Santa's Posse (7 page)

“He likes you,”
Grace interrupted.  “I can tell.  And as I said before, none of us wants to see
him hurt again.”

Kellie expelled a
long, weary sigh.  More words of warning about hurting Miles.  “I … I don’t have
any intention of hurting him or anyone,” she muttered.  “In reality, I have a
new job, which frankly, requires my undivided attention.”

“So you’re not
looking for a relationship?”

This conversation
was becoming far too personal.  She had no intention of discussing her love
life, or the lack thereof, with a perfect stranger.

“Oh, look, we’re
missing the best part of the movie,” she declared, turning her head and fixing
her stare on the big screen.  Hopefully, the woman would take the hint.  She
did, and Kellie was grateful.  She was also grateful when Miles dropped into
the seat beside her, holding a barrel-sized popcorn in his hands. 

She met his gaze
and laughed.  “Hungry?”

He grinned wanly,
situating the popcorn in his lap.  “It was about a hundred bucks for the small,
and this was only three dollars more, so…”  He spread his hands expansively.

“A hundred bucks,
huh?” she said, smiling. 

“No exaggeration,”
he declared.  “Next time, I’m stuffing my pockets with popcorn in advance.”

“You’re a cop. 
Wouldn’t that be dishonest?  And messy?” she whispered.

He made a
disgruntled face.  “Yeah, okay.  You’re right.  We’ll eat before we come next
time.”

“We did,” she
reminded him.

He glanced at the
screen.  “Did I miss anything?”

She shook her
head.  “Not really.”  She winced.  “This isn’t your cup of tea, is it?” 

He appeared
shocked at the comment.  “Of course, it is.  If you like it, then… I mean, I
uh…”  He winced.  “No, not really.”

“And what is your
cup of tea?” she whispered.

He gave her a
pointed look, and then arched his brows, as if to say, “You.” 

She laughed,
despite the fact that she spied Grace leaning forward in her seat in order to
overhear their whispered exchange.  “Well?” she prompted.

“I hate to admit
it, but since I am a cop, I tend to like the ‘kick butt—take names’ kind of
films.  Don’t judge me,” he added with a laugh.

“I like those movies
too,” she whispered.

He gave her a
startled glance.  “You do?”

She nodded.  “Yes. 
I have brothers, remember?  Besides, I like all types of movies.”

“Huh,” he said,
and to her surprise, took her hand. 

She saw Grace lean
forward in her chair again, apparently taking stock of any signs of affection
between the couple.  If she didn’t know better, she would have to think Grace
had feelings for Miles.

Could that be it? 
Had her words of warning come from a desire to date him herself?

Kellie turned toward
the screen, but pondered the question.  Maybe Grace was warning her off,
because she wanted Miles for herself.  And maybe, just maybe, the last thing
she
needed was a relationship right now.  She had a job to do, and if she became
the object of gossip and speculation, it might affect her ability to manage the
mall.  It was definitely something to think about—certainly before she got in
too deep.

But then, she was
being a bit premature in her thinking.  She had no idea what his intentions
were.  Perhaps he was only looking for a friend.  That might be it.  Besides,
she was in control of her own thoughts and feelings.  She was level-headed,
with her priorities straight.  She would simply keep her job responsibilities
at the forefront, as she had always done in the past.

That decided, she
settled in to watch the movie.

Monday morning, Kellie
checked her calendar.  She had several appointments scheduled for the day.  She
eagerly anticipated two in particular, since she hoped to lease two prominent
mall locations.  A large, retail chain was toying with the idea of coming in,
as well as a small boutique.  She was hopeful both would commit, since the
sooner she filled the empty spaces, the better for the mall and for her career.

Jill suddenly
popped into her office.  “Miles Blake is here,” she said, grinning from ear to
ear.

“Oh, send him in.”

He strode in, in
uniform, and carrying a clipboard.  “How’s the forehead?” he asked,
scrutinizing her face.

“Good,” she told
him cheerily.  “No permanent damage that I can tell.”

“Glad to hear it,”
he said with a smile.  “Hey, did you get much packing done Sunday night? 
Daniel tells me he stopped by to help you.  He’s thrilled to have a job, by the
way.  He said you gave him a bonus for a job well done.”

“That little guy
is a hard worker,” she enthused.  “He not only unpacked several boxes and put
everything away where I told him, but he also disassembled the boxes and
stacked them neatly for recycling.  Also,” she said, raising a finger, “he took
out my garbage.”

Miles smiled. 
“He’s a good kid.”

“He is,” she
agreed.  “Hey, was there something you needed?”

He nodded.  “I
know I just gave you that letter about Santa’s Posse Friday, but…”

“Yes?”

“Is there any
possibility of distributing it ASAP?  I got a call from the coordinator first
thing this morning.”  He sighed loudly.  “She tells me they’ve already compiled
a list of needy families that surpasses last year’s list—and that they’ll
continue adding to the list until the very day they make deliveries.  So … I promised
her I’d get busy.”

“Commendable,” Kellie
observed.  “And yes, we’ll get those letters distributed today.”

“Great.  Also, if
you don’t mind, we’ll continue to send out letters as the holidays approach.”

“Sounds like a
plan,” she said agreeably.

An awkward silence
ensued, and she smiled nervously.  He smiled in return, and then chuckled. 
“Are you free for lunch?” he asked.

She reached for
her calendar.  Her lunch hour was clear, but…  Should she really consider
joining him for lunch?  She really needed to focus on her job, and if she were
to start meeting him for lunch, people might start talking and…

“Want to join me?”
he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“For what?” she
said obtusely.

“For lunch,” he
answered, laughing.

She colored in
embarrassment.  Should she join him?  Saturday, during the movie, she had
convinced herself she should probably steer clear of him—at least on a personal
level.  She couldn’t avoid seeing him at work, but he was simply too much a
distraction when she really needed focus in her life. 

Indeed, it would
be the prudent thing to do—steering clear of the handsome commander.  It was
definitely the thing to do.    

“Sure, where?” she
said, and then nearly crumpled onto her desktop. 
Sure
,
where?
 Not
exactly prudent words.

“Food court,
noon,” he said, as if it was as obvious as the nose on her face where they
should meet. 

“There are about
thirty restaurants at that food court,” she reminded him.  “I could actually
spend the better part of my lunch hour looking for you if you don’t tell me
where to meet you.  Well, provided you’re sitting down.  I mean, if you’re
standing, you’re tall, so I’d probably spot you eventually…”  Kellie nearly
groaned.  Why was she suddenly such a motor mouth?

Miles appeared
deep in thought.  “How about the same place we had lunch Friday?”

“Speaking of that,
you paid Friday, so it’s my turn to pay today,” Kellie said.

“Wait, no,” he
said, holding up a hand, “you bought pizza. 
And
you paid for the movie.”

“But you assembled
my bed.”

Jill chose that exact
moment to pop her head into the office.  Apparently, she’d overheard Kellie’s
remark, since her eyebrows shot up questioningly.  She glanced from Kellie to
Miles, and then broke into a surprised smile. 

“Yes, Jill,” Kellie
said.

Jill passed her a
note.  “Your eleven ‘o clock just called.  He can’t make it until eleven-thirty.”

“Hmmm,” she said,
and glanced at Miles, “I may be a few minutes late meeting you for lunch.”

Jill’s eyes
widened, as did the smile on her face.  She eyed Kellie speculatively, until she
gave her a pointed look in return.  “Is that all, Jill?”

“Mmm hmmm,” the
older woman said, and then backed through the doorway.

“I should get back
to work,” Miles said.

Kellie nodded as
he rose from his chair.  She stood up too, and to her surprise, he rounded the
desk.  He towered over her, staring down at her face, and she wondered what he
intended to do.  Surely he wasn’t going to kiss her, she thought in alarm.  She
was at work.  She hardly knew him.  She wasn’t looking for a boyfriend.  A
million excuses ran through her mind—excuses as to why she didn’t want him to
kiss her, but when he didn’t—kiss her, that is—she felt a vague sense of
disappointment. 

She realized with
a sheepish awareness that he wasn’t harboring any romantic notions, but was
assessing the damage to her forehead.  Despite her attempt to cover the
bruising with makeup, the bump was still apparent.  He visibly winced.

“That’s really
bad.”  He reached out to gently probe the injury.  “You must have really hit me
hard.”

“Maybe you should
let up on the military presses,” she teased.

He flexed a strong
arm for her benefit, and then actually reddened when he realized what he’d
done.  “I try to stay in shape,” he admitted, “but who knew my pecs were lethal
weapons?”

“Well, I wouldn’t go
that far,” she said.  “I’m not actually dead.”

“And I’m actually
quite glad you’re not dead,” he said, smiling into her eyes.

Kellie felt her
cheeks flame.  She wasn’t sure why her body reacted so ridiculously to his
close proximity.  He was simply a man, for Pete’s sakes.  A friend.  A
co-worker of sorts.  A neighbor.  Drop dead gorgeous. 

She took a step
back, and nearly fell over the chair behind her.  “Good grief,” she muttered,
as she struggled to remain upright.  Fortunately, he caught her arm in time to
keep her from taking an embarrassing tumble, and had the good graces not to
comment.  The sparkle in his eyes, however, alerted her to his amusement. 

 “For your
information,” she told him, “I’m not usually such a klutz.”  She appeared to
search her memory.  “Nope.  I’m not a klutz.  I’m typically sure-footed,
athletic, in fact.  I can actually ice skate, roller skate,
and
skateboard.  I can dance, too.  Take that to the bank,” she added for good
measure.

“I didn’t say
anything,” he said, raising his hands as if surrendering, and then grinning all
the way to the door.  With a salute, he left her office.   

Jill took all of a
tenth of a second to enter.  “Inquiring minds want to know,” she said in a
sing-song voice.

“What?” Kellie
asked, glancing up from a memo in front of her.  “What do inquiring minds want
to know?”

“You know very
well what inquiring minds want to know.”

Kellie laughed. 
“We’re just friends.  Turns out Miles lives at the same condominium complex as
I do.”

“Really?  That’s
fantastic!”

“It has its
perks,” Kellie admitted.

“So you two went
to a movie together?”

“Yes.  On
Saturday.”

“And did I hear
right?  He helped you with your bed?”

“Yep.  He put it
together for me.  If it wasn’t for him, I’d have tossed the thing out the
window and slept on a mattress for the rest of my days.”

“He likes you,”
Jill said, smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary.

“Yes, but is he
going to ask me to prom?” She laughed when Jill shot her a dispirited glance.

“You stop that.  I’m
telling you, Miles Blake looks at you and likes what he sees.  And I’m telling
you, that’s significant—
meaningful
,” she added with a crisp shake of her
head.

“Oh, right,
because he doesn’t date.”

“He doesn’t,” she
said adamantly.  “Or, didn’t.  Not for a very long time anyway.  A little bird
told me…?”

“A little bird,” she
said with a sigh.  “Who is this little bird?” 

“I’d rather not
say, but anyway, a little bird told me that Miles has been propositioned by
nearly every single, and some not-so-single women at this mall, and do you know
what?”

“What?”  Kellie
shook her head.  “What does not-so-single mean, by the way?”

“Stop that.  You
know what it means.  And Miles turned ‘em down.  Everyone.  Did it in his usual
sweet-natured fashion, but…  He just wasn’t interested.”

“Rumors,” she
muttered.

“No, really.  That
man was so in love with his wife.  He was devoted to her.  It was such a sad
thing—her accident.  Anyway, he stayed in the house they had shared together up
until the last year or so.  I guess he finally sold the place and moved into
that condo because he realized he needed to get on with his life.  Hmmm,” she
murmured, “maybe you’re his next step in getting on with his life.”

“Who says I want
the responsibility?” Kellie said crossly.  “Who says I’m looking for a man?”

“Well, are you?”
she asked, and Kellie didn’t miss the sudden seriousness of her expression.

“I … don’t think
so,” she admitted.  “I mean, I haven’t really thought about it.  The truth is,
I’ve been so focused on my job that, well, a man hasn’t really fit into the
plan.”

“The plan,” Jill
repeated.

She nodded.  “I
mean, I’ve dated casually, but as far as looking for a serious relationship, I
just, haven’t.”

“But…” Jill began,
but let the word hang in the air.  When she finally spoke again, her eyes
reflected her worry.  “You’d better figure it out fast, because, it’s pretty
clear Miles is taken with you.  And Kellie, none of us want to see him hurt. 
He’s one of the good guys.”