Page 34 of All's Fair in Love and Christmas
I swallow, the headiness scattering my thoughts. “I’m going to wipe the floor with you, Jeremy Fletcher, like ... umm ... a mop?”
His laugh starts low in his chest, but it builds until he can’t contain the mirth any longer and the sound erupts from him.
“Hey, keep it down over there. You’re ruining my sugar high.”Lincoln tilts his head back and funnels in M&Ms straight from the bag.
“That was awful.” Jeremy’s brown eyes are still laughing.
“It can’t be worse than your comparison to fruit in a fruitcake.”
He scratches at his arm. “True that.”
I look at the red streaks running from his wrist to his elbow. “Come on. Let’s see if I have that cream.”
I dig through my purse until I find a tube of over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream. I carry the toothpaste with me from years of wearing braces. Old habit. But I have the itching cream because of my dry skin. Winter only makes the dry patches worse.
I squeeze some onto my finger before I realize I should’ve handed the whole tube to Jeremy so he could rub it on himself. My face flames.
He acts like nothing is amiss as he extends his arm in my direction.
Right. I can do this. No big deal.
With shallow breaths I watch my hand descend. Absorb the heat from his skin into mine. Run my finger along the pronounced vein in his forearm. Feel his pulse. Feel mine.
“It was nice, what you did for Annabelle,” he says softly, his breath making the few strands of hair that have come loose from my braid caress my cheek.
He’s talking about the gingerbread houses, but I’m having a hard time concentrating on anything other than what’s going on beneath my palm.
“When this is all over and we’re ushering in the New Year, after Sofiya decides which one of us gets the job...”
I glance up, expecting to see him looking at me. But he’s not. He’s staring at my hand on his arm too, mesmerized by the back-and-forth motion my fingers make as I rub the lotion onto his skin.
He looks up, and I’m caught staring. Caught in his gaze.
“I hope we’ll both remember everything we did to win the promotion was only business, not personal.”
My hand freezes. Isn’t that what the mobsters inThe Godfathersay before they kill people? What Joe Fox says to Kathleen Kelly inYou’ve Got Mailbefore putting her out of business?
Jeremy Fletcher, what are you planning to do to me?
14
Nothing was going according to plan.
Jeremy rubbed a hand down his face, the medical scent of the hydrocortisone cream filling his nostrils. He snorted, both to rid himself of the smell and thus the memory of Mackenzie’s soft fingers caressing the sensitive skin of the underside of his forearm, and to scoff at the whole blasted thing.
How had he gotten to this point? All of his plans were failing, every attempt ending in disaster. How could he turn this around?
His instincts told him to stick to what he’d outlined. Strategies were made for a reason, after all.
So where did that leave him in the promotion battle? He had to come up with something to at least even the score, if not put him back on top. Mackenzie didn’tneedthe raise, after all. She didn’t have two almost-teenagers and their daily expenses. Good grief, Nathan alone ate like he was afraid there’d never be another meal placed in front of him. Not to mention clothes and shoes because neither would heed his pleas to stop growing. They’d be driving in only a few years, so his insurance premiums would skyrocket. Then there was college. Even an in-state school would cripple his current finances.
His gaze washed over the room. The Christmas tree that had made Sofiya so happy. The gingerbread houses that had brought back so many childhood memories for Annabelle. The nativity scene missing Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.
Wait. When had a nativity scene been set up? And where were the guests of honor?
Jeremy stood and turned. He took three steps before his feet stumbled to a halt. Hidden behind Derek’s computer monitor were Mary and Joseph. Joseph’s shepherd’s rod looked to be pushing the cords out of the way, while Mary appeared to have tripped over them since she was on her knees.
Why in the world were Mary and Joseph behind the computer, and where was Jesus? Would Jeremy find him in a different obscure location, like on top of the copier? Oh well, better put them with the three wisemen and the shepherds in the nativity set where they belonged.
