Christmas Comes to Main Street by Olivia Miles

ringing up the next order to notice, and still, the other table went unswept.
    Little things like this could make or break a business. And he hadn’t even seen her books yet. From his time consulting on restaurants, he knew how costly some ordering issues could be. It was his job to step in, spot the problems, and suggest a plan of attack for running a more efficient business and setting everyone up on a path to success. He might be on vacation right now, but he couldn’t turn off the part of him that was always noticing areas for improvement, especially in a new business.
    There was only one more person in front of him in line now, and Nate studied the cookies behind the spotless glass partition, his mouth admittedly salivating. She kept things simple, a strategy he agreed with: Some small business owners like her might tend to go overboard, offer everything and anything, and then end up with waste and a confused clientele. But Kara seemed to be clear in her brand. She sold cookies. Nothing else.
    Except… Nate’s eyebrows rose as Kara handed a steaming mug of coffee to the woman in front of him. Catching his eye, her cheeks turned the same shade of pink as her soft sweater, and she looked away, focusing instead on making change for the woman.
    â€œSo, you decided to take my advice after all, I see.” He grinned, even when he saw a wave of fury pass through her eyes. He couldn’t help himself. She’d been so damn stubborn the other day at the diner. So determined to refuse his friendly suggestion. Now it would seem she’d had a change of heart.
    â€œI’d been thinking about offering coffee for a while,” she replied briskly. “I just wanted to wait and see if there was any demand for it.”
    He nodded slowly. “And is there?” Of course there was.
    Kara just shrugged. “It would seem so, yes.”
    He bit back a smile. Something told him Kara wouldn’t appreciate it, and he didn’t feel like getting on her bad side again. “Good.” He rolled back on his heels and looked around the room. “You have quite a bit of traffic in here. Are you running everything on your own?”
    â€œSaturdays are always like this, especially during the holidays since everyone’s out shopping. Can I interest you in a peppermint white hot chocolate?”
    So she’d taken his idea for coffee and taken it one step further. While hot cocoa might be a good idea from a sales standpoint during the Christmas season, he had to question if the amount of time it took to prepare each cup offset the profit.
    â€œTell me, is peppermint used in everything in this town? My aunt made peppermint scones for breakfast the other morning.”
    Kara grinned. “’Tis the season.”
    â€œHmm.” His lips thinned. That was probably why he’d never liked the taste. Bad associations.
    â€œI get the impression you’re not quite as into the holiday spirit as most folks around here.”
    Ah. Caught. “What gave it away?” he asked.
    Kara studied him for a moment, and he felt his stomach churn with unease as he stared at her pretty face, watching her clear blue eyes roam over him. Her lips were soft and supple and parted just enough to make him wonder what it might be like to kiss her.
    He stiffened. No good thinking that way.
    â€œWell, for starters, you don’t have that sort of drunk-on-Christmas look that everyone else around here gets this time of year. And you didn’t jump at the chance for peppermint hot chocolate, either.”
    â€œI don’t like peppermint,” he replied.
    She pointed a finger in the air, her lips curving. “Aha. Suspicion confirmed, then.”
    He shrugged. “Christmas was never that big of a deal in my house. Most years I’m too busy working to pay much attention to it anyway.” More like he worked hard to avoid it… This year’s gift to his parents was supposed to eliminate