"I didn't even have to ask. You just walked in when you heard something was wrong. That... made a difference." That was probably the turning point in her real life, where she started to see Roland as someone other than an antagonist, or her enemy. She started to see him as a man with compassion, and faults, yes, but also a lot of good qualities as well.
"I'm glad I was able to help. Even if it was just a little."
"I feel the same." She was trying to say that it didn't matter to her that he couldn't tell her all the details. She couldfill in enough to know that he was talking about something serious, what, exactly, didn't matter. It just mattered that she was there for him.
They had made it to her car, and to her surprise, he followed her to the driver's side, and opened her door for her.
"Thanks," she said, a little flustered as she sat down in her seat. She fumbled with the key before she got it in the ignition while he was walking around.
He had just opened her door for her.
There was definitely a part of her that was swooning inside. How sweet of him. Somehow it didn't shock her that Roland McBride was a gentleman. In fact, she supposed it was what she expected at this point.
"I'm not sure how I got the exact wrong impression of you," she said after he had settled in his seat and they started driving slowly down the street.
"What do you mean?"
"For so many years we were competitors. I thought of you as... Maybe not my enemy, but something close."
"And I was annoyed by you."
She laughed. She couldn't believe that he was just annoyed. She thought more like he probably hated her, but she didn't correct him. "And yet... The way I thought you were isn't the way you actually are."
"I suppose I could say the same," he said.
They glanced over the console at each other, and she had to remind herself to look back at the road.
There was something about him that drew her, something that made her want to tell him that she wanted there to be more between them, but this was probably not the time or the place. Plus, it was like she thought earlier. She didn't want to ruin things between them or make them awkward. And if it turned out that he didn't feel the same, it would definitely be awkward.
How long should she wait?
She was still toying with the question as they got out, andopened her trunk, pulling out the gifts that she had carefully wrapped over the last week, after she and Roland had gathered them up.
They walked quickly but quietly toward the house, each of them carrying as many gifts as they could.
They made three more trips, until all of the gifts that they had were sitting by the back door, under the porch roof.
"I think that's about it—" Roland started, and then he froze. Headlights flashed, and the low rumble of a car engine came across the chilly night air.
"Quick," he said, his arm coming around her waist, as he pulled her around the corner of the porch, to where a chimney came up against the house, and pressed her into the corner between the house and the chimney.
She had managed to swallow her squeak of surprise as he grabbed her, but now, as he pressed against her, only part of her was listening for the sound of crunching gravel as the car pulled into the unpaved drive.
A car door opened, and then slammed closed, and there were footsteps.
The other part of her felt the warm weight of his body against her, smelled the clean, manly scent, and tried to keep her hands from moving from where they were clenched at her side, to wrapping around Roland's waist, or sliding up his chest and around his neck.
What in the world was she thinking? They could get caught. She should be more concerned about staying still and quiet, and what in the world they would do if someone saw them, than she was in thinking about how good it felt to be pressed against Roland.
The front door opened, and then it closed again, and a light came on, spilling into the yard.
"I only heard one door," Roland said, his voice a soft growl next to her ear.
"Same," she said, thinking back to the car door slamming.
There seemed to be movement in the house as a shadow fell across the light, and then it went out.
Roland hadn't moved, other than his breathing, but she fancied she could feel his heart beating hard against hers.
