Page 71 of Take Me Home for Christmas

“They are telling. Written as only someone with Keeley’s heart could write them.” His tone was almost reverent. “But I’m too close to the subject matter to do them justice. Someone else will write the book one day.”

The fine lines bracketing his eyes and his mouth were suddenly more pronounced. Elle guessed memories of the tragic way he’d lost his wife were sneaking up on him. She tried to lighten the mood.

“Don’t tell me. Rather than writing a book, you’re going to build a ballet studio somewhere instead?”

His responding laugh was rich and deep. And sexy. Her sisters-in-law had called the man dreamy when he first arrived. Witnessing this side of Everett West, Elle had to agree.

“Now there’s an idea,” he replied, keeping his secrets close to the vest as usual.

Elle leaned her shoulder against one of the pillars surrounding the room. “My father built this place for me.”

That got his attention. He shot her a curious look.

“Well, sort of. I suspect he built it more for himself than for me. After four kids, he was sick of schlepping one or the other of us to practice. The closest dance studio was in Wilmington.” She shrugged.

West’s smile held a hint of amazement. “Still a sweet thing for him to do.”

“Mm. The sad truth is, I got bored with ballet after a year.”

His eyebrows crawled up his forehead.

“I couldn’t tell him that, though. I danced for six more years because I didn’t want to disappoint him.”

Funny, Hayden was the only other person in the world who knew that fun fact.

He shook his head. “Why does that not surprise me?”

She shifted away from the pillar. Was he making fun of her again?

West shoved the tape measure into his jacket pocket and walked toward the door. “You do a lot of things you’d rather not do simply to avoid hurting other people,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t you think it’s about time you did something just for you, Elinor?”

His cryptic words hung in the air even after he was long gone. Elle studied the jump drive in her palm. It was her ticket to success. A smarter woman would be emailing the manuscript to Madelaine and Helen immediately. Suni had been texting her all week about the fabulous holiday partyVantagehad planned.

Christmas was a whole nine days away. She could fly back to New York, enjoy the party with her friends, get a jumpstart on her new position and still return to celebrate the holiday with her family.

That would mean leaving Hayden, however. They hadn’t yet worked out the logistics of their relationship. And things were good right now. Perfect even. Why waste this time in New York? She doubted she’d enjoy the party without him. And the job would still be there in January. This thing with Hayden might not be.

She shoved the jump drive into the pocket of her jeans. It was the weekend. TheVantageoffices would be empty anyway. West’s memoir could wait until Monday to land in her editor’s in-box. She wandered out of the dance studio to check out the rest of the bazaar.

ChapterEighteen

Hayden lookedover the contracts Livi had emailed to him last night. The fees her clients were willing to pay were more than double what he thought they should be. Even better, the agreed-upon due dates were several months down the road. He could take his time and make both pieces unique.

“Wow,” Simone said from over his shoulder. “That’s a sweet chunk of change.”

He flipped the papers over. “Do you mind?”

She plopped down into the chair beside his desk. “Can I help it if I’m worried I’m going to lose my partner to the lure of the almighty dollar? And who knew upmarket woodworking was so lucrative?”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Simone. I’m not going anywhere.” He shoved the contracts into his desk drawer and stood. “Except to the elementary school. Today is the holiday concert, and we’ve been assigned to help direct traffic.” He handed Simone her jacket. “We need to hustle.”

“I’m glad your furniture making is becoming more than a stress-relieving hobby,” she said as they walked across the town square. “If you put a little promotional effort in, maybe you could grow your business into a full-time gig.”

“You sound like Elle.”

“Aha! So we’ve discussed a future together, have we?”

Hayden stopped at the corner to let the Amazon truck go by. The driver was dressed in full Santa garb. He gave them a loud “Ho, ho, ho” as he passed by.

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