“Mr. Mancini?” She swallowed hard. “I know he wanted to make the deal, but he knew I lived upstairs. I could have been burned alive.”
The chief nodded. “He claimed not to know you were there, but we should have no trouble proving otherwise. The sheriff took him in for questioning.”
“I can’t believe it. Why did he want to move so badly?”
“We aren’t sure, yet, but he said something about stove issues and wanting new ovens.”
Turning, Noelle smacked into Charles, who wrapped his arms around her. Despite his deceit, she couldn’t summon the strength to leave his warmth. She hadn’t felt so safe since her parents put her to bed as a little girl.
“It will be fine, Noelle. The sheriff will make sure he gets what’s coming to him.”
“I could have died.”
He held her away from him, looking into her eyes. “But you didn’t.”
The chief answered a few more questions, turned down coffee, and headed off to spend the rest of the holiday with his family. As he opened his car door, he paused. “My wife texted me about an hour ago. You knew about Joe coming, didn’t you?”
Charles waved. “Merry Christmas, Chief.”
“And to you. Make sure you take good care of our girl.”
“I’m going to try.” After closing the door, he faced her, the pile of presents behind him at least three feet tall. “Hate me yet?”
“No.” She didn’t hate him. She had spent the night getting to know him as Charles, the chauffeur. “But why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
“Because you assumed I was the driver and then told me how little you liked rich people.”
“My prejudice kept you from correcting me. I’m ashamed.”
Charles winced. “One more thing you need to know. I’m the evil developer.”
“That’s why you said you could help me.”
“Right.”
Noelle tried to process all the information. “Okay, so you’re a millionaire—”
“Billionaire.”
“Billionaire. And you are obviously a successful developer. Why are you here? Why did you want to tear down my building?”
Charles smiled at her then lifted his eyes toward the ceiling. “If I promise to explain and offer you a job helping me to make my project a good thing for this town, will you let me kiss you under the mistletoe?”
“It’s all over town that a supercenter is going to open on the outskirts. Do you think the new shopping area will help keep customers downtown?”
Before he could answer, a woofing sound came from the pile of presents. They both looked over.
Noelle laughed. “What’s that?”
She pawed through the heap to find a pet carrier and opened it. Out bounded a Saint Bernard puppy.
The kittens came careening through from the living room, and the puppy took one look at them then tore off after them, woofing joyfully. Karina flew down the stairs, following them. From the living room came sounds of happy chatter.
Then their eyes met, and everything else went away.
“Don’t leave, Noelle.”
She smiled. “And miss out on what happens in a house with three kittens, a near-Persian, and a Saint Bernard puppy? Not a chance. I’ll take you up on your offer of a temporary job because I think I might love this town again. Where else would the sheriff and the fire chief stay out all night on Christmas Eve to find out who burned down my building? Where else would an elusive billionaire disguised as a chauffeur pick me up and whisk me away to his mansion for a magical Christmas Eve on what should have been one of the worst nights of my life?” She shook her head. “No, I’m not leaving. I have to stay and see what happens next.”
“I promise to make it as magical as possible.”
“I can’t wait.”
He lifted her chin toward him and, under the mistletoe, gave her the second first kiss of Christmas.