t enough ice on Copper Mountain for that to work,” which caused general laughter.

Viv pressed her lips together to stop from smiling as Reuben reluctantly straightened, ignoring the hecklers. His gaze, flashing heat and purpose, met hers and held as he pushed the brim of his hat back slightly and said, “Ma’am.”

Never had a ma’am held such carnal promise and Viv was pleased for the support of the bench beneath her elbows as he walked away with that long-legged swagger she already knew she was going to miss like hell.

*

At six thirty, Viv found herself on the steps to the courthouse, its facade also lit for the first time tonight with myriad twinkle lights. She was standing alongside the mayor—Robbie and Mackenzie were back minding the fort—with Sage on the other side of the town’s top official. Next to Sage was Edwin Vidal, the chef from the Graff. He was a good-looking guy—tall and fair and…well, very European-looking—with that strange combination of elegance and arrogance despite living in Boston for most of his life.

She supposed he probably made a lot of women swoon. Women who weren’t into hot sheriff deputies who were a little less refined but totally made up for it in the bedroom.

And the living room. And the hallway. And the shower…

Viv found Reuben standing in the middle of the crowd. He grinned at her and gave her the thumbs-up and her heart went thunk as the mayor spoke into a microphone calling the crowd—the rather large crowd—to order.

“Thank you for joining us here for a few minutes while we officially put this little dispute to rest,” he said. “For those of you who don’t know, a couple of months ago Viv here—” he tipped his head in her direction “—made a startling claim that her hot