A Diamond For Christmas. Susan Meier

she walked by their desks. Though this group looked a little more wary than the enthusiastic buyers, Rory nodded and smiled.

      In department three, advertising and PR, copy layout littered a big table in the center of a much wider main room. Employees sat at drafting table desks. The department head, John Wilder, was just a tad too happy for Rory’s tastes. Finley wasn’t thrilled with him, either.

      “So are you going to sit on Santa’s lap?”

      Finley’s little mouth tuned down into her perfect U frown. “No.”

      “Ah. Too old for that now, huh?”

      “No, I don’t believe he exists.”

      John laughed, but Finley tugged on Rory’s hand. “I don’t like it here.”

      Rory covered for her with a little laugh. “We’ve been meeting people since we arrived. She’s probably ready for a break.”

      Shannon moved them toward the door. “That’s a great idea.” In the hall, she stooped in front of Finley. “How about if we go up to the cafeteria and have a soda?”

      Her little mouth pulled down even farther. “I want to go home.”

      Shannon shot a glance up at Rory, and he crouched beside Finley. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he said, “I told you this would be boring and you said you didn’t care as long as we went to the beach afterward.”

      Her bottom lip puffed out. “I know.”

      “So you’ve got to keep up your end of the bargain.”

      Her lip quivered. “I don’t have anything to do while you talk.”

      “Things will slow down this afternoon and we’ll stay in one department. We’ll find you a chair and you can sit and play on your computer.”

      “It’s noisy when you talk.”

      “It is,” Shannon agreed suddenly. “And lots of those offices don’t have room for an extra chair.”

      Rory glanced up at her, mortified that she was agreeing with Finley, ruining his defense.

      “So why don’t we set you up in my office? Wendy will be right outside the door, if you need anything. And I have a TV in case your computer games get boring.”

      “If you have Wi-Fi, I can watch TV on my computer.”

      Shannon laughed. “My screen’s bigger.”

      Finley laughed, too.

      Rory peeked over at Shannon again. Her abilities with Finley were amazing. She’d said she’d babysat some of her friends’ kids, but she seemed so much smarter than a part-time, fill-in caregiver.

      Unless he was just lacking?

      Ah, hell. Who was he kidding? Ever since Finley entered this new diva phase, he’d been behind the eight ball, playing catch up rather than proactively parenting. Shannon, an objective person, knew exactly what to do because she saw things more clearly than he did.

      They walked Finley back to the office at the end of the hall. Wendy looked up as they entered. “That was fast.”

      Shannon said, “We took a quick introduction tour and Finley got bored. So, we’ve decided to let her watch TV in my office while we go up to human resources.”

      Wendy rose. “That’s a great idea. I also think we have some cola in your refrigerator…maybe even some candy.”

      “No candy before lunch,” Rory said.

      Shannon smiled. “I should think not. We’ve got a great cafeteria upstairs.” She caught Finley’s gaze. “They make the best French fries. Give us an hour to talk with the people in human resources and I’ll race you upstairs. Winner gets a milk shake.”

      Finley gasped with excitement. Wendy laughed and took her hand. “You two go on. Finley and I will channel surf until we find some cartoons.”

      When they were in the hall, Rory ran his hand along the back of his neck. “Thanks.”

      Shannon began walking up the hall. “For what?”

      He hurried to catch up with her. “For being so good with Finley.”

      “Finley is a very easy child to love.”

      That made him laugh, but Shannon didn’t join him. “You’re serious.”

      For that she stopped. “Yes. Why are you surprised?”

      He pointed at his chest. “I love her because she’s mine. But this diva phase has even me backing off sometimes.”

      “That’s because you take everything too personally.”

      “She is my daughter.”

      “Right.”

      “You know, we’ve got five whole days of entertaining her.”

      “I know.”

      “And Finley’s not going to settle into your office for an entire week and just play baby angel.”

      That time she did laugh.

      “So what do you say we form an alliance?”

      She peeked at him. “An alliance?”

      “A partnership. My side of the bargain is that I need help. Your side is to provide that help. It’s win-win.”

      She laughed again.

      And something soft and warm floated through Rory. He hadn’t exactly forgotten what it felt like to be in the company of a woman, but he had forgotten some things. Like how everything around them always smelled pretty. Or how their laughs were usually musical.

      “I love it when you laugh.”

      Shannon took a step back, and though she’d pulled away before, avoided him before, this morning it gave him an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. She had a real problem with him complimenting her.

      After nearly three days together he should be at least allowed to compliment something neutral like her laugh.

      “Why does that make you mad?”

      She started walking again. “It doesn’t make me mad.”

      “It makes you something because you stopped laughing. Pulled away.” He paused, watching her race away from him. “Now you’re all but running away.”

      “We have work to do.”

      “And we also spent the weekend together. We can’t spend the week behaving like strangers.”

      “Not strangers, just people working out a business deal.”

      Catching up to her, he said, “Ah, so this is your business face.”

      She motioned a circle in front of the bright red jacket of her suit. “This is the whole business demeanor.” Then she sighed. “Look, I’m seriously trying to sell you my store. It would help if you’d forget that I love to sled-ride. And that I can’t cook. And I haven’t even started decorating for Christmas yet.”

      He studied her pretty blue eyes, which were shiny with what he could only guess was fear that something personal might cause him to walk away from their negotiations. His voice was soft, careful, when he said, “Why would that help? People who like each other usually make better deals.”

      She looked away. “Friendships can also backfire.”

      Ah. “Did you have a friendship backfire?”

      “No, I’m just saying—”

      “And I’m just saying relax. We like each other—” For once he didn’t try to deny it. All weekend long he’d been coming to know her, getting to like her. Being trapped in her little house with a strong desire to kiss her hadn’t been good. But in a store