He tipped his head to the side, studying her. She was going to make him jump through hoops and see how far he would let her push him until he put his foot down.
“Okay. How about instead of me being a mall Santa, I host a dinner with Santa for low-income kids and give them a gift off their wish list?”
“Love that idea,” she said. “In fact, I think we can partner with the hotel you’re staying at to host the event.”
She walked past him to her desk so she could write this down. She always thought better with a pen in hand. He stopped her with his hand on her elbow and that sensual shiver went through her again.
“What?”
“Thank you.”
He was so close that she felt the soft brush of his minty breath against her cheek and she stared into his piercing blue eyes, wondering how she’d never noticed the tiny flecks of green in them before. His eyes were the most familiar part of him to her. But eventheywere different. Instinctively, she put her forehead on his shoulder, seeking comfort, before she realized what she was doing and turned away.
“This is what I’m paid to do,” she said, shrugging out of her coat and draping it on the back of her chair. Then she sat down and pulled her notepad to her.
He didn’t say anything as she made notes, then took off his coat, walked back to her desk and leaned one hip against her desk as he watched her. She pretended to be nonchalant and didn’t pay any attention to him.
She shook her head and looked over at him. “You are right that I have to move on and as much as I don’t approve of your methods, this might help.”
He arched one eyebrow. “I’m sort of known for being difficult to work with so this might help more than you expect.”
“I’m sort of known for wrangling divas so I think we’ll be well matched.”
“Diva?”
“You prefer ‘spoiled brat’?”
“No. I’m not either.”
She ignored him and the smile that teased her lips. Okay, she liked this situation. She had the power and she needed it after the way she’d felt so used by him. But she cautioned herself to remember that he’d lied once. So convincingly that he’d fooled a lot of people, not just her.
What was it that made him so good at that? She knew he was an actor but suspected it was something more. He’d been so natural at it. It worried her that there might not be a real man behind the mask for her to get to know.
Five
Sean knew he needed to be himself and, as always, that induced a level of panic that had him scrolling through characters he’d played over the years, trying to find the right one, but nothing felt right.
“I’m not really comfortable in the diva role,” he said.
“Really?” she asked. “Why not?”
He walked over to one of the guest chairs and sat down, not looking at her as he did so. He had one clear memory of being a bragging youngster at home, telling his mom he didn’t have to listen to her, since he was the star ofRanger Tenand that he didn’t have to do chores. Yeah, that hadn’t gone well.
One of the few things his mom had taught him was to be humble about his talent. “Let’s just say ten-year-old me liked to strut around and tell everyone he was the star of a TV show.”
She put her hands together as she studied him. “How’d that go over?”
“My mom set me straight,” he said. He winced at the memory. No one liked someone as successful as he was who whined about their childhood. The fact that his mom hadn’t been Mother of the Year didn’t really matter now. She’d been out of his life for a long time and they were both happier for it.
“That’s nice,” she said.
There was a note in Paisley’s voice that made him take notice. “Isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Was your mom like that?”
“No. She was in love and would do anything to try to keep my dad happy,” she said, then shook her head. “But we don’t have time to unpack that.”