Charmed (Contemporary Romance) by Inés Saint Page B

little gold boot and turned it around in his hand. It was etched on one corner to simulate a scratch, and the sole was coming off.
    “That was one of the first charms I designed. I wanted to capture what childhood is supposed to be like — carefree, everyday an adventure.” She took out a charm of a pretty, but scruffy, unbuckled Mary Jane shoe in gold and handed it to him as well. She then fished around and brought out a silver heart with a peculiar shape.
    “Falling in love?” Nick guessed, knowing his heart had never looked that way.
    “My version of it — the way it gets your heart all bent and twisted out of shape.” She paused. “And this is the first charm I made from the beech tree leaf.” She picked up a charm identical to the one she was wearing. “The stem came out wrong. I didn’t carve deep enough into the wax mold, so I had to start all over again.”
    “What does the leaf stand for?”
    “Wisdom-and it’s the first charm for Seasons . I’m designing charms that are related to the changing seasons and metaphorical with the stages we go through in life.”
    “And what do you do with the ones that come out wrong?”
    “Sometimes I melt the gold to use again. And sometimes I keep them. I like little imperfections.” She absentmindedly glanced at the scar above his eyebrow.
    Nick seemed thoughtful as he twirled the charm around in his fingers. He looked around. “And this is your workbench?”
    “It’s a jeweler’s bench. I designed it, and Justin built it. Justin and I actually re-outfitted the whole shed. I made the shelves, and he put the ventilation system in.”
    Nick touched a small torch. “That’s an acetylene torch. It’s for melting gold … ” Jamie paused. “Do you want to melt some gold? It’s fun.” She twirled the torch and tried to engage him.
    “Why not?” Nick smiled.
    “Sit here and wear these,” Jamie instructed as she led Nick to her bench and gave him a pair of welder’s goggles. She opened a drawer and brought out some scrap gold material before reaching around him to take his hand and show him exactly what to do. In that instant, she realized the whole thing was a bad idea.
    She’d done the same thing countless times with other people, but this was different. With Nick, this was too close for her peace of mind. She took in the deep, masculine scent of his aftershave and found it unnerved her. And she couldn’t take in a nice, deep, and steadying breath without him noticing.
    Damn pheromones.
    She stood behind him, leaning over and reaching around his neck to move the torch and hold the crucible tongs properly. His hair tickled her cheek, and she noticed how it curled at the collar. Only years of experience enabled her to keep her hands steady as she held the tongs with one hand, and his hand with the torch with the other. She had no choice but to lean in even closer as she guided his hand over the torch and had a hell of a time concentrating. Nick had gone very still, and she wondered if he was bored.
    • • •
    Nick willed Jamie to move away from him. Another second and he would turn around, pull her on his lap, and kiss her soundly. If there had ever been a test of his self-control as an adult, this was it. He could feel her hot breath on his neck. She was so close that he could almost taste the sweet and sensuous notes that drifted from her. He told himself not to move, not to turn around.
    Maybe Jamie could sense his thoughts because she let go of his hand, turned the torch off, and moved away. “See, wasn’t that fun?” she asked, and Nick thought he detected anxiety in her voice.
    He stood up to face her. Her face was definitely flushed. Was it the heat from the torch? Even her lips seemed redder. He had to clench his hand into a fist by his side to stop himself from brushing his thumb over them.
    “Mommy! The monster under my bed is back! I can hear him moving under there! Mooom!” Nick couldn’t tell if it was Timmy or Michael calling for