Free breakfast sounded perfect, but using someone for food, knowing he was interested in me, wasn’t being the good person I was trying to be. “No.”

“No?” he asked, surprised.

“I’m sort of busy with myself. I’m sure you can find another girl to hang out with.”

My feet finally decided to complain about the cold three steps into my walk to the MountainEar. The door chimed when I pushed through the front door, fading while I stomped my boots on the mat.

“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming back,” Jojo said. Her bright smile faded. “Did you know Maddox is outside?”

I turned to see Tyler standing outside the door, his hands in his jacket pocket, waiting.

I pointed to the windows, demanding that he go back where he came from. He shook his head.

“What are you doing?” Jojo asked.

“How do you get rid of these guys? He’s like gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe.”

“I couldn’t tell you. I’m fairly certain Maddox has never waited outside in the cold for any girl. You should make him wait until he turns blue. You know … for the rest of us.” She held out her hand. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I pulled the small card from the camera and handed it to her. Excitement lit her face as she inserted the card into the side of her monitor and sat, the wheels whining as she scooted her chair closer.

My fingers were red and frozen, and I wondered how they’d managed to work while outside for that long in sub-freezing temperatures. Quickly getting the right adjustments and shot became an obsession, making it easy to lose track of time. Even standing next to Jojo while she clicked through the hundreds of photos, I wanted to go back out and do it again.

Jojo shook her head and perched her elbow on the desk, cupping her chin in her hand. She covered her mouth with her fingers, the clicking of the mouse getting faster.

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“The truth. I’ll still have the assistant job if they suck, right?”

“They don’t suck.”

“They don’t?”

“These are incredible!”

I took a deep breath. “They are?”

“Daddy!” Jojo called, sounding more like an impatient pre-teen than a young woman capable of managing an entire business.

Wick hurried out of his office, hobbling but motivated. “They’re good?”

“See for yourself,” Jojo said, still clicking the mouse.

I crossed my arms, feeling my skin burn as it slowly warmed, and shifted my weight, unsure how to take their reaction. Wick put one hand on his daughter’s shoulder, bending over to get a closer look at the monitor.

“Ellison,” Wick said, staring at the screen. “These aren’t bad, kid.”

“Yeah?” I said, sniffing.