A Diamond For Christmas. Susan Meier

tummy that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she needed to adopt a child. Or maybe two children. Or maybe a whole gaggle of kids. In her gut, she knew she was made to be a mom. Since Mother Nature had stolen her normal child-getting avenue away from her, she would simply go an alternative route.

      That solid, irrevocable decision was the good effect of the dream. If she wanted to be a mom, she could be.

      But…

      Now that she was so sure she would become a mom, shouldn’t she want to spend as much time as she could with children? Especially one-on-one time like the kind she got with Finley? And shouldn’t she also want to spend time with parents, the way she had in South Carolina? Learning the ins and outs of the things they did automatically. Rory might have stumbled a bit dealing with Finley the Diva, but he did so many things automatically, instinctively. Like get her coat. Slide her little arms into sweaters. Make sure she had ketchup.

      She’d been watching other people with kids her entire adult life, preparing to become a mom. Now that she had up-close-and-personal time with a daddy and daughter, wasn’t she stupid to throw it away?

      She licked her lower lip and remembered every second of both kisses Rory had given her. She remembered the flash of heat that accompanied the sweet, romantic caresses. She remembered the yearning to step into his embrace, the longing to wrap her arms around him, and knew it would be risky to her heart to spend any more time with him.

      But just as quickly, she reminded herself that she wasn’t weak. In the past year, she’d lost a part of herself, then lost her husband because she wasn’t whole anymore. She’d come home. Taken over her family’s store. Gotten over her pain.

      Surely, she could direct a relationship between herself and Rory away from romantic to a place where they could be friends.

      Of course she could. She was strong. Her problems had made her strong. Now that she had sorted all this out in her head and had a solid course of action, she was even stronger. More determined. With her mind set, she could spend a lifetime in his company and not waver.

      She walked into her dark, quiet office. Turned on the light. She could do this. She would do this.

      Twenty minutes later, Rory and Finley strolled in. Finley raced over to her desk and gave her a hug. “I had fun last night.”

      Closing her eyes, she squeezed the little girl affectionately. Without Finley she might have taken years to make her decision to adopt. For as much as Rory thought he owed her with Finley, she knew she owed Finley more.

      “I had fun last night, too.”

      Shannon rose and helped Finley out of her jacket. “Did you bring your laptop?”

      Finley nodded.

      “I have a surprise.” She lifted a new video game off her desk. “I bought you a game.”

      Finley’s face lit up. “What is it?”

      She glanced at the CD. “I’m not sure. Something with frogs and dragons. Wendy said her grandkids love it.”

      Finley eagerly took the game Shannon handed her.

      Shannon laughed and faced Rory. “So what do you want to do today?”

      Obviously avoiding her gaze, he shrugged out of his topcoat. “Chat with the people in advertising and public relations.”

      She pressed her intercom button. “Wendy, we’re ready for you to help Finley install her new game. Mr. Wallace and I will be with advertising.”

      Wendy said, “Great,” and within seconds was in the doorway to Shannon’s office.

      Shannon walked around the desk and headed for the door. “She’s all yours.” She pointed at Rory. “You come with me.”

      Rory swung Finley up and gave her a smacking kiss goodbye. “We’ll be back in time for lunch.”

      Finley said, “Okay,” then slithered down.

      As Rory and Shannon walked out, Finley eagerly raced to Shannon’s chair, where Wendy sat booting up her laptop.

      In the hall, Rory glanced over at Shannon. The night before, she’d acted very oddly with him, refusing to let him compliment her, getting nervously quiet after he’d kissed her. He didn’t need to be hit on the head with a rock. She didn’t want him kissing her.

      So that morning in the shower, he’d given himself a stern lecture. Kissing her had been wrong. Her reaction to the mistletoe should have clued him in, but he was so damned sure his charm and good looks would smooth things over that he’d made a mistake. A big blunder. But this morning he would fix that by apologizing.

      Except, she didn’t seem to need an apology. She seemed strong and in control. No moodiness. No nerves.

      He could have been insulted by the second, annoyed that she was denying the attraction he knew hummed between them, but he wasn’t that much of an idiot. He might be feeling the stirrings of being interested in a relationship, but it was clear she wasn’t. His divorce was two years in the past. Hers was one. He was incredibly physically attracted to her. She might not be incredibly attracted to him. He liked her. She… Well, he might not be as charming as he’d always thought.

      Plus, they were together because of a business deal. Once the deal was done, she might feel differently. She could be standoffish right now because she wanted to get a fair price for her store. And if she did like him, if she was only pulling back because of their business deal, wouldn’t he be an idiot to push her?

      Of course, he would.

      When she reached the door marked Advertising, he hustled in front of her and grabbed the knob. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to start being a gentleman, and show her his charming, likable side, while they were doing business so that once their business was concluded he might be able to ask her out.

      Even the thought sent a ripple of excitement through him. He couldn’t believe he’d spent two long years on his own. But he had. And that was probably for the best. But now, he was ready.

      She smiled at him as he walked through the door and his heart swelled with ridiculous hope. She obviously wasn’t holding a grudge against him for kissing her. He had three or four days left for him to mend his reputation, show her he was a nice guy, and then, when the deal was done, he could pounce.

      Good God, he liked having a plan!

      John Wilder, obviously having been alerted by Wendy, stood in the center of the big room. “What would you like to see first?”

      “Actually, I’d like to talk first.” He glanced around the room. “With everyone.”

      John’s brows rose. “Individually?”

      He laughed. “We have all day. And I’d like to get a good feel for what this division does to justify its existence.”

      John straightened with affront. “You can’t have a department store without ads in the local paper.”

      Rory laughed. “Relax.” He glanced at a red-haired woman who was the only one in the department still working. “I’d like to start with her.”

      She glanced up, pointed at her chest. “Me?”

      “Yes. You are…”

      “I’m Rose.”

      “And you do what?”

      “Layout mostly.”

      “Great. Where can we talk?”

      John gestured toward a small conference room and Rory motioned for Rose to join him there.

      Unusually comfortable with Shannon, Rory didn’t think twice about the fact that she was always with him when he made his visits, until she stepped into the conference room with him and Rose. It was only day two of his tour, but he suddenly realized that he’d never once been alone with anyone from her staff. Worse, he hadn’t once questioned the fact