Free Christmas at Evergreen Inn by Donna Alward

discovered something else once her guests were gone.
    The quiet gave her too much time to think. But the alternative was being inundated with Christmas messages everywhere she turned. The radio played carols and the television aired holiday specials. Even the regular programming was punctuated with ads for the latest toys, long-distance connections, and adorable puppies with big bows under the tree on Christmas morning. But shutting off all media left her sitting in the silence, replaying last year’s … well, the only way she could describe it was a total shit-show.
    Todd was a welcome distraction. Not that she’d tell him that. And the idea of browsing around town and having some hot chocolate and shortbread was a decent alternative to wallowing in regret.
    â€œI’m ready.” She grinned up at him and ignored the excited thump of her heart. “Let’s go.”
    They left his truck at the inn and walked down the hill to Main Street. The wind off the harbor was brisk and raw, but to Lainey it was invigorating. Todd’s cheeks were ruddy with cold, and she caught a glimpse of frost on the tips of his lashes where his eyes had watered. It was strangely attractive, but then he was extraordinarily good looking. It used to be he knew it and used it. That cockiness had tempered over the years, mellowing into quiet confidence.
    Okay, maybe this had been a mistake. She was being downright silly over him now and they’d agreed today was about being Just Friends.
    They hit the bakery first, as promised, and Todd purchased a dozen chocolate shortbread bites. Then they stopped for two hot chocolates to go and sat on a bench on the waterfront, cradling paper cups in their hands, sipping and munching. Neither said much; it was a strange and nice thing that they could sit together in silence and be comfortable. Until they reached for a cookie from the bag at the same time, and their fingers met. Then their gazes did, too, and Lainey felt a blush creep up her cheeks.
    â€œLadies first,” he said softly, withdrawing his hand.
    She reached in and withdrew a quarter-sized cookie dipped in chocolate glaze and crushed candy cane bits. She held it out. “It’s a mint one. Do you want it?”
    He smiled at her. “It’s yours.”
    Lainey peered inside the bag. “It’s the last candy cane one. Are you sure?” She held it out again.
    He took it from her fingers, took a bite, and held out the other half for her. “Fifty–fifty,” he said quietly, holding the morsel to her lips.
    She swallowed nervously, opened her mouth, and let him feed it to her. Half a cookie. Hardly romantic, and yet the act was oddly intimate and … yes, arousing. There was a heat in his eyes he couldn’t quite disguise, made more potent by the fact that he didn’t press his case. He was patient. He was keeping his word. And it made her want him even more that she already had. She clenched her hands together in her lap to keep from reaching out for him. They were in public, for heaven’s sake. Whatever incendiary thing had happened the other night couldn’t happen again.
    If she said it enough, maybe she’d believe it.
    He reached out and brushed a crumb off her lips with his thumb. She thought she might spontaneously combust.
    Instead she balled up the paper bag and got up, pasting on a smile. “So what’s next?”
    â€œWhatever you’d like,” he replied, pulling his hat down over his ears a bit more. “It’s your day.”
    What she was thinking wasn’t exactly PG-friendly, so she looked around, searching for a shop that might pique her interest. The Three Fishermen gallery was open right next to the edge of the wharf, with a beautiful tree on the front porch. The bookstore was across the street, the front bay window decorated with lights and a tree fashioned from stacked books. Up one street stood the big purple building that was