“I can make you one.” He winked at her. “Or do you want a bite of mine?” He held the sandwich toward her.
That lock of hair fell over his eye again, and, without thinking, she reached up and brushed it back then froze. Charles’s green eyes darkened to the color of the Pacific Ocean—where she’d spent a vacation once—piercing her to her soul. His intense regard weakened her knees, and she grabbed at his hands, holding the sandwich for balance then, to break the tension, she took a huge bite of it and attempted to chew it with her mouth closed. A corner of his lips quirked, and his focus moved to her mouth.
“Is it good?”
Swallowing, she nearly choked then recovered and let her hands fall to her sides. “I-I don’t know what came over me. I’m usually not such a pig.”
Cupping her chin, Charles studied her face. “I would never have used that word to describe you. You’re my beautiful Christmas present.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Transfixed, she drew shallow breaths. Sure, she’d had boyfriends, before she moved home to take over the restaurant and worked night and day, but never such a powerful man, someone who could hold her in the palm of his hand and turn her to a trembling statue. He had quite an aura of power, now that she thought of it, for a chauffeur.
A trembling statue? She must still be in shock. Men did not make her tremble, her mouth dry, her knees knock, her heart thud in her ears. Modern women were not heroines about to….
As his lips descended toward hers, everything swirled and went dark.
Charles caught her as her eyes flickered closed and her legs buckled. He scooped her up, carried her back into the living room, and laid her on the sofa in front of the fireplace, tucking a pillow under her head. Patting her cheek, he debated calling 911—an idea that often came up with Noelle around. Outside the window, the sleet was almost a solid sheet of ice. He doubted even the noble firefighters would be able to make it down his unplowed lane.
“Noelle?” She looked peaceful enough, breathing evenly, but passing out was a bad sign. Had she breathed too much smoke earlier and it now affected her? “Noelle, wake up.”
After a long, frightening moment, her eyelids flicked open and she struggled to sit up. “Oh, what happened?”
He pressed her back down into the soft cushions. “Shhh, you fainted. Don’t try to move so fast.”
“I did not faint. I have never fainted in my life.” Her cheeks flushed bright scarlet. “How utterly embarrassing. I could die.”
“Don’t die,” he said. “Who would I spend Christmas with if you died?”
She stayed red but rolled her eyes. “What a ninny I am. You were about to kiss me and I—” Noelle flipped over and buried her face in the couch. “Just kill me now.”
The jazzy strains of “Linus and Lucy” provided a cheerful backdrop to her morbid suggestions.
“I have to admit,” he said, sitting next to her and tugging an afghan over their legs, “it is the first time I’ve had a woman faint rather than kiss me.”
She rolled back over and gave him a wavering smile. “It’s been a long day. Seems like forever ago I got up and prepped the kitchen for the day. My stove gave me such fits. One of the burners wouldn’t work—again—and I…I….” Her smile faded. “I guess that’s not an issue anymore, huh?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Tucking her close to him, he dropped a kiss on her sweet-smelling hair. “You can’t do a thing about your business tonight. And I would rather think about spending Christmas Eve with a beautiful woman for company. I don’t even need a puppy. Santa brought me you.”
Noelle rested her head on his chest and sighed. “I know you’re right. But it’s hard not to think about it. Did I forget to make sure something was off? Did that bad burner somehow cause this? The outside back wall was so charred, like something exploded.”
“Can you say that again?”
“Where I found the kittens, the wall was charred and kind of broken…like something exploded.”
She hadn’t mentioned the wall before. Tucking the blanket around her, he stood. “I need to make a call. I’ll be right back.”
“Now? Isn’t it late?”
Charles didn’t want to raise her hopes or worry her, so he just shook his head. “It’s important. Business, you know.”
She tilted her head. “What kind of business does a chauffeur have on Christmas Eve with the boss away?”
Shoot. What kind of business could a driver have with the boss away late at night on a holiday? “He…umm…left something important in the car. I just remembered. I’ll be right back.” After his pathetic attempt at a cover-up, he didn’t want to stick around. Perhaps he should have been honest to start with, but if he had, his night might have gone quite differently and he’d have missed out on at least one evening with the woman of his dreams. Even though he wasn’t the man of hers. He closed the office door behind him.
Dialing quickly, he filled the chief in on the information Noelle had given him. “Chief, I think I know where the fire started.”