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“Scary! I was supposed to be scary!”
“Were you?” He waited while she sipped her coffee, noting her cheeks had grown the tiniest bit pink.
“No,” she replied. Leaning in, she set the mug on the coffee table. The action brought along the orange blossom scent James had come to associate only with her. He breathed in deep through his nostrils. “I’m not surprised,” he said once she’d left his senses. “I can’t picture you as anything but adorable.”
“Explains why we decided to decorate only outside the following year,” she said, the blush James had been trying to deepen coming through. “Anyway, Ned was always coming up with something different. The neighborhood kids loved coming to the house to get candy.”
“They sound like a fun family,” he said. A true Rockwell painting. “My parents had the housekeeper pass out the candy.” Bags of Hammond’s brand goodies assembled by employees and doled out from a silver tray.
A hand suddenly covered his. Noelle’s eyes were incandescent with unreadable emotion. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to send us down that road again,” she said.
“Road?”
“You know, our collective lousy childhoods.”
James knew. But he wanted to hear how she framed the conversation.
“Bad enough we opened up all those wounds last night.” She paused, reached for her coffee then changed her mind and pulled back. “I hope I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable when I hugged you.”
A loaded question. Depended upon her definition of uncomfortable.
“No,” he lied. “Not at all.”
“Good.” He could hear her relief. “Because the moment seemed to call for one, you know? I didn’t mean to overreach.”
“You didn’t,” he told her. You were the first person I’d ever shared my childhood with.
Her eyes widened, and for a brief second, James wondered if he’d spoken his thoughts aloud. “So, you didn’t go to bed early because you were avoiding me?”
Yes, I did. “Don’t be silly. I had work to do, and I was tired.”
“That’s a relief. I... That is, we were...” A frown marred her features as she stared at their joined hands. “I wanted yesterday to jumpstart your Christmas spirit, not make things all awkward between us.”
“They didn’t make anything awkward,” he told her. “As for the hug...it was nice. I liked it.”
Soon as the words were out, his insides relaxed with a vengeance, as if they’d been gripped by tension for weeks, not a few days. He played with the fingers holding his. “I enjoyed spending time with you,” he added.
“Me too,” she said softly. “Even if we did get off on the wrong foot.”
“More like wrong feet,” James said, smiling. He took a good long look at her.
With one leg tucked under her body, she looked small and delicate against the dark leather. Only she wasn’t delicate, was she? She was as resilient a person as he’d ever known. Strong, smart, loyal, gorgeous. A rare package.
Suddenly it struck him. Why he couldn’t leave.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked her.
As he suspected, her eyes got wide again. “Nothing. Why?”
“Because,” he said, “I’d like to take you to dinner.” And he knew the perfect place too.
“Dinner? You mean, like on a date?” From the look on her face, the question caught her by surprise. A good surprise, he hoped.
“Exactly like a date. Two minutes ago, we both said we enjoyed each other’s company. I don’t know about you...” Lifting his hand, he risked brushing the hair from her face. “But I’d like to continue enjoying it a little longer.”
* * *
Wow. Noelle didn’t know what to say. She’d gone to bed last night convinced she’d embarrassed both of them by hugging him, that this morning he would be flying back to Boston as soon as possible. Instead, he was asking her out.
“But you’re my boss,” she blurted out. “Isn’t that against some kind of rule?”
James chuckled. Noelle hated when he chuckled because the rumbling sound tripped through her every time. “I promise, where we’re going, we won’t run into a single coworker.”
“Is that so?” Goodness, when did her voice grow husky? She sounded breathless.
“Absolutely. What do you say? Spend a few more hours with me? We can call it a thank-you for taking me in during my time of need.”
His fingers were brushing her cheek again. Feathery light touches that made her mouth dry and turned her insides warm and liquid. Who exactly was supposed to be thanking whom in this proposal?
