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A few feet down the hall, she found the second meeting room. From the doorway, she could see this room was set up the same as the first. Round tables with white tablecloths, each surrounded by six chairs.
The only difference was this room wasn’t empty. Dean Suminski sat alone at one of the tables. Dressed in jeans and a sweater, with his hair causally mussed, he looked the way he had at Rockefeller Center. Memories of skating, holding hands, nestling against him as they walked up the busy New York City street slid through her brain, almost making her sigh with longing.
“In case you can’t interpret the expression on my face, this empty room does not please me.”
She laughed, though her heart jerked a bit. It was hard to believe that this guy currently being so cool with her had held her hand, built her confidence, introduced her to Mrs. Flannigan and made sure she had private time with her. And even harder to believe she had no choice but to go along with him.
“It’s your employees’ first day here. They may decide not to work at all today. I told you last night that they intended to take at least the daylight hours for family time. Your people need a break.”
She hoisted the big bag containing his parka onto one of the round tables. “I bought you a few things.”
One of his eyebrows quirked.
“Now you understand how I felt in New York when you kept buying me clothes.”
“I told you that was the cost of doing business.”
“Well, consider this a welcome gift from the royal family.”
She pulled the hat out of the bag and tossed it to him, then the gloves, then the parka.
He caught the first two easily, but barely managed to grab the big coat. “I won’t be going outside.”
“You’re here for six weeks. If nothing else, you’ll tire of the hotel food and want to go to a restaurant. That coat you have won’t cut it.” She handed him Stefan’s business card. “You’ll also need boots. All you have to do is call Stefan and give him your size. He’ll send the right boots to the hotel.” She smiled hopefully. “Let’s try everything on.”
Hugging the big parka, Dean sighed in resignation and rose.
She took the coat from his hands and motioned for him to turn around. When he did, she held it open and guided the sleeves up his arms. After he shrugged into it, she smoothed her palms along the shoulders, straightening the fabric, recognizing it was a perfect fit.
But as her hands moved from his spine outward, she realized she was touching him. Essentially, rubbing his back. Because she liked it. She liked the feel of him, the look of him. Even the haunted expression in his eyes tempted her to ask him a million questions because she wanted to know him.
He turned his head and caught her gaze. “Having fun back there?”
She grimaced. “Sorry. I was just straightening things, making sure the coat fit.”
“Right. And my lips accidentally bumped into yours when I kissed you.”
His sarcastic wit would have surprised her, except he’d been making jokes all weekend, as he’d relaxed with her. She reached for the fur-lined navy blue hat with flaps that could be pulled down over his ears. Before he realized what she was about to do, she went to her tiptoes and plopped it on his head.
She burst into giggles. “You look like a Russian.” But she quickly sobered. She really didn’t know a damn thing about this guy she was so drawn to. “Are you Russian? With your dark hair and eyes, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
He gave the straps of the hat a tug to yank it into place. “I’m half Polish, half Irish.”
“That’s a strange combo.”
He shrugged. “I’m sort of happy with it. The Polish part of me makes me resilient, and I’ve never met a Saint Patrick’s Day that I didn’t like.”
The corners of her mouth tipped up into a smile. “There you are being funny again. You should let more people than me see your sense of humor.”
“Oh, really? And what do you think Winslow would have done Friday night if I’d cracked jokes when my company was in trouble?”
“Maybe thought you were human?”
“Or thought I wasn’t serious. Or thought I didn’t realize how much trouble I was in.”
