What would it be like being Blair’s girlfriend? Well, he lived in London, but he went to LA for work, and maybe the sun would stream over her face and she’d be in his arms and he’d ask her what she felt like doing that day—pool first, or a walk hand in hand on the beach? Or possibly rollerblading? She frowned as she crossed the road toward the lights at the Caledonian hotel. She didn’t actually want to go rollerblading at all. This fantasy had gotten completely out of hand.

“Hey, babe, how’s it going? Are you in the shower?”

“There’s a snow shower,” she texted back. “Not sure that’s the same thing.”

“Hey, give me your email. I got something for you.”

Carmen did so and couldn’t help a bit of her thinking, Goodness, what if it’s plane tickets for the next time he goes to LA?

THE EMAIL CAME through the following morning.

She looked around the busy shop as her phone pinged. Although a month ago she would have said that the only thing she wanted was a famous, handsome, rich man to whisk her off somewhere sunny, funnily enough now, as she looked around, she found herself thinking, well, she couldn’t leave the shop in the lurch this close to Christmas. At that moment, Mr. McCredie was trying to help a woman who wanted several expensive guides to Edinburgh gift-wrapped and had managed to stick a piece of tape to his whiskers. She went over to help, waiting and wondering what the email was going to be.

At first, it didn’t make any sense; it was an attachment.

“You do stories in the shop, right? For kids?” he wrote.

Carmen’s heart sank a little; there was only one way he could have known this and it wasn’t from her.

“I’m going to do a kids’ Christmas book for next Christmas. Get some decent artist in, takes me five minutes, big picture of me on the front, sorted. Money for nothing.” He wanted her to read it out to the children at story time and for there to be a video of his book in a proper shop to pitch for the publishers. “Show the kids loving it. Brilliant.”

It was called The Mindful Christmas. Carmen frowned.

“Am also pitching it tomorrow for a film series, so get back to me ASAP. Nobody will be interested in January.”

HER HEART DROPPED. Oh, for goodness’ sake, Blair. Couldn’t he have pretended for five solid minutes that it was her he wanted, and not something that would only benefit him? She’d gone to bed listening to the children babble about their amazing day down the phone to their father, thinking, Well, stupid Oke might have another girlfriend, but hey, a super-famous guy likes me, so at least there’s that.

But of course there wasn’t.

Carmen sighed.