Blame It On The Carols (Sugarplum Falls #6)

Twenty-Eight | Makayla

Twenty-Eight

Makayla

“D o you think he’ll like this?” I asked, holding up a black knit sweater for Tony and Patrick to see.

“It’s whatever you like, ma’am,” Patrick said, barely looking at the garment as he scanned the room again.

“What do you think, Tony?”

His attention appeared to be on me, but my guess was that he was also scanning the room behind me.

“I think he has enough sweaters,” he said gruffly, giving me his full attention for one second before looking past me.

“You guys are no help,” I grumbled, putting the sweater back on the rack and shuffling the stuff in my basket so it wasn’t so heavy on my arm.

So far, I’d managed to get a few things for my mom even though I’d already shipped her gifts before I came out here. I didn’t want to risk them getting lost or damaged on the flight, and I was too lazy to want to deal with getting someone to help me carry all of my stuff from baggage claim to my rental car.

I’d also picked up a few things for myself but was struggling with what to get Aiden. We hadn’t discussed whether we were exchanging gifts, but since we seemed to be a couple again, I didn’t want to not get him anything. Plus, it was supposed to be fun shopping for your loved ones—though I wasn’t currently having any fun as everything seemed to be a flop.

I walked down the main aisle and stopped when I spotted a set of skull-shaped whiskey glasses. I knew that Aiden loved a good whiskey, and when I was snooping through his stuff at home, I noticed he only had one glass. I grabbed a set of glasses and made sure to balance them in the basket so they didn’t fall out, then reached for the matching decanter. It was almost within reach when I felt the basket shift and the glasses slip out the side.

Tony’s reflexes were quicker than I could have anticipated as his hand shot out and grabbed them before they hit the floor.

“Woah,” I said, genuinely impressed. “Nice catch.”

“Thank you.” He held the glasses under his arm and locked his hands in front of him as he scanned the room again. “Those are a much better gift.”

“Right? He’ll love them!” I grabbed the decanter and went to add it to the basket when Patrick extended his hand and took it.

I smiled at him but rolled my eyes when he didn’t see it because he was looking everywhere else.

“I want to get him a bottle of whiskey to go with it, but we can do that on the way home. I’ll tell him you guys are giving me a ride so the surprise doesn’t get ruined.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Patrick said.

“Patrick, I love you and it’s less than a week until Christmas, so I don’t want to hurt you. But I swear, if you call me ma’am one more time,” I warned, giving him the best glare I could.

“Got it, ma—”

I arched an eyebrow and then smiled when he stopped himself.

“Alright, I think I’m all set. We can go pay real quick, then I’ll text Aiden to let him know I’m heading to the food court.”

Neither of them answered but followed me as I headed to the registers. I paid for my stuff and thankfully, the cashier was kind enough to double bag Aiden’s gift so he couldn’t tell what it was. I was relieved to have most of my shopping done, but that didn’t mean I was done with Frosty Fest. There were still a handful of vendor booths I hadn’t gotten to yet, which meant my day of fun was just starting.