Rudolph’s nose on a foggy night kind of blushing.
“Theo, I hate to leave you on your own for dinner but Noel has set me up on a date with Mr Owens and, well, she’s put in so much effort creating a fake coupon and finagling the entire thing it seems like it’d be a shame to waste all her matchmaking efforts.”
This time I place my fingertips on my cheeks, as if I might be able to judge how red they are by feeling them.
“I did no such thing. Just a gentle nudge,” I mutter, because I’m mostly speaking to myself at this point.
“Isn’t Mr Owens the one who stopped over on Saturday?” Teddy questions. “When you got me out of the house by sending me to the library to return your books?”
Oh, my God. Wait. They’re already a thing? Her and Mr Owens? She’s been playing me this entire time, hasn’t she? I turn an incredulous glare at Mrs Carrington.
“What?” She shrugs, clearly unbothered by her treachery. “So we’ve been out a few times already. Doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your efforts.” She turns her attention to Teddy. “And you, don’t think I didn’t notice you missed breakfast the following morning. Pictures with Santa ended at seven.”
Teddy laughs, like his grandma teasing him about being out all night is normal banter for them.
“You two run along and have a nice dinner. I think Warren’s got a real coupon for the restaurant at the Bavarian Inn so that’s where we’re headed.” With a pleased smile Mrs Carrington leaves and I’m left with Teddy.
He turns to me, a confused expression on his face.
“Who exactly did you think I was?”
Right. That.
Chapter 12
He seems a little bit incredulous, which is fair. Maybe a hint irritated, which is also fair. We’ve left the community center and gone to the Honey Jam Café for dinner because fake limited-edition coupon or not, who doesn’t want pancakes for dinner?
“I thought you were my co-worker’s brother.” I fidget in my seat while playing with a straw wrapper. “He was supposed to show up to put on the Santa suit and then you walked in looking at me like you knew me.” I stop fidgeting and shoot him a challenging look as I lean back against the booth seat. “Which is a super-reasonable assumption if you think about it.”
“Hmm,” he murmurs, staring at me, a small smile playing at his lips. “At what point did you figure out I wasn’t your co-worker’s brother?” I think he might actually find this snafu amusing.
“On Monday.” I let out a little grunt of a sigh. This is so embarrassing. “When I arrived at work and Jillian rushed into my office apologizing about her brother standing me up for pictures with Santa.”
“Hmm.” Another murmur. He’s rubbing two fingers across his lips while he watches me. “And what is it you thought you knew about me? Based on thinking I was your co-worker’s brother.”
“I thought you were jobless and living in your parents’ basement. And an incorrigible flirt incapable of commitment.”
“Well, that guy sounds charming.”
I nod. Yup. I bet I sound pretty charming right about now too.
“And what is it that you think you know about me based on what you’ve heard about me from my grandmother?”
“Well, your grandmother thinks that you’re the cat’s meow. She also thinks you need a wife.” I raise my brows and give him a little smirk.
“I do.”
“Oh, wow.” I drop the straw wrapper, fascinated by this development. Placing my palms on the table, I lean in, lowering my voice just a tad. “Do you have some kind of weird family inheritance you can only get if you’ve procured a wife and an heir by a certain age? I love that kind of nonsense in a romance novel but I wasn’t sure it still happened in real life. Or ever happened in real life, actually. How much time do you have left? Do you need the money for something really important like keeping your business open through the holidays? Tell. Me. Everything.” I punctuate my last words with the importance they deserve then wiggle my fingers before clasping them together in eager anticipation.
Teddy laughs good-naturedly, a smile covering his face. “Not like that. Obviously.”
“Bummer.”
“Doesn’t everyone want to find their person, Noel? The one they can tell all their secrets to?”
He leans in when he says it, his eyes on mine. His gaze is warm and sexy and intimate. Like he might be inviting me to tell him all my secrets,