laughed out loud at the woman’s assessment of him. Lance just smiled and thanked her for her hoarse compliment.
“You do look amazing,” Cecelia praised her friend. “Even if I do say so myself.” She pulled out her cell phone. “I want a picture.”
“You took photos this morning,” McKenzie reminded as her friend held her cell phone out in front of her.
“Yeah, but that was just you,” Cecilia pointed out. “I want pictures of you two together, too. Y’all are the cutest Christmas couple ever.”
Reluctantly, McKenzie posed for her friend, then seemed to loosen up a little when she pulled Lance over to where she stood. “Come on, elf boy. You heard her. She wants pictures of us both. If I have to do this, so do you.”
Lance wasn’t reluctant at all. He wrapped his arm around McKenzie and smiled for the camera while Cecilia took their first photos together.
Their first. Did that mean he thought there would be other occasions for them to be photographed together? Did that imply that he wanted those memories with her captured forever?
“Do something other than smile,” Cecilia ordered, looking at them from above her held-out phone.
Lance turned to McKenzie to follow her lead. Her gaze met his, and she shrugged, then broke off a sprig of mistletoe from the salon’s door decoration. She held up the greenery, then pulled him to her, did a classic one-leg-kicked-up pose, and planted a kiss right on his cheek with her eyes toward her friend.
No doubt Cecilia’s phone camera flash caught his surprise.
He quickly recovered and got into the spirit of things by pointing at the mistletoe McKenzie held and giving an Oh, yeah thumbs-up, then posed for several goofy shots and laughed harder than he probably should have at their antics.
All the women and a few spectators laughed and applauded them. A few kids wanted to pose for photos with them, especially McKenzie.
“Is your hair real?” a little girl asked, staring at the twisted-up loops of hair and string of minilights.
“Part of it is real, but I don’t normally wear it this way. Just on special days.”
“Like on Christmas parade days?” the child asked.
“Exactly.”
When they’d finished visiting with her friends, McKenzie hugged Cecilia and thanked her again.
“Don’t forget to forward me those pictures,” she requested with one last hug.
“I may be calling on you to help with some of our charity events. We’re always needing help with costumes and you’re good,” Lance praised.
Cecilia beamed. “Thank you.”
The parade ended and the crowd began to disperse. Customers came to the shop to have their ritual Saturday morning hair appointments and the stylists went back into the salon.
“Now what?” McKenzie asked, turning to face him. Her cheeks glowed with happiness and she looked as if she was having the time of her life.
“Anything you want.”
She laughed. “If only I could think of something evil and diabolical.”
He took her gloved hand into his. “I’m not worried.”
“You should be.”
She tried to look evil and diabolical, but only managed to look cute. He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her fuzzy glove.
“You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“I definitely would,” she contradicted. “I don’t like flies.”
“Okay, Miss Evil and Diabolical Fly-Killer, let’s go grab some hot chocolate and see what the Christmas booths have for sale that we can snag.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“YOU LOOKED AMAZING TODAY,” Cecilia told her as she ran a makeup pencil over McKenzie’s brow with the precision of an artist working on a masterpiece.
“Thanks to you and the fabulous work you did getting me ready for the mayor’s float,” McKenzie agreed, trying to hold perfectly still so she didn’t mess up what her friend was doing to her face.
“I have to admit, I had fun. Then again, I had a lot to work with.”
“Yeah, right,” McKenzie snorted. “Let’s just hope you can pull off another miracle for tonight, too.”
“For your work Christmas party?”
“Yes.” She cut her eyes to her friend. “What did you think I meant?”
“You’ve never asked me to help doll you up in the past for a mere work party.”
“This one is different.”
“Because of Lance?”
Because of Lance. Yes, it seemed that most everything this week had been because of Lance. Lots of smiles. Lots of hot kisses. Lots of anticipation and wondering if tonight was the night they’d do more than “mouth-to-mouth.”
“I suppose so. Can’t a girl just want to look her best?”
“Depends on what she’s wanting to look her best for.”
“For my party.”
“And afterward?”
“Well, I’m hoping not to turn into a pumpkin at midnight, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No pumpkins,” Cecilia promised. “Wrong holiday. But what about that mistletoe this morning?”
“What about it?”
“You’ve gone to dinner every night this week, ridden on a Christmas float with him, and you are going as his date to the Christmas party. That’s big, McKenzie. For you, that’s huge. What changed?”
“Nothing.”
“Something has to have changed. You were saying no to the guy left and right only a week ago.”
“You were the one who said I was crazy for not going out with him.”
“You were crazy for not going out with him. He seems like a great guy. Lots of fun, hot, and crazy about my bestie. I like him.”
“You’ve only been around him twice,” McKenzie reminded.
“During which times he helped save a man’s life and made you laugh and smile more than I’ve seen you do in years.”
There was that.
“I was in character.”
“Yeah right.” Cecilia threw McKenzie’s words back at her. “If I’d been you, I’d have used that mistletoe for more than a kiss on the cheek.”
“I’m sure you would have.”
“But you didn’t need to, did you?”
“I’m not the kind of girl to kiss and tell.” Which was hilarious because Cecilia had been her best friend since before her first kiss and she’d told her about pretty much all her major life events. Plus, she had already told Cecilia that she and Lance had kissed.
Cecilia leaned back, studied McKenzie’s face, then went back to stroking a brush across her cheeks. “Even if you hadn’t already told me that you kissed Lance on the night of the Christmas show, I’d know you had.”
“How would you know that?”
“I can tell. The same as I can