Page 28 of The Grump

“I can help with the tour,” Zachary said.

“That’s lovely of you,” Isabeau said. “They’ll probably be here in about five minutes, and you can ask them. Anyway, I’ve made my special jambalaya,” she added, looking directly at Xander. To his credit, he kept a straight face.

There was a chorus of “Yes!” from around the room. I wasn’t the only one excited about this.

“Uncle Xander, can we go put the star on the fourth tree?” Bella asked him.

He was still looking at Isabeau but said, “Sure, let’s go. The star is by the tree?”

“Yes, I laid everything out,” Celine said.

I watched Xander and Bella go to the nearest tree.

“It’s their tradition. They do this together every year,” Celine whispered to me. “But they usually do it on Christmas Day.”

He had traditions with his niece? And I’d thought I couldn’t melt any further. Boy, was I wrong.

Xander lifted Bella after she grabbed the star. He held her up high, enough so that she could put the ornament right in the middle of the tree—it wasn’t a tree topper after all.

Cold and calculated people didn’t hang out with their family and have traditions with their niece, right? Maybe there was hope for him to let the confectionery stay up and running after all.

After he put Bella down, he turned around and zeroed in on me once more. I suddenly felt as if we were alone in my small house again. The power this man had over me was scary.

He walked toward me with determined strides. When he was within earshot, he whispered, “Try the jambalaya.”

“Did you really tell Isabeau to make it for me?”

Xander glanced down for a split second.Holy shit. He was looking at my mouth.I was suddenly super jittery, as if a current of electricity had gone through me.

“I did.” He made eye contact again.

“Why?” I whispered.

“Because I knew you’d enjoy it. Go on, try it.”

Give him a sassy reply. Don’t lose your wits. “Still trying to get into my good graces?”

He leaned in closer. “Maybe I have another ulterior motive in mind.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if he wanted to get into my pants, but even I knew that was far too much. It bordered on unprofessional. And Xander was the ultimate professional... until now.

“Can you give me a hint about what the motive is?” I straightened up again so we could make eye contact.

“No. I can’t even believe it myself, let alone admit it out loud.”

I sucked in a breath. Wait, what did that mean?

“Come on. I’m curious to hear what you’ve got to say about the jambalaya.”

Was he serious? Why would he change the subject? He couldn’t drop that on me and not tell me what it meant. Was he attracted to me, or was I somehow misreading this entire situation? Last night, I’d thought that I’d made things up in my mind because... well, he was a sexy guy, and we’d been far too close.

Xander led me to the buffet, putting a hand on my arm. At the contact, I swear I heard him suck in a deep breath. I looked at him as surreptitiously as possible. He was breathing deeply, as if he was concentrating on something.

I couldn’t believe this guy was single. He wassogood-looking.

Wait a second.I didn’t actually know if he was single. I instantly felt chilled to the bone.Oh shit, I hope I’m not fantasizing about someone else’s man.Even though I hadn’tmade a move, it still felt wrong. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, but it truly was none of my business.

At the buffet, I went straight for the jambalaya. I didn’t even really care about the rest.

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