“Well, then, he’s an ass.”
“I shouldn’t let it get to me. I know better. That’s my own messed up shit. But thanks for offering.”
“It’s what family does, right?”
“If you say so.” Her parents had raised her and given her pretty much anything she ever wanted, but she was alone in her endeavors. She didn’t have any siblings. No one who had her back.
“Yeah, I say so. And that’s the other reason I’m here. Audrey says family has Thanksgiving together, so we’re having dinner at Mia’s condo.”
“What?”
Nikki shrugged. “Audrey told Jared she wanted us to have a family dinner and she was going to do it at the apartment, but Mia can’t have Logan strolling through our base of operations, so she’s having it at her place.”
“But she’s out. She told Logan she’s not doing this.”
Nikki smiled. “But...family. We’re not going to talk about heists. We’re going to eat till we’re fat and drink her expensive alcohol.”
“Wow. I didn’t see that coming. I thought when she walked away, she’d be out of our lives for good.”
“I have that effect on people. I’m rather unforgettable,” Nikki said with a smirk.
London laughed.
“Now tell me more about hot glass guy. What does he really look like?”
“He’s bearded. Kind of a dark ginger. And grumpy. But when he smiles, his whole face changes.” As she described him, London knew she needed to figure out the tree topper fast because her crush was getting away from her.
ChapterSix
For the next three nights, London went to the glass studio to work. Bronte was very patient with her, and they tried, but every tree topper they made was too tall, too fat, or too thin. Trying to get the dimensions just right was killing her. And it was getting to the point that Bronte didn’t see why close enough wasn’t good enough. London had no way of explaining that to her, so she let Bronte think she was just a temperamental artist.
Or a petulant child needing the perfect gift for her mom.
If they got this done, she was going to owe Bronte a big bottle of liquor for putting up with her.
She was gonna need one for herself, too, because she wasn’t feeling herself lately. It wasn’t like her to be this down for so long, especially with the holidays so close. She needed to lighten up. She loved the Christmas season. It was the one time of year that most people were actually nice to each other and didn’t give her weird looks for being cheerful.
Ezra was there most nights that they worked, which was weird since Bronte had said she could only come in when he wasn’t there. His grumpiness eased up some. She wondered if he was a cheerful holiday person. She couldn’t imagine Crankypants Fisher being jolly.
She and Bronte were taking a break and London took a swig of water from a bottle. She sat on a stool and watched Ezra work. He was in his own world, focused solely on the task at hand. He made it look so easy.
And the forearms. No wonder she’d been sketching them in her dreams and in real life.
Watching him work, she realized the extreme patience he had. He made multiple trips back to the furnace to make minute adjustments to the piece he was working on. Patience was not something she was good at.
“He’s pretty amazing, isn’t he?” Bronte asked beside her.
London blinked and turned toward Bronte. “Yeah. I mean, I knew he was good based on the glass for sale in the store, but actually watching him...the precision and patience. It’s unbelievable.”
“You can stop staring any time now,” Ezra called from his workstation without so much as a glance at them.
“You said we couldn’t bother your work. We didn’t ask for help or tips or anything,” Bronte said.
“You staring at me bothers me. I’m not a show.”
But you could be. I could sell tickets to this and have women lined up around the block. Who wasn’t intrigued by a man that good with his hands?
“Sorry. I’m just trying to learn, so I can figure out where we keep going wrong,” London said.