Page 23 of The Christmas Blueprint

She pulled a hand from her jacket and held it out. “Temporary truce?” she asked solemnly.

He hesitated and then slowly grasped her hand. “Why temporary?”

“Leaving my options open.”

Killian looked at her for a moment like she’d lost her mind and maybe she had, but then he laughed and pulled her in for a quick hug. She could feel the rumble of his laughter buzz her chest with the quick contact and then he pulled away again, his eyes sparkling like leaves under water being hit by a shaft of sunlight. His smile flashed his one dimple, and his eyes crinkled so appealingly that she wanted to reach out and trace the faint laugh lines.

“Sophia Inez Gonzales, I look forward to the challenges of our partnership,” he said, and for the first time, she felt like he meant it.

Chapter Seven

When they corneredLes and Bruce and Steve at the Creekside Diner, both men waved them away with identical flicks of their age-spotted but well-manicured hands, declaring no interest in discussing potential plans for the building.

“It’s the holidays,” Les proclaimed. “We are out of session and don’t meet again until mid-January.”

Killian wasn’t surprised, and he was definitely relieved. Fewer obstacles. Not that Sophia was an obstacle. He was more concerned about the excitement the thought of spending more time with her was generating. But he was a professional. He could keep his emotions locked down. He’d been doing it for years. And he’d often worked with brilliant and beautiful women and had never once skirted appropriate boundaries or let an attraction distract him from his work.

“Shall we keep you in the loop?” Killian asked.

“Loop?” Bruce’s face flushed. “What loop? You don’t even start until mid-January or something. There’s no loop. Just the thought makes me dizzy.”

Les laughed as if their lazy disinterest was hilarious and sipped at his coffee. He made another quick motion with his hand, scooting them and their ideas away. Steve, who’d paused eating to briefly look at Sophia and then Killian, said nothing and returned his attention to his pancakes.

“Thank you for your time,” Killian said.

“We apologize for interrupting your breakfast,” Sophia added chirpily.

“Well, I’m not sure if that makes our goal easier or harder,” Killian said as they walked further along the Bear Creek path, now dodging Riley’s assistants who were setting up their lighting display. Once they passed the recently repaired covered pedestrian bridge, and rounded a bend in the creek, the hulk of the former Applegate Mill squatted about fifty yards from the bank of the creek. The building that was on the planning department’s docket—the only project of any size—was the one on the edge of the complex and was the closest to the historic downtown.

“I’m definitely not taking December off,” Sophia said, her voice and expression determined.

“I came a month early to get a jump start on the project,” he admitted. He knew he’d need the extra time just in case of a worst-case scenario—Hunter being deployed before Lisa returned.

“Let’s get started then, partner.” Sophia reached around him, and he caught a hint of her subtle fragrance before she slid the key into the lock and turned it deftly. “Welcome to the lair of opportunity,” she intoned. “Just you and me.”

He grabbed for sanity and tried to ignore the kick of heat her smile ignited. He still couldn’t fully assimilate how Sophia was acting with how he’d expected her to act. But he kept his mouth shut because he still remembered how the wordassumebroke down. And assumptions in his business were bad for…well, business.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Unfair that you know how to do that,” he grumbled. “Riley used to spend hours in front of the bathroom mirror trying to achieve that move.”

“Little sisters—probably just trying to annoy you.”

“She succeeded. Riley forgot she had three brothers and only one bathroom for all of us to share.”

“Shoot, I forgot my violin. It was the same at my house, only I had four brothers. They often just whipped it out behind one of the barns—isn’t that what all men do?”

“What? Are you asking about my childhood pee practices?”

Sophia laughed—at him. “When you put it like that, no.”

“We lived in town. Neighbors would have complained,” he grumped, embarrassed that she was getting to him. He suspected she was trying to needle him. There was a reason she and Riley were best friends. Riley had never made things easy. Sure, she’d welcomed him happily to her home last night when he’d finally run out of metaphorical rope and texted her. But she’d kept him up for hours with questions.

He paused about twenty feet into the building and looked up. With the sunlight streaming through the high windows spotlighting the cement below in pools of gold, the building had an almost magical quality—fairy lit, his mother would have said.

Being back in Bear Creek was dredging up more memories that he tried to keep in the box he’d labeledPast. He had to learn to slam down the lid and keep it on tight. He had a year here.

Focus on the job.

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