“I’ll call you either way.” Andy took a deep breath. “Christina, I really like you. It’s probably a good thing I’m going away. You and I need to catch our breath. I don’t want to, but I’m old enough now to understand I shouldn’t go all adolescent over you.”

Christina laughed. “Oh, please go all adolescent over me!”

In response, he pulled her to him and kissed her for a long time. When he released her, he said, “Consider that a sample.”

She looked away, not wanting him to see how very much he moved her, how his kiss had meant more than she’d ever experienced, how euphoric she felt—and how vulnerable. Andy was, after all, Oscar Bittlesman’s son. He lived in New York, he had money, he could have any woman he wanted, and he probably intended to marry a woman of his own set, a wealthy woman who owned diamonds and would run international charities and use nannies for her children. A woman who was a model, like the exotically beautiful Anastasiya Belousova.

Christina had never felt more serious about a man in her life, and she’d never believed so surely that she was headed for heartbreak.

“Christina? Are you okay?”

She turned to face him. She softly ran her fingertips along the side of his face, and then, tenderly, over his lips.

“I’m fine, Andy. More than fine. But I should go home. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

“Of course.”

At her house, Andy walked her to the front door. He bent to kiss her sweetly, briefly, politely.

“I’ll call you from New York. As often as I can.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Chapter 10

Christina woke early with a smile on her face.

“Oh, stop it!” she ordered her bewitched brain. “No thinking about Andy Bittlesman today. You have work to do.”

She threw back the covers, which accidentally landed on Mittens, causing the poor cat to jump two feet in the air.

“I’m sorry, Mittens,” Christina said. She took a few minutes to cuddle her cat, who had been ignored recently and also shut in the kitchen during the day so she couldn’t smack all the ornaments off the Christmas tree.

She showered, dressed, ate a bowl of hot oatmeal, and filled her go-cup with coffee. She checked the weather report on her phone. No snow predicted, but no rain, either. She wheeled her bike from the garage and headed into town.

Business was brisk and Christina was in a great mood when she went to Mimi’s to have lunch with the others.

She was surprised, once she settled in the back room, at the way everyone was staring at her expectantly.

“What have I done?” she asked, unwrapping her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, her fastest, easiest lunch sandwich, which would be her standby until after Christmas.