His head swiveled and he glanced at her sharply, as if daring her to contradict him.
She gnawed on her lower lip and tried to not shiver in his presence. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was afraid of him. She wouldn’t give him that. She wouldn’t. “I needed a job where I could make some good money in a short amount of time. A good Santa makes a respectable salary, but the elves are gofers who mostly fill the candy-cane jar and make minimum wage, and salesclerks don’t make much more, so that’s out.” She stuck her hands under her arms, trying in vain to warm them. “I don’t know. The Santa pay is really good. Maybe there’s a union label sewn in the Santa suit or something.”
He paused, his features relaxing. “Cute—about the union label. But the fact is the Santa job takes a certain type of person, that’s why it pays so well.”
Nicki studied him briefly, acutely conscious that a portion of his tough-businessman facade had slipped. It made her feel as though a real man existed beneath that intimidating demeanor.
As if it had a will of its own, her hand fluttered across the empty space between them to settle apologetically on his sleeve. “I understand why you felt the way you did about having a grandpa Santa Claus,” she explained softly. “But as I mentioned earlier, I needed to get my car fixed, and I’m expecting to move. It takes money to do that. It’s that simple, really. I’m not trying to buck the system or to cause you problems or even to argue with you.”
He silently stared at her, then dropped his gaze to her fingers that still curled lightly on his forearm. Without shaking her off, he slowly started the ignition. “Why didn’t you tell me that this afternoon?”
Nicki self-consciously slid her hand away, but the feel of cashmere taunted her fingers, and the restrained power throbbing through his muscular forearm sent a surge of exhilaration to her brain. She folded her hands in her lap. “You never gave me the opportunity.”
His mouth firmed and he put the car in gear. They were inching onto the adjacent one-way street when he said, “You didn’t tell me where we were going.”
“Tammany Hills. I’m just a few doors inside the complex.” Another chill struck Nicki and she fought to repulse it. She stiffened and folded her arms across her middle, thinking she didn’t want to explain why, after six months, she still had a Florida wardrobe, a broken-down car, and a financial mess. Her mother had been so sick when she’d finally given up and called her home, all Nicki had had time to do was to care for her mom and ignore the repercussions of her abrupt move. She’d lost a ton of money and incurred a lot of expenses.
“Tammany’s a nice place,” he commented, easing onto the east-west expressway.
She shrugged and glanced out the side window at the residential area next to the highway. There were moments, such as this, when she glimpsed a decorated tree inside someone else’s living room, and felt like an orphan at Christmas. She’d always heard the first year was the worst. “Mmm. Expensive. But the lease is up in a couple of months. It was actually my mom’s place.”
“Nicki…”
She pulled her gaze away, tucking her chin to look up at Mr. Gillette. In the half light of the dash, his features were less imposing. Her eyes lowered to his mouth, and for one crazy moment she wondered what it would be like to kiss him. To experience an unguarded side of him. When he’d accidentally touched her—
“About today,” he went on, unknowingly interrupting her wayward thoughts, “I assumed that you were interested only in a seasonal job. Or a part-time job. If you want a real job, I could probably find you something.”
Her shoulders immediately lifted off the seat. The last thing she wanted was charity. Especially from someone who had dismissed her barely two hours before. “Oh, no. I’m not looking for a handout. You don’t have to be nice to me just because this whole situation is…well, awkward.”
“‘Nice’?” The word harshly rolled off his tongue. “Nicki, understand this, I’m not known for nice. Not even in the most awkward of business situations.”
“Well, I’ll think about it…but…” She turned back to glance out the side window again. She felt a little sad inside—and she knew it didn’t have anything to do with losing her job, or her mom, or all the rest of it. Maybe it was letting go of the illusion. Maybe it was because she was trapped inside a car with a man who obviously didn’t understand the meaning of Christmas. “You know,” she said softly, wistfully, “I really liked being a Santa Claus. I liked being with the kids—that was the best. And the fantasy—especially the one you create at Gillette’s—was all so hopeful, so innocent. Sitting there in Toyland, waving and wishing everyone a merry Christmas made me feel good inside.”
“It’s just that. A fantasy,” he said abruptly, before leaning over and turning up the heat.
Defeat spiraled through her; he didn’t even want to know how the job had affected her.
He checked his side mirror, then changed lanes, expertly maneuvering around another slower car. “I read your file this afternoon,” he said. “You apparently had a knack for making people believe.”
“Maybe I wanted to. A little Christmas gift to myself this year.”
His gaze flitted over her, but he said nothing. For a mile, they rode in silence.
Nicki was extraordinarily conscious of him. The scent clinging to his cashmere coat. The leather gloves he’d laid between them on the seat. The way he sat so straight, so erect, as he drove.
“Listen,” he said, “I live over there, off of Willow. Do you object to me stopping at home first and changing my clothes?” Nicki knew he was referring to the posh section of Winter Park. “I have to make an obligatory appearance at the Yuletide Gala tonight, at the Ritz Carlton, and I’m already late. I could drop you off on the way.”
Even though she didn’t want to spend any more time with him than necessary, Nicki was curious about where he lived. Besides, there was no sense in going home to an empty apartment any sooner than she had to. “That’s fine.”
“You’re sure?”
“As you said, Mr. Gillette, you’re the one doing me the favor.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I imagine your insolence didn’t put you in good favor with the elves. That’s probably the real reason you didn’t want to join their ranks.”
“Mr. Gillette—”
“Excuse me,” he cut in, as he smoothly pulled off the expressway and into the right-hand lane. “There is an unwritten rule…”
“Yes?”
“Anyone I invite into my home has to call me Jared.”
Nicki’s breath caught behind her breastbone. “You haven’t invited me into your home.”
He braked at the stop sign, and turned his head to look at traffic before he looked at her. “No. But I’m going to.”
The slow smile that inched onto Jared’s face sapped the remainder of Nicki’s waning strength.
Jared’s palatial home occupied at least a quarter of the block. Nicki glimpsed the front of the sprawling brick mansion when he came in off a side street and passed through the wrought-iron gates. It struck her as odd that the grounds had been exquisitely decorated for Christmas; for some reason, she didn’t think he’d bother.
Garland, with red bows, trimmed the iron fencing. A huge wreath hung over the four-car garage, and flickering candles illuminated every window in the house.
“My,” she murmured, “this is Christmas-card perfect.”
“And none of my doing,” he pointed out darkly. “It’s just another illusion I have to live with, and I promise you it’s quite unlike what you experienced as a Santa Claus in Toyland.”
Nicki