In the picturesque town of Winter Grove, the tenacious Alicia Whittaker faces off against her best friend's snobbish brother Zeke Brighton when his disapproval of his sister's boyfriend threatens to upend their Christmas.
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Tenacious college studen...
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Alicia
The guy in line ahead was taking forever to order his damn coffee. Alicia stifled a sigh as she watched the guy quiz the poor girl at the register, ensuring she had accurately recorded the exact temperature he wanted his steamed milk. The girl, wearing a cheap Santa hat, looked like this guy was sucking up the very last shred of her holiday cheer, but to her credit, she kept her customer-service smile in place.
The nerve of this guy, Alicia thought. Who the hell did he think he was? She didn't recognize him from around town, so she figured he had to be some tourist. She wished she could say something, but that might turn the psycho's attention on her, and you never knew when guys like that would fly off the handle...
If you're so damn particular about your coffee, Alicia thought to herself, make it at your own damn self!
She was tapping her foot now, hoping the jerk would hear it and notice the growing line behind him. She fantasized about shoving the weirdo out of the store.
"Is that all?" the weary barista asked when the guy finally got to the end of his rant.
"Of course it's not all," the jerk sneered. "You still need to give me the ingredients for all your pastries. Anything with eggs is—"
"Seriously, dude?" a deep voice echoed through the space. "You're not their only customer!"
Finally, the guy went silent and slowly turned to look behind him. By the bright red flooding into his wrinkled face, he was indeed the type of guy who would fly off the handle.
"Back off!" the guy snapped. "This isn't any of your business!"
"Mistreatment of service people is everyone's business," the deep voice continued.
Other people were turning to look now, including Alicia. Judging by the voice, she already had half an idea of who it was. She looked over her shoulder...
And there he was.
Zeke.
"They don't pay that poor girl enough to deal with your neuroses," Zeke shot back, his emerald eyes sharpened to daggers. With his height and the arrogant tilt of his head, he looked somehow both disinterested and intimidating. "Why don't you take your coffee and check the website for the ingredients for yourself?"
The man's only response was some muttering under his breath. He was quickly shrinking under the stares of the other patrons, who all looked rather pleased by Zeke's intervention. Even the girl behind the counter pressed her lips together to suppress her grin.
Fortunately, the girl's coworker had the man's coffee ready. He snatched it up and marched out of the café, grumbling as he went. Once he was gone, the whole café let out a sigh of relief, and the tension eased from the air.
