Team Bride (14 page)

Authors: Valerie Comer

BOOK: Team Bride

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Automatically Heath glanced at the long paper in his hand. “No, it’s all good.” He looked at Sonya, raising his eyebrows. “Tim Hortons has a street entrance. How long will closing up take?” Yeah, he knew he was pushing. Just a little.

“Fifteen minutes?”

His heart soared rather a lot, all things considered. He tried to hold back the exuberant smile. “See you there. Merry Christmas!”

She smiled back at him. “Merry kisses.” Then her eyes widened, and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

The manager whirled toward her. “What did you say?”

“Merry kisses,” Sonya mumbled, eyes downcast.

“Speak up. I can’t hear you.”

“Kisses!” Her chin thrust up as she narrowed her glittering eyes at Deborah. “I said
merry kisse
s.”

The woman sniffed. “Yeah, right. To a man you don’t know? Haven’t we talked about how to respond to greetings? Please take your cash drawer to the office.” She turned to Heath, anger at Sonya obviously warring with her need to be polite to a customer.

“I was just leaving.” Heath pushed the buggy toward the small gap remaining in the security grille. Man, he hadn’t meant to get Sonya in trouble. Had she really said kisses instead of Christmas? That meant she was thinking of... well, he shouldn’t get too excited about her evasion tactic. It had backfired.

He paused, blocking the opening, and faced Deborah, who’d followed him to lock the store. “I’m sorry I distracted her. It was my fault, not hers.”

“She knows the rules.”

What could Heath say that wouldn’t get Sonya in even more hot water with her boss? Nothing he could be sure of. He nodded slowly and pushed the cart into the mall corridor. “She didn’t say Christmas, if that’s what you’re so upset about.”

“I heard what I heard.” The grille clanged shut behind him, and Deborah locked it.

“But I’ll say it. Merry Christmas.” It was the proper Santa Claus salutation at this time of year. He couldn’t help himself, but he could spare her the
ho, ho, ho.

The woman on the other side of the grille raised one eyebrow then spun on her high heel and stalked away.

Good job, Saint Nick.

Merry Kisses
will be available for Kindle in November, 2015.

Get it NOW with 7 other Christmas Romance novellas by Christian authors in the box set

Love's Gift
.

Author Biography

Valerie Comer
lives where food meets faith in her real life, her fiction, and on her blog and website. She and her husband of over 30 years farm, garden, and keep bees on a small farm in Western Canada, where they grow and preserve much of their own food.

Valerie has always been interested in real food from scratch, but her conviction has increased dramatically since God blessed her with three delightful granddaughters. In this world of rampant disease and pollutio
n, she is compelled to do what she can to make these little girls’ lives the best she can. She helps supply healthy food — local food, organic food, seasonal food — to grow strong bodies and minds.

Her experience has planted seeds for many stories rooted in the local-food movement, such as those in her Farm Fresh Romance series.

To find out more, visit her website at
www.valeriecomer.com
, where you can read her blog, explore her many links, and sign up for her
monthly email newsletter
, where you will find news, giveaways, deals, book recommendations and more.