Page 16 of A Christmas Bargain

“Too busy.”

“Doing what?” She swung her legs faster.

“Working.”

“Working on what?” she quizzed without missing a beat.

I smiled. “My job.”

“What do you?—”

“Easy there, Naomi,” a man said as he approached. “There’s no need to interrogate her.”

I looked up. And up. My neck ached with how much I craned it to face this tall, bearded man walking across the play area. Sitting forward like this wasn’t a great angle, but even as I sat upright and studied his lean face, I was still at a disadvantage. He was towering over me like a giant of a mountain man.

“I wasn’t interrogating, Daddy.” Naomi stood and skipped over to him, taking his hand.

Oh, whoa. Hello there, Daddy.

I swallowed, annoyed that I could be this awestruck and blinded by the mere sight of a sexy man. In jeans and a thick coat, his body was hidden from my view. But I could imagine how fine of a specimen he was. A man wasn’t that tall and broad-shouldered for nothing. He was ripped. Fit. And with a hint of grays on the sides of his black hair, he was one heck of a sexy daddy, indeed.

“This is my dad, Mr. Derek Scott,” Naomi said.

He lifted his free hand in a slight wave and almost smiled at me. Despite the low caliber of his smile, he was still handsome.

Oh, shit.He had to have seen it all. He had to have been standing close by and seen how I’d stood up for her.

“I’m Claire.” Too intimidated by this instant attraction, I tore my gaze from his blue eyes and addressed Naomi instead. Holding my hand out to her, I smiled. “Ms. Claire Barone. Nice to meet you, Ms. Naomi.”

She beamed, seeming impressed that I wanted to introduce myself to her, before her dad. Or perhaps it was the formality that entertained her.

“Nice to meet you,” she replied. Then as she looked up at her dad, she said, “She scared off that jerk-face Hollis for me.”

He nodded. “I saw. Good job standing up for yourself, though, kiddo.”

Aha.He did see.

As I looked back at him, finding him watching me curiously, I realized how good that made me feel. Whoever Derek Scott was, it felt nice that he saw me.

I would’ve stood up for her anyway. I knew nothing about kids or being a parent, but it was human nature to root for the underdog and defend the weak. Being caught red-handed doing a good deed like that warmed me from the inside out.

But that wasn’t all.

The fact that a hot guy like him was appreciative of what I’d done made me feel… too warm.

He’d appeared out of nowhere, like a normal, decent guy whom Grace and I seldom ever encountered in the city. Not pervy, not overly eager with a horrid pickup line at the ready.

Just a sexy, rugged man at a town market day with his precocious, wise daughter.

It’d been a long time since I felt the burn of awareness that came with his careful gaze on me.

And now’s not the time for it.

I smiled back up at him, wondering if there would ever be an ideal time to go for whatIwanted in life. Like, for example, basking in the glow of a man’s appreciative stare. I felt seen. I felt… noticed. And I didn’t mind this flicker of attraction sparking in the cool air between us.

Now is definitely not the time to be noticing him. Or any other man.

I was here to work, to save the company.

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