Million Dollar Christmas Bride - Holly Rayner Page 0,9

attraction that caught him off guard, and for a second he had trouble finding words. “Even work,” he said after a moment. “He has a bed right by my desk. I think he likes the office even better than home.”

He motioned to the table, “I got coffees and bagels for us… or do you usually get something else?”

“This is great,” Bianca said, as she slid into one of the metal chairs and surveyed the tabletop. “And look at that! You got cream and sugar. You’re sweet. I have a habit of putting way too much sugar in my coffee, especially after a night shift. But hey, I figure I earned it.”

She picked up two packets and shook them back and forth before tearing off the tops. At the same time, she looked down at Rufus. “You’re lucky that he’ll sit here with you like this, just watching folks pass by. My dog would never chill like this.”

Jackson took a seat as well, and reached for his coffee. He marveled at how nice it felt to sit in the early morning sunshine and have a simple conversation with this woman—Bianca. It was almost like they were old friends, yet there was something distinctly exciting about being around her, too. He felt energized yet comfortable. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to, especially around women.

“Oh, no?” he said. “Why not?”

“Peaches goes nuts when anything with wheels goes by. Well, except for cars. But you know—little wheels. Skateboards, bikes… scooters are the worst.”

Jackson laughed and reached down to pet Rufus’s head. “Old Rufus here doesn’t mind wheeled machines. The thing that drives him to barking is moving water.”

Bianca grinned. “Really?”

Jackson nodded. “He’ll howl and bark to no end when he’s within sight of a wave or current. It makes him uneasy. I think it’s due to a river cruise that I took him on when he was just a puppy. He was shy back then, and there were quite a few people on the boat—then the weather turned bad. Maybe he was too young for it, and it freaked him out. So he’s been uneasy around water ever since.”

“I don’t blame him,” Bianca said.

Rufus looked up at her with obvious approval. He scooted over and then leaned into her legs.

Bianca reached out and pet his shoulders, speaking in a soft tone, “Did the thunder scare you, Mr. Rufus?”

He nuzzled against her.

She closed her eyes as she swallowed her coffee and then said, “Mm! This is divine. You have no idea how much I needed this. I’ve been running all night. What a shift…” She shook her head, then looked directly at Jackson. “So besides scaring Rufus here, how was that river cruise? I’ve always wanted to go on one.”

“It was fun,” Jackson said. “Well, until the wind picked up and turned it into more of a river rapids experience.”

She laughed. “That was probably not what you expected.”

Jackson couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked when she smiled; her whole face lit up. She caught his gaze, then quickly looked down to the table, her cheeks rosy with heat.

Jackson’s heartbeat quickened. The scene around them—the sidewalk bustling with pedestrian traffic, the trees alive with fidgety birds, and the cafe to their side filled with people—all seemed to pause for an instant. Jackson felt a crackle of shared tension zap between himself and the beautiful stranger next to him.

Bianca seemed to feel it too, because when she looked up through a fringe of dark auburn lashes, her green eyes examined Jackson’s with a searching look. She seemed to be asking him wordlessly if he felt the same attraction that she did. He sensed all of this so clearly, yet it took place in just a matter of seconds.

When she turned her head to reach for her purse, she broke the spell that had somehow been cast over them. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Here I am chatting on and on about river cruises and what you want is my insurance information. Let me get out my card.”

As she retrieved her wallet from her purse and then began shuffling through various slips of paper, Jackson cleared his throat. “The estimate on repairs for my car is about five grand.”

“I’m sure my insurance company will cover that,” Bianca said. “Aha! Here it is. Let me give them a call.”

She pulled out a slip of light blue paper and then picked up her phone. “I’ll be right back,” she said.

She stood and then walked away from