Page 445 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“You know,” he said, “I could pass along your shopping list to my personal shopper. She’s already going out later this week to do my shopping for me. That way you can get everything you need before the stores sell out and still have time to wrap and what not.”
“Oh, I couldn’t. I’ll find time.”
“Nonsense, just give me a shopping list.”
“You just want to make sure I have time to buy you a present.”
He smirked. “You’re getting to know me so well, Tinsel.”
CHAPTER 16
CHADWICK
After breakfast, Tinsely insisted on cleaning up and swatted at me when I tried to get close to the sink to take over scrubbing the pan. Worried for my own safety, I backed off and leaned against the island while she scrubbed, dried, and laid dishes to rest on a towel on the counter.
“Well, what should we do today to pass the time?” I wondered aloud.
She shook her head at me. “What should we do? I don’t know where this ‘we’ is coming from. I’m going to call a cab and head home. I could do with a nice quiet day in my own house where nobody needs anything from me.”
I frowned. “Uh, Tinsel?”
She glared at me over her shoulder and turned the tap off. “Stop calling me that.”
“Never.” I pushed off the counter. “I think you misunderstand the severity of this storm. No taxi is going to be able to come get you. You’re stuck here.”
The color drained from her face. “You’re messing with me, right?”
I shook my head.
She groaned and hung her head back. “Great. That’s just great.”
“Is my company really that bad?”
“Sometimes,” she quipped. “Sometimes it is, yes. Sometimes a girl just needs some space to clear her head and be alone with her thoughts, okay? And whenever you’re around, it’s impossible for me to think.”
“We’re not obligated to spend the whole day together just because we’re stuck in the house together. This place is pretty big. You can do your own thing and I’ll step into my office and get some work done. I don’t mind.”
The color returned to her face in full force, and soon she was almost neon pink. “I’m sorry, Chadwick. That wasn’t very fair of me. I’m just… I’m a little overwhelmed, is all.”
“It’s all right.” The last thing I wanted was for her to feel stressed. Storms affected people differently. I didn’t love the idea of how much business and revenue we would lose today because all our stores would be closed, but I also knew I had no control over it, so to me there was no sense worrying. I could get some work done behind the scenes while Tinsely regrouped. “What do you need before I go into my office? Something to write your list? A book?”
“Both would be nice,” she said.
“Follow me.”
I led Tinsely out of the kitchen, past the pit, through the dining room, and into the lounge, which was a perfect room for curling up in one of the leather chairs by the window to read a book. The walls were lined with bookshelves, filled with novels of varying genres. Tinsely’s mouth fell open, and she walked around the room, trailing her fingertips over the spines of the books.
“Have you read all of these?” she breathed.
I slid my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “I wish I could say yes, but no, I haven’t. Not yet anyway.” I moved to the corner desk across from the chair by the window and opened a drawer. “Pens and notebooks are in here. Feel free to use the computer, too. Make yourself at home. I’ll be in the office which is near the front door. You good here?”
She nodded up at me, her eyes still full of wonder at the collection of books. “I’m excellent. Thank you.”
I left her on her own in the lounge, where I heard rustling pages before I was even ten feet away. Smiling to myself, I went to my office and settled in behind my desk to respond to emails and get a couple of hours of tedious jobs done that I would otherwise procrastinate at work until someone else stepped up and did it for me.
That someone else was almost always Hugh.
Hours passed, and I’d lost all track of time when Tinsely knocked on my door and let herself in around one o’clock. She presented me with a handwritten shopping list and thanked me quietly with a shy smile that made me want to kiss her again.
