Free His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) by Terri Osburn

dark brows rode high over eyes the color of cognac, daring Becky to keep the confrontation going. She didn’t know if the store owner would go so far as to throw the tacky dresser out to protect a complete stranger.
    Becky snorted. “You’re new around here, Snow, so let me give you a tip. No one in this town would describe Lorelei Pratchett as a nice lady.”
    “As far as I can see, she hasn’t attacked anyone, unprovoked, as you have.” The proprietor kept her patient, customer-service tone as she added, “And if she wasn’t nice, she’d have told you by now that your entire outfit deserves a felony charge.”
    In that moment, Lorelei decided she wanted to be Snow when she grew up. Becky’s mouth gaped and her eyes darted from her floral-pattern capris and mustard-yellow blouse to the two women standing before her.
    “How dare you insult me?” she asked.
    Snow didn’t seem fazed by Becky’s question. In fact, she ignored it, asking one of her own instead. “Did you come in to buy that Wagner waffle iron you’ve now visited four times?”
    Becky huffed as she stomped her foot. The woman actually stomped her foot. Who did that?
    “I wouldn’t buy a thing from you, Snow Cameron. And don’t think I won’t tell my friends about this. You won’t be seeing any of us in here ever again.”
    As the petulant child made her exit, leaving the heavy scent of bad perfume in her wake, Snow mumbled, “Thank God.”
    In shock from the entire encounter, Lorelei hesitated before speaking. When she did, she said, “You’re my hero.”
    A husky laugh escaped full red lips. The woman smiled, but Lorelei was too busy wondering what brand of lipstick she was wearing to smile back.
    “Do I have something on my face?” Snow touched her cheek as she spoke.
    “Oh, no.” Lorelei shook her head. “I’m sorry. That lipstick is the perfect shade of red. I was wondering where you’d gotten it.”
    “Believe it or not, it’s called Red Lizard. I bought it last year in a store far away from here.” The smile returned. “I’m Snow Cameron. I’ve heard a lot about you, Lorelei.”
    Great. They’d already gotten to her. “I hope you’ll give me a chance to refute anything you’ve heard.”
    “No worries,” she said. “Miss Jessup cleared up most of it.”
    Bless Pearl’s biased little heart.
    “Only most of it, huh?” Lorelei grinned, hoping to charm the newcomer into offering her a job. “The rest is probably true. I appreciate you chasing Becky off like that, but I feel bad if that’s going to cause you to lose business.”
    Snow shook her head. “Her set comes in and looks around, but they never buy anything. Becky has done it so many times, I’ve takento following her around to make sure she isn’t sticking things in that ugly purse of hers. You never can tell with some people.”
    Lorelei liked this woman more and more by the second.
    “Were you looking for something in particular today?”
    “Uh . . .” Lorelei hesitated. The store wasn’t overrun with customers, which meant it was unlikely Snow was hiring. But she had to try. “As much as I’d love to buy several pieces of this jewelry,” she said, gesturing toward the shelf beside them, “I’m actually looking for a job.”
    “Oh.” Snow’s smile slipped. “I haven’t thought about hiring anyone. I’m open six days a week, closing at five for the most part, so I can handle the hours by myself.”
    “That’s fair,” Lorelei said. She’d known this was a long shot.
    “The Main Street Festival is coming up at the end of the month. I could use some help then.”
    Five days’ worth of work at the end of the month. Not what she needed, and she couldn’t turn down work elsewhere to be available for that one week, but it was something.
    “I’d appreciate the chance.” Something compelled Lorelei to be totally honest. “You should know that some people in town don’t see me in the positive light Miss Jessup does. In fact, a lot of