No Elfing Way by Hayden Hall

Author:Hayden Hall [Hall, Hayden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

EZRA

Some days dragged endlessly; other days flew by in a heartbeat. It was the nature of time to do the exact opposite of what you needed it to do.

The next day proved it to me for the umpteenth time. Although I woke up inspired — and only slightly humbled by literally folding myself down when James kissed me — the day ahead tested just how much I could take. From the overnight backlog of online orders from the late-night armchair shoppers to the rush hour kicking off at noon. We were so near Christmas that I had nothing to be surprised about, but the rush on our toys caught me off guard.

I worked in halves today. One half moved through the shop with James in an intricate dance we had mastered over the week, lifting, packing, greeting, smiling, chatting, and writing notes in calligraphy to James’ surprise. Another half was already in my apartment, cooking, humming, enjoying my sweet port, and tingling with expectation.

When the rush hour passed, I hurried out to get some ingredients for our dinner and a bottle of the driest wine they had in the store. If it were me, I would have mulled it, but James had cringed enough times at mulled wine that I decided to keep it as it was. A pity, but the man just didn’t have a good taste when it came to herbs and spices. And that was a fact.

I was smirking to myself as I thought about all this and found the shop in excellent condition when I returned. Nicholas and James had their heads together over the worktable. Nicholas spoke softly, guiding James with his words, while the man who had been invading my dreams for the last two nights pulled a small needle through the colorful dress of a vintage-style doll. He hadn’t lied. The man had a seamster’s attention to detail even if he hadn’t practiced it for some time. His movements were slow and careful, but his seams were straight and solid.

I could have stood there all afternoon. His white, stiff-collared shirt was unbuttoned at the top, his skin showing a little before the apron hid it from sight. His fingers wore shades of paints he used for wooden toys. His skin was so clean and healthy that I had an urge to feel it with my lips. His stubble made me long for his kisses.

But I had a chicken to put in the fridge.

I came to my senses and hurried along. The rest of the day passed in the blink of an eye. Truth be told, I wasn’t ready for the evening to come so soon. I expected James to linger with me after we cleaned the shop, but he came up to me and exhaled. It was so close to a cat’s purr that I couldn’t distinguish the two. He cocked one side of his lips. “I’ll be there in half an hour. Forty minutes tops. Is that okay?”

“Sure,” I said, suddenly thankful for the extra time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.