“No, thanks.”
“Then up you go.” He held out a hand and she took it to steady herself. This time it was skin on skin and he tightened his grip, relishing the contact, imagining her touch on other places, sexy places.
Maybe he shouldn’t count his chickens, but he’d laid out a fool-proof plan. She hadn’t been able to poke holes in it and her days of pretending she didn’t want him were over.
He'd taken a huge chance acting on impulse, though. He’d originally talked himself out of kissing her while they were in the meadow, but apparently it hadn’t been too soon after all.
The manuscript hadn’t hurt his cause, either. Writing a book to woo a bookworm made sense assuming the content didn’t suck.
Evidently it didn’t, judging from the way she settled into her seat and immediately opened the box. She was totally immersed in the story before he’d made it up to the driver’s box. Slapping the lines against Thor’s rump, he told the Belgian to get moving and off they went.
Crazy good.He’d instantly deposited those two words in his memory bank. As Thor trotted down the path, the bells on his harness jingled and the sleigh runners whispered over a perfect carpet of pure white snow. The Christmas spirit was alive and well today.
Unless Lani found major problems in the rest of the book, Square Glasses Press would take it. He'd researched the company and read the reviews of their recent publications. Decent reviews, but no blockbusters. Fine with him. He hadn’t given the book to Lani expecting her publisher to make him a bestseller.
She was right that he’d have had a better chance using his mother’s contacts. But going that route wasn’t his style.
The ride back went faster, or at least it seemed that way. When they made a right onto his mom’s road, he glanced over his shoulder. “We’re almost there. I’m gonna stop so you can put that away and climb up here.”
“Can we just sit here for a few minutes? I want to finish this scene.”
Thor snorted and shook his head, setting off the bells. Then he turned his head and gazed back at them.
Lani peered at the Belgian. “I’ll bet you want to go home.”
“He does.”
“Okay. Never mind. I’ll stop.”
Her eagerness to keep reading scattered an extra handful of glitter on an already sparkling day. He hopped down and waited for her to box up the manuscript. “When you get to the end, would you please call me?”
“Not if it’s the middle of the night.” She tucked the wrapping paper in with it and closed the lid.
“Definitely call me if it’s the middle of the night. That means you stayed up late to finish it and I’ll want to hear why you did.”
“It might be two in the morning.” She laid the lap robe over the box and put the bow in her pocket. “I’ve been known to forget the time.”
“I don’t care. Call me. I know you have my number since I put it in your phone the last time you were here.”
“And maybe I deleted it.”
“Did you?” That would be discouraging.
“No.”
He smiled.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Call me. Please.”
“All right, if you insist.” She took his hand as she stepped down.
“I sure want to kiss you right now.”
She glanced up. “Well, don’t.”
“I’m not gonna, but I’ll be thinking about our first kiss a lot.”
