A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,26
do what came naturally to people who found each other attractive, and then they’d both go on their merry ways, with nothing but a good Christmas memory.
That was what she’d told herself she wanted.
It is what I want! she told herself again firmly, as she finally forced herself to stand up. There’s no point in getting attached to people – they’ll always let you down in the end. It’s easier if you just never let yourself care in the first place.
Annie frowned. That was a very cynical way of looking at the world, she thought, but…
… But was she willing to give it up when she wasn’t sure she could deal with the pain of giving her heart to someone, only for them to end up leaving her?
She couldn’t answer that right now. She’d need some time to think it over. Right now, the only thing she could do was try to look Beau in his beautiful brown eyes, and try to ignore the way her heart melted as she did so, her belly cinching with desperate heat.
“So, food,” he said, his lips quirking up in a smile, while Annie continued to stare at him in what she felt had to be the most obvious and goofiest way possible. “What do you feel like?”
“Uh, nothing fancy,” Annie eventually managed to get out. “My co-worker Christina was telling me the eggnog here is pretty good – but it’s probably not a complete meal. How do you feel about a big old bowl of soup to start off with, and some nog after?”
“Sounds great,” Beau said, nodding.
He lifted his head slightly, and for a moment Annie had the strangest impression that he was scenting the air.
“The clam chowder smells really good,” he said musingly. “And it’s been a while since I had any. Let’s go.”
Annie glanced up at him as they began to trudge toward the food stalls. “How can you even tell they have clam chowder?” she asked him wonderingly. “All I can smell is, like… soup. General soup smells.”
Beau laughed, sounding a little abashed. “I guess it’s a talent of mine – I can smell food from a mile away. But I’ve always liked a good feed.”
“That’s some talent,” Annie said as they reached the eating area; the soup stall had a huge banner reading ‘TRY OUR FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER’ unfurled across it. Now that she was closer, she could tell Beau was right: it did smell amazing. “Well, since it comes recommended by your nose, I know what I’m having.”
They crossed to the stall, with its large cast-iron pots full of soup, steaming in the cold of the afternoon air.
“Do you mind a short wait?” the stall owner asked as they approached. “We’ve had a busy day, and we’ve just put a new batch on. Shouldn’t be longer that ten minutes though, if that’s okay.”
“No problem at all,” Beau said. “Smells like it’s worth the wait.”
“Well, I hope you’ll think so. If you order and pay now, I’ll give you a token and you can come back and pick it up as soon as it’s ready.”
“Oh –” Annie said, reaching out as Beau took his wallet out of his pocket. “I can –”
“Hey, I’m the one who dragged you out on the lake without getting you a bite to eat first,” Beau said. “At least let me get you the soup to make up for it?”
Annie hesitated, then nodded. “All right, but only if you let me get the nog.”
“If you insist,” Beau said. “But –”
“I insist,” Annie said firmly. She might only work at a bakery, but she could get a hot man some eggnog, surely!
After Beau had paid and grabbed the plastic electronic token, they made their way over to the seating benches, protected from the snow by a small awning, and kept cozy and warm with standing gas heaters, the bright orange flames dancing and flickering in the darkening afternoon.
Despite the beauty of the snow-filled landscape and the frozen lake, Annie still felt herself drawn to the heat of the flames, and she sat down close to the nearest one, relishing the way it warmed her chilled cheeks and lips.
Beau sat down across from her, putting his phone, wallet and the electronic token down on the table between them. Annie studied his face as he did so, wondering what it was about him that seemed so… different. What it was that made it so hard for her to remember her resolution that getting attached to people