“The lights?” Will’s shout penetrated the car’s interior. Jennifer turned and pointed toward the roof. Will was on a ladder with a string of lights dangling to the ground.
James steered the car around the corner and down her street. He said nothing. Twice his lips moved as if he were prepared to speak, but he didn’t. He pulled into her driveway.
“Okay then.” She put her hand on the door pull, “I’ll take a—”
James stopped her with a hand on the knee and another on her shoulder.
“You asked why.”
“I did.”
“You.”
She gazed into his gold flecked eyes before turning her body to face his as best as she could in the car seat. Revisions to the train display circled in her mind. She had the eyes right, but after she fished his figurine out of the trash bin, she’d need the single hairbrush to update the cupid’s bow of his lips.
“The short answer is you, the long answer loops back around to you too.” His thumb traced a line down her neck. “You helped me realize there is joy in this world that money can’t buy. I don’t want to be partner and spend my days making deals over scotch and cigars without a care as to what happened outside the room where money is made. The way people in this community rallied when I cancelled the train display, well, I think I’d rather build than destroy.”
“I like to restore and revitalize rather than destroy, myself. Your touch is rather distracting.” His hand slid off her skin and onto her coat sleeve. “Don’t stop. You haven’t fully explained how I fit as a reason.”
“You changed everything for me. You opened my eyes to the beauty of a sunset, and how to find purpose and joy in the smallest details.”
Her hand drew circles on his knee, matching the pace of the ones he made on her nape. The outside world began to disappear in a fog.
“When did you get so close?”
“I could ask you the same question.” His words came in a caramel and coffee scent. “Especially since I’m trapped behind the steering wheel.”
As she realized how much of her body invaded the driver’s seat, Claire swallowed, and flinched.
“I have the worst breakfast breath.”
“I don’t care.”
His lips pressed against hers. She nipped his lower lip. Jo’s sticky-bun sauce had never been more delicious than sucked off James’ mouth. His fingers gripped her hair, pulling her closer. Happiness and heat coursed through her veins. James’ kiss exceeded her memories until she forgot the past and future. He was the present.
The horn honked. Claire startled and it sounded again.
“My elbow,” she bemoaned.
“Or mine.” James leaned against the driver seat, signed, and then chuckled. “We fogged the windows.”
She glanced around. Only a slim stripe of her garage remained visible. She laughed. “I should put that in train display – I don’t think I’ve fogged windows before.”
“Never?” He arched an eyebrow.
She leaned in, ready to kiss the smirk right off his lips “Well, maybe with paint and a brush in the minit—” He stopped her with a hand to her coat-covered chest.
“As much as I enjoyed kissing you and in spite of my wanting to do it again and again and again, your breakfast breath is truly terrible. I probably have some minty tums or gum around here somewhere.”
“So romantic.” She leaned back in the passenger seat as he began to search the myriad hidey spots. The house had started to reappear through the windshield fog.
“Never mind. I’ll go brush my teeth.” She opened the door and climbed out. As she leaned in to get the binder, she took in the tight grip James had on the steering wheel and the weird way his jaw clenched. He looked ready to down some antacid.
“Want to come inside, City Boy?” A slow smile stretched across his face as he looked at her. Right answer. “You’ll hate the décor, though.” She stood, slammed the car door, and stared at the house.
She had never, ever invited a man—or even a boy when she was in high school—into Clem’s home, but this was her house and it was time to make it her home. The other car door shut. When James’ shadow approached her own, she extended her hand. His fingers laced with hers.
“There are trains in every room.”
He squeezed her hand and raised it to his lips. If that didn’t derail him, nothing would.
Chapter 22
James arrived twenty minutes before closing on Christmas Eve, only ten minutes later than Claire had asked.
“You’re here.” She threw her arms around him before he’d entered the church basement.
“Of course. My flight back from New York got held up a bit.”
“But sounds like it was worth going out in person.”
“Yup. You should have seen the looks I got when I declined the opportunity to become a partner alongside Danny, but I’m done with the sham competitions. My father wasn’t happy, then again, his long suffering girlfriend dumped him so he wasn’t in a good mood to begin with. In the end, everyone agreed to reducing me to research consultant. Mr. Schmidt made my new role a condition of his retirement.”
“Put this on.” She handed him a blindfold.
He waggled his eyebrows. “Can I use it on you later?” He laughed when she playfully hit his arm.
She led him through the crowd and to the main display, slipping a magnifying glass into his hand before pulling of the blindfold.
“Go find your Christmas present, City Boy.” She nudged him then stepped away. She’d dropped him off in front of Adena headquarters. He peered inside the lobby, where a ridiculously small train circled inside the lobby.
“I should have paid better attention.”
“Look at the parking lot.” Jo’s little boy, Kevin responded to words James didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud.
A generic black sedan stood out. The vehicle tilted
