Alexander rubbed his forehead as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. What was wrong with him? How could he be developing a crush on the appraiser? How stupid was that? She was obviously not interested in him. He opened the cabinet and took out his razor. He needed to get a grip on himself before he did something stupid.

He shaved and dressed as he always did, in his work clothes, even though he worked from home. He never wanted to get lax and take his responsibilities for granted. He was the one who made his business profitable. If he started getting lazy, he could lose it all.

He walked into his office and noticed Milly wasn’t curled up in her normal position on his office chair. He looked around for her, but she wasn’t there. Charley had probably taken her out to work with her in the garage. He tried to shrug it off, but a part of him grew annoyed. He’d been the one to rescue her. She’d been in his office since he’d brought her into the house. It’s where her litter box was.

After trying to work for a few minutes, he decided to go check on the kitten. He walked through the house and out into the garage. He found Charley sitting on a footstool, going through another box. The garage looked good. She’d actually gotten through more than he’d anticipated. She might be done early.

The little black kitten was on the cement floor running in a circle, chasing her tail. Charley giggled then turned to him. “Good morning. Do you need something?”

“No. I, uh...was just checking on the cat.”

“Oh, sorry. I just thought I’d bring her in here to keep me company. Since I’m taking her with me anyway, I figured I’d get her out of your way.”

Out of his way. Yes. “Right.” He scratched his chin. What could he say to that? He had made it perfectly clear he wasn’t keeping the kitten. And it was fine if Charley wanted to take her. He had no say in it since he didn’t want her. “Smart.”

Charley looked up at him. “You are fine with me keeping her, right?”

“Yes. Of course.” The kitten stopped playing with her tail and pounced up on a mound of boxes. She pawed at the flaps, trying to get inside. It was adorable. “I was just making sure she was with you.”

“Yep. She’s helping me sort through the things.” Charley pulled out an item wrapped in newspaper from the box she was working on. It was shaped like a vase. As she unwrapped the marbled glass, Alexander took a step back.

“Well, I’ll leave you to the work, then.”

A doorbell rang and Charley sprang up from her stool, setting the vase down into the box. “Oh my gosh, it’s Paul.”

Alexander took a step back, confused. “Who?”

“Paul. Come on, let’s go.”

“Wait, who’s Paul?”

Charley grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the door to the kitchen. “Come on. You’ll see.”

She dragged him through the kitchen to the door to the mud room, then stopped and put her finger to her lips. He could see Dorothy at the back door talking to a delivery man.

“Why are we—”

“Shh!” Charley commanded, giving him a fierce look. “Listen.”

He leaned closer, listening. Dorothy was talking. “Yes. I love psychological thrillers.”

“You should read Girl Last Seen. I think you’d really like that one.”

“Good suggestion. I’ll add that to my list.” There was a bit of silence and Alexander peered around the corner. Dorothy had her phone out and was swiping her finger across the screen.

Paul stared at the phone. “You know something else you should add to your phone?”

“What?”

He took it from her. “My number.”

Charley’s eyes widened and she mouthed the words, “Oh my gosh!”

Dorothy giggled and put her hand up to her hair. “I’d love that.”

He winked and handed her phone back to her. “Call me sometime.”

Charley pulled on his arm, but he wanted to see what else happened, so he didn’t move. Charley whacked him and yanked harder. “Come on,” she whispered.

He reluctantly followed her back to the garage. When she shut the door, she turned to him, a gigantic grin on her face. “Oh, my word. Can you believe that? He was so smooth too. ‘You know something else you should add to your phone?’ My goodness, he’s such a flirt! And did you see how Dorothy acted? She’s totally into him.”

Alexander wasn’t sure what was going on, but Charley sure was having fun with it. “Who was that?”

“Paul. Keep up.”

“Am I supposed to know who Paul is?”

Charley pushed against his chest playfully. “Are you completely blind? He’s the UPS guy.”

“Obviously.”

“Come on, you haven’t noticed all the packages Dorothy gets? Or the way she runs to grab the door when Paul comes? It’s like a soap opera.”

He chuckled and ducked his head. “What are you doing all day? Didn’t I give you enough work out here?”

Charley snorted. “I can’t believe you’ve never noticed. But this is the first time I’ve seen him be so bold. They usually flirt like crazy, but wow. He was pretty suave. And I’m dying to know what happens next.”

Alexander shook his head. “You’re crazy.”

“It’s just so cute, you know? She orders a book almost every day. I know she likes to read, but it’s more than that. She likes to talk to Paul.”

“Really?”

“It’s hilarious. They are so adorable together. I’ve been waiting for him to ask her out. This is the first step, I’m sure of it.” Charley looked like she was about to burst out of her funny socks.

“You should plug in a television out here. You need some entertainment or something.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “I have plenty of entertainment already.”

He shook his head and walked toward the door. “All right. I should get back to work, then.”

“Okay. Go for it. I’ll keep Milly happy.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

As he walked back to his office, he had a strange sense of loss. Like he wanted to stay out in the garage longer. Weird. Maybe he was growing attached to the kitten. Which, in that case, it was good Charley was taking her off his hands. He didn’t need to get too attached to anything right now. He had work to do.

***

CHARLEY STABBED A CARROT with her fork, hardly able to keep still in her chair. As soon as Dorothy left the room, she leaned closer to Alexander. “Do you think she’ll call him tonight?”

He scowled at her. “Dear heavens. Why don’t you just ask her?”

What a party pooper. She shot him a glare. “I can’t! Then she’ll know I spied on her.”

“That’s an easy fix.”

Dorothy came in carrying a pitcher of water. Alexander turned to her. “This afternoon Charley and I—”

“Stop!” Charley reached over and slapped her hand over his mouth. What the devil was he doing? He was going to ruin everything.

Dorothy’s eyes widened and she stepped back. “What?”

“Nothing!” Charley hadn’t expected him to blurt it out like that, and now she frantically tried to think of something to cover it up. “We just were talking...and...” She suddenly remembered they were supposed to bake. “We decided that we want to make Christmas cookies tonight. Right, Alexander?”

He peered at her and she realized she still held her hand over his mouth. She removed it quickly. He shot her a disapproving look before turning to Dorothy. “She overheard you talking to Paul.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Charley huffed and tossed her napkin onto the table. “You don’t know anything about stealth, do you?”

Dorothy’s cheeks reddened. “You overheard?”

Charley had to smooth things over. She shook her head. “No. I mean, we happened to be in the kitchen when your delivery came.”

Dorothy narrowed her eyes. “You weren’t in the kitchen.”

“Well, we were walking by.”

“You were both in the garage,” Dorothy said.

“We were eavesdropping,” Alexander said.

Charley slapped the table. “Stop that!”

“What?” He gave her an innocent look, which she wanted to slap off his face. “We were.”

The whole thing was getting out of hand. Charley blew a strand of hair from her face. “What I meant to say was, we overheard Paul giving you his number.”

Dorothy set the pitcher of water on the table. “That’s none of your business.” But the corners of her mouth lifted and Charley couldn’t help but notice the smile that lay just beneath the surface.

“I think it’s about time,” Charley said.

Dorothy took a step toward the kitchen. “Well, maybe it is.” Then she left the room.

Charley turned toward Alexander. “Ugh! What was that all about? Why would you spill the beans like that? You can’t just tell her we were listening. You are so frustrating sometimes!”

He suppressed a grin, although she didn’t think he was doing a good job of it. He picked up his water glass and held it to his lips. “I was just helping you out.”

“You’re infuriating.” She huffed and folded her arms. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Now you can come out and ask her if she’s called him yet. That’s what you really want to know, isn’t it?”

Charley gave him a scowl, but she had to admit to herself that he was right. “Maybe.”

“Then I did you a favor.”

She swatted his arm. “Some favor.”

They spent the next few minutes eating in silence. When Alexander finished and pushed his plate away, Charley pointed to him. “Meet me in the kitchen in ten minutes. I’m not letting you get out of your cookie-making duties.”

He rolled his eyes, but she saw a smile in them. “All right.”

By the time he joined her in the kitchen, she had all the ingredients out and on the counter. “I called my mom and got her recipe. She makes the best sugar cookies I’ve ever tasted.”

Alexander slid onto a stool. “Okay.”

She placed the mixing bowl down in front of him, along with the assortment of measuring cups. “I’ll read the ingredients, and you can measure them out, okay?”

“Sure.”

She picked up her phone and read the first line. “Two and one-half cups of flour.”

“Which one is the two and one-half cup?” He gave her a cheesy grin and Charley laughed.

“Funny.” She set the bag of flour in front of him. “You’re a real hoot.”

He measured out the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and stirred them together. Charley peered into the bowl. “Nice job.”

“What, you expected me to mess up the dry ingredients?”

“No,” she scoffed. She dipped a finger into the flour mixture and patted it on his nose. His mouth popped open in surprise. The white powder on his nose, combined with his wide eyes and cod-fish mouth, made her giggle.

“What did you do that for?” He wiped at his nose.

“Because. You need a little fun in your life.”

“I have plenty of fun in my life.”

She swiped her finger in the bowl again and this time put some flour on his cheek. He went to grab her wrist, but she jumped back, laughing. “There. Now you look like you’ve been baking.”

He reached into the bag of flour and came out with a handful. “You’re asking for it.”

She backed up, laughing. “So not fair.”

He tossed the white powder, getting a dusting on her hair and covering her shirt. She screeched and ran toward him, but he must have anticipated her move because he hopped off the stool and ran around the kitchen island. “You’re so dead,” she said, laughing and dusting herself off.

“Not unless you can catch me.”

She grabbed a handful of flour and flung it at him. The cloud of white hit him in the face and he sputtered, his face looking like he’d taken a nose dive in the bowl. She laughed.

He scrubbed a hand down his face and then ran at her. She turned to run, but he caught her around the middle and turned her back around. “Oh, no, you don’t. You’re not getting away with this.”

He backed her up against the wall, and he put his hands on either side of her so she was trapped. She looked up at him and couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. He looked like a grandpa, his hair white. Even his eyelashes had a dusting of white on them. She tried to duck away from him, but he moved his hand and she couldn’t squeeze past him. “You look amazing. Let me just get my camera—”

“Never,” he said, his voice low in her ear. He chuckled as she tried to find a way out of his trap. “I’m not letting you go.”

She smiled, and he reached up and touched her cheek. “You have flour in your dimple.”

She stopped trying to get out and looked into his eyes. He really did have the most amazing brown eyes she’d ever seen. They were captivating, and as she stared into them, she wondered if he could feel the change in mood. The air around them grew charged, and she became aware of his body so close to hers. His strong arms beside her, his head dipped low. She looked at his lips. They were so close to hers. What would he do if she kissed him?

Wait, where had that thought come from? Since when did she want to kiss Mr. Norris? He was her employer. And he was still mourning the death of his wife. What was wrong with her?

The moment stretched as he stared at her. Then he suddenly took a step back from her. He reached out and brushed some flour from her hair. “You’ve still got some...”

“Yeah. So do you.” She tried to hide a smile, but it didn’t work and she ended up letting out a giggle. “I guess we got carried away.”

“I guess so.”

She grabbed the hand towel and dusted him off. “There. You look almost decent. Except your suit pants. Sorry if they’re dry clean only.”

He shrugged. “No big deal. I should change into something more casual anyway.”

She bit her lip, trying not to laugh at him again. He still had flour on his eyelashes. “Yeah.”

He left her alone in the kitchen. She started creaming the butter and sugar. By the time he came back in, the dough was done. She took one look at him and almost swallowed her tongue. He wore a red sweater and jeans, and she had never seen him look so good. Some women thought men in suits were handsome. This look was ten times better on him. “Wow,” she said, unable to stop herself.

“What?”

Her cheeks heated. What was she going to say now? She should glue her lips together when she was around him. “Nothing. Just never thought I’d see you in jeans.”

“You saw me in a swimsuit yesterday.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t need that mental image coming into her head now either. She lifted half the dough out of the bowl and plopped it onto a sheet of waxed paper. “We have to let the dough chill before rolling it out and cutting out the shapes.”

“Oh. All right. How long will that take?”

“Two hours.”

He nodded and shifted his weight. Why was he uncomfortable? Was he feeling some of the same things she was? “Okay,” he said.

She looked at him, suddenly nervous for some strange reason. “When we make cookies at home, we always go out looking at Christmas lights around the town while the dough chills.” She fiddled with the waxed paper. “You wouldn’t want to...”

He drew in a breath. “Sure. We can go drive around.”

He didn’t look like he loved that suggestion, but she hoped after they got out into town, he’d like it. Looking at Christmas lights was always one of her favorite things to do during the holiday season. It made everything more festive. “I’ll just put this in the fridge, then, and we can go.”

She finished taking care of the dough and washed her hands, a new sort of feeling developing in her belly. Why was she excited to go look at Christmas lights with him? It’s not like she hadn’t spent the evening with him already. But for some reason, the anticipation grew in her. She shook her head and grabbed her coat. She shouldn’t be so silly.