Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Stop if you’re hurting yourself,” he ordered.
The steel in his voice made her shiver inside. Not too many people tried to tell a six-foot-three-inch-tall woman what to do. Or try to take care of her. She slid the box from the shelf and immediately felt the weight of the heavy box slacken as he moved close to brace it with one hand from underneath.
She could feel his heat next to hers and inhaled the scent of spices and vibrant man as they eased the box down to a lower shelf. “Thanks. That worked well.”
After pulling a box cutter from the apron she wore, Nora sliced the tape and opened the flaps. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
“That’s perfect. I’ll take all the boxes you have if you’ll have time to reorder before the store opens?”
“I can get more stock in,” she answered confidently. “There’s one more box of twenty-four. Are you sure you want both? They’re three hundred and fifty dollars for each case.”
“That’s great. So seven hundred dollars plus tax. I’ll just pay you in cash if that’s okay.”
“Perfect.”
Nora wasn’t going to argue with making money before the store opened. There were a lot of petty cash needs as she got everything set up. She watched him pull out a money clip and peel off eight crisp hundred-dollar bills.
“Oh, that’s too much.”
“You’re saving me. It’s not too much. If you would, could you order me a couple of cases every month? Just give me a ring when they come in and I’ll zip over to pay and pick them up,” Mateo requested.
“I can do that. Perfect. My first regular customer.”
He met her eyes directly. “I hope to be more than that. I have been looking for my special Little girl for a long time. Stop in some night and let me buy you dinner,” he offered. “Call if you’re busy and starving and I’ll bring some food over.”
Nora tried to find something cheesy or smarmy in his words but he sounded honest, and if she’d allow herself to think along those lines—sexy.
“I’m not petite. You don’t care that I’m a giraffe with different weather up here?” she blurted.
“I’m talking Little with a capital L. Height is the last thing I’m worried about.”
“Not like you’re short…” Her words trailed off as the meaning of his words dawned on her. Little? Like in those books she devoured on her reader?
“I’m the tall one in my family,” he said with a laugh, interrupting her racing thoughts. “Really. Come by soon.”
He gestured at the box. “Could I borrow your assistant to lug one of these boxes over?”
“Of course. Samuel? Could you help Mateo carry a box? Or bring the cart and you can roll both of them over. That’s a better idea,” Nora suggested.
She soon stood at the door watching the two wheel the candles over to the Cuban restaurant. She inhaled and smelled not only the sweetness from the cupcake bakery but the distinctive spices from La Havana. Shaking her head, Nora walked back into the store. Whether Mateo was just joking around or serious, she’d find out as time went by.
Chapter Two
Finally, the big day came. The grand opening! Nora had balloons and decorations everywhere. After she’d sent out blasts all over town and on social media inviting everyone to the fun, the local news had shown up to get their faces painted by Samuel and to broadcast live from the event. It was like a huge party.
Thank goodness she’d found three cashiers to hire. She needed everyone to keep the lines moving. There were even some empty spots on the shelves. Nora was running herself crazy trying to answer the new cashiers’ questions, help patrons find things, and give Samuel a break so his hands didn’t cramp. There was no way she could wheel a cart from the back through the crush of people anyway.
It would take some long hours to restock overnight but it was totally worth it. Today introduced the store to so many she hoped would become regular customers in the store. Everyone expressed their excitement to have a craft store in the area.
“Do you have any woodburning kits?” a teenager asked.
“We do. Look on aisle seventeen. And there are some neat wooden puzzle boxes on aisle ten,” she suggested.
“That’s lit!” the teenager declared as she wandered off to check out the supplies.
Nora looked at Samuel next to her designing a gorgeous butterfly on a young girl’s cheek. “Lit?” She knew she’d heard it, but what did that mean?
“Exciting,” Samuel answered. “Like this decoration is lit! Everyone is going to be jealous.”
“I can’t wait until Bethy sees it!” his customer exclaimed.
“She’s going to love it,” Nora confirmed before moving on.
The hours flew by. Thank goodness they’d only set up face painting to be for a couple of hours because Samuel could then work on restocking the shelves. That addressed some of the biggest holes. For others, she didn’t even have the stock to replace what had sold.