“Closing time,” a man’s voice called from across the store. It was then that Nathan noticed the lights had dimmed and the low chatter of customers had faded. Even the sound of the coffee maker was gone. He looked over to see the cafe dark and everything cleaned.
“Sorry, Dad,” Holly said, standing up and kissing the man on the cheek. “I guess we lost track of time.
The man had Holly’s hair color and eyebrow shape. He was clearly Holly’s father, the owner of the store.
“Mark Jones,” the man said, holding out a hand to Nathan.
“Nathan Reed.”
A slight widening of the eyes and a glance over at his daughter were the only indications that Mark knew who Nathan was. Mark looked back and forth between Nathan and his daughter, his face unreadable.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Nathan,” Mark told him. “But, I’m afraid I need you to get out of my store. We’ve been closed for over an hour.”
“My apologies,” Nathan said quickly.
“Dad, you realize you’re kicking me out with a man, right?” Holly put a hand to her hip.
“When you put it that way...” Mark scratched his head. “I think you’re grown enough to make good decisions. Lord knows you do things your own way regardless of what I tell you to do. Maybe if I tell you to go off with him you’ll do just the opposite.”
A quick stab of worry flickered through Nathan. He really hoped Holly wouldn’t do that.
Instead she just shook her head and picked up her jacket. “We’ll go find another coffee shop. Alley Cat Coffee is open until the bars close. We can go there.”
Mark smiled at his daughter as she kissed his cheek one last time.
“Nathan.” Mark’s tone was friendly, but still a warning to be good to his daughter. Nathan had no doubt that this father would come after him if he did anything to hurt Holly.
“Good night, Dad,” Holly said with a smile, grabbing Nathan’s hand and pulling him to the back door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good night, sir,” Nathan said respectfully before Holly pulled him through the door. He could see Mark smiling and shaking his head as he finished closing up his store.
“So, that’s my dad,” Holly said as they stumbled out into the alley. The snow had stopped, but it was colder now. Nathan checked his watch to see it was just after eleven.
“I like him,” Nathan told her honestly.
Holly chuckled. “I think everyone does,” she told him. “If you want to get on his good side, start talking to him about Ian Fleming’s books versus the James Bond movies.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nathan said, storing away the tip for future use. “Does he like the movies or the books better?”
Holly turned and gave him a look that said it should be obvious. The man did own a bookstore after all.
She stopped where the alley joined to a bigger street. Many of the shops had turned off their lights and closed up for the night. The Christmas lights still sparkled and twinkled in the windows, but everything else was dark. She looked up at him, chewing on her bottom lip.
“You don’t want to go to the coffee shop, do you?” he asked her, a smile forming on his face. She shook her head and smiled at him.
“We can go to my place, but just know that it’s tiny. And messy. I wasn’t exactly expecting guests, and I haven’t actually finished unpacking from the ski trip,” she admitted.
“So my hotel?” he offered. “It’s a hotel room, but it is clean.”
She laughed, taking his hand. “Do you want to drive or should I?”
Holly drove. Nathan was surprised that her ancient car could move at all, but somehow it started and the heat even worked. It was definitely a different experience than driving in his Porsche. The streets were quiet other than an occasional snowplow, so he didn’t mind driving in the older car.
Nathan could see Hal in the dark SUV behind them gnashing his teeth about it, but Nathan had wanted to ride with Holly. She needed to have her car so she could make it in to work tomorrow morning. Hal suggested they c
ould take two cars, but Nathan didn’t want to be separated from her for that long.
Holly parked her car in the parking lot and together they headed up to his room. The lobby was quiet other than a bored looking man at the front desk. He barely acknowledged the two of them coming in with hands held. He didn’t even blink when Hal followed them in, all hulking muscles and scary looks.