There was so much more he wanted to say. Their time together had been good for him, and he was grateful—for the way she’d crashed into his life and made this Christmas different than the last three, which had been almost impossible for him to get through, and for the conversation and companionship and the physical and emotional intimacy. He’d needed to feel connected to someone again—although the urgency scared him—so that had made more of a difference than anything.

Maybe she had a few things to say to him, too. But where did they start? And where did they leave that conversation once they had it?

He folded his arms and leaned up against the wall as he watched her prepare their food.

“What?” she said as she put a pan of water on to boil.

“I have to go over to the school today.”

“Okay.”

“I take it you won’t go with me.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not. I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, adding a dash of salt to the water.

He moved closer, simply because he couldn’t seem to stay away. “I don’t trust Kouretas.”

She glanced over her shoulder when she realized he was standing right behind her. “I had to deal with a whole army of paparazzi at my condo. I can handle one man.”

He was tempted to put his hands on her shoulders. He wanted to touch her so badly it was a struggle to overcome the impulse. He walked over to put some bread in the toaster so that he wouldn’t. “I hope by handling him you mean you’ll stay inside and not answer if someone comes to the gate.”

She looked back at him again. “If Kouretas returns, he’s not going to buzz the intercom. He already tried that.”

“He might not, but Lois could. Just promise me you won’t answer.”

“Fine. I won’t answer. That’s an easy promise to keep.”

Her agreement should’ve made Seth feel better. What could go wrong in just a few hours? he asked himself.

But he couldn’t seem to rid himself of a certain uneasiness.

Shiloh should’ve been fine when he’d left her, too.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kouretas gripped his phone that much tighter. He was dying to escape this Pollyannaish town, to get home and get paid before Christmas. But Seth Turner wasn’t making his job easy, and now he’d just received another setback.

“I wish I was,” Lois Ivey said, her voice slightly tinny as it came through the phone. “Someone must’ve seen us at the coffee shop.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re the one who suggested we meet at there,” he said, irritated that she’d been so shortsighted. “Why didn’t we go somewhere else?”