His Christmas Delight

CHAPTER TWO

'Jay! Jay Tollinger!' Her eyes rounded in amazement. 'Oh my God, Jay!' She stood dumbstruck for an instant. But as was typical of her, only for an instant. She rushed on. 'When did you come back? Oh, was it your idea to rehab the shop? That's a cool one. I mean oh wow! Playing Santa yourself! The kids would love that. But I thought you weren't coming back?' She paused and added, 'That's what Paul always said to everyone.'

'Yes, I didn't have any intention of coming back. But Paul needed help with the store and Anna taking ill like that, it would have been stupid to keep...' He stopped, cutting himself off. 'to be away,' he said. He glanced around. 'It needed an uplift. I'm on leave, so I thought I'd give Paul a hand here. Paul hasn't had time to look after it properly. But neither one of us wants to let it go. So a Christmas revival seemed to be a good idea.'

'You've certainly been busy.' She looked around. 'This place looks like something out of a big mall in Mumbai.'

'Yes. There's been a stupendous amount of work done.'

And she had been about to collapse their star show!

Remembering her mission, Myra bit her lip.

But Toby? Tonya? Poor Tonya - a single parent now. A woman struggling to find a life after losing her husband.

Like Myra was.

Maybe she could persuade Jay. Was there something like fixed giveaway? She knew instinctively Jay would never agree to cheat.

Well, her plan had flopped. She needed another one. A smoother and more planned Operation Robbery of Rare Game Set.

'Why don't you have coffee with me? You know, catch up on old times.' Jay glanced at his cell. 'We still have an hour before we open the Santa corner.'

'I'd love that,' she said with enthusiasm.

'Good.' His glance sank into hers. An unexpected shiver of awareness ran through her and she couldn't tear her gaze from his. 'We should catch up,' he said.

'Yes, I'd like that.'

She was surprised to find she really did mean it.

Coffee. A perfect stop gap to reconnoiter her resources and think up a new plan.

'You've changed a lot,' she observed. She couldn't drag her gaze from him.

*

Sliding into the booth opposite him in an automatic movement, she couldn't help marveling at the metamorphosis.

The gangly kid had filled out. Hell, he'd never been a kid sort of kid. He'd hung around his brother and everyone had pretended they didn't mind having him about. Nobody voiced the real, indisputable fact. They needed him. Jay was the smartest kid in their group. A miracle worker with just about any kind of stuff they needed to keep their 'band' going. He fixed their guitars, wiring, speakers, their second hand recording apparatus. The list was endless.

'Changed? Really? How?' A dark eyebrow lifted.

Surely he knew it? She looked him over, not knowing where to start. The way his shirt tautly stretched over broad shoulders? The way his muscles flexed even in casual movement? She couldn't miss the bunch of biceps. Her gaze travelled up a column of neck to the strong jaw.

Surely it hadn't been this well-chiseled? Her perusal went on...the straight line of his nose...his mouth... Her breath stopped for an instant...such absolute perfection. The upper lip thinner than the sensuously full lower lip.