Page 47 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
He nodded, and flexed his fingers on the wheel before letting them curl gently back around it. ‘I can see why you’re a little undecided about going back to it. It seems you have entries in both the for and against columns.’
I stared out the windowat the falling snow as we drove on through the darkness, flakes glinting as they crossed the beam of the headlights. Glancing back at Cal in reply, his smile made me wonder if I shouldn’t start making another for and against chart with him as the topic of thought. But no. I didn’t need that. I already knew the sensible answer to that question.
I slid a glance sideways and studied my companion’sprofile for a few moments. I’d had such a lovely day … I knew what the sensible decision was but I was fairly sure that, if he wanted, Cal Martin would be more than capable of helping me forget what the word sensible even meant. But that just wouldn’t do. As much as I liked him, relationships and me just didn’t get along. They were complicated. They weren’t like a car engine where you knew whatwent where and what you had to do to make it work.
Although Cal had backed off from telling me too much, there was clearly more to his story. He’d had a rotten childhood and he deserved everything in his adulthood that the world, and the woman he chose, could give him. I already knew that as much as I was interested in him, which in itself had been a surprise as men really had been the last thingon my mind this past year, I wasn’t the one for him. I couldn’t be. Cal slowed behind other traffic as the lights ahead turned red, the shades above each bulb holding a small pile of snow. He pulled on the handbrake and looked over at me.
‘We’ve still got a bit of a way to go yet. You look exhausted and I assume you have work tomorrow?’
‘Yes, but I’m not tired.’ The fact that I said the lastword through a yawn didn’t really help my defence case all that much.
‘No, I can see that.’ He laughed. ‘Honestly it’s even harder to get you to admit you’re tired than it is a five-year-old. I promise I’ll drive carefully. Apart from anything else, I’m pretty sure Dan would hammer me to a pulp if I let anything happen to you. I mean, I can take care of myself but he’s a big guy and anyone cansee how close you two are. I’d rather not risk it.’
My eyes, heavy-lidded until now, widened. ‘You think I don’t trust you.’
He checked the lights before returning his gaze to me. ‘I think you’re used to being in control. Or at least wanting to be.’
‘No, not always.’
I saw the quirk of his lips and the sparkle in his eyes and I rolled mine in response.
‘Typical man.’
‘I’d say sorry but I’dhate to lie to you.’ He was still grinning.
‘Anyway!’ I said, pointedly. ‘It’s not that I don’t trust you. I do. Totally. I know you wouldn’t do anything reckless or stupid. Not least because you have a very precious cargo back there.’
‘I’m pretty sure the one in here is more precious.’
I met his eyes, surprised. His mouth smiled but it was hard to tell his true expression in the low light.
‘I don’t know whether you’re teasing me or not sometimes.’
From the corner of my eye, I saw the lights ahead finally begin to change. Cal quickly hooked an arm around me, pulled me closer for a moment, and dropped the briefest of butterfly kisses on the top of my head.
‘Close your eyes for a little while,’ he whispered before pulling away.
I’m assuming that my body over-ruled my brain becausethe next thing I knew I was blearily blinking awake as the car’s interior lit up. Cal passed in front of the car, lit by the sidelights he’d switched to while dropping me off, and then he was at the passenger door as I tried to shove my brain into gear.
‘Hello.’ He smiled as I began wrestling a foot into one of my boots. Cal peered around me. ‘Try the other one.’
‘Huh?’
‘The other boot. You’retrying to put your left foot into the right boot.’
I sat up and stared down. He was absolutely correct. Excellent. I wasn’t really worried about trying to impress Cal but neither did I have any desperate inclination to make myself look an idiot either. One out of two wasn’t bad. I quickly swapped the boots round and rammed my feet into them before jumping out of the car, his hand at my elbowas I did so.
‘OK. Well, I hope the car works out well. Thanks for dinner.’
Cal stood in front of me, causing me to tilt my head back some way in order to meet his eyes.
‘You’re welcome,’ he replied, his voice soft. The main house was some distance away from the garage and had excellent double glazing these days but I still crept around once it started getting late, despite the fact that itwas unlikely I’d ever disturb anyone.
For a moment, I thought he was going to say something else. And for a moment I really wanted him to. Despite knowing it would be a bad idea. Despite the fact that I still wasn’t sure what I was doing with my own life, let alone with someone else who was responsible for a child. Despite that fact that there was a possibility he might want more from me thanit was possible for me to give. For that moment, none of it mattered. All I wanted was for Cal Martin to wrap his arms around me and –
‘Lexi?’
‘Huh?’
