Page 24 of Christmas with Her Millionaire Boss

“Fine,” he said. “The elk can stay. But only until I get a good look at the profit per square foot. If we need to redesign the floor plan, I make no promises.”

“But he stays for now?”

“Yes,” James replied, his sigh sounding more exasperated than he truly felt. “He can stay.”

She turned and smiled. “Thank you.”

That made twice in three days that she’d managed to convince him to bend on a decision. Granted, neither were major sticking points. Still, she had a better record than most of the experienced negotiators he’d faced.

Beginner’s luck, he told himself. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with how her eyes got bluer when she smiled.

He continued studying her after she’d turned her eyes back to the road. Today she was dressed for the holidays in a red sweater and a brightly colored scarf. Candy cane stripes, naturally. A matching knit cap sat on her head. The outfit made her look like a tiny character from Where’s Waldo, only she’d stand out in any crowd, regardless of her size.

A blush worked its way into her cheeks as she sensed him studying her. “How’s your head this morning?” she asked. “You never said.”

“Better,” he replied. Better than better actually. The spot around his stitches was still tender, but the dull ache had disappeared and he could bend and turn his head without the room spinning. “Being able to shower this morning helped.” Nothing like being able to stick your head under a stream of water to erase the cobwebs. “Having a bed helped too. No offense to your sofa.”

“I’m glad you were awake enough to climb the stairs this time,” she replied. “I was thinking that considering how tired you were last night, it was a good thing you couldn’t fly home after all.”

“Yeah, a good thing.” James forced his expression to stay blank. When they’d returned from Belinda’s, he’d gone straight to the bedroom, telling Noelle he was too tired for conversation. In reality, he wanted the solitude so he could process his decision to stay. He wanted to say it boiled down to attraction. Noelle wasn’t stereotypically beautiful—more cute really—but the more he studied her eyes, the more he found her gaze hypnotically compelling. If that was even a thing. And her curves...he did love those curves, no doubt about it.

Problem was, attraction didn’t seem like a complete enough answer. It wasn’t the challenge either, even though she clearly challenged him. He was drawn to her in a way that went beyond attraction. What that meant, he didn’t have a clue, other than knowing he liked her in a way that was different from other women he’d known. Whatever the reason, he didn’t like feeling this way. He didn’t want someone getting under his skin. Didn’t want the awkwardness when things inevitably blew up.

Why break his cardinal rule then by sticking around last night? To spend time with a widow devoted to her late husband and his family, no less?

Hell. Maybe he did want the awkwardness. Maybe he had some subconscious desire to punish himself.

Certainly would explain a lot of things.

A flash of color caught his eye. They were passing an open-air market of some kind, the perimeter of which was marked off by a banner of rainbow-colored flags.

“That’s the Christkindlmarkt,” Noelle said. “It’s German for Christmas market.”

“Yes, I know. I’ve seen them in Europe.”

“Really? Only other one I’ve seen is in Chicago. Ned and Belinda told me about the one they visited in Berlin. Sounded wonderful.”

James watched as they passed a woman moving her collection of knit scarves out of the snow. “If you like flea markets,” he said.

“It’s a lot more than a flea market,” Noelle replied. Even with his head turned to the window, he could feel her giving him the side-eye. It made his stitches tingle. “We hold the market every year. There are crafts, baked goods. Did you even spend time at the market in Europe? Or were you too busy studying the traffic patterns?”

“Contrary to what you might think, I don’t analyze every retail establishment I visit. And no, I didn’t have time to visit the market in Germany. My car drove past on the way to a meeting.”

“No wonder you are being so derisive!” she said. “We’ll visit this one on our way back from the store. Besides the castle, it’s the linchpin of our Christmas Kickoff festival. One of the vendors, Heineman’s Chocolatiers, has the most amazing hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted. Kevin and I made a point of visiting his stall first thing every festival. Mr. Heineman would never forgive me if I skipped it.”

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