“Awesome,” he chuckled. “I’ve always wanted to know stuff.”
“Then I’m your source,” Cozy giggled, smiling at him. “If you ever want to know stuff…just ask me.”
“Okay then. Tell me some more stuff.”
Cozy shook her head at her own stupid babble. Still, he did seem sincerely interested. “Okay…um…let’s see. Did you know that the dial tone of a normal telephone is in the key of F? Or that the first item ever scanned and sold with a UPC barcode was a package of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum?”
“Really?” he asked.
“Yep. At a grocery store in Troy, Ohio, on June 26, 1974,” Cozy confirmed. “It is now on display at the Smithsonian.”
“Yeah, I’d say you know stuff all right,” Jesse chuckled.
“Yes. I’m a living abyss of pointless crapola.”
Jesse laughed. She was hilarious—hilarious and completely adorable! She was far too attractive for her own good too. He studied her for a moment—watched her sliding her feet through the dry, brittle leaves as they walked.
“I can never remember stuff like that,” he admitted.
“Maybe not,” she said, smiling at him. “But you’re wicked good at putting up Christmas lights.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s important,” he chuckled with sarcasm. “Something I need to be sure to include on my résumé…or if I ever sign up for one of those online dating things.”
She giggled, and his ears liked the sound of it. “Actually, if you want to know a secret…it’s exactly something you should put on your profile if you ever do sign up for one.”
“You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Women love it when men do dangerous things like climbing around on the roof to put up Christmas lights. They find it very attractive.”
Jesse laughed heartily then. “Okay, look…I already promised to buy you hot chocolate and a cookie. You don’t have to butter me up or try to inflate my ego. The five bucks is as good as spent.”
She laughed but assured him, “But I’m serious! It’s…it’s heroic.”
“You really want that cookie bad, don’t you?” he teased. Still, he could tell she really meant what she’d said.
“Well, yes…but that’s not why I said it.”
He shook his head, amused by her dramatics. Did she really think that a man putting up some stupid Christmas lights was heroic?
“So tell me, why is putting up Christmas lights considered heroic to girls?” he couldn’t resist asking. “And don’t try to tell me it’s because it’s dangerous.”
“Well, first of all,” she began, “it is dangerous. Do you know how many people are hurt every year while trying to put Christmas lights on a house?”
“No…and if you tell me you do know, I’ll—”
“Hospital emergency rooms treat approximately twelve thousand five hundred injuries every year related to holiday decorating,” she interrupted.
“You’re kidding,” he said. In truth, he was astonished—not that she knew the number, but that the number was so high.
“Nope,” she assured him. “However, even though risking life and limb to put up Christmas lights is totally manly, what makes it heroic is that most men do it even when they don’t want to. You know…for their wives and children…their mothers.” She paused, looked at him, and smiled. “Their grandpas and grandmas…and neighbors.”
Jesse could tell Cozy was entirely sincere. Yet he couldn’t let her know just how good she’d made him feel by implying he was heroic in her estimation. She’d think he was a shallow idiot for sure.
“Well…I guess I better add it to my online dating profile then,” he said.
“Are you serious?” she asked, and he laughed when he saw the look of concern on her face. “You have an online dating profile?”
“What do you think?” he asked, winking at her.
Cozy would never tell him what she really thought of him—that she knew a man like him would have no need of any kind of dating service, online or otherwise. Instead she decided to admit her remorse at revealing the whole Christmas light scenario.
“I think I shouldn’t have told you that women find it attractive when men string Christmas lights all over the outside of a house,” she mumbled.
“Why not?” he asked, still smiling.
“Because now that you know it, you’ll probably go out and use it to your advantage,” she said. “I’ll probably start seeing beautiful Christmas light displays all over down here in the valley by the river…and all the houses that are lit up will be owned by gorgeous, movie-star-type single women who met you on some dating website.” He laughed, and she added, “However, I should warn you that once a woman knows your heroics are contrived, they cease to think they’re attractive.”
“You mean, if I started wooing women with my awesome Christmas lights displays, they’d eventually wise up that I was doing it on purpose and dump me?” he asked.
“Exactly.”
Cozy loved the sound of Jesse’s chuckle—the way it rumbled deep in his broad chest and then rose to his throat.
“When we get back, I’m going to tell Grandpa that this was the best five bucks he ever spent on my education,” Jesse said, smiling at her.
“I’m sure that it is,” she giggled. “And you’ll never look at crayons the same way again either.”
“That’s true,” he said. “I should buy a box and keep them in my office at work…just for those extra stressful days.”
“Yes, you should,” she confirmed.
Suddenly, Jesse inhaled a deep breath, exhaling it with a contented sigh. “Mm! I can smell the bakery already. Do you smell it?”
Cozy inhaled—caught the light aroma of baking bread on the evening air. “Yeah! It’s making me salivate already.”
Jesse bit his tongue as the thought traveled through his mind, And you’re making me salivate already, Cozy Robbins.
Chapter Seven
“So?” Dottie asked. “What do you think they’re doing right about now?”
Buck smiled. “Well, if I taught that boy right, he oughta have that girl backed up against a tree somewhere, kissing her like there’s no tomorrow.” He laughed when Dottie’s pretty blue eyes lit up like the Fourth of July sky over the Hudson River.
“Really?” she asked, awash with delight.
Buck chuckled. “No. Jesse’s enough of a gentleman to move a little more carefully than that,” he said. “At least…I think he is.”
Dottie sighed with disappointment. “It’s too bad, really. Cozy needs a good, wet, driven kiss from that boy.”
“Oh, does she now?” Buck asked. He liked this woman—liked her much more than she could possibly imagine. “From Jesse and only Jesse?”
“Yep,” Dottie assured him. “Cozy has been waiting her whole life for your Jesse, Buck. I know it sounds ridiculous—and I don’t want you to think I’m crazy or anything—but…but I can see it in her. I can see it in him.”
Buck smiled, reached across the table, and covered Dottie’s hand with his own. “So can I, Dottie.”
“Really?” she asked.
He could read the relief in her expression—and the hope.
Buck nodded and said, “The night you and Cozy came over with the banana bread…well…you’ll never know how glad I was to see you…and how glad I was to see that girl of yours. Jesse’s attention was on her the whole time you were at the house that night, and I thought, Finally! Finally that boy’s going to give his heart away. He’s been holding onto it real tight for a very long time.”
“I’m glad he has,” Dottie confessed. “And I hope you’re right. I hope we both are.”
“We are, Dottie. Just give it time.”
Her face softened, and her eyes twinkled as she gazed at him across the table. “You’re saying we just have to be patient…and…and let things take their natural course.”
“Yep,” Buck said—and he knew they were no longer talking about Jesse and Cozy.
“Well, th
en,” she sighed, picking up her mug of cider with her free hand, “I’ll try not to worry too much.”
“Don’t worry at all, Dottie,” Buck said with a wink. “Everything will turn out just as it’s meant to.”
“Why won’t you tell me?” Jesse asked as he leaned back in his chair and studied Cozy for a moment.
She shrugged—frowned. “Because it’s not important. You have bad days at work, don’t you?”
“Well, sure. But this seems different. This seems like…I don’t know…like it’s kind of eating you up or something.”
Cozy shook her head. She couldn’t tell him. He’d think she was a total dork. Anyway, it wouldn’t change anything. The creep would still come in every day at noon—still do what he’d been doing for over a week.
“Come on,” he prodded. “Just tell me. Maybe I can help.”
Cozy bit her lip. He couldn’t help. Still, she sensed it was important to him—that he wanted her to confide in him. And in truth, something in her did want to tell someone—to tell him.
“It’s just that…it’s sort of ongoing, and I don’t really see how it’s going to change…and I’m…I’m uncomfortable with it,” she confessed at last.
Jesse frowned and leaned forward in his chair. Cozy broke another piece off the large sugar cookie on the plate in the middle of the table. She and Jesse had finished the hot chocolate long before but were still picking at the cookie.
“Can I get you anything else, sir?” Cozy glanced up to the waitress. She looked to be about sixteen and was nearly panting over Jesse.
“Um…yeah,” he answered. “Can we get two ice waters and a warm cider?”
“Sure,” the girl said, smiling. “I’ll have them right out to you.”
“Thanks,” Jesse said, returning his attention to Cozy. “Now tell me. What’s this ongoing thing at work that’s putting that frown on your pretty little forehead?”
Cozy smiled. “Now who’s buttering who up?” she teased him.
But he didn’t smile. “I’m serious. Tell me.”
She couldn’t look him in the eye for some reason. So she simply picked at the cookie again.
“Well, there’s this guy,” she began. “He started coming in about two weeks ago…every day for lunch.”
“And?” he urged.
“He’s gross, you know,” she continued. “Like maybe midthirties. He’s all beefed up and thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Anyway, he started sitting at one of my tables about ten days ago. And he’s…you know…disgusting. Like he says stuff…gross stuff to me. And he always finds a way to, like, pinch my bum or brush his arm against my…my chest.”
“Well, give him a knee in the guy-junk!” Jesse exclaimed, suddenly angry. “You don’t take that from any man…from anybody at all, Cozy!”
She was surprised by his sudden protective outburst—flattered too, however.
“I know,” she said, shaking her head. “But jobs are so hard to find right now…and if I can stick this one out for another two semesters, then hopefully I won’t have to—”
“I’m gonna come over there to that café and kick his ass,” Jesse growled.
Cozy looked up to him, astonished at the indignant rage on his face. “No! No, no! It’s fine. I can take care of it,” she assured him. “I know I should tell Blake. He’s my manager…but…”
“But what?” he pressed.
“Well, the last time my friend Mindy complained about a customer, Blake told her she should be flattered and reminded her that the guy left her a big tip and to be grateful for it. So I’ve just been kind of hoping it would go away somehow.”
“Well, I was hoping the big zit on my right cheek would go away before high school senior prom too, Cozy,” he growled. “But it didn’t…not until I rubbed it off with some sandpaper and made it bleed. You can’t let somebody treat you like that. Women put up with enough sh—stuff. You need to put an end to it.”
“You did what?” she asked. “Did you say you sandpapered a zit?”
Jesse shrugged, though it was obvious he was still angry. “Yeah…I sanded it off. So what?”
“You sanded it off? Didn’t it bleed?”
“Well, yeah…but I figured that a scraped-up, scabby sore looked better than a zit.” He paused a moment, shaking his head and trying to calm his temper. “Seriously, Cozy. I know women like to be strong and independent and all…but you can’t let this guy do that again. Promise me you won’t tolerate it anymore. Hell…I’ll give you a job at my company if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Cozy almost smiled. She knew she should probably be disturbed that Jesse had become so instantly angry, but she wasn’t. She was flattered—pleased even. She felt validated and empowered somehow. He was right. She should never allow herself to be treated with such disrespect—never let anyone get away with touching her in any manner she deemed inappropriate.
“You’re right,” she said. “You’re right. I guess I just…I don’t know. I guess I just—”
“You’re worried about your job,” he finished. “And I get that. Jobs are hard to come by just now. But you’ve got plenty of family and friends that would help you out. And anyway, if your boss fires you for that…then I’ll kick his ass too.”
“Shhh!” Cozy hushed him, reaching out to place her hand over his mouth. “It’s all right. I’ll take care of it. I will. You’re right. I shouldn’t have put up with it at all…not one minute. I’ve just been so busy and stressed with my ornaments and stuff.”
Jesse exhaled a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just get ticked off with things like this.” He shook his head again—rubbed his chin with one hand as if trying to settle himself further. “It’s just that…well, I wanna grab your butt every time I see you too…but that doesn’t mean I act on it.”
Cozy looked up when the waitress cleared her throat to arrest Jesse’s attention.
“Here you go, sir,” the girl said, setting the two waters and a mug of cider on the table.
“Thanks,” Jesse mumbled without looking at her.
The waitress’s eyebrows arched, and she looked to Cozy. Obviously she had heard what Jesse had said about wanting to pinch her butt every time he saw her—and Cozy was glad she had.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” the waitress said.
“We will. Thanks,” Cozy assured her with a smile.
“Promise me, Cozy,” Jesse said, having finally lowered his voice. “Promise me you won’t put up with it again…even if you get fired.”
“I promise,” she whispered.
“I don’t believe you,” he said. His eyes narrowed as he studied her for a moment.
“I promise,” she reiterated. “Now come on. Help me drink this cider. And don’t make me wish I hadn’t told you.”
He nodded and rubbed his whiskers again. Sighing, he mumbled, “And I’m sorry, but I cuss when I get mad.”
“It’s okay,” she said. In truth, she was outrageously pleased that he had come to her defense so instantly and with such vehemence. “And you are right. I don’t know what’s been the matter with me.”
She watched as he broke off a piece of the cookie and shoved it in his mouth. “It’s just what you said…stress.”
Cozy stared at him for a long moment. It was obvious he was still riled up, but he was settling down quickly.
“Did you really sandpaper off a zit just because of prom?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah,” he answered. He didn’t crack a smile—as if using sandpaper to remove a pimple were the most natural thing in the world. “I just told everybody I wiped out on my dirt bike.”
“Guys are so funny,” Cozy sighed, shaking her head. She giggled a little, thinking of an adolescent Jesse Bryant taking a piece of sandpaper to his face.
“No…guys are just stupid,” he said. “For instance,” he added, grinning at her, “now everyone in here knows I’ve checked out your butt…and more than once.”
“That was just the sugar
talking,” she said, pointing to the cookie remains on the plate.
He chuckled. “Nope. I’m afraid that was just me revealing too much while under the influence of testosterone.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Cozy began, picking up the mug of cider and taking a long sip.
“What’s that?” he asked, breaking off another piece of the cookie.
“On the way home, I’ll check out your butt, and then we’ll be even.” She smiled at him, and her heart leapt when he smiled back.
“You’d have to ogle it all the way home to catch up, Cozy Robbins,” he countered.
Cozy laughed and took another sip of the cider.
She offered the mug to him, and he nodded, accepting it and taking a sip. “It’s good,” he said. “But not as good as your grandmother’s.”
“What do you think our grandparents are doing right now?” Cozy asked. Jesse returned the mug to her, and she took another sip of the warm, soothing cider.
Jesse smiled. “I don’t know,” he answered. “But whatever they’re doing, I hope it was worth five bucks.”
Cozy laughed in her throat, covering her mouth to keep from spitting cider across the table.
Jesse smiled his dazzling smile and broke off another piece of the sugar cookie. “Are you really going to check out my butt on the way home?” he teased.
Again Cozy nearly spit the cider out of her mouth. Once she’d managed to swallow, she giggled, “Sure. If it’ll make you feel better.”
“I don’t know. Now I’m kind of self-conscious.”
“I hope you know the Heimlich…because you’re gonna make me choke if you keep it up,” Cozy warned, dapping at a dribble of cider that had escaped onto her chin when she’d laughed.
Jesse glanced around the café. “It looks like they’re getting ready to close up. We should probably go.”
“Yeah,” Cozy said, pushing her chair away from the table.
“Do you want the rest of that?” Jesse asked, pointing to the remains of the cookie.
“No, that’s okay. It was good though, huh?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said. She smiled as he picked up the biggest piece left and stuffed it in his mouth. “After you.” He nodded toward the door, and Cozy started walking.
Take a Walk With Me Page 11