The next morning Georgia was awake at five A.M. She loved the warehouse in the early morning. Before the phone started ringing, before paperwork appeared on her desk, before the computer screen was ready to research items, before inventory was taken for upcoming auctions, before appraisers came to consult about items. It was just her, the slight whine of the heater, and her shelves of sleepy treasures. Some women liked mani-pedis and shopping. Georgia’s “me time” was simply being alone in her space with a cup of coffee. She would wrap her hands around the warm mug and walk among her treasures. It was like strolling through her own personal flower garden. Sometimes she picked things up. Sometimes she talked to them. Often she imagined the people who had sat in a chair, or lifted a crystal goblet in a toast, or brandished a sword. She felt as if her space were filled with unseen friends; ghosts of things past.
She padded into the kitchen, eager to get to her routine. If only she could do it without counting down the days in her head. Focus. She headed for the cupboard where she kept the coffee beans in a terrific old tin she kept out of auction a few years ago, along with an old-fashioned grinder. Set just off the office, it was a simple galley kitchen, but it was stocked with the essentials. Georgia prepared the coffeepot and leaned against the counter as it started to brew. The gurgle, the smell, the first couple of drips. Adam and Ben would be here in two hours. She scheduled the meeting this early on a Sunday for two reasons. One, Ranger was sure to be asleep. Especially after all the decorating and playing from yesterday. Second, she predicted the early hour would annoy the Scrooges.
I know you. And you’ve turned into the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
She’d spun that phrase around a thousand times in her head, and couldn’t come up with an explanation. Other than—he was a liar. But he’d sounded so sincere. So intense, and she believed him. But just what did he mean by that? It made absolutely no sense. She’d never seen him before in her life. She would definitely remember him. And now look. Here she was spending stolen moments thinking about him. Actually thinking about him. Imagining him standing beside her bed, taking off his clothes, reaching for her. That’s where it should have stayed—after all, she was a woman, she had desires, having amorous fantasies about him she could handle. But she just had to take it a step further, didn’t she? And so it didn’t stop with picturing him in bed. She actually allowed herself to imagine Adam spending the day. Decorating with them, running toy trains along the floor with Ranger, playing Clue with them. Ridiculous. It was the old guilt raising its ugly head. Ranger with no father. Her father had been his only remaining male guide. And now he was gone. How could she rip his home from him too?
They would find another. She would make sure of it. But the man responsible for taking it all away from them would not be sitting at their dinner table, picking Mr. Plum with the candlestick in the library, or placing the star at the top of the tree. It wasn’t Adam she wanted, it was just a man. Any man. Well, not any man. The thought of dating again was truly horrid. Blind dates. Men who didn’t like children. Married men who lied and said they were single. Men who preferred much younger women. Men she wasn’t attracted to. The list of obstacles was daunting. She’d stick to fantasizing.
But not about Adam Cavalier. Or his handsome face, muscular tall frame, deep, low voice.
She took her coffee to the fireplace section. None of them were actually working fireplaces, not currently anyway, but they could easily be made to work in the right homes. She loved the collection of ornate wood mantels, all from older Victorian homes, when care was put into everything they built. When things were built to last. She lit the candles in each fireplace, and sat in one of the comfy chairs positioned facing them. The effect was divine. It really felt as if there were a roaring fire. She would have to make a list of places she was going to donate items that didn’t sell. Families in need, and grass-roots organizations. Even as she tried to think of business, she was imagining Adam standing over her, leaning in, and kissing her neck.
Damn him. In a little while, she would be signing papers selling him her lease in the New Year. That would stop the fantasies in their tracks. And even if they continued for a little while, she wouldn’t ever see him again after this morning. Adam and Ben weren’t invited to the Christmas party in the circle. She would have to make sure to remind them of that. By the time the doorbell rang, Georgia had done a quick workout, showered, and changed into jeans and a cashmere sweater, the indigo one that so many people had complimented her on. And so what if she took time with her layered black hair, and applied make-up even though the sun was barely out. And the perfume? It was all for her. Let Adam be just as tortured thinking about her. And she would spend all of her time looking and talking to Ben. Childish, maybe, but she had to do something to keep from throwing her arms around Adam and kissing him on the mouth. Hard.
She glanced at the wall of clocks as she headed for the door. They were fifteen minutes early! How dare they be so eager? She should just let them stand out there until it was seven on the dot. Maybe the blizzard would come early and bury them alive. Here stand two Scrooges, frozen in time. Yes, one is a hunk. Don’t let him fool you. Then again, she didn’t want a repeated doorbell to wake Ranger. You put on make-up, you put on the indigo sweater, you like him! She undid the locks and threw open the door, determined to look only at Ben. But Ben wasn’t in front of her. Adam was. And he was alone.
“Hello, Georgia,” he said. Why did he have to say it as if she had just rolled over in bed and he was greeting her from the next pillow?
“You’re early.” She sounded snappy. She had to. He was not going to get under her skin this time.
“May I come in, or do you want all your neighbors to hear you shouting at me?”
Like lovers, having a quarrel. “I’m not shouting.” Georgia stepped back. “Come in.” Adam gave a half-bow, which she would have found charming had she not been purposely concentrating on hating him. “Where is Ben?” she asked when he was just inside the door. He stomped his feet on the rug and shook out his head.
“It’s snowing? This soon?” That was the downside to the warehouse. There were only a few windows. One in the kitchen, one in the bathroom, and one in Ranger’s bedroom. Georgia opened the door again and peeked out. Sure enough, under the dim streetlamps, she could see a light curtain of snow, falling sideways.
“They’re saying we could get up to three feet,” Adam said.
“Ranger is going to be thrilled.”
“Especially if school is canceled tomorrow.” For a second Adam had a glint in his eye as if he were a child getting off for a snow day. Georgia shut and locked the door.
“Would you like coffee?” she asked, heading for the kitchen.
“You bet.” He was right behind her, following her. She didn’t so much hear him as feel him at her back. Why did it feel so normal to have him so close? Ordinarily she was very stiff around strangers, but with Adam she had to keep reminding herself that he wasn’t a stranger at all— and then she had to remind herself that she couldn’t stand him. For some reason, it was taking an awful lot of reminding.
When she was at the coffeepot she turned to ask him if he wanted cream and sugar. “How do you take it?” The minute she said it a thousand dirty thoughts ran through her mind. He was right there. Barely an inch away. Why was he so close? Why did he smell so good? Why did he make her feel as if she was getting a snow day? And now he was looking deep and long into her eyes, and she was staring back.
“Any way you want to give it to me.”
“What?”
“That’s how I’ll take it.” Georgia turned back, moved away from him, grabbed mugs out of the cupboard.
“You’re a comedian. But I would really like to know if you prefer cream and sugar or—”
“Just sugar,” he said. Everything out of his mouth sounded sexual. Maybe it wasn’t him, maybe it was her. She was reading into everything he said. Soon they were seated next to the fireplaces. Uh-oh. Now this really was romantic. She leapt up and started blowing out the candles.
“Oh,” he said. “I thought they were cozy.”
“We’re not on a date,” she said as she blew the last one out. She headed for the dimmer switch for the bank of lights nearest them. She turned it up higher than she normally would.
“Let’s sit over here,” she said. She moved them away from the comfy chairs to the dining table. She waited until he sat down and then she sat all the way at the other end. Since it was a table that could seat twelve, it put plenty of distance between them.
“Much better,” Adam said. “We look very professional.” Was he mocking her? He was studying her, and smiling. Did he think she was attracted to him? Was she overcompensating? Then again, he was the one here a half an hour ahead of time. Alone.
“Why are you here so early?” she asked.
“Why are you selling?”
“Excuse me?”
“The last time I was here, you said you wouldn’t sell to us if we were the last investors on earth and zombies were eating what was left of your warehouse.”
“I did not.”
Adam grinned. “It was certainly the sentiment,” he said.
“You’re that surprised, are you?” She laid it on thick so that there was no way he could miss the sarcasm.
“You were pretty resolute.”
“Why does this matter? This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“Not like this.”
“How then? You want me to hand my life’s work, my life’s dream over to you with a smile? Is that it?”
“You’re totally misunderstanding me. I just want you to know—my intentions are good.”
“Seriously?”
“Did you read the literature I gave you?”
“No. Why? Was it homework? Part of my contract?”
“I just think if you knew how I plan to invest the money—”
“I don’t care. You win. Is that what you want to hear?”
“No.”
“You’re afraid I’m going to back out, is that it?”
“No.”
“Of course you’re not. Because you’ve left me no choice, have you? God forbid I make my sister go bankrupt and keep the neighbors from yoga, parrots, and veganism.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Why are you so early? Did you come to gloat?”
“Absolutely not. I take no pleasure in your pain. I’m sorry. Georgia, I’m really sorry.”
“Whatever. Do you have the paperwork?”
“Ben’s bringing it. I came early to see—I was hoping maybe you’d changed your mind because you liked our offer. I was hoping you read up about my plans for—”
Georgia stood and planted her hands on the table. “I can’t believe you. The arrogance. You’re actually looking for my approval for kicking me out of my home and my life’s work in one fell swoop—”
“I just thought if you knew—”
“You aren’t going to get it. Whatever it is you want to tell me—I don’t care.”
“You don’t even want to—”
“I don’t care! I don’t care! Are you deaf?” She was ashamed of herself, for sounding so childish, but he was pushing all her buttons and really, wasn’t it enough that she was giving in? She didn’t want to care. He didn’t get to take everything away from her and force her to like it.
“No. Well, maybe a little. Because of all your shouting.”
“I will stop shouting if you will stop trying to recruit me to see this deal through discount-mall rose-colored glasses.”
“Fair enough,” he said finally. “But you can at least admit it’s a good offer.” He still looked as if he wanted to say more but at least he knew better this time.
“If you’re in your seventies and looking to retire. Not for me. Not with another forty years ahead of me.”
“But surely you can find another place—”
Georgia slammed her hands down again. “Why do you care?”
“Because. I know you—”
“Stop saying that. You don’t know me.”
“I—”
“We’re not friends. We’re not dating—”
Adam stood too, and raised his voice. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned us dating.” Was it? She couldn’t remember. Or maybe he could read her every thought. How dare he. How dare he come in here and call her out like this before she signed away all rights to this warehouse. Her future. She hated him. She backed from the table. But he was coming straight for her.
“Leave the paperwork. I’ll have it messengered after I’ve signed it.” She headed for the door. Once again, Adam was right behind her. He touched her arm and she whirled around. Having him so close stripped all coherent thoughts from her mind. She knew she was staring at his lips and she couldn’t stop.
“I like you,” he said in a soft, low voice. “I want to go on a date.”
“You’re kidding, right?” she asked quietly. He actually thought she was going to be putty in his hands. Arrogant. Probably came with being so damn gorgeous.
“I know it’s a little awkward—”
“A little awkward?” This time, she advanced on him. He didn’t move an inch, like someone not wanting to scare off a wild animal, he stood very still. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was holding his breath.
“I’d rather cut off my arm than leave this place. This is home. This is work. This is the last place my father ever lived. And every time I think of what I lost—it’s going to be your face I see. You, I blame. We are never. Ever. Ever. Ever. Going on a date.” Their long stare was broken by the harsh ringing of the doorbell.
“Get out,” she said, opening the door and gesturing. But Ben was already barging in.