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“Several days off,” Dylan said firmly. “As delicious as your coffee is, people will cope without it for a little while.”

“I don’t want to miss out on business,” Lucy protested.

“How many people will be going out for coffee over Christmas? Everyone will be with their friends and family. And Ellen and Jo deserve a break too.”

“They do,” Lucy agreed. Both women had been particularly fantastic over the past couple of months, while she’d been feeling so dreadful. They’d cheerfully taken over anything they could to make things easier for her, and it wouldn’t be fair to ask them to work at Christmas.

“Why don’t you just close up from the twenty-third until the beginning of January? Maybe open back up on the second or even the third? Put a big notice on the door and on social media?”

“It’s definitely tempting,” she admitted. As much as she loved working in her coffee shop, a break sounded lovely, but she and Dylan hadn’t actually talked about what they had planned for Christmas. It sounded pathetic in her own head, but if he was going to be busy, she could do with something to keep her occupied, if she wasn’t going to visit her parents. Christmas Day sounded like it would be fun with everyone, but the rest of the time until New Year’s would drag.

“It’ll be good,” Dylan said. “I’m not going to be working at all. I was planning to finish up on the twenty-third too, so we can hang out, watch Downton Abbey, eat lots, annoy Michael and Carrie a bit . . .”

“So, you don’t have plans?”

“No, I don’t have plans. I’d like to spend the holidays with you, if you’re not busy.”

“Well, you know I’m a social whirl usually, but as I hadn’t planned on closing the shop, I can spend time with you.” She fought to keep the smile from her face. Dylan made no such attempt as his mouth broke into a grin.

“Excellent,” he declared.

“Have you got any plans for today?” she asked, in as normal a voice as she could manage, focusing on putting two pieces of toast into the toaster, like it was the most complicated process imaginable.

“I’m all yours,” he said.

Was he doing this on purpose now?

“Oh, cool,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat. “I think we should declare today an official Christmas preparation day, to get us in the Christmas spirit, tick as many of the things as we can off your list.” At least that would keep her busy and her mind off Dylan’s abs, she thought to herself. Plus there was no point in pretending she didn’t want to spend the day with him. And there was something quite lovely about rediscovering the magic of Christmas alongside this man. It was a privilege and she was tired of trying to fight against wanting to spend time with him. She’d enjoy Christmas and then worry about the boundaries between them in the new year. Maybe her hormones will have calmed down a little by then.

“That sounds like a very good idea,” Dylan said.

“We definitely have to watch a classic Christmas film with the Christmas tree lights on. Ideally, we’d have a wood fire going in an antique fireplace, but that’s a bit beyond what we can manage. Actually . . .”

With a grin, Lucy got her laptop and searched for a video of a roaring fire on YouTube. “There you go,” she said, as she pressed play on the video and spun the computer around to show Dylan. “That’ll have to do.”

“That will be perfect.”

“What film should we watch?”

“Have you seen It’s a Wonderful Life?”

“I have not.”

“Well, I can’t promise that you’ll love it, but it’s sort of essential. I bet Carrie or Mary have a copy.” Lucy picked up her mobile from the counter and messaged them both.

“Aren’t you Miss Sorting Everything Out this morning?”

“We’ve got to do this properly. I think you also need to see The Muppet’s Christmas Carol — I’m guessing you missed out on that one too?” she asked, with a wince.

“Yeah, isn’t that the one with Michael Caine? It looks nuts.”

“It is, and brilliant. You’ll see.” She got her phone and typed out another message. “I happen to know Layla has that one because we discovered there’s a particular bit of it that scared her when she was little as much as it scared me.”

“What a lovely thing to bond over!”

“It was,” Lucy confirmed with a smile. “And there was baking you wanted to do, wasn’t there?”

“Yeah, sugar cookies.”