All I Want For Christmas (Novella) by Nora Roberts

Author:Nora Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Published: 2014-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

It wasn’t the easiest thing, stepping back into the dating pool—however small the pool and however warm the water. It irritated him that he was nervous, almost as much as his niece’s grins and questions had irritated when she agreed to babysit.

Now, as he climbed the sturdy outside steps to Nell’s third-floor apartment, Mac wondered if it would be better all around if they forgot the whole thing.

As he stepped onto her deck, he noted that she’d flanked the door with pots of mums. It was a nice touch, he thought. He always appreciated it when someone who rented one of his homes cared enough to bother with those nice touches.

It was just a movie, he reminded himself, and rapped on the door. When she opened it, he was relieved that she’d dressed casually—a hip-grazing sweater over a pair of those snug leggings Kim liked so much.

Then she smiled and had his mouth going dry.

“Hi. You’re right on time. Do you want to come in and see what I’ve done to your place?”

“It’s your place—as long as you pay the rent,” he told her, but she was reaching out, taking his hand, drawing him in.

Mac had dispensed with the walls that had made stingy little rooms and had created one flowing space of living, dining and kitchen area. And she’d known what to do with it.

There was a huge L-shaped couch in a bold floral print that should have been shocking, but was, instead, perfect. A small table under the window held a pot of dried autumn leaves. Shelves along one wall held books, a stereo and a small TV and the sort of knickknacks he knew women liked.

She’d turned the dining area into a combination music room and office, with her desk and a small spinet. A flute lay on a music stand.

“I didn’t bring a lot with me from New York,” she said as she shrugged into her jacket. “Only what I really cared about. I’m filling in with things from antiques shops and flea markets.

“We got a million of them,” he murmured. “It looks good.” And it did—the old, faded rug on the floor, the fussy priscillas at the windows. “Comfortable.”

“Comfortable’s very important to me. Ready?”

“Sure.”

And it wasn’t so hard after all.

He’d asked her to pick the movie, and she’d gone for comedy. It was surprisingly relaxing to sit in the darkened theater and share popcorn and laughter.

He only thought about her as a woman, a very attractive woman, a couple of dozen times.

Going for pizza afterward seemed such a natural progression, he suggested it himself. They competed for a table in the crowded pizzeria with teenagers out on date night.

“So . . .” Nell stretched out in the booth. “How’s Zeke’s career in spelling coming along?”

“It’s a struggle. He really works at it. It’s funny, Zack can spell almost anything you toss at him first time around, but Zeke has to study the word like a scholar with the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

“He’s good at his arithmetic.”

“Yeah.” Mac wasn’t sure how he felt about her knowing so much about his kids.

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