Holiday for HIre(10)

If he were to bring it up, that would be another thing .

Then, to her surprise, he did. “Hey, it’s you,” he said, after they’d stood grinning at each other for several seconds. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?” His brow furrowed as he tried to place her .

How was it possible that his thinking face was even more alluring? She wondered suddenly what other expressions looked like on his features. How he looked when he was bored. When he worried. When he came .

Quickly, she tried to erase that last image from her mind, or at least to save it for a more appropriate time. “Uh, that’s right,” she said, confirming his recognition of her. That was the least she could do after she’d seen him so intimately. In her mind, but same diff .

“On the docks .”

“Yes, that’s where.” She hoped it seemed like this had only just occurred to her. Though an avid supporter of the arts, she’d never been good at dramatics .

“Huh.” Ian stood quiet for a beat, studying her with the same intensity she gave to a new harp piece. Carefully. Deliberately, as though searching out every blemish of her skin, every nuance to her expression. It made her uncomfortable .

It made her feel seen .

With a ragged intake of breath, she broke the moment. “Why don’t you come on in ?”

She stepped aside to let him into her foyer, taking his coat from him and hanging it in the coat closet before leading him into her living room .

Ian’s eyes widened as he looked around the scene before him. “Wow. This is a lot of Christmas decorations .”

He wasn’t wrong .

There were rather a lot of boxes and plastic totes strewn around the room. She’d been pulling out a few at a time from their various stored locations for the past several weeks to prepare for today. It looked crazier than it was when nothing was distributed .

Once all the boxes were unpacked, tasteful decorations would adorn every room in the house. Scented candles would be tucked into pine boughs, lights twinkling from the ceilings, and her entire serving ware cabinet would soon be replaced with more seasonal dishes. It was her own personal wonderland, and she longed for it all year .

Fortunately, Ian’s remarks didn’t hold the judgment she might have expected. “There’s more in the attic that I’d like you to help bring down in a bit .”

“Impressive.” He seemed like he meant it. “Just point the way .”

“I’m really into the holiday.” She said as she led him deeper into her brownstone. She wasn’t sure why she sounded so apologetic. She had every right to love what she loved, and it wasn’t as if he were challenging her. She just didn’t like how her enthusiasm might construe neurosis. Or, worse, loneliness .

“You said that, didn’t you?” He stopped, seemingly distracted by an item sticking out of one of the storage crates. “Is this the garland you bought that night ?”

“You have quite a good memory. That ’s impressive.” Or at least it made it less strange how accurate her memory was about their brief encounter. “And yes. It is the one I bought that night. You will need to put up the matching garland outside, but first we should sort through all the items. We can talk about preparations for the date while we do .”

“Sounds like a plan .”

“Oh, but before that…” she paused. Wanting to get the most awkward part of their meet-up out of the way early, she’d left her pocketbook on the coffee table. “We should work out payment. Is this acceptable? I’ll give you the second installment when the gig is over.” She handed him the check she’d written out earlier, letting her fingers brush across his the same way as they had when she’d given him his check the last time .

His brows lifted when he noticed the amount she’d given him. “Uh, yes. This is quite acceptable .”

Good. As it should be. She’d written it for far more than she was sure he’d expected. Jane firmly believed that you got what you paid for, so she’d made sure she’d paid substantially. In return, she hoped he’d be amenable to all she required .

“I hoped we could get together at least once a week until the wedding,” she said now. Twice would be preferable, but they’d get there .

“Whatever you want, lady. At this rate, you have my body and soul .”

She laughed uneasily because he was joking and because she might not refuse if he wasn’t. Wouldn’t refuse his body, anyway. She was sure she had no use for a second soul, though, even after just the short time he’d been there, she did find she enjoyed his companionship .

They fell into an easy rhythm, anticipating each other’s movements, as they unloaded boxes down the stairs. Jane tried not to stare at the way the muscles in his arms flexed when he reached for one at the top of a stack .

It didn’t work .

The point was, she tried. And although she was fairly certain she’d been caught doing it, he didn’t say anything about it. Perhaps the gentlemanly behavior wouldn’t be too hard to encourage, after all .

Once everything was safely on the living room floor, they started unloading. For the umpteenth time, she congratulated herself on coming up with this plan. Her house would be perfect in no time flat—it was like an early present, not having to do all the work alone .

It was comfortable, too, doing this with Ian, talking minimally and only about the work at hand. When they’d made work of nearly half the boxes, Ian sat back on his feet and stretched his arms over his head so that his T-shirt rose, exposing chiseled abs above the line of his jeans .