Page 29 of Kiss Me at Christmas
“Give me strength!” She blew an exasperated breath up to the ceiling.How did someone get a gummy bear to stick up there?“Okay, now the good news.”
“Caramel brownies are on the lunch menu in thecanteen? Sorry, I didn’t have any good news as such, I just didn’t want to give you only bad news.”
She laughed despite feeling like she was being pulled under the sand by her ankles.
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know. Leave it with me.”
Despite the promise of caramel brownies in the canteen, Harriet decided she needed a big fat barista coffee from the café in town and made her way out of Foss Independent, registering the incessant ping emitting from her phone as fresh emails forwarded from Cornell poured into her inbox. She hadn’t managed to find any of the famous five, and of course none of them answered her calls or texts. If only she could covertly stick tracking devices to their rucksacks.
As she wandered past the rows of hellebores in the flower beds that lined the path to the exit, a familiar car parked in one of the visitors’ spaces caused her to groan aloud. She considered trying to scuttle past, but even before the thought had fully formed, the back door clicked open and James Knight rose up fluidly before her. He was wearing a navy blue double-breasted military coat over his suit today. She noticed the line of dark shadow where he had shaved and how it defined his jaw. Then she recalled his five o’clock stubble grazing her throat as he kissed his way down her body. “Holy moly!” she gasped out, pressing her thighs together.
“Ms. Smith?” he inquired. “Is everything all right? It is lunchtime. We have a meeting scheduled?”
Of course. Lunchtime. The deadline on her decision that wasn’t really her decision at all and a contract that would be the bane of her life for the foreseeable. Her run-in with Cornell earlier and subsequent mission tolocate her incredible disappearing students had pushed the theater to the back of her mind.
“I’d assumed it was a done deal after your client ratted me out to my boss,” she challenged.
“I’m sorry?” James’s mask of professionalism slipped.
He doesn’t know, she thought.
A voice crackled with age rose out of the dark car.
“I do not ‘rat’ people out, Ms. Smith. I was merely ensuring my position and, I might add, securing yours at the same time.”
Harriet looked at James, and he shrugged ever so slightly as though in apology.
“Do get in, the pair of you,” Evaline barked out. “You’re letting all the warm air out!”
Harriet rolled her eyes and climbed into the car, slamming the door shut. Today Evaline was wearing a felt cloche hat in claret with a rose on one side and a coat in the same color. She didn’t bother to make eye contact with Harriet.
“May I?” James asked as he reached to pull the tray across her. Harriet nodded and tried not to breathe in his cologne. She was cross with absolutely everyone and she didn’t want to be aroused by a deliciously scented scoundrel.
James sat back and pulled a sheaf of papers from his briefcase, which he handed to Evaline. Evaline took them, eyed them lazily, and passed them across to Harriet.
“Please sign this most recent contract, which accounts for your additional responsibilities, and I’ll leave you alone to get on. I’m sure you’re very busy.” She made it sound like she was doing Harriet a favor.
Harriet scanned the paperwork. It was all straightforward enough:sign here to sell your soul to Krampus.
“You’ll notice that I’ve put in a paragraphpertaining to the ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with regard to a community-use clause being added into any sales contract going forward,” said James.
His careful choice of the words “gentlemen’s agreement” was not lost on Harriet; she was sure Evaline would not have approved a contract bearing anything more substantial. The old phrasePromises are like pie crust, made to be brokenswam through her mind, but it was better than no agreement at all.
“What happens if for some reason I can’t get the production performance ready in time?” she asked.
“Then you’ll be in breach of contract,” said Evaline simply.
“But what does that mean? It’s not like you’re paying me. No money is changing hands, so technically if I am unable—”
“I can sue you for breach of contract,” Evaline finished. “And I will. But let’s not get into all that unpleasantness. And you won’t be without help; Mr. Knight will be with you every step of the way to ensure that you deliver.”
“What!” Harriet and James blurted.
Evaline’s countenance remained unmoved.
“Obviously I want to ensure that my theater is being treated with respect, and I’ll need to know that the production is on schedule. The only way to ensure this is to have a person on the ground, as it were.”
James angled his head away from Harriet and lowered his voice. “Evaline, please. I have a full workload, your interests need my attention. I have other clients. I don’t have time to act as a glorified babysitter—”
