Page 20 of A Christmas Bargain

But I wished it were. After these few minutes of seeing how well Naomi and Claire got along, with sarcasm and wit, I wanted to see how long it could last.

Naomi bored quickly of adults who so obviously humored her. She got annoyed with women always coming up to talk to me and exclude her. While she was inquisitive and sometimes nosy, as kids could be, Claire was being a good sport so far…

“Would you like to get a hot cocoa with us?” I asked.

As I watched her smile falter as she lowered her gaze, I held my breath and recognized how anxious I was for her reply.

Say yes.

“Please,” Naomi said, dragging that one word out to seven times the syllables that it normally had.

Lifting her face to peer at me, Claire seemed to search for a clue. For an answer.

She opened and closed her mouth, stalling with a reply.

And I waited, with bated breath, wanting a woman’s company for the first time in years.

Not just any woman’s company.

Hers.

7

CLAIRE

Once more, I warred with indecision. Making eye contact with Derek wasn’t a simple thing of being polite and looking at a person when they spoke. His deep voice held a tone of command, but he wasn’t being harsh. He wasn’t a “jerk-face” like that Hollis boy.

Gazing into his blue stare, I felt trapped. Caught. And suckered in.

“Right now?” I asked, needing to figure out a nice way to escape.

I wasn’t in the position to be suckered into anything. I could be wrong, but I suspected he was trying to be flirty. To entice me to hang out with him and his daughter.

I got friendly vibes from him, not creepy man-whorish ones.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Naomi said.

I blinked once, dropping my gaze down to her. Her voice cut through this lull of awareness that Derek prompted. She sounded so sassy yet sweet, and young. And it was all I needed as a reminder of another reason to say no thanks.

A widower.

Naomi and Derek were here alone. Just the two of them. That other man, Nick, was her uncle and with my deductive reasoningand the familial resemblance to Derek, I assumed that woman was his sister and Naomi’s aunt.

I almost wished they’d stayed with us as we walked along Main Street. It wouldn’t feel like I was rejecting a father and daughter, but a group. Telling several people I wasn’t interested would be far easier than letting down this young girl. Or her sexy dad.

As if this will break his heart.He was too damn fine not to have tons of women available to drink hot cocoa with.

It wasn’t a date. This wasn’t a fancy dinner reservation I was breaking off. A casual invitation to walk to another stall and get hot cocoa with them wasn’t a huge commitment.

But it felt like so much more. Under the serious but playful attention Derek seemed to want to give me, it seemed like my answer would matter. To him and his daughter.

It had been a while since I had a man interested in me—at least a man who’d sparked me to be intrigued and curious whether this attraction was as mutual as I hoped it might be.

Now? Right now?

I couldn’t. I really couldn’t.

“Um, I think… I’m going to take a raincheck on that hot cocoa.”

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