Page 39 of Kiss Me at Christmas
“Everything all right, miss?” Billy looked alarmed and confused. “I just came up to get more bin bags.”
“Yes, yes, everything’s fine. I was just warming up. You should always warm up your muscles before you start a workout.” She did a couple of clumsy lunges to illustrate.
“Right.”
Billy tore a bin bag off the strip and left without another word. She rolled her eyes at herself.
Downstairs she heard Ken’s beefy laughter mixed with James’s more conservative expression of merriment. Though he was out of sight, she knew exactly what James would look like in that moment. His deep-set eyes would twinkle as though a lamp had been switched on behind them, high cheekbones pushing them almost to slits, lines fanning at the corners like sunbeams. When he smiled, the deep lines that ran from either side of his nose to the corners of his mouth were accentuated, lending him a mischievous appearance that was very much on the right side of sexy. Against her better judgment, she found herself wanting to memorize all of James’s expressions.
Twelve
James had been unable tohelp with the cleanup at the weekend because of “prior commitments,” which he’d made no effort to expand upon. Harriet, however, had no weekend plans and so spent much of it at the theater. To her surprise, she found she liked being in the thick of all the bustle as the old building was systematically stripped back and reborn. Plus, it beat staying at home and dwelling on how empty it was. The famous five had popped in to lend a hand at various times around their weekend jobs and familial responsibilities, even though Harriet hadn’t asked them to, and she’d been pleased to see them. Perhaps the old building had bewitched them too.
On Monday evening after a shower to de-grime, she flopped down onto the sofa just as Ali called.
“Hey, how’s it going at the Hammer Horror theater?” he asked.
“Making progress. We finished clearing the rubbish in the auditorium today.”
“And the famous five showed up for duty?”
“They did. Actually, they’ve been brilliant. Some of the stuff we were clearing was pretty grim, but they kept at it.”
“Maybe if we throw some rubbish around the study halls, they’ll be more likely to show up for class.”
“It’s something different, I suppose. A change of scenery and all that. Plus, you know there’s a buzz about the place with all the maintenance teams there hammering and drilling and their radios blaring. It feels like we’re a part of something.”
“And how is the handsome specimen that is James Knight?”
“He is by turns surprisingly thoughtful and a completely closed book.”
“I found his profile on LinkedIn. He does look like he would have hidden depths,” said Ali dreamily.
“Yes,” Harriet responded.But is he going to let me dive into them, or will he continue to mine my secrets while keeping his buried at the bottom of the ocean?
“And?” Ali persisted. Gossip was his drug of choice.
“And what?”
“Are you a thing?” he pressed.
“I don’t think so.”
“But you find him attractive.”
“Anyone with eyes would.”
“You’re so cagey!” he said exasperatedly, and she laughed.
“Did you call your aunt Prescilla about the am-dram group yet?”
“I did, they’re called the Great Foss Players. She’s given me the number of the director, one Gideon Clarke. Got a pen handy?”
“A director, that sounds promising.” She scribbled down the number he gave her.
“Don’t get your hopes up, we’re not talking team Julian Lloyd Webber here.”
“They’ll be more professional than anyone on team Humbug, that’s for certain. Thanks, you’re a star. I’ll givehim a call tonight. How were things after I left? I feel bad leaving work early.”
