Of course, he would be surprised by her rushing him and they would probably fall end over end, down the flight of stairs and be seriously injured, but for one brief shining moment...

She held in a laugh and passed him the dresses.

“Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

She followed him down the stairs. When they reached the main floor, she took the dresses from him and put them on a rolling rack. She added two others and then looked at him.

“I have to get these to Janet.”

“Right. I should go.”

Neither of them reached for the door.

“I have to buy a Christmas present,” he blurted.

“Excuse me?”

“For my manager. I never have. It turns out that I give lots of gifts every year. I’m sure they’re appropriate, but it’s not me. It’s her staff. Mostly her assistant. I’ve been with Annelise nearly ten years and I’ve never bought her a gift.”

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Madeline was having trouble making sense of the words. “Your manager is a woman?”

“Yeah. She’s great. She takes care of me. I want to get her something. Like a thank-you present, but for Christmas. Where should I shop?”

“At a store? There are several in town. Or online.” Didn’t the man ever go to the mall, like a regular person?

Madeline thought about the chaos Jonny Blaze would cause in a mall. Okay, that was out. “Oh, there’s the gift bazaar this weekend. You could go there. Some of the things are silly, but a lot are nice. There’s usually some beautiful artwork and jewelry. Clothes, fudge.” She paused to have a taste flashback. “The fudge is really good.”

“Want to go with me?”

Naked? Could he be naked? Oh, wait. She didn’t want that in public. “Sure. I have a morning appointment, but I’m free in the afternoon.”

He flashed her a smile. A beautiful, wide, sexy, Jonny Blaze smile. On the big screen it was pretty compelling, but in person, it left her weak at the knees.

“Thanks,” he said, and leaned toward her.

One second there was nothing, the next his mouth brushed against hers. The heat was amazing. Breath-stealing. Perfect.

“I’ll see you here at noon. We’ll grab lunch, then go to the bazaar.”

She nodded because the act of speaking would use too many brain cells and right now they were busy storing the feel of his warm mouth against hers.

“See you Saturday.”

With that, he was gone. Still enjoying the tingle aftermath, Madeline wheeled the dresses toward the changing room and wondered if her math skills were good enough for her to calculate exactly how many hours that was going to be.

* * *

Jonny wasn’t sure what to expect at the Fool’s Gold holiday gift bazaar, but the first thing that stumped him was the location.

“I didn’t know this town had a convention center,” he admitted. He parked his SUV, then looked at the concrete-block structure. “It’s kind of ugly.”

“I know. One of our only eyesores.” Madeline unfastened her seat belt. “But it’s a great multipurpose building. We have all kinds of events here, especially at the holidays. The Dance of the Winter King has gotten so popular that it had to be moved here, and in a couple of weeks we’ll have the annual holiday pet adoption here.”

“Pet adoption?”

“Just like it sounds.”

“Is there anything the town doesn’t do for the holidays?”

“Nothing that isn’t good. Although last year someone stole all the toys for the toy drive.”

Something he couldn’t imagine happening in this place. “Let me guess. In forty-eight hours you had everything replaced, and even more toys than before.”

“Something like that,” she admitted with a smile.

Her eyes were a pretty shade of blue. She wore her hair loose and had on jeans and a sweatshirt with cartoon reindeer on the front.

In the close confines of his SUV, they seemed to be the only two people in the world. He could inhale the scent of her soap, or maybe it was a light perfume, along with the essence of the woman herself. It was a heady combination. One that made him think that if he were someone else, he would haul her close and kiss her until they were both mindless.

The wanting felt good, he thought. It had been a long time since he’d allowed himself to relax enough to get there. Although he hadn’t consciously been easing his guard, there was just something about being around her. She was easy to talk to. Easy to be with. Comfortable, in a way. But sexy. Talk about a combination that was difficult to ignore.




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