Christmas for One: No Greater Love by Amanda Prowse Read Free Book Online Page A

queue.
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘“Dally”?’ Meg was aware that her voice had a squeaky tone to it. ‘I’m not dallying, I’m just very tired!’
    The man laughed. ‘Well, hey, Mary Poppins, top tip for ya: try being tired at the back of the queue not the front.’
    ‘Mary Poppins?’ Meg wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
    ‘Yeah, you’ve got that whole spoonful of sugar thing going on there!’ He circled his forefinger in front of his mouth and laughed again.
    ‘You seem to know a lot about Mary Poppins for a grown man.’ She closed her eyes and turned away.
    ‘I wasn’t always a grown man. I was born real small and it’s taken thirty years to get to this.’ He ran his open palms down his body, which she couldn’t help but notice was well built and toned. His skin was darker than the type she usually associated with red hair and the freckles that peppered his forearms were darker still. Angel’s kisses… That’s what she’d heard her foster mum say to Kirsty, as she’d kissed her little nose and waved her off into the winter’s morning for school. Megan had rather liked the term.
    Meg shook her head and turned back to the counter.
    ‘What’ll it be?’ The next server nodded in her direction, with an expression that was just as impatient as his colleague’s.
    ‘Erm… I’d like…’ Meg felt flustered all over again.
    ‘Do you need help there?’ Denim-shirt guy bent low and spoke into her ear.
    ‘What I need is for you to leave me alone,’ she snapped, staring at the array of produce in front of her. ‘I’d like a cheese sandwich please.’
    ‘On what?’ the server fired back.
    ‘Brown bread?’ She hated her uncertainty.
    Thankfully he grabbed two slices of multigrain from an open bag on the shelf behind him and slapped them down on the counter. ‘Which cheese?’ He ground his teeth together, his lower jaw jutting with impatience. He eyed the queue building up behind this indecisive broad.
    ‘I’m not sure…’ Meg felt her face colour and considered giving up on the whole thing.
    ‘We got cream cheese, goat’s cheese, American cheese, Italian cheese, French, Swiss – could you at least narrow it down to a country?’ The man spoke quickly.
    Red hair laughed and again leant towards her. ‘Try the Swiss with a pickle, and mustard and mayo. You can’t go wrong.’ He winked at her as he grabbed his sandwich and went off to pay.
    Meg turned to him with her mouth opening and closing like a fish. It wasn’t often she was rendered speechless.
    Clutching her waxed paper parcel, she decided to eat her sandwich at the counter, to give her some energy for the walk back to the Inn on 11th. Climbing with effort up on to the high stool, she removed her scarf and bobble hat and placed them on her lap before unwrapping the paper. Meg held her first New York deli sandwich at eye level and she had to admit, it looked delicious.
    Police sirens wailed and flashed in the gathering darkness beyond the window. Couples linked arm in arm strode the pavement purposefully, whether tired at the end of a busy day or in anticipation of a fun night ahead, she couldn’t tell. Meg looked at the shops opposite, all of them with apartments above, and decided that New York was a bit like an anthill, with only a fraction of life visible on the street and the rest going on way above your head. She tried to immerse herself in the comings and goings on Greenwich Avenue, doing her best to ignore the obnoxious queue jumper, who was now seated two stools away from her.
    She heard the scrape of the stool’s metal legs against the tiled floor as he took the place next to her. Meg kept her gaze fixed on the window, not wanting to engage with him any further. Please just go away.
    ‘I bet you are single.’ He was direct, his voice calm and she could tell from his delivery that he was smiling.
    Meg shook her head and bit into her sandwich, which was just as good as it looked.
    ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ he pushed.