All I Want For Christmas

Kelsey was grinning at Max. “She thought you were my daddy.”

“Yeah. I guess she did.” Max looked almost as disconcerted as Ryan had felt when the woman had mistaken her for the children’s mother.

“You don’t have any children, do you, Max?”

“No, Kelsey. I don’t have any children.”

The child gave him a melting smile. “Would you like some?”

She jerked suddenly, as though she’d been kicked beneath the table. “Ouch, Pip! That—”

“Finish your french fries,” her brother said quickly. “You don’t want them to get cold.”

Kelsey sighed and turned back to her meal. “How can I eat and hold my balloon at the same time?”

“Here,” Max said. “I’ll tie it to your wrist for you.”

Kelsey obligingly held out her hand. “Thank you, Max,” she said with a coquettish bat of her eyes.

To Ryan’s amusement, Max’s cheeks darkened. “Yeah. Sure,” he said, hastily tying the string into a loose slipknot.

Ryan gathered her empty plastic salad bowl and other trash, then pushed her chair away from the table. “I have to get back to work. It’s been nice chatting with you, Kelsey and Pip.”

“And Max,” Kelsey reminded her.

“Yes, of course. And Max, too.”

Max looked as though he wanted to say something else. Ryan hurried away before he had the chance.

Though she couldn’t have explained her overreaction, she was still a bit shaken at being taken for a family with Max and the children. The experience had left an oddly hollow feeling deep inside her.

Must have been the salad, she decided. One could never trust fast-food places to have really fresh vegetables.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

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