Darcy left Ben to work, but throughout the morning she kept finding excuses to go back and check on him. She found herself smiling when she caught him with ropes of lights around his neck and shoulders. His black t-shirt was faded to charcoal and didn’t quite stay down around his hips. Not when he kept reaching up to tuck lights in whatever strategic way he seemed to have devised.

A heavy black belt gripped his hips and somehow seemed to accentuate how tight he was. Everywhere. Smooth skin peeked above the belt. Even the little flashes of flesh were muscled. And a tiny corner of a tattoo peeked along his side.

It made her want to push up the shirt and see what it was. It looked like words. Just what sort of words would Ben Hartley have tattooed to his flesh forever? A woman’s name? A line of poetry? A sarcastic saying that fit his lightning-quick wit?

And he was tireless. He was up and down the ladder, painstakingly wrapping branches in some pattern only he seemed to know. Petey, their receiving manager, kept coming out to see the progress.

Ben seemed so at ease with everyone. He had Petey cracking jokes, Jaime bringing him bottles of water hourly, and every cashier that could get away from their register volunteering to help him.

Was he giving off some sort of special pheromone?

That had to be why she was just as pulled to him.

She forced herself to look back down at her schedule. The midshift was coming in. She had breaks to cover and Jaime needed to take her lunch. And she had to sit down with Ben and talk about the design.

“Where did you find him again, Ms. Tucker?”

Darcy looked up from her tablet at Miriam’s voice. The woman was a cat. “He’s my tenant.”

“I thought you lived in the suburbs?”

Darcy clicked off her screen and snapped it at her hip. “I do. I own a duplex.”

Miriam looked over at the tree, then back at her. Her lips were pinched and her ice-blue eyes were even cooler than usual. “How long did you say he’ll be here?”

“Is there a problem?” Darcy didn’t like her tone.

“He’s blocking the front end with all his…paraphernalia.”

Judicious as always, that was Miriam. Darcy bit back a sigh. “Actually he’s going to be here through the day and will be doing the big changes during the overnight.”

“He’s staying in the store all night?”

“He’s doing us a favor, Ms. Blackstone. I’m making myself available for whatever he needs. He’s only charging us for materials. Not his time or his expertise.”

Miriam’s shoulders went back and her spine stiffened. Even more than usual, and that was a miracle of anatomy. “I understand that, but he’s…”

Darcy tipped her head to the side. “He’s…” She wanted her to say it. All her life she’d had to deal with people like Miriam Blackstone. She’d had to fight for every promotion in this store because she’d come from nothing. Just because Ben had tattoos all down his arm and looked a little dangerous didn’t mean he wasn’t trustworthy.

For goodness’ sake, the man was the poster child for Christmas and easy smiles.

“I don’t know him,” Miriam finished. “You’ll be here with him all night and you’ll be responsible for anything that happens. I want this store perfect for tomorrow when my parents arrive.”

“Oh, it will be.”

“See that it is, and I’ll make sure my parents know you were the lead on the project.”

Darcy’s skin tingled and all the hairs on her arms stood up. No matter how much she hated Christmas, this was a perfect opportunity to show she could be assistant manager. Christmas was a marketing tool. Nothing more.

“You won’t be disappointed.”

“Since you’ll be here late, I’ll have Mr. Anderson take your morning shift. I want you here when my parents arrive at one o’clock.”

“Understood.”

“And, Ms. Tucker. I can’t stress how perfect this needs to be.”

Darcy nodded. She’d been looking for a way to prove herself and this was it. She hurried over to Ben, who’d shrugged on his jacket. On her way by she motioned to her watch and made the get out of here sign to Jaime. Her lead cashier waved her off and went back to the register. The woman was worse than she was about taking breaks. But Jaime was hourly and breaks were mandatory. Darcy was salaried.

Salaried in retail was tantamount to slave labor. She stopped beside the ladder. Ben stood above her and from this angle she could see more of the tattoo, but still not enough to read it. She seriously had to stop looking at him as if he were one of her dark-chocolate caramel swirl ice-cream bars. It was getting ridiculous.

“Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“You have your jacket on and you’re back on the ladder.”

He looked down, the corner of his lip tipped up in amusement. “You’re observant, Darcy. Did I ever tell you that?” He buried his arm into the limbs of the tree until his face disappeared into the foliage.

What the heck was he doing? Looking to take a sap sample? She rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you going out for supplies?”

“Yes ma’am. I just need to figure out how much more I need. This spruce is a big mother.” He climbed down quickly. The squeak of protest from the ancient ladder made her nervous. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on the man, but he was…well, strapping was a good word. Dense muscles flexed and flowed under his skin. His jeans hugged massive thighs.

Don’t think about his thighs.

“You’ve got lights wrapped around every branch. Is it going to be too much?”

“No, I need to manipulate each branch for the music.”

“How?”

He stepped down to the floor. He was so close she could feel the warmth of his skin and the tantalizing scent of pine and leather swirled around her. “Do you really want to know how I use channels and create the sectors that the music will be manipulated through?”

Wow. Vastly underestimating her neighbor’s prowess with electronics was going to get her into trouble. Bad boy look and brains to spare? Nope, not at all good for her peace of mind. “Engineering degree?”

“Nope, my degree is on the streets, darlin’. I learned everything I know from friends and acquaintances, with a side of trial and error.”

Her belly twisted. She knew all about on-the-job training instead of college, but for this kind of thing? She wasn’t sure it was a good idea. “This is going to work, right?”

He tapped the tip of her nose. “I’m going to blow you away.”

She folded her arms. “You’re a cocky one.”

“Nah. Just aim to impress the pretty girl.”

She could feel the heat of her cheeks. Damn fair skin. “I need Mr. and Mrs. Blackstone impressed, not me.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one I want to impress.” He clicked his boot heels together and gave her a snappy salute. “I’ll be back and you are going to sit down with me for at least twenty minutes and eat.”

“I’ll try.”

He cuffed her wrist with his forefinger and thumb. “It’s going to be a long night, Darcy. You’ll need your strength.”

Gosh, she hoped he couldn’t feel her pulse hammering away as though it were a rabbit on meth. One touch and she was a frazzled mess. And he was right. She needed her strength to get through the night. And dinner. “Is that offer still open?”

His lids lowered. The hooded look made her think of anything but the possible sandwich he was bringing back. “Which offer is that?”

“Food, Ben.”

The smile was slow and anything but innocent. “Of course.”

The entire night with him? She was so freaking screwed.

Oh yeah.

Screwed.

“I’m getting a sub from Lou’s. Want a hot or cold one?”

The Lean Cuisine she had stashed in the freezer for emergencies paled in comparison. “Meatball,” she said before she could stop herself. She should have asked for a salad or anything else but a sauce, meat and cheese explosion of garlic.

Her mouth watered at the thought. She rarely allowed herself to have takeout. It was just too expensive and she was saving to build a deck off the back of her house. She patted her pockets.

“I got it.”

“The least I can do is buy lunch.”

He nudged past her, giving her ponytail a yank. “I got it. If I can get you to sit with me for twenty minutes and talk it will be well worth it.”

“This isn’t a date.”

He threw a grin over his shoulder. “Oh darlin’, you’d know it if we were dating. You’d be smiling a helluva lot more.” He disappeared beyond the jewelry counter.

Her nails dug into her palms before she realized it.

“He’s right.” She turned to find Jaime beside her. “I bet you’d be smiling like that damn fish Dory that my daughter can’t stop watching.”

“Oh sure, that’s attractive. Dory’s the vapid, forgetful one, right? I think not. Besides, he’s too cocky. What the heck would I do with a guy like that?”

Jaime’s eyebrow rose. “If I have to explain it to you, then it’s been way too long.”

Darcy jammed her fisted hands under her arms. “He’s my tenant.”

“He’s smokin’ hot.”

“Looks aren’t everything, Jaime.”

“When he looks like that and is giving off signals that every tower in the next five towns can read? Yeah, that’s when you pounce. Like now. Or better, when the store’s closed and you’re alone.”

“There are cameras!”

“Not everywhere and you know where the blind spots are.”

“Jaime.”

“What? You think the bedding department hasn’t been violated six ways to Sunday? Please.”

“And that would be six of the many reasons why I wouldn’t do that.” Darcy shuddered. Working in a department store was never boring, that was for sure. How many times had she run people out of the dressing rooms? It might have been hot in the movies to make out in the little confined spaces but the reality of it? Ugh. Not so much.

Jaime lowered her voice. “You need someone to put you up against the wall and give you a good orgasm.”

Her eyes widened as she looked around. “You did not just say that.”

“I did. Look, my Michael may not look like the god of Christmas trees and ornaments but he knows how to make me scream. And you are overdue. Why don’t you just see what happens? If it doesn’t amount to anything, who cares?”

“I have to live next to him.”

“I know for a fact that you can pretend to like just about anyone, Darcy. You haven’t killed Gary yet.”

She tipped her head back. It wasn’t a good idea. At all. She tugged the sleeves of her sweater down, hiding her hands. “How about you go on break?”

Jaime sighed. “You can avoid it all you want, babes. But you know you’re interested. I’ve watched you watching him all day.”

“Nosy much?”

“Looking out for my girl,” Jaime corrected. “Have some fun. All you do is work and go home. What’s wrong with having a little fun with Christmas boy?”

“Because he’s Christmas boy. He loves it. I can’t stand it. I’ll strangle him with a string of lights when he tries to convince me to decorate at my house.”

Jaime laughed. “So you’re thinking about him in your house, huh?”

“Oh, shut up.”

* * *

Ben loaded the last of his purchases into the back of his truck. If he did this for real he’d have to look into buying in bulk. He’d made a pit stop at the computer store for another board. He’d modified one to run the lights at the house, but needed a bigger circuit board to control all the different strings of lights he’d needed to use at the store. The tree was fucking huge. And he’d need to play around with the program to make it work.

He’d made sure that each layer of lights on the tree was even so he could make a few different patterns. And because he was a glutton for punishment, he’d tagged a song out of his personal playlist. A non-holiday tune to make Darcy smile.

Masochist was the word of the day.

Christ, he went out of his way to get her to smile. How fucked was he? She was his landlord, for God’s sake. Hadn’t he learned anything with Jess? He’d done the roommates deal to save money and they’d broken every rule about being friends. Hell, they’d christened every room a dozen times. They couldn’t get enough of each other at first.

At first.

Then came reality. Living with a woman was hard. The compromises to live with a friend were hard enough. He’d had roommates for most of his life, but living with a woman and becoming intimate was completely different. Bad habits came out, shitty days couldn’t be ignored, and if he wanted to just work on sketches and be in his own space, he was the bad guy.

No.

This so wasn’t a good idea.

He slammed the tailgate.

Okay, so they technically lived separately. If he wanted time alone, he had a whole wall between them.

And that was idiocy talking.

A wall didn’t mean anything when two people were dating.

No woman he’d ever been with had known the meaning of personal space. And he couldn’t bear to disappoint someone he was involved with. Because he was an idiot. He was overthinking everything.

It was a sandwich. And it was an evening. Even if everything about her made him want to pull her in and see how she fit. That was hormones talking.

After Jess he’d needed a break from the opposite sex. Then it just got easier to stay in his routine. Workouts, messing with the Christmas lights, the shop. Everything but going out with his friends.

He pulled into Lou’s small parking lot. The cars were stacked fifteen deep in a lot that was barely big enough for six. The shouts from inside and the hot punch of garlic on the air made his mouth water. Lou’s was a dive to beat all dives. And the strip of shops it was in was moving into the high end of trinkets, wine and boutiques. All except Lou.

Deli paper lined the walls with buckets of crayons nailed beneath. Red booths that had been there since the opening when he was a kid were jammed against every available wall and the deli counter was chin-high. Specials were taped up along the front breadboard and torn down daily. The signs were made by Lou’s kids, and now grandkids.

“Hey, kid,” Lou yelled when he spotted him.

“What are you doing slinging hoagies, old man? Where’s Dom?”

“My useless excuse for a son is hurling up his toes.”

Ben winced. “You poison him?”

“Hey! There’s nothing but excellence under my roof, kid.”

Ben laughed. A Red Sox cap sat backwards on Lou’s bald head and his sauce-splattered t-shirt hung off his shoulders as though they were a hanger. Lou was all bones and angles, but behind the counter he was magic and fluid grace. He had bread sliced open, yeasty sourdough warring with the garlic as two guys Ben didn’t know scrambled to keep up with the owner.

“Can I get a meatball grinder and a Philly steak to go?”

Lou made quick work of the food and wrapped the sandwiches in foil then deli paper. “I haven’t seen you in a few weeks.”

“Work’s been kicking my ass.”

“Inking up all those hot girls.” Lou waggled his bushy eyebrows. “They like those little designs above their butts. Nice.”

Ben grinned. Tramp stamps, as they were lovingly referred to, never quite fell out of favor. The curve of a woman’s spine and the hollow at the sweet spot of her back was a damn sexy place to accentuate. And it wasn’t a hardship for him to do. But women forgot how sensitive it was to use the needle around bone. Fleshier girls didn’t mind, but the rail-thin ones—well, more than one had walked away with a smaller design than intended.

“The only downside of my job is the pain.”

“True that.” Lou lifted his sleeve to show off a skeleton in a Red Sox uniform clutching the World Series trophy. “This hurt like a bitch.”

Ben took the food. “Because you’re goddamn skin and bones. You should come in and let me retouch that.”

“What and jinx my team?”

Ben rolled his eyes. “I’ve got the lucky touch, didn’t you get the email?”

“I’m too busy feeding you vultures. Next!”

Ben texted Cesar and with no emergencies on the horizon, he maneuvered his way out of the clusterfuck that was Lou’s and back to Darcy. No—back to the store. Back to the job at hand. The job just happened to have a lovely side benefit, that was all. He tucked their food into his messenger bag with a fistful of napkins from his console.

After a quick unloading with Petey, he braved the store. He slung the bag over his head and behind him as he stacked the materials next to the base of the tree. He had a good eight hours of work ahead of him and that was if everything went smoothly.

He scanned the room and found her. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders as she pushed it back with a harried look. She was bent over her little tablet, flicking through screens as Jaime ticked off something on her clipboard.

Looked like trouble to him.

He dumped the last case of lights and walked over to the customer service desk. It was quiet at the store. A little after two in the afternoon, it was a wasteland compared to what it had been right before lunch.

“No, he’s over hours.”

“What about Henry?”

“He’s not really ready for being on his own, is he?”

“I trained him,” Jaime said, “and I can watch for any issues.”

“Okay, call him in. He’s eager and wants hours.”

Jaime scribbled something.

“Hey, ladies.”

Jaime smiled. “Hey, Gigantor.” She sniffed. “That’s not cologne, doll. What do you have?”

Darcy leaned forward and took a long sniff. “Better than cologne.” She looked up, her eyes widening. Her cheeks flushed and the freckles he hadn’t noticed before flared. She cleared her throat and drew back. “You brought me food.” She moaned. “I can’t get away.”

His chest tightened at the soft sound. Is that what she’d sound like under— No. He was here to work, not think about Darcy and the sounds she made when she relaxed. Hell, would she relax even during sex? She was always so wound up.

“Yes, you can.” Jaime pushed her portable tablet away from Darcy. “It’s as close to calm as we’re going to get.”

“But we’ve got three callouts.”

“And we’re dead. Go, before we’re not. Gary is on the floor so if something comes up I’ll call him.”

“He’s useless up front.”

“Yeah well, as long as we don’t have another customer like bike guy, then I don’t need him.”

Ben’s fingers stiffened on his strap. Petey had shown him pictures from the day before. He still wasn’t positive it was his brother, but damn, it had been a mess. “C’mon, Darcy. We need to go over what’s happening the rest of the day anyway. Can’t let me go unsupervised, can you?”

Darcy sighed. “No, I suppose I can’t.”

Man alive, this woman didn’t know the meaning of the word teasing. He pulled his bag over his head. “I’ve got a meatball grinder. Darcy, eat me,” he said in a faux Muppet voice as he wagged the flap.

She huffed out a laugh. “All right.” She slid her tablet into her hip holster. “Call me if you need anything, Jaime.”

“Go.” When Darcy hesitated, Jaime shooed her. “Go and leave me be. I’ll call Henry.”

“I’m going.”

Darcy rounded the counter and snatched the bag out of his hand. “I could eat the bag I’m so hungry.”

“Lunch room?”

She nodded to the back. “Near receiving. We have a little employee room.”

He followed her and again she outstrided him. He picked up his pace and caught up to her. “Racing?”

She slowed down. “Sorry. I should probably get one of those fitness watches. I have to walk a dozen miles in here a day.”

“Who needs the gym?”

She smiled. “The day I get a desk job is the day my butt goes to the gym.”

“Do you want to do something different?”

“No. I’ve been here since I was seventeen. I love it.” She tapped a code on the door. “Most of the time.” She backed into the door, swinging it open for him.

“What about you? I mean I know where you work, but do you love it?”

“I own my own place and don’t answer to anyone. Works for me.”

“Doesn’t surprise me.”

Two round tables and an old picnic table filled the room. A pair of vending machines and an ancient fridge lined the back wall. She set his bag down and went to a small locker tucked behind the door. “Soda?”

“Yeah, diet whatever.” She pulled out money, crossed to the machines and set two bottles of Diet Coke on the scarred table. “What doesn’t surprise you?”

“You don’t seem like you’re a rules kinda guy.” She hooked her leg through the bench-style seat of the picnic table.

He unloaded their food. “I tried the employee thing. I even apprenticed for five years at a studio, but Chuck wasn’t interested in doing anything but the tats in the books.” He peeled back the paper and, finding sauce, slid it her way. “None of his own art. I was getting more clientele than him by the end.” He shrugged. “It was easier to leave than ruin a friendship.”

She unrolled her grinder carefully, her eyes closing as the scents of garlic and sweet marinara sauce floated up between them. “Jealousy has a nasty side effect.”

He grunted. Both for her visceral reaction to the food and his past. A reputation was all an artist had in the tattoo business. He did the trade shows, even inked a few celebrities when he’d lived in Boston. But he liked having his own place. Close enough to go into the city for conferences but far away enough that he could take it easy and hone his craft. He’d built up a good name, but his space was small. Just him and Cesar.

She tore off a quarter of the sandwich and lifted it to her mouth just as a chime came from her hip. “Dammit.” She put it down, licking the tips of her fingers. “Just five minutes, that’s all I ask.”

“You’re allowed a break, Darcy.”

“Yeah, tell that to Gary.”

“I will.”

She looked up, her deep green eyes wide with surprise. She glanced back down at her tablet and tapped something before tucking it back into the bag at her side.

“Staying?”

“He can handle it. We have things to discuss.”

He tried to hide his smile.

“No smirking. I did it for work.”

“Of course.”

She took a big bite and muffled what sounded like an ode to Lou before swallowing. “So, tell me what’s going on for the rest of the day. Miriam’s bugging me hourly for an update.”

“I got what I needed from a few stores. Once I’m done with the gear and program the lights, we’ll be in business.”

She pulled a little notebook out of her pocket, this time with a pen. “How do the music and the lights work?”

“I can program the lights with most songs. It works with the beats. I hardwire it into the music that plays on the overhead and tell it only to recognize certain songs.”

“Really?” She picked at a meatball and wrapped it in a string of cheese before popping it in her mouth.

He grinned, rubbing at the corner of his mouth that mirrored where extra sauce settled on her.

She blushed and picked up a wad of napkins.

Too bad.

He would have liked to brush it away for her.

More dangerous ground.

Her little tether to the store chimed four more times during their meal. Each time, the idiot Gary couldn’t make a decision without her. If Ben wasn’t mistaken, Gary was checking up on her. On the last ring she finally stood up. “Evidently a half hour is too much to ask for.”

He tucked the remnants of his sandwich into the wrappers and collected hers. “Go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“The world is obviously going to fall apart without you.”

She sighed. “I do actually have two days off. Most of the time.”

“Tell me you don’t come in on your days off.”

“Sometimes it can’t be helped.”

“Delegating is an art form. They need to learn about it.”

“Yeah well, until that magical day happens I’m the It girl. Especially with Black Friday coming so fast.”

“I’ll make sure the store is ready for that crazy holiday. I promise.”

She stopped beside him and leaned down, brushing a kiss along his cheek. “You don’t even know what a lifesaver you are.”

He turned his cheek until their mouths lined up. She sucked in a breath, her eyes such a deep green it didn’t seem natural. Everything inside him said take. The soft sweater that hugged her, the pale hair that kept sliding from its bindings, her lower lip that she couldn’t stop licking—all those textures lured. Add in the ocean-fresh scent of her and he couldn’t resist. He leaned in but she drew back, tucked her hands into her sleeves and hurried to the door. “I’ll just let Miriam know the plan.”

Damn. He lifted a foot out, straddling the bench seat. Was she running because she wasn’t interested? Or because she was just as attracted as he was? “I’ll see you later.”

“Right. Um, right. I’ll find you later.”

Then she was gone.

And he had work to do—a lot of it.