Page 22 of A Christmas Bargain

Wait.He wasn’t shopping around, was he?

That would be a hell of a way to not be able to want him. To wonder about him. If he was looking at buying something I might have my eye on, that’d make him competition in a field where I didn’t play so nicely.

“Oh, really?” I said airily. Before he could offer to show me around and point them out, I squared my shoulders and stood up straighter.

“Yeah.” He smiled at me again, slower and wider. “Preston’s a nice area.”

It sure can be with someone like you in it.

He was doing it again. Those smiles were disarming me. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim he was charming me. I’d talked to Naomi more than I had with him. Derek still seemed gruff and aloof, but not unnecessarily unfriendly toward me.

This has to stop. No more.

I couldn’t explain how I’d trickled back to this stubborn awareness of him. I was attracted to him. There was no doubt about that. But it couldn’t develop into anything more.

This wasn’t a good time to be distracted by a handsome man. It wasn’t even a good time to want to joke around with hisdaughter and be entertained by her inquisitiveness, either. This spark of desire that he’d ignited had to fizzle out.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated with a genuine smile, “but I wasn’t planning to make this market event a whole-day sort of thing.”

“Are you sure?” Naomi asked, peering up at me. “You could take your hot cocoa with you.”

I smiled, amused with how much of a bargain she’d try to make.

“I’m sure. But thanks for inviting me.”

Naomi frowned, but nodded. “It was nice to meet you,” she said.

“It was nice to meet you too,” I said.

“Yeah.” Derek offered me his hand. “Nice to meet you, Claire.” He thrust his hand toward me, and I accepted it to shake.

So warm. So big. So strong.My smile faded a bit as I struggled to let go, not wanting this connection to end. Where his rougher skin touched mine, I enjoyed a delicious zing of more awareness. This man just had to live and breathe and I would be wishing to be closer, soaking up the attention.

Oh, stop.I mentally groaned at how distracted he made me feel.

Focus, Claire. Focus.

The company was on the line. Dad wouldn’t be swooping in to save the day. It was on me to get Barone Realty on the road to recovery from Grace’s mistakes of gambling with too much.

No time for dating.

No time for flirting.

Only work.

“Well, have a good afternoon,” I said, stepping back and lifting my hand in a wave.

“Don’t forget to make time for an eye appointment,” Naomi said.

I nodded. “Sure. I won’t. My job isn’t all that matters in my life,” I joked, raising the bag with the jelly jars. “I don’t want to miss out on reading which flavor I’m getting.”

As I retreated and eventually turned away from the father-and-daughter duo, I felt like a liar.

Lately, I’d made sure that my job was all that I concentrated on. No prospects. No energy for dating the wrong men. No daydreaming about having a family.

Walking away from the two of them was bittersweet, like I was literally walking toward the wrong decision. But that was what I always did—married to my job and not seeing an end in sight to that curse.

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