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“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I was just wondering why Declan looked ready to fly through the window and throw a punch.”
Holly’s head whipped around, but the angle wasn’t right to see inside. “It’s me he wants to strangle, not you.”
“‘Cause he wants you and you rejected him?”
“What? No!”
“Don’t tell me he said no to you?”
Holly loved the disbelief in that one sentence. “While I’m flattered that I shocked you, I have been turned down by men before.”
“Idiots, you mean.”
“See, this is why we’re friends and not lovers. You’d never have my back like this if I let you take me for a ride.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I’d never take you for a ride because Merry wouldn’t forgive me.”
“My sister, the cock blocker of the century. But back to Declan, no, I didn’t come on to him. We just hate each other and yet he’s setting up my Christmas display. Things probably aren’t going well, and he was trying to make my head explode from a distance.”
“You know what the other side to hate is?” he asked.
Holly groaned. “Do not say love.”
“Nope, it’s lust. I bet if the two of you worked out all that ‘hate’”—Sam emphasized the word with air quotes—“you’d get along a whole lot better.”
“How about I don’t take lust advice from a man who needed to be rescued when one of his hate sex partners handcuffed him to the bed and left him there?”
“Probably wise.”
CHAPTER 16
When holly and sam disappeared out of sight, Declan turned his head to crack his neck, but nothing seemed to ease the tension that had laced through his body watching the two of them cuddle and play. He hadn’t meant to stare, but seeing that bright, easy smile on Holly’s face come into view as they passed struck him like a shock of cold wind, freezing him in place. They’d stopped in front of his store, with Holly’s back to him, but by the look on Sam’s face, they were having an intense conversation.
When Sam caught him watching, Declan practically scrambled out from behind the counter and down an aisle. From that position in the store he could still see them, even as he tried not to look.
How did he not know that Holly and Sam were dating? Complaining about his brother’s promiscuity was a favorite pastime of Clark’s, and he couldn’t imagine Clark was happy about his brother going out with his soon-to-be sister-in-law. Or maybe he didn’t know?
It’s none of your business who Holly dates, so why are you standing there like a dope obsessing about it?
Declan didn’t have a rational answer. He’d wanted Holly to stay away while he worked so he could surprise her, but after getting a look at the display, he might be in over his head and didn’t want to admit it.
“Declan, I’m ready to check out now,” Mrs. Paulsen called from the counter.
“On my way.” Declan crossed the wood floor and stepped behind the counter, giving the older woman a forced smile. “Is this everything?”
“Yes, I ordered most of what I needed online but forgot these. I wish you would offer delivery, especially for us older folks.”
Declan didn’t get into the logistics of hiring someone to deliver when the store was barely making enough to keep them in the black, because it wasn’t her fault times were changing. With the convenience of online shopping, most of the store’s customers were like Mrs. Paulsen: popping in to grab an item they forgot or a small order they didn’t want to go to Twin Falls or Mountain Home for.
“I’ll pass the suggestion along to my dad,” he said, slipping the package of screws into a bag. “Have a good day, Mrs. Paulsen.”
“You too, Declan.”
His mother passed by the window with a drink carrier and a take-out bag as Mrs. Paulsen exited and the two of them greeted each other like old friends did, hugging carefully and speaking for several moments outside. His mother had always been well liked and missed when she moved away, and the fact that Mrs. Paulsen hadn’t asked about his dad while fawning over his mom set his teeth on edge.
When they finally said their goodbyes, his mother walked in and set her stuff on the counter.
