Page 3 of Decked Out with Ivy
Her hair hung in loose waves just above her shoulders, framing her oval-shaped face. She had soft, delicate features with a slightly pointed chin. She was a natural beauty and nothing like the women he’d been surrounded by the last few years who worked to afford more cosmetic surgery.
He waited for the realization to settle over her. For the shrieks to start. That’s how most woman reacted when they realized they were speaking to Cody Chance.
After a second, her eyebrow arched. “Can I help you?” she asked again, her tone unsure.
“You don’t know who I am?” he asked.
“Am I supposed to?” Her head tilted, blonde hair falling with it. “Did you visit here as a kid? Or did you go to elementary school with me? No, that can’t be it. I remember everyone.”
“I’m Cody Chance.” It came out with the arrogance he’d been accused of one too many times.
“Nope, no Cody Chance that I remember.”
“Never mind. Look. The airport lost my luggage. I need a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt to get me through the next day or two. Do you have any Sevens or Tom Fords?”
She laughed entirely too loudly. “Tom Ford? Are you serious?”
He stared, waiting for the punchline, but it never came.
“Why don’t we start over here?” She moved past him, engulfing him in the scent of sugar cookies and vanilla—a scenthe wanted to hate, but instead, it made his mouth water. “We don’t have much of a selection, but we have these.” She picked up a black and red…
“Is that a onesie?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s tacky.”
“It’s our bestseller.”
He stared at her again, waiting for another punchline that again never came. She stepped toward him, once more surrounding him in sugar cookies and vanilla, holding the onesie up to his frame. “I think it would look good on you.”
“I think you’re delusional.”
“Okay, not a plaid kind of guy. What about…?” She tapped a delicate finger to her full lips before snapping her fingers. She twirled away, hurrying toward a display that held an unnecessary amount of folded sweaters like the one she was wearing.
She gave him a once-over, eyes narrowing toward the smooth and slender bridge of her nose. “I’d say you’re a large.” She grabbed a sweater from the bottom of the pile and shook it out.
He nearly fell backward as the reindeer with the too-big red nose glared at him.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It has a reindeer on it.”
“Isn’t it adorable?”
In the blink of an eye, she tossed the sweater over his head and yanked it down. She stood back and clapped. “Perfect!”
He froze for a moment, the absurdity of the situation hitting him. He could feel her light brown eyes on him, waiting for his reaction, and for the briefest second, a ridiculous thought flashed through his mind.
It’s not so bad.
But then he caught sight of the reindeer again, its garish nose practically glowing in the store’s lighting. “It’s hideous. I don’t know who in their right mind would want to wear this.” He ripped the offensive material off his body.
She gasped as if he just admitted to being a serial killer and looked down at her own ridiculous sweater. Hers had a Santa face on it.
“You’re wearing it because you work here,” he said, reasoning with her. “It’s not like you’d actually wear that in public.”