Love Finds You on Christmas Morning (27 page)

So what? It was just a hand. Just a knee. Still, she had to crack the window to let the cool air flow onto her face.

“This is a nice apartment complex,” she said when they approached his place. She would have said that no matter what, just to mask her silly emotions. But they actually were pretty buildings. They were brick-front garden apartments, well-tended outside and fairly new-looking.

“Yeah, they’re all right. The location is convenient to my construction site and most stores. But they’re small. I mean, I can live in small quarters, but this has been hard on Freddie. I’m eager to let him run free in my new house and that spacious yard.”

As had happened every time he called Grampa and Granny’s house “his,” she cringed just a little. Yes, other people had owned the house over the years, but this was honestly the first point in her life that she didn’t envision owning the house herself someday.

Nevertheless, when Drew opened the apartment door and Freddie just about jumped into his arms, she felt again that she couldn’t stay mad. And she loved the affection Drew obviously had for his dog. His voice was full of sympathy for Freddie while he hugged him up.

“Aw, was it a bad day, buddy? Were you bored? That’s a good boy. Let’s go for a walk. You wanna go for a walk?”

He looked at Nikki and chuckled. “I’m one of those chatty dog owners. I discuss matters of the day with him, the latest news—”

“Discuss? You mean he answers you?”

He pulled back and looked at Freddie. “In his way. He sets his head in my lap and makes big, adoring eyes at me when he agrees with me.”

“And when he doesn’t agree?”

“Oh, he always agrees.”

She laughed. “Dogs are awesome. My parents didn’t buy another after Barkley, our family dog, died. So Riley has been a bright spot for me there at Harvey’s, even if he doesn’t always agree with me.”

“I’m afraid my chatting at Freddie makes him miss me all that much more when I’m gone.”

But Freddie took time to greet her as well. “Hey, Freddie.” She rubbed his head but kept her distance. She didn’t want to smell like dog when they went out to dinner.

“You want to come with us while I walk him, or would you rather wait here? We won’t be gone long.”

“Oh no, I’ll go with you.” She’d feel odd staying behind—she didn’t know him well enough to be comfortable, alone with all his private stuff. Anyway, she wanted to get to know him better. Even if nothing came of their relationship, she hoped to feel better, knowing who lived in the Tronnier home.

The weather had been rainy earlier, so there were puddles here and there along their walk.

“Great. Freddie’s never seen a puddle he didn’t like.” Drew attempted to keep him from getting muddy without tugging on the leash too stringently. Still, the retriever’s golden fur seemed to pick up plenty of dirt without Freddie’s even trying.

“Riley’s the same.” Nikki took care to walk far enough from Freddie that he didn’t splash on her. She probably shouldn’t have worn pastels today, but she really loved this new top and skirt and couldn’t resist. “But Riley is small and pretty easy to tidy up. It must be a hassle for you, keeping your apartment clean. I’ll bet Freddie can cover the whole place in puppy prints pretty quickly.”

“You’d win that bet. But there isn’t much carpet, and I keep a towel near the door. I’ll wipe him clean before I let him into the apartment. I hope you don’t mind if I take a two-minute shower and change?” He lifted his chin to point in her direction. “You’re all fresh and frilly. But I’ve been working at the new house and will probably smell like Freddie by the time I wipe him down. Will that make you feel uncomfortable?”

“Your showering, or your smelling like a dog?”

He smiled. “I suppose I should ask which of those choices you’re most comfortable with, since they’re diametrically opposed to each other.”

“I think a shower sounds like a wise way to spend two minutes.”

“It’s a plan, then.”

When they returned to the apartment, Drew juggled both his keys and Freddie, who was still active on the other end of his leash. The keys dropped to the floor, and without a moment’s hesitation, Nikki bent down and picked them up.

Drew reacted quickly. “Oh! No, don’t—”

But he wasn’t quick enough. Nikki jangled the keys, which seemed to serve as a Pavlovian signal to Freddie. He jumped up at her, exactly as he had done when Drew first arrived home. But she was far less prepared than Drew had been, and Freddie was far dirtier than when they stood at the front door before.

“Freddie, no! Down!” Drew pulled at the dog, who obeyed at once.

Drew and Nikki observed a moment of silence for her pretty pastel top. She stared down at her dirty chest and wasn’t sure how to react.

“Nikki, I’m so sorry. He gets all wired up at the sound of the keys.”

She hadn’t looked up yet. “I see that.” They were going to have to drive back to Harvey’s so she could change. She could only hope no one needed her for anything. She was free for the evening, but if she stopped at the house, it would be difficult to say no to anything others considered pressing. That was just the nature of being on staff.

Drew opened the door and grabbed a towel from the coat closet. “Here, come on in.” He held up the towel. “This one’s clean. Newly laundered.” And he reached toward her as if he were about to wipe her down.

She gasped and grabbed the towel from him. “Uh, how about you wipe
Freddie
down?”

He rattled his head, as if he had just been kicked. “Oh, man. Of course. You must think I’m a complete clod.”

She tried to repair the damage to her top, but she only succeeded in spreading the mud around. “I guess we’ll have to swing back over to Harvey’s so I can change.”

“Sure, no problem.” Drew worked on Freddie’s legs before he looked at Nikki again. “Or
will
that be a problem?”

She shrugged. “I’m not crazy about popping back in. There’s usually someone who needs me whenever I get home, even if I’m off for the night.”

“No, we can’t have that. We don’t want to do anything to spoil such a successful first date.”

She couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. She glanced at her chest again and allowed the slightest frown before she saw his eyes crease at the corners.

“It’s not that bad,” she said. “I’ve been on worse dates, believe me.” He laughed. “Take it easy. Such glowing praise might go to my head. But I really am sorry about your top.”

“This is washable. I just don’t want to stop in at Harvey’s.”

“Maybe I have something you could wear.”

Nikki appreciated having a good excuse to give him a once-over. “I doubt we wear the same size. Are you saying you have some women’s clothes here?”

“Oh. No. Sorry. But I have a few lightweight cotton sweatshirts that are pretty small on me.” He tilted his head. “We could try.”

The smallest top he had was a pale-blue, loose-weave cotton sweater. Nikki took it into the bathroom and changed. It might have been small on Drew, but it nearly covered her skirt. Only the frill at the bottom peeked out. But this was better than interrupting their date. She stepped from the bathroom and went looking for Drew.

He was in the kitchen with his back to her, talking quietly on his cell phone. She heard concern in his voice.

“Now you know I’m not going to tell you what to do. I know you hate that. But could you please take the time to develop a friendship—I know, I know, I’ve said that before. But, Isabelle, you keep jumping into these so-called romances and getting hurt—”

At that moment he turned and looked at Nikki.

“Wow.” He lost his grip on his cell phone, as if her appearance knocked him, physically. He grabbed for the phone as it fell to the floor. From what Nikki saw, he actually smacked the phone in his efforts to catch it, and the battery shot right off the back when it landed. It stopped at Nikki’s feet.

He shook his head and laughed. He bent down and picked up the phone. “What a klutz. I’m sorry. I’ll have to call her back just to hang up.”

“Is it all right if I pick up the battery for you, or will Freddie attack me if I do?”

“No, batteries do nothing for him. You look fantastic, by the way. My sweater never looked so cool.”

“Cool?” She handed him the battery.

“Yeah. You have that kind of feminine, bohemian style anyway, and now you look like a model out of one of those trendy clothing catalogs or something.”

She looked down at herself. “ ‘Or something’ is right.” She saw he was placing the call again. “I’ll wait in the living room.”

“Oh, no, stay. I’m only going to explain why I hung up and then I’ll hang up again.”

And that was exactly what he ended up doing with this Isabelle person. Was she the old girlfriend? The one who went a little wild after they broke up? Lived with her boss? Drew sounded as if he were talking to his little sister, but he had said he didn’t have siblings. Then she noticed a smile, and he glanced up at her.

“Yes, I have a date.” His eyes twinkled with amusement meant for Nikki, obviously, although it sounded as though the woman on the phone was teasing him. “Uh-huh. The one I told you about. Freddie even likes her. Yes, I will. Gotta go.”

“Yes, you will
what?”
Now Nikki was especially intrigued.

He scratched at his eyebrow. “Listen to my own advice. That was my old girlfriend. I think I mentioned her to you before. She hasn’t been making the best relationship decisions, and I’ve often told her she rushes into romances without building friendships first.”

Nikki wasn’t actually sure she liked the idea of this woman cautioning him about his relationship with her. But she couldn’t fault the advice.

They went to Biaggi’s for Italian food, and halfway through their capellini di mare and rigatoni alla Toscana, Drew finally talked about the house.

“I’m working on plans for remodeling, and I have a good idea of what I want to do. The kitchen needs to be completely redone—it’s way out-of-date. The appliances look like they’re from the seventies, and I think the layout could be a lot more convenient. But I’m hesitant about some of my other plans because I’m clueless about style.”

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever I see a place that I think has terrific decor—you know, the paint colors, the molding, the wainscoting, that kind of thing—I know I like it. But when it comes to envisioning what to do with my own home, I don’t trust my taste. My home in San Diego was already done when I bought it. But this is starting from scratch. I don’t want to take away from what’s so beautiful about this old place.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that.” She realized too late that she spoke as if she had something at stake with his choice of decor.

He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re glad. You appreciate old beauty too, then?”

“Absolutely. I like contemporary decor, and I think it’s possible to give an old house a modern feel. But not at the expense of such beautiful enhancements like the crown molding that goes up the main staircase and, as you said, touches like the wainscoting in the dining room—”

“Wow, you really
are
familiar with the house, aren’t you?”

What was the matter with her? For a moment she wondered if her subconscious was deliberately trying to arouse his curiosity about her history with the house.

She shrugged, with the hope of suggesting nonchalance. “It’s an impressive place, I guess. In my business, I’ve been in my share of expensive restaurants and private homes—Armand catered back in Charlotte—to get a good feel for what I think is classic beauty and what’s just over the top. Gram—” She caught herself. “Your home deserves classic beauty in its decor.”

And with that final verbal misstep, she shut her mouth about the house. It was obviously best that she not offer any more comments about how the house should look. If he ended up making a mess of Grampa and Granny’s home, she’d keep telling herself,
It’s just a house…. It’s just a house….

It wasn’t her place to tell Drew what to do, but she was so emotionally attached to the place. It would probably be best if she avoided being there while he had the remodeling and decorating done.

Drew’s eyes took on the spark of a new idea, and he leaned forward, eagerness in his smile.

“You know, my Realtor gave me the website links for a couple of interior decorators, and I checked them out. There were all kinds of those over-the-top things you’re talking about.”

“Oh, gosh. Don’t use them, Drew.” She shook her head and put up her hand to stop her comment. “I mean, use whoever you want. It’s none of my business, and I should keep my nose out of it.”

“On the contrary. Nikki, how about
you
act as my decorating advisor?”

Drew couldn’t quite figure out what caused Nikki’s discomfort. It seemed to come and go as they spoke, and right now it was definitely here.

“What? You don’t think you could tell me how to decorate? I’ll bet you could.” He gestured at his sweater, which never looked so good as it did on her. The light-blue made her warm brown eyes look darker and more soulful. And the layers of her long brunette hair waved loosely around her shoulders in a casual yet somehow perfect way. “You have such a cool style about you, Nikki, and you said yourself you’ve been in plenty of fancy restaurants and homes to have a good idea of what works where.”

“Thanks, but I’m too busy working for Harvey.” She glanced at her watch. “As a matter of fact, we should probably wrap up the evening so I can get back.”

“It wouldn’t be a full-time thing, though.” Drew signaled to the server for the check. “Just come by and talk to me about what you envision. I’d be willing to pay for your time.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t charge you.”

“Then you’ll do it?”

She frowned and released an exasperated—and exasperating—sigh. “Let me think about it. Okay?”

“Sure. You just let me know. In the meantime, I’ll start looking for sales on pink flamingos and velvet Elvis paintings.”

After she gave him that smart smile again, she seemed to relax.

When they got outside to his car, he stepped ahead of her to open her door. He didn’t mean to cut her off, but she came close to bumping into him before she realized what he was doing. She righted herself, but he helped by taking hold of her. He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried, and now the two of them were mere inches from each other. He would have to pull away just to see more than her eyes. He found he had no desire to do so.