Harlequin Holiday Collection Page 10

  “Black is fine.”

  She placed a steaming cup on the counter for him. He sat on the living room side of the bar, probably using it as a boundary between them. She hoped her jittery excitement wasn’t coming off as juvenile. It was just so nice to have company.

  “You have family in the Four Corners area?” she asked to break the silence.

  He cradled his coffee mug as if his hands needed warming. She thought of all the ways she could warm those long-fingered hands…. Stop! If she kept thinking like that it would show on her face and he would be out of there in a heartbeat.

  “My family’s in Durango.”

  “Are you going home for Christmas?” The thought had her heart sinking.

  A quick shake of his head sent her hopes rising again.

  “Then you absolutely must have Christmas dinner with me.” She gave the fridge door a shove with her hip to close it. “If you don’t already have plans, I mean.”

  It would have been nice to see his eyes, to maybe get some take on what he was thinking, but he stared into his coffee. “I don’t usually bother with the whole Christmas thing.”

  “No tree?” Christmas was…well…Christmas. Not having a tree was positively Scroogelike.

  “I can’t remember the last time I had a tree.”

  There was something in his voice when he made the statement that told her there was a story behind that decision. She didn’t dare ask.

  Thankfully she had the good sense to let silence settle between them. She busied her mind with the presentation on the plate. For some reason getting it exactly right was immensely important. She held up two bottles of salad dressing. “What do you want? Ranch or Caesar?”

  When he looked up at her question, there was no way to disguise the grimace. He wasn’t comfortable here…with her. She had been too forward. Darn it.

  “Whatever you’re having is fine.”

  “Ranch it is.” She drizzled the dressing over his salad and placed it in front of him, then quickly prepared her own. “Water?” When he nodded, she poured two glasses of water and freshened his coffee.

  Opting not to crowd him, she pulled up a stool on the kitchen side of the bar. If she hoped to be friends with Jacob Webster, patience was going to be key.

  She paused, fork halfway to her mouth. Who was she kidding? She didn’t want to be friends with him…she wanted him.

  As if her thought had reached out and tapped him on the shoulder, he lifted his gaze to hers. There was no time to wipe the desire from her mind or her eyes.

  “This is…” his gaze dropped to her parted lips “…very good.”

  She licked her lips. Couldn’t help herself. “Thank you.”

  He aimed his attention back at his plate.

  That moment was the beginning of the end. He rushed through the rest of his meal and fled as quickly as possible.

  Olivia sagged against the closed door.

  How was she ever going to reach that man?

  Chapter Five

  Five days ’til Christmas

  The next day Olivia recognized the magnitude of her mistake. She should never have insisted Jacob stay for dinner. Now he wouldn’t even look at her, much less speak to her.

  Not that he spoke to her on a regular basis before, but typically he at least said good morning. Plus, the lab wasn’t that large; usually they barely missed running into each other around one piece of equipment or another. He would smile and say, “excuse me”—but not today. He kept to his station without so much as a glance in her direction.

  She’d probably screwed up any chance of getting closer to him.

  It was likely for the best. Coworkers weren’t supposed to date. Friendly get-togethers were acceptable. In fact, the whole staff operated very much like a family. A strictly platonic family.

  Her gaze wandered across the room. Jacob Webster was far from the most outgoing member of the staff. He was considerably older than Olivia. Why was he the one she longed to know more intimately?

  Just like back in college, she reminded herself. Then, too, she’d picked a guy who was way out of her league, and it had cost her. She’d gotten his attention all right. He’d gotten what he wanted and then split.

  End of story.

  Jacob evidently wanted nothing from her, either, because he avoided her very carefully. Obviously, he’d only taken her home last night because there hadn’t been anyone else.

  “Hey, Olivia.”

  She jerked her attention back to her own station. Bart Flemming had stopped next to her, a file in his hand. She produced a smile. “Hey, Flemming.” He was young—twenty-five, she thought. Light brown hair, a little long for Olivia’s taste. He liked teasing her because she was new. She got the distinct impression that he was the competitive type.

  “Webster says you had a little trouble with your computer yesterday.” He cocked his head in that I-got-you-covered way. “You want me to have a look?”

  “That would be great. I need to check on some of the tests I started yesterday, so I’ll get out of your way.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want you to learn any of my secrets.”

  Olivia’s smile was genuine this time. Bart was one heck of a smart guy. Kind of a jack-of-all-trades. Any time there was a computer glitch, he could usually figure it out. Not to mention he was an outstanding forensics tech as well.

  Olivia pulled up the analysis for her samples. Sample insufficient for testing. What in the world? She checked each one. They all said the same.

  That was impossible. She never made that kind of mistake. Her pulse lunged into hyper mode. Those test results were due this afternoon. She glanced at the clock. She could try to rerun them, but she’d be damned lucky to make it happen by her deadline.

  She stopped and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. What was wrong with her? Sure she’d been a little lonely lately, wasn’t sleeping well. But none of that was bad enough to interfere with her job.

  She had no time to worry about it now. As quickly as possible, she prepared new samples and prayed they would finish in time.

  When she returned to her station, Flemming shrugged. “Didn’t see a problem, Olivia.”

  Her hand shook as she swiped her hair back behind her ear. “Thanks for checking. I guess I did something wrong.”

  He held up both hands. “Now I didn’t say nothing like that.”

  She managed a smile. Her stomach was churning. As Flemming walked away, she considered him and the others working diligently at their stations. Was there something going on that she didn’t know about? A joke? On her? Someone testing her grace under fire? Flemming certainly possessed the expertise to mess with her electronic data and files.

  Maybe she was just growing paranoid because she’d screwed up? Not once, but twice?

  She opened the next case that required her attention. Maybe she was making too much out of this. Everyone had an off day. Maybe yesterday had been hers.

  It would be nice if she had someone to talk to about her feelings. Her gaze wandered across the room to Jacob.

  She was the newest member on staff. She had no friends outside work. Well, except for the one neighbor.

  Maybe she had no friends here, either.

  There it was, another of those “I’m lonely and no one likes me” moments. She had to get over these silly feelings.

  Just work, Olivia. Everything else will fall into place.

  Unless…someone was out to get her.

  Chapter Six

  A grocery bag in each arm, Olivia dropped her keys twice before she managed to unlock her apartment door. Nothing about the day had gone right.

  Jacob had avoided her the entire shift. And because of the erroneous test results first thing that morning, she’d been behind all day.

  Running late made the lab look bad, made her look bad.

  As she twisted the key, she lost her hold on one of the grocery bags. It plopped to the floor and burst like a bomb, sending cans and produce in every direction
. She bent down and her purse slid off her arm, hit the floor and vomited its contents. “Damn.” Olivia fell to her knees and raked up her scattered belongings. She was beyond ready for this day to be over.

  “Let me help you with that.”

  Olivia looked up to find Gerald McKay rushing toward her. “Hey, Gerald.”

  “You should try making two trips.” He nodded to the tumble of groceries.

  “Yeah, I know.” She shook her head as she gathered the last of her personal belongings. She snagged her badge. If she lost that she would just cry. She’d already lost one.

  Gerald gathered the final can of soup and pushed to his feet. Arms full of groceries, he waited while she opened the door.

  “Just dump it all on the table.” She tossed her purse on the sofa and took a breath. The day was done. Let it go. “How’s your new job going?” she asked Gerald.

  “Great.” He stacked the last of her purchased items on the table. “I didn’t think I would like working in a medical lab, but it’s growing on me.”

  “Sometimes I wish I’d taken your advice and signed on with MedTech.” She’d only been in Kenner City a couple of days when she’d met Gerald. He lived on the opposite side of the hall, two doors down. He’d told her about an opening at MedTech, but she’d been all gung ho to start at the crime lab. That was the reason she’d made the move from Boston; she’d wanted to stretch her horizons, do something that mattered on a different level—one where results were more readily seen. Medical research sometimes required years, if not decades, of work before results were gleaned.

  “Bad day, huh?” He grabbed an armful of apples and followed her into the small kitchen.

  “Really bad day.” She shivered. It wasn’t that cold outside, but with everything else, she felt cold inside. “Want some coffee?” She wasn’t in the mood to be alone right now and Gerald was good company. Recently divorced, he’d come to her more than once needing to talk.

  “That would be grand.”

  Olivia set the coffee brewing and between the two of them they put away her groceries. She couldn’t talk about her work, but she could commiserate with him about the feeling of not fitting in.

  “Olivia…” Gerald began slowly “…I don’t really know any of the people you work with, but I’ve heard rumors around MedTech that the guys at the crime lab are ruthless when it comes to promotions and such. Maybe you should watch your back.”

  Olivia really hoped that wasn’t true. “Thanks,” she said with a pathetic attempt at a laugh. “That really makes me feel better.”

  “Sounds like you need chocolate.”

  “Chocolate?” She was pretty sure she had absolutely nothing chocolate in the apartment.

  He held up a hand. “I’ll be right back.”

  She peeled off her jacket, hung it in the closet and set her hands on her hips. Only five days until Christmas. She needed to get that tree decorated. She inhaled deeply, loving its smell. That was something nice to come home to. After toeing off her shoes, she shuffled back to the kitchen and poured two steaming cups of black coffee. Maybe the caffeine would give her a boost. She placed Gerald’s cup on the coffee table and curled up on the sofa with her own.

  “Here we go.” Gerald breezed back into her apartment, a plate of brownies in one hand. He held them out for her viewing pleasure. “This is just what the doctor ordered.” He kicked the door shut behind him.

  “Are you serious?” The treats smelled as if they’d just come out of the oven. Brownies were her favorite. “Did you make those?”

  “As soon as I got home today.” He sat the plate on the table and settled into a chair across from her.

  “You’re a good neighbor.”

  “So,” he said as he picked up his mug, “tell me about him.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. She should never have mentioned in a weak moment that there was a guy at work she was attracted to. “He still doesn’t know I’m alive. Not in that sense, anyway.”

  “Then we’ll have to do something about that.” Gerald sipped his coffee. “Have you thought about inviting him over for dinner?”

  Olivia told him the story about her car troubles. That was another thing that had made today suck. A new starter, the labor for replacing it and the towing had set her back considerably.

  “It’s your turn to go to his place,” her neighbor suggested.

  “What?” He had to be out of his mind. She knew where Jacob lived, but only because each staff member’s name, telephone number and address were on the personnel roster.

  “Make up an excuse.” Gerald shrugged. “Bring him a gift in thanks for rescuing you. Just show up at his door.”

  “What if he has company? He could have a girlfriend or something.”

  Gerald shook his head. “You told me that one of your coworkers said he was a loner. No attachments.”

  True. She laughed. “How do you remember that?” Even she’d forgotten.

  “Just do it,” her nosy neighbor insisted. “Show up at his door with a gift and—” he grinned “—dressed for seduction.”

  It had been so long since she’d tried, Olivia was pretty sure she had forgotten how to seduce a man.

  Chapter Seven

  Four days ’til Christmas

  Only four more days until Christmas and Olivia was at home alone. Except for the two bags of newly purchased Christmas decorations sitting at her feet.

  The only good thing about today was that none of her test results had gotten lost or otherwise corrupted. Work had actually gone fairly smoothly. Maybe because she’d slept like the dead the night before. She couldn’t remember when she’d been out cold like that.

  After leaving the lab, she’d stopped to buy decorations, come home, given half a minute’s consideration to Gerald’s suggestion and promptly decided her neighbor was nuts.

  Showing up unannounced and uninvited at Jacob’s door was completely and utterly out of the question.

  He would think she was insane. Like her neighbor.

  Don’t think about Jacob. He’d ignored her all day, just like the day before. Clearly strong-arming him into dinner the other night had been a big mistake.

  Office romances were not a good idea, anyway, even when there wasn’t an unwritten rule about them. When Callie had interviewed Olivia she had mentioned that avoiding that kind of relationship with colleagues was preferred. Considering all the strange mishaps with her work lately, Olivia didn’t need anything else to put her on Callie’s bad side.

  Why was it that having a boyfriend suddenly mattered so much? Back home in Boston, she’d rarely thought about her social life. Now she obsessed on it.

  That wasn’t true. She obsessed about Jacob. He was…handsome. Extremely intelligent. And she loved the way he talked. His voice was deep, his words always chosen carefully.

  Stop. “Decorate the tree, Olivia.”

  The distraction worked for about an hour. She wound the strands of lights and the glittery strands of pretend snowflakes. Then she hung four different types of glass ornaments. Last but not least, she topped the tree with an angel.

  When she plugged in the lights and stepped back, she beamed in satisfaction. It looked nice.

  Jacob had said he didn’t have a tree yet. Hadn’t bothered with one in a long time. She wondered about that. Had he lost his heart once and decided it wasn’t worth the pain, like she had?

  The telephone rang. “Saved by the bell.” She’d been about to go off on another long analysis of the man. One glance at the caller ID screen and she smiled. Her mother.

  The conversation lasted nearly an hour. Both her mother and her father updated her on things in Boston—from different perspectives, of course. They were so funny. Outwardly they never appeared to agree on anything. But where no one could see, they were completely in tune with one another. The perfect couple. That was what Olivia wanted.

  She heaved a big, loud sigh. She could go for a run. But running a few miles wouldn’t help. If talking to her parents for the
better part of an hour didn’t do the trick, nothing would.

  There was only one thing to do.

  Bring Jacob a thank-you gift and see what happened.

  The only question left was, what kind of gift? She chewed her lip, thought about something sweet like a cake or pie. But he was a health fanatic, or so it seemed. His lunches were always the good-for-you kind.

  A grin stretched across her lips. She knew just what to get him.

  Something he hadn’t bothered with in a really long time.

  Chapter Eight

  Jacob set the newspaper aside. He mulled over the offerings on television. Scanning the channels would be a waste of time. Holiday movies and television shows. Even the news would focus on the holidays.

  He surveyed his living room. Small, utilitarian. He’d bought the modest bungalow after relocating here permanently from Durango. Traveling back and forth as he helped Callie McBride set up the new Kenner City crime lab hadn’t been so bad. But once the lab was operational and he’d decided to stay on, moving had made more sense.

  What little family he had left—a brother and an aunt—were back in Durango. But each had a large family to keep them busy, so he didn’t go back often. Besides, he was occupied here. Callie needed him. The lab needed him.

  What else did he need?

  Nothing to speak of.

  Jennifer had taught him well. He’d loved her for five years and lived with her for four of those. Then she’d left him. Simply came home from work one day and said she’d met someone new. Someone who didn’t spend all his time at work. Someone who wanted to start a family now. Someone completely opposite from Jacob.

  That had been eighteen months ago. The last he’d heard, she was married. Her first child on the way. He was happy for her.

  Work fulfilled him as nothing else could, even Jennifer. Jacob stood and walked to the front window. Darkness had fallen and the streetlamps had awakened. Yes, he had loved Jennifer. But not the way she had needed him to. He wasn’t sure he was capable of that depth of emotion.