'Twas the Week Before Christmas by Olivia Miles Page B

order and turned his attention back to Holly, his anxiety growing in their small silences. He needed to keep pressing forward, keep talking to her. If he stopped and thought about what he was doing, he’d stand up and leave. He knew better than to be sitting here with her right now, but he was powerless to his own desire. He liked this woman, and it had been a long time since he had felt this way about anyone. Normally, the first sense of heartfelt interest made him start thinking of an excuse to end things quickly, but not so with Holly. It went beyond the way his gut tightened in response to her natural feminine curves. It was something in her voice. In her smile. Something that touched him on a level he was unfamiliar with. Something that made his heart ache.
    Of all people.
    “I was sorry to see Evelyn leave,” he confided. “I was starting to like having her around.”
    Holly smiled and tucked her menu behind the napkin holder. “I was afraid she would scare you off.”
    “It takes a lot to scare me off.”
    Holly dropped her eyes once more and her lashes fluttered against her rosy cheeks. He hadn’t noticed how shy she could be, and her sudden vulnerability made the man in him want to wrap his arms around her and take care of her forever.
    He gritted his teeth. How ironic that the one person she needed protecting from was himself.
    “Is she always like that?” he asked, pushing down the guilt as best he could. He buried it deep in the pit of his stomach and focused on their conversation.
    Holly arched a brow. “Meddlesome, you mean?”
    Max chuckled, recalling Evelyn sitting in his room earlier that afternoon regaling him with tales of other guests she’d had the pleasure—or displeasure moreover—of meeting over her many semiannual visits. “Yeah, I don’t even know the best word to describe her. She’s certainly one of a kind.”
    Holly slipped him a secret smile. “I think she had a crush on you.”
    Max felt himself blush and he broke out in laughter to cover his embarrassment. “She seems like a very special lady.”
    “She is.” Holly cast him a challenging look, as if gauging his tolerance. “I remember one time she thought another guest was hitting on Nelson.”
    A peal of laughter sputtered out of Max’s lips. “What?”
    “I know.” Holly rolled her eyes at the memory but the twisting of her lips betrayed her fondness for it. “It seems silly, but she was just convinced this woman was flirting with Nelson. I mean, convinced. She couldn’t let it go. She went after that poor woman in the blueberry patch for asking Nelson to help her find a new bucket. Chased her all the way back to the barn.”
    “What about Nelson?”
    Holly waved a hand through the air dismissively. “He just stood there and watched. Completely bewildered.”
    Max shook his head, wishing he could have been there. “She’s a firecracker.”
    Holly tipped her head to the side. Her eyes roamed over his face lazily. “That’s a very good description.”
    “Well, thank you,” Max said, grinning.
    Emily brought the wine to the table and he sipped at his glass, enjoying the anecdotes about the inn. The more Holly talked, the more captivated he became. She was a compelling woman with a knack for putting people at ease. No wonder she was so at home at the inn; why she made so many others feel at home there, too. She was sweet in a quiet, nurturing sort of way. Her world seemed calm. Peaceful. For a moment, he dared himself to imagine what it would be like to live in that world.
    He had an uneasy feeling that he would like it there.
    He knew he could ask her, right then and there, when she was reminiscing about experiences at the inn, if she would ever think of giving it up, moving back to the city. But for some reason, he couldn’t. Now wasn’t the time. If she said no, he would be left with no alternative but to admit the truth. This dinner—and any hope of others to come—would grind to a halt. Any chance of