The Tea Dress Shop At Christmas

By De-ann Black

The Tea Dress Shop At Christmas is a lighthearted romance filled with tea dress fashion, humour, and all the sparkle of the festive season set in a snowy Scottish city.
It is a new novella for Christmas.

Story:

Findlay sets out to build a new life for herself in Glasgow, and opens a tea dress shop in the city centre.

Is Gordan the man for Findlay, or perhaps McGarra? And will Christmas in Glasgow be everything she’s wished for?

About the Author:

De-ann Black is a bestselling author, traditionally published for over 15 years, with more than 40 books published. She’s also a scriptwriter and former newspaper journalist.

New releases published October and September 2012.
The Bitch-Proof Bride (Romance novel, sequel).

The Bitch-Proof Romance (Novella. Prequel to The Bitch-Proof Suit).
How Blue Byrne met Morgan Daire all those years ago in Dublin. How it all began.

Oops! I'm Up To Mischief (Prequel to Oops! I'm The Paparazzi)

The Tea Dress Shop At Christmas (Christmas Romance Novella)

Other books by this author include: Oops! I'm The Paparazzi, The Cure For Love, The Brunette Bombshell, The Strife Of Riley (thriller) and Electric Shadows (spy thriller).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Toffee Apple Publishing
• Release date: Oct 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781908072283

De-ann Black

De-ann Black is a bestselling author, scriptwriter and former newspaper journalist. Traditionally published for over 15 years. She has over 40 books published, for adults (romance, crime thrillers, espionage/suspense novels) and children (non-fiction rocket science books, children's fiction and picture books). Her books include Special Forces and crime thriller books - Guile, The Strife of Riley, and Moth to the Flame. Romantic comedies include - The Bitch-Proof Suit, The Cure For Love, and Oops! I'm the Paparazzi. De-ann's latest children's fiction books are: Secondhand Spooks - December 32nd, Faeriefied, and School for Aliens. She previously worked as a full-time newspaper journalist for several years. She had her own weekly columns in the press. This included being a motoring correspondent where she got to test drive cars every week for the press for three years. She is also a professional artist and illustrator. And photographer. Additionally, De-ann has always been interested in fitness, and was a fitness and bodybuilding champion, 100 metre runner and mountaineer. As a former N.A.B.B.A. Miss Scotland, she had a weekly fitness show on the radio that ran for over three years. De-ann trained in Shukokai karate, boxing, kickboxing, Dayan Qigong, and Jiu Jitsu. She splits her time between Scotland, Dublin and London. Find out more at www.de-annblack.com

Book preview

Text copyright © 2012 by De-ann Black

Cover Design & Illustration © 2012 by De-ann Black

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written consent of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Toffee Apple Publishing 2012

Smashwords Edition

The Tea Dress Shop At Christmas

ISBN-13: 978-1-908072-28-3

Toffee Apple Publishing

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return toSmashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents

1 - The Christmas Tree

2 - Merry Christmas

3 - Winter Snow

4 - Mulled Wine And Festive Cheer

5 - Mince Pies And Mischief

6 - Presents For Under The Tree

7 - Gossip And Gifts

8 - Mistletoe And Trouble

9 - A Christmas Kiss

10 - The Tea Dress Shop

At 4 a.m. on a wintry December in Glasgow, I thought it was a safe bet that no one would see me outside on the ledge above my shop putting up a Christmas tree.

It was a quiet night, the first of December, before the festive season kicked in and made every night busy with shoppers and revellers.

I’d been determined to put the tree up. I wanted to attract attention to my new shop, The Tea Dress Shop. I just didn’t want to attract any attention to myself while I fiddled with the lights and the sparkling star perched on the top of the fir.

‘There, very sparkly,’ I said, admiring my handiwork. I’d even managed to get one of the yellow fairy lights to illuminate the star rather than one of the red or green. I was aiming for all the dazzle I could get.

An icy wind blew through my light brown ponytail and I wished I’d worn a warmer top rather than a thin cream thermal, but I was almost done. A couple of tie wraps on the silvery baubles and I could scramble back in through the window without anyone noticing.

‘Are you all right up there?’ a man’s voice called to me.

I looked down and there he was, standing on the pavement, head tilted back craning up at me.

Shit!

‘Yes, fine, thanks.’

‘You could topple, and I doubt that canopy would break your fall. I could fetch a ladder and come up to help you.’

What? Did he have a ladder hidden inside his coat? It looked like an executive style black wool coat. His dark hair was being blown about by the wind as he gazed up at me, and he ran his hands through it trying to smooth it back from his concerned forehead.

Distracted by him, including his looks, because yes, I admit it, he was rather handsome, I nudged one of the balls and it fell, bounced off the shop canopy which I’d only recently had erected so it was taut and springy, hit him smack on the head without causing any harm, and then clattered on to the pavement.

‘I’m coming up,’ he shouted.

‘No, no, it’s fine. I’m all done here. I’m going back inside now.’

Edging back, my jeans got snagged on a nail sticking out of the old window ledge.

Go away, I urged the unwanted knight in expensive wool armour.

I looked down. He’d gone. I wriggled to free myself from the rusty nail and that’s when I heard the creaking sound. I stopped wriggling in case it was me, but no, the noise was coming from…no, he wasn’t climbing up a bloody ladder. Where the hell did he get it from?

‘Don’t move,’ he shouted, his voice buffeted by the wind that seemed to have picked up pace just to spite me in my predicament. It had been a calm but cold night when I’d first ventured out to decorate the tree. Now it felt like the arctic tundra.

I wriggled at twice the speed. Damn. My jeans were tough and were putting up a fight against the nail.

‘Jeez–oh,’ I said as his face appeared right next to me from the top of the ladder. His eyes were grey–green and filled with determination. I found myself wishing I had long, dark lashes like his. I envied the aquamarine flecks in the depths of his eyes. Yes, that’s how close he was. His face was angular with a firm jaw line that swept upwards, lifting his features into a handsome but rugged look. He’d taken his coat off and his shirt and tie was a fair match for his eyes.

‘Hold still,’ he said in a voice that sounded as if it was used to issuing commands.

I didn’t do as I was told.

Unperturbed, his hands reached around the back of my