"Kyle!" Claire cried with dismay, but Jill just scowled at her brother and hurried out of the room, heading for the spare room to collect her things. Nick, or Mr. Handsome Shoes, as Claire called him, couldn't be gay. She just wouldn't believe it. She was already half in love with the man.
Jill frowned. She was sure she'd know if he was, but while Nick was always charming and interesting and seemed to enjoy being with her, he'd never taken that step to move the relationship from friendship to actual dating.
Maybe he was gay. Her shoulders slumped at the possibility. Wouldn't it be just her luck to fall for a guy who couldn't possibly have any interest in her as anything more than a friend? She didn't have a great track record with men lately. Sighing unhappily, she snatched up her purse and overnight bag and headed out of the room. If he were gay, then today was going to be a total bust. The only reason she'd agreed to play Mrs. Claus to his Santa in the Christmas parade was to spend more time with the man in the hope that he would finally move the relationship to the next level. It had been Bev's idea. Bev owned and operated a hair salon further up the street. She was also the friend she tended to moan to the most about Nick. Bev seemed to think Nick was just shy.
In charge of the parade preparations, it was Bev who had suggested that seeing each other away from their stores and actually playing Mrs. Claus to his Santa might be just the push Nick needed to get him over his shyness and make him ask her out.
Ever hopeful, Jill had decided to give it a go. And it seemed to be working. He hadn't yet asked her out, but—where on the lunches they were prim and proper, sharing their thoughts, but careful not to invade each other's space—at the meetings for the parade, they'd been much more relaxed, both of them laughing and joking as they worked at the preparations.
There had also been a good deal of "accidental" touching going on, hands meeting as they each grabbed for the same item, bodies brushing as they passed. And last night as they'd worked on the preparations, they'd been left alone in Bev's kitchen for several minutes and Jill was positive Nick'd been about to kiss her before Jay, one of the elves, had entered, interrupting them.
Jill had been disappointed at the interruption, and was hoping today he'd actually finish what he'd nearly started, claim the kiss and ask her out. It was their last chance before the parade was over and they went back to their rushed lunches in the middle of busy work days.
Sending up a quick prayer that Nick asked her out today, Jill started downstairs, pressing close to the wall as Kyle started up with suitcases in hand.
"Have fun with Mr. Gay Shoes," he teased as she rushed past.
Jill stuck out her tongue and kept going, pausing only long enough at the dining room door to wish Claire a good day before rushing out of the house, her knapsack over one shoulder and purse over the other.
Jill had parked on the street when she'd arrived the night before to prevent blocking in Claire and Kyle's car when they went to leave or being blocked in by it when they returned. Unfortunately, the closest empty parking spot she'd found had been halfway up the street. Now she hurried up the sidewalk, her thoughts already on the day ahead and Nick.
Distracted as she was, Jill was nearly at her car before she noticed the man leaning against the front grill of her little Toyota. Pausing abruptly, she watched with a frown as the man straightened to face her. He was tall, dark-haired, not bad looking, but there was something about his mouth and eyes that made him look hard and cold. She was instantly wary.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her hand tightening on her bags. The only thing she could think was that it was his house she'd parked in front of and he didn't care for her parking there. "Is it about my parking here?"
"Parking here?" he echoed with bewilderment, then seemed to understand. Flashing a smile that didn't reach his eyes, he said, "Oh, of course, you don't know who I am. I'm John Heathcliffe. I used to work with your brother."
Jill stiffened, the hair on the back of her neck suddenly standing on end as she recognized the name of the crazy co-worker who had zapped Claire with the destabilizer.
"You've heard of me," he said with apparent pleasure.
"What do you want?" she asked, her gaze slipping back the way she'd come.
"You didn't think I'd zap you with the destabilizer and then just leave you alone?" he said with amusement.
Jill jerked her head back around.
"Zap me with the destabilizer?" she echoed blankly, wondering what on earth was he talking about. He shouldn't even know about the destabilizer. No one knew Kyle had rebuilt it in his home. As for zapping her with it, the only encounter she'd had with it was banging her head as she…