Moonlight Over Manhattan(71)

“Fetch it, and we’ll wrap the tree in it. Trust me, it will work.”

She did trust him, and it did work.

Twenty minutes later, the tree was safely installed in her apartment with almost all of its needles still attached. Ethan, it turned out, was as competent with misbehaving Christmas trees as he was with sick patients.

“It’s magnificent.” And Harriet was relieved. For a moment there she thought she might have blown a significant chunk of her earnings on a tree she couldn’t actually get to her apartment. She’d had visions of spending Christmas outside in the street with her tree. “Now I can make the place festive. Thank you so much.”

She expected Ethan to leave, but instead he took off his coat and laid it carefully over the back of one of her chairs. Then he dropped into a crouch and wiped Madi’s paws with a scrap of something he removed from his pocket.

Harriet watched. Was her mouth open?

It should have been, because she couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d come here to tell her he’d opened a pet sanctuary.

He glanced up at her. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re cleaning her paws.”

“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do when she’s been walking in the snow?”

“Yes, but—” She gulped. “What is that you’re using?”

“It’s a washcloth. I grabbed it when I was leaving the apartment.” He rose to his feet. “Is there a problem? Am I doing something wrong?”

No. He was doing everything right. That was the problem. “You’re not doing anything wrong.” And it might have helped her a bit if he had. “She looks happy.”

“She’s pleased to be home with her family, and who can blame her. Nice place you have here.”

Was he kidding? “It’s a tenth of the size of yours.”

“It’s charming. Really comfortable.” He scanned her bookshelves and she stiffened, hoping she hadn’t left her copy of Mate For Life anywhere visible. That would make for an awkward conversation.

Well, Dr. Hot, my soon-to-be sister-in-law thinks you’re perfect.

“Would you like a drink or something?”

It was so polite. So formal.

She was trying to forget that she’d undressed him down to his boxer briefs. Trying to forget she knew exactly what lay under that wool coat and thick black sweater.

He probably didn’t even remember that she’d been the one to remove his clothes.

In fact she wasn’t sure what he remembered.

Neither of them had ever mentioned that moment in the depths of the night when he’d almost kissed her.

It would have been easy enough to decide she’d imagined it, but she knew she hadn’t. She definitely hadn’t imagined it, but it was entirely possible that he’d been delirious at the time.

“I’d love a drink.” He turned from studying the books on the top shelf. “What do you have?”

“Soda. Wine.” She was starting to feel flustered now because she didn’t really know what this was. Was it a duty call? A social call? Their relationship was strange. Loaded with intimacy, even though they’d never been intimate. “I have beer, because Daniel drinks it.”

“Beer would be great. So where are your decorations?”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll help you.” He studied the tree. “It’s tall. You’re going to need help getting the decorations near the top.”

“You’re offering to help me decorate the tree? You, Dr. Scrooge, who won’t be Santa for the kids?”

“That’s different.” His gaze held hers for a long moment while the air around them was suddenly thickened by something thrilling and dangerous. “Where are your decorations?”

On edge, she fetched the box from under her bed, and together they decorated the tree.

She was agonizingly aware of every move he made.

It felt strange having him in her apartment.

“How was work? Are you fully recovered?”

“I’m tired, but doing okay. Thanks to you. I suspect my recovery wouldn’t have been so swift if you hadn’t been there making everything easy for me.” He took a silver decoration from her hand, his fingers brushing against hers. “I owe you dinner.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“Have you been on a date since you moved out of my apartment?”

She slid the decoration onto the tree. “It’s only been a week. Give me time.”

“In other words, no. I finish early tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Ethan—”

“Don’t argue. I want to take you to dinner.”

The question “why” hovered on her lips, but she didn’t say it because she already knew the answer. He’d promised, and he was a man of his word. Knowing that, she decided it was better to go along with this and get it out of the way. Then both of them could get on with their lives, debt free. “Fine. Great. Dinner. Where do you want me to meet you?”

“I’ll pick you up.” He finished hanging the decorations and stepped back. “It’s looking good. Now all you need is gifts.”

“I have a whole heap of them ready to be wrapped.”