Happily This Christmas (Happily Inc #6) - Susan Mallery Page 0,6
is going to be a big hit on your credit card.”
“Not a problem.” He had plenty of savings, and except for food and an occasional guys’ night out, he rarely spent any money. “I want Joylyn to feel good about staying here. Thanks for helping me, Wynn.”
She smiled. “You are going to owe me big time.”
“You name your price and I’ll pay it.”
Something flashed in her eyes. For a second he wondered if she was going to suggest something he would find intriguing, but then she looked away.
“I’ll let you know what I decide. In the meantime I’ll get going on the shopping list. I’m going to start in the kitchen.”
She walked down the hall. He allowed himself to admire that view of her, then shook off any lingering desire. Wynn was his neighbor. She was helping him when she didn’t have to, and he would respect that. As for wanting anything else—he knew better. Relationships always ended badly for him. He’d been through enough to know he was done with trying to make one work.
If he wanted to repay her for what she was doing, he would build her a gazebo or expand her back deck. Nothing else. Anything romantic would only be a disaster.
CHAPTER TWO
WYNN WAS SURPRISED to realize she’d never been shopping with a man before. It seemed an odd kind of event to have missed in her life—after all, she was a business owner and single mom. She’d dated men—sort of—and had been in a couple of semiserious relationships. She’d had sex with men, had dinner, gone to bars, concerts and completed a whole list of normal activities with the opposite gender, but she’d never gone shopping of any kind.
“Thanks again for helping me with my project,” Garrick said, glancing at her briefly before turning his attention to the road.
They were in his ridiculously large black SUV, heading to the outlet mall about forty miles from Happily Inc where there were a couple of big bed-and-bath kind of stores, along with a few furniture places.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she told him with a grin. “I’m going to test your ability to handle fringe.”
“You keep mentioning that. I’m starting to think you’re not kidding.”
“You’re going to have to wait and find out.”
She pulled a list out of her handbag. “We should get the kitchen table and chairs first. Once we have that, we’ll deal with linens and kitchenware, leaving the artwork for last.” She glanced at him. “In case you flake out, we’ll have the most important items taken care of.”
“Flake out? I’m the one who came to you. I want to make this happen.”
“You say that now, but let’s see how you handle all the shopping.”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “Maybe I like shopping.”
“Oh, please. If you did, you’d have more stuff in your house. Most guys don’t like shopping, which I’ve never understood. All you have to do is pretend you’re hunting. You stalk, you pounce, you strap it to the car and take it home. A total win, but men don’t see it that way.”
He chuckled. “There are a lot of gross generalizations in those few sentences.”
“I’ll admit that’s true, but how many of them are wrong?”
“Not as many as I’d like.”
She smiled. This was nice—being with Garrick in the not-quite close confines of his SUV. He had a very commanding presence she found appealing, along with the subtle scent of freshly showered man that she’d been missing in her life. Today would be a great opportunity to figure out if they had any kind of chemistry and if there was any “there” there. Of course given her sucky personal life, there was every chance she was going to end up being ready to try a little kissing action about the time he was ready to head home and watch the game.
“What’s Hunter doing today?” he asked.
“Hanging out with a friend. He couldn’t believe I was letting him out of his Sunday chores.”
“That would be a sweet victory. He’s in what, ninth grade?”
“Uh-huh. Ninth grade is middle school in Happily Inc, so he’s in high school next year. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing up.”
“They do that. Enjoy every second while he’s still living at home.”
“I do my best.”
She pointed to the off-ramp for the outlet center up ahead, and Garrick moved into the right lane of the freeway. They quickly found a parking space and walked into the furniture store. Wynn headed for the dining room and kitchen tables,