Secret Santa 4U by Paisley Scott Page A

noticed he wasn ’ t wearing the thick rimmed glasses she ’ d always seen him wear.
    The lean cheeks creased again. “ Yep. Just got ‘ em this week. Pretty cool, huh? ”
    “ Very nice, indeed. I swear i f I were ten years young er, I ’ d do you. ” She winked.
    She loved to tease him, but for some reason today — with him looking so… dare she say, delicious… she couldn ’ t help herself from flirting just a little bit, too. Just to see his reaction.
    Brody blushed. “ Wow. That was … completely un expected. ”
    Sophie patted his shoulder. Regardless of the age difference , they were friends. Good friends. And she didn ’ t want to make him uncomfortable. “ You know I ’ m just teasing. ”
    He cocked his head. “ What? You mean you wouldn ’ t do me now? Man, you ’ re a tease. ”
    “ I wish, ” she said, shrugging off her heavy coat and taking it to the hall closet. A minute later, she emerged from the closet with a long box. “ Would you mind helping me with this? ”
    He took it from her. “ Your tree, I presume? ”
    “ All the Christmas c harm with no prickly needles. ”
    He grunted. “ Nice. ”
    “ Are you being sarcastic? ”
    “ Me? No. Never. When am I ever sarcastic? ”
    “ Hmm. Let me think. ” She paused a tick. “ Oh yeah, always. ”
    They both laughed.
    Over an hour later, they had the tree up , decorated and s trung with multi-colored lights. They turned off the overhead lamp and watched the tranquil twinkling. If she let her mind drift, Sophie could swear it almost felt like Christmas.
    Brody nodded toward the computer resting on the desk near the cold fireplace. “ How ’ s that service I told you about? Have you met anyone interesting yet? ”
    It was Sophie ’ s turn to blush. The service he was talking about was an online dating site. “ I ’ ve met a few. ”
    “ Come on. How hard are you trying, Soph? ” He walked over and booted u p her PC. “ Log in and show me your profile. I ’ ll give you a man ’ s perspective on it. ”
    She shook her head. “ I don ’ t want to, Brody. It ’ s not that bad. I ’ ve had lots of offers, just nothing I ’ m that interested in, okay? I can handle my own love life, thank y ou very much. ”
    The look on his face clearly told her he wasn ’ t fooled by her bravado. “ Please don ’ t tell me you ’ re still using that LibraryLass nickname? ”
    She looked away from him. “ What ’ s wrong with that name? Lots of men have fantasies about librarians, you know. ”
    “ True. But with that moniker you just look like a bookworm — like you visit the library a lot instead of run a department. S pice it up a little — you ’ re way too conservative. Take a chance. Try something like, I dunno. HotLibrarian or CheckMeOut. So mething clever and titillating. Guys — all of us — dig that shit. It turns us on. ”
    She balked. “ Don ’ t ruin my perfect perception of you, Brody. You ’ re a sweetheart. ” She pointed to the monitor. “ You ’ re not like those guys. Believe me, they ’ re not romantic or e ven quasi-nice guys, so don ’ t throw yourself into their category. Besides they ’ re a bunch of old farts trolling that site , and you ’ re a nice kid. ”
    Brody ’ s jaw clenched. “ Nice or not, Sophie, I ’ m not a kid. I ’ m twenty-four and my birthday ’ s next month. Is t hat the magic age? Twenty-five? Or do I have to wait ‘ til I hit my thirties to officially be called a man? Tell me, Soph, because I ’ m dying to know. ”
    Great. Now she ’ d pissed him off. And all because of a stupid word choice. “ Oh, Brody. I didn ’ t mean that i n a bad way. I just meant you ’ re not like the typical guys out there. You ’ re sweet. You ’ re special. You ’ re going to make someone a great boyfriend or husband one day. ”
    “ You do realize this little speech isn ’ t helping one bit, right? ”
    Sophie rolled her eyes. “ I am so sorry. I can be a real nitwit when it