Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) Read Free Page A

told her we were taking my purchases. Better that than someone think we were just walking off with stuff. She gave us the go-ahead and my receipt, which I had walked off without getting earlier. Too discombobulated with thoughts of Cooper, apparently. I stuffed it in my pocket without a second glance.
    I took Cooper into the dining room and showed him the rug. “Nice, huh?”
    “Very.” He bent down at one corner, looking at me expectantly.
    I crouched down at the other one, and we rolled it up. The thing was heavy. This was more work than I’d expected. “Did I mention there would be dessert? Because this much work definitely merits dessert.”
    “I won’t say no to that.” His end was going faster, so he stopped to let me catch up and straighten things out. “You know what I like.”
    There was a loaded statement. And I had no comeback. Instead, I made a mental note to pick up something fruity at Delaney’s Delectables along with the tiramisu. Summer elves loved fruit.
    He shook his head as if amused with himself and started rolling again. “I’ll bring wine. Red okay?”
    “Red’s great.” I was huffing a little, to my embarrassment. Hey, the rug was a beast. Heavy and large. And Juniper had hustled me out of the house so fast this morning that I’d had time for only one Dr Pepper. I would have grabbed a doughnut, too, but I was out of them.
    The thought of sugar made my stomach rumble. I was starving, actually.
    Cooper lifted the roll over his shoulder like it was nothing. Clearly, he’d had breakfast. My end flopped to the ground behind him like a giant sausage. Not that food was the only thing on my mind. He glanced back at me. “You’d better get that unless you want me to drag it all the way to my truck.”
    “Right. On it.” I hoisted the trailing part onto my shoulder and followed him to his vehicle. Since I was connected to him by the rug, I was sort of on autopilot. Mostly because I was staring at his very tight backside. It was impossible not to, what with it being right in front of me and all.
    But that little trip was enough to show me that no matter what I was telling myself, I was not beyond the reach of Cooper Sullivan’s charms.
    I definitely still liked him. Way more than I wanted to admit.

Cooper offered to help me set up the rug, so I let him. I might have mentioned that thing was heavy. And getting it into place required furniture to be moved. But wow, did it make a difference in the way my apartment looked. Really gave it a homier vibe. I hadn’t realized just how bland it had been until now.
    Once the rug was taken care of, I thanked him profusely, then shooed him off as quickly and politely as I could. Getting the new stuff situated would have been easier with his help, but being around him was clogging my head with thoughts I wasn’t ready to deal with.
    Such as how much I liked him. And how much I liked Greyson.
    A girl could like two guys, right? I certainly thought it ought to be allowed. Especially after all my years of liking no one in the North Pole.
    Cooper didn’t seem to be upset at me for showing him the door. He knew I had work to do and we were seeing each other for dinner. Hopefully, between now and then, I could get my head on straight. One thing that might help was dealing with the rest of the stuff I’d brought home. At the very least, it was a distraction.
    I put the pillows on the couch as artfully as I could, positioned the decorative box on the coffee table (promising myself I’d test my lock-picking skills after everything else was tackled, including the paperwork awaiting me in the office downstairs) and went to work hanging the robe hook. That wasn’t too hard. Juniper had lent me her toolbox a couple days ago and it had an assortment of screws and nails in a little plastic container. I found two screws the right size, got it level and secured it in place.
    Spider’s incredible velvet Elvis was next. That took almost no effort. One nail, a few taps