Free Nordic Heroes: In the Market and a Wholesale Arrangement by Day Leclaire Page A

just . . .” She gave up. “The list is on the lunchroom table. There’re only three items you need to change today, and I’ve circled the new prices.”
    “You’d think I’d never changed a sign before,” he grumbled.
    Jordan sighed. That was precisely the problem. He had done them before, and a bigger mess she’d never seen. Oh, well, she’d have to risk it.
    Rainer arrived just as she unlocked the front door. “Running a little late?” he asked. “Not good for business, you know.”
    “On the contrary. It makes them so eager to get in, they buy twice as much. Are we going to waste time exchanging insults, or are we leaving?”
    He pretended to think about it. “Exchanging insults with you is tempting,” he teased. “However, I think we’d better go.”
    Cletus came up to stand next to her, his expression reminiscent of a dog guarding a bone. “You watch him,” he whispered loud enough to guarantee Rainer heard.
    “Every second,” she promised. “You won’t forget to do up those signs for me? You can handle it?”
    “Of course I can handle it,” her uncle said in a wounded voice. “I’m not exactly new at all this, you know.”
    Jordan felt repentant. “No. I’m sorry. See you later.”
    She gave his cheek a quick peck and turned to Rainer. Why did she suddenly feel she’d taken her life in her hands? Or rather, put it into his, she amended the instant he grasped her fingers and tugged her out the door.
    They dashed through the rain to a sporty red convertible, the top up, she noted in relief. He opened the door for her, tucked her inside and closed it, before sprinting around to the driver’s side and climbing in.
    She glanced at him curiously. “Where are we going?”
    “I thought we’d head to our southernmost stores. They’ll be the ones most like Cornucopia. Then we’ll run over to my parents’ house. Thor said he’d be there this afternoon and I want to introduce you to him.”
    “He’s your brother, right?” she said, her mouth turning down. Recalling Andrea’s revelations of the previous day, she didn’t look forward to meeting this particular Thorsen. An image of a ferocious man with bright red hair, ruddy complexion, and a fierce expression rose before her. She shuddered, finding she preferred white-blond hair, a golden tan, and brilliant laughter in his baby blues.
    He pulled into traffic. “My big brother.”
    “Big brother?” she repeated in disbelief. He must jest. She struggled to imagine a bigger version of Rainer and failed. The man beside her was too unique to copy, let alone enlarge.
    Rainer gave a deep sigh. “Yes. It’s sad, but true. I’m the second born, not the first.” He shot her a cocky grin. “My mother tells me that’s why I fight so hard to win.”
    “Is it?”
    “Not that I’ll admit.”
    Jordan’s lips twitched. “Just naturally feisty, are you?”
    He looked affronted. “Men aren’t feisty. At least, not in my neck of the woods. What can I say? I like to fight.”
    “And win,” she finished for him.
    He laughed. “That, too. It isn’t easy when I’m up against a black-haired, stormy-eyed Valkyrie.”
    “I’m flattered. I think.”
    “You should be.” He glanced at her. “You have a better description?”
    She sat in silence for a minute. Then a small memory stirred, tugging at emotions she’d protected for years. “My . . . my Grandpa Joe used to tease me about my looks,” she found herself revealing.
    “What did he say?” Rainer asked gently. When she didn’t answer, he urged, “Tell me. I’d like to know.”
    “He’d say . . . he’d say I had hair blacker than an Arizona night, cheeks as red as cherry tomatoes and eyes as gray as a Seattle day.” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “He grew up in Arizona. My dad and uncle were born there, as well. I suppose that’s why Uncle Cletus wants to return.”
    “Your grandfather started Cornucopia?” He caught her nod out of the corner of his eye