My Smalltown C.E.O. Scrooge: A Festive Romantic Comedy by Harmony Knight

Author:Harmony Knight [Knight, Harmony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!” says Sadie as she opens the door. She’s smiling widely, if a little manically, wearing an apron that says THE BOSS across the front, and she has a dishtowel draped over her shoulder.

“Come in, come in. We’re still waiting on Sam and Drew, but if you go through, Eddie will get you some drinks. Just in there.” She points at a door leading left off the hallway. “I’ll be there in a minute. My rutabaga’s going to burn!”

She rushes off to the kitchen, and I notice that Emily is grinning. This is just her sort of atmosphere.

I lead everyone through to the living room, and the first thing I see is Allie, standing on the far side of the room, setting out nibbles and glasses and chatting to Eddie. The early afternoon light is coming in from outside and making the crests of her curls glow. She’s wearing a pale green blouse that brings out the color of her eyes and she’s paired it with skinny jeans and boots, and when she turns and notices me, a wide smile breaks out across her face. As she makes her way across the room towards me, I realize she’s wearing just a little more makeup than normal.

She is stunning.

“Hey!” she says, leaning up to kiss me on the cheek. I guess I did set the rules the other night.

“Hey,” I say. “This is Ethan, Emily, Leo, and Riley. Everyone, this is—”

“Allie!” Ethan cuts in, grabbing her hand and shaking it enthusiastically. “We’ve heard so much about you!”

Goddamn Ethan, he just can’t resist a chance to troll me. Allie’s eyes go a little wider, and she starts to blush and she reaches for a response.

“OH! Well, I… er—I hope the drive wasn’t too bad!”

I sent her a text last night, lamenting the fact that we’d have been able to get some time together if I knew that Ethan and Emily would be arriving so late. She reminded me quite firmly that she was busy helping Sadie, and then added a load of kissy emojis that made me too happy to be irritated any more. God, what kind of sap have I become?

“It sucked!” says Ethan.

Emily digs him in the ribs.

“It was just fine,” she says, shaking Allie’s hand. “Thanks, Allie.”

The kids only manage a quick hello before they’re off, having spotted Allie’s girls and Sadie’s kids playing some kind of board game in the corner of the room. They immediately insert themselves into the fray, chatting and playing together in that effortless way that kids do.

“Drink?” says Eddie, coming over to our little group. “Drink? Drink? Drink?” He points to each of us in turn and makes a little drinking motion as though he’s holding a glass. “There’s a pretty decent selection over there on the table.”

We head over that way and everyone grabs a drink. Beers all around except for Emily, who opts for water because she’s driving us all home later. Allie goes off to distribute juice boxes to the kids, and Eddie gives my hand a bone-crushing shake.

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