If I Had You (Christmas In Harper Falls) (2 page)

“You
do
know my friend, Rose O’Brian.”

He took the magazine from her outstretched hand. There he
was, with Rose, at the premiere of
Wishes
. In the background, just to
the left, the lovely blonde he’d brought as his date. Sweet Serena. The face of
an angel, the mouth of a —.

“High class call girl.”

“Pardon me?”

Sam looked at the woman in front of him. Was she a mind
reader? If he were the kind of man to pay for his pleasure, Serena would have
earned every penny.

“The article next to your picture mentions Hollywood’s
use of high-priced call girls to seal deals. I wondered if that was true.”

The look she gave him was wide-eyed, innocent. The sparkle,
the twitch of her full lips, told another story. This woman was a tease, in the
best sense of the word. He hated when women came on too strong. The excessive
compliments, the overly effusive fawning.

Sam liked to laugh. He had a feeling this woman would know
just how to make him. He pictured the fun they could have during his brief
visit to Harper Falls. Finding a sexy bed partner wasn’t on his agenda, but he
was flexible. Hopefully, so was she.

“Sam Laughton.”

“I know.” This time she grinned outright. “It
says so right under the picture.”

Sam smiled back. Oh, yes. This unexpected holiday just got a
whole lot more interesting.

“Will you tell me your name? Or should I just call you
gorgeous?”

“No.”

“No, you won’t tell me your name?”

“No,” she clarified. “You can’t use any
cheesy lines on me. You can flirt. I like that. Save the icky pick-up chatter
for when you get back to L.A.”

“Paris.”

“What?”

“I live in Paris, not L.A.”

“Not the point.”

“You’re right.” Lifting a finger, Sam made an x on
his chest. “Cross my heart. No cheesy lines. I was serious about the
gorgeous part, though. You are. Honestly.”

Lila wanted to be cool. Act sophisticated. Not only was Sam
Laughton, legendary ladies’ man, in her shop, he lived in Paris. And not as in
Texas. Her Harper Falls friends may be world travelers, she, on the other hand,
was not. Visiting different countries, living in one, was a big part of her
set-aside dreams.

“Lila Fleming.”

Sam took her proffered hand, shaking it. Normally he would
have kissed the back, his eyes locked on hers. Lila, the name suited her, might
think such a move
icky
. He needed to rethink his moves. What worked with
other women was not for Lila.

“Rose mentioned you were coming to town. I thought I
would meet you at the party she and Jack are throwing on Christmas Eve. Having
you come into my shop is a surprise.”

“A happy one, I hope.”

“Are you kidding? I was bored out of my mind. The snow
is keeping everyone where they should be — at home.”

“Why aren’t you? At home,” he clarified.

“I live up there.” Lila pointed to the stairs in
the back of the shop. “I became sick of my own company, even doing
inventory sounded good. I was about to start when you came in.”

Sam bit his tongue before he told her he couldn’t imagine
anyone getting sick of her company. Wow, his lines
were
cheesy. He realized
he was getting lazy, or maybe his success made it unnecessary for him to dig
for anything deeper. He liked women. They deserved more effort on his part.
Thank you, Lila. From this moment forward, he planned on being more engaged
when he flirted, more thoughtful. Not every woman was the same. This one?
Straightforward was definitely the way to go.

“I stopped in to buy some flowers. For Rose.”

“That’s nice,” Lila said. “Most women love
getting them.”

Most women. But not her
, Sam thought. How many
unthinking men brought her a bouquet? They would know she worked with flowers
all day. She would take them with good grace, of course. Thanking her date,
wondering why men had no imagination. What would Lila want? He would have to
think about that for a while.

“How did you find me? In this weather, it’s a wonder
you could see to drive, let alone see my shop, if you weren’t familiar with the
town.”

Lila carried on the conversation with her back to him, her
head inside the refrigerated glass case that took up one wall of the shop.

“A dog. He walked in front of my SUV. Luckily, I wasn’t
going very fast. When I stopped, I was literally facing you.”

“That dog?”

Sam looked over at the door to find
that
dog sitting
on the other side. He seemed to be waiting. Well, hell.

“I looked for a collar, tags. Nothing.”

“If he’s lost, the vet might know him. Or he could have
a microchip implanted.”

Sam looked at the dog. The dog looked back at Sam.

“Where’s the vet?” he asked Lila.

Lila put the finishing touches on the box. A pretty red bow,
very festive, then handed it to Sam.

“A mixed assortment. Lilies, tulips, even a few roses.
The colors are seasonal. As for the vet? She’s just down the street.
Unfortunately, like everyone else, she isn’t there. She will come in for an
emergency.” Lila looked outside. “He’s wet, probably hungry. Not
emergency material.”

“It is if some kid is missing his dog. Some
Christmas.”

Sam expected Lila to brush off the idea. So what if a little
kid was worried about his dog?

Lila picked up her phone, did a quick search, and then
dialed. She talked to someone Sam assumed was the vet, arranging to meet him at
her office.

“She’ll call as soon as she gets there. In the
meantime, we should get that guy in out of the snow.”

“I’ll do it,” Sam stopped her when she would have
opened the door. “First, do you have any old towels? The second he’s in
here, he will be shaking the wet off. Unless you want it all over your
shop…?”

“I’ll be right back.”

Sam didn’t have long to wait. Lila was up and down the
stairs in a flash, bringing a pile of light yellow towels.

“These don’t look very old.”

“They aren’t.” Lila shrugged. “But they’re
all I have. I’d rather wash them instead of my shop.”

“Or maybe get new ones?”

“It won’t break me,” Lila laughed.

She had a great laugh. Natural, a little husky. It made him
want to kiss that sexy mouth mid-laugh, catching the joy. Seeing if he would
feel what she was feeling.

“Shouldn’t we let the dog in?”

Great
, Sam thought as he moved to the door. She
caught him staring at her mouth. For a guy who prided himself on his smooth,
easy manner around women, it was strange how easily this one was shaking his
cool.

Cautiously, he opened the door. There was no telling what
the dog’s reaction was going to be. With his size, his rampaging body could do
a lot of damage. He shouldn’t have worried. This guy appeared to be a
well-trained gentleman. Instead of pushing his way into the shop, he calmly
walked in, looked around, continued over to Lila.

“Well, aren’t you the gentleman?” she praised when
he offered her a paw in welcome.

She knelt, shaking the outstretched foot. Lila didn’t
recognize him. People walked their dogs past her shop every day. If she’d seen
this big, sweet-faced guy, she would remember.

“Let’s not take any chances that he’s going to remain
so well behaved.”

Sam took one of the large towels. Starting at the dog’s
head, he began the considerable job of drying the soaked coat. Lila noticed
with pleasure that he was firm but gentle. Sam murmured words of encouragement,
praising how well the dog was doing.

So, the big entertainment mogul had a marshmallow center —
at least when it came to dogs. It was nice. Her celebrity crush hadn’t turned
out to be a self-centered jerk.

“There,” Sam said, sitting back. “I rubbed
the worst of the water off. You’ll finish drying naturally in no time.”

Sam smiled up at Lila.

“What?” he asked, puzzled by the bemused smile on
her face.

“Nothing, really. I was just thinking. Don’t you
high-powered guys usually hire people to do this kind of thing?”

“Unfortunately, I left my dog dryer home.” He
winked. “This trip I’m on my own.”

“Let me take those dirty towels. I’ll hang them out to
dry in the back room. Hopefully, I will be able to knock some of that hair off,
before I put them in my washing machine.”

“Do you have a bowl we can use to give him some
water?”

“I do,” Lila said as she gathered up the wet
towels. “I’ll bring it back with me. Won’t be a minute.”

Sam frowned at her retreating backside. Lila suddenly seemed
stiff, a little uncomfortable. What changed while he dried the dog? Where was
his sexy, smiling flirt?

“Any theories?” he asked his companion.

No answer came, but Sam took the look in those big, brown
eyes to mean, as one man to another, he understood completely. Women could be a
mystery.

After quickly dispensing with the towels, Lila took a
plastic container she used to scoop potting soil, rinsed it out, and then
filled it with fresh water.

What was wrong with her? She wasn’t a blushing virgin
feeling her first rush of sexual attraction. Sam Laughton was kind to animals.
Why should that get her hormones racing faster than usual?

Maybe, because on top of the gentle way he treated the dog,
he was outrageously good looking. Tall, the top of Lila’s head just skimmed his
shoulder. She knew what was under that bulky coat. Just last week
People
ran a whole page, showing Sam and his woman of the moment, enjoying the beaches
in some fabulous tropical location. Those pictures showed a man who easily
could have been in front of the camera instead of behind it. Broad shoulders,
fabulous chest, one of those washboard stomachs that only seem to exist in the
movies, or her dreams.

Then there was that face. Holy crap, what a face. Not a
pretty boy, Sam Laughton looked like a man. Strong jaw, full lips, and
cheekbones that were to die for. How could high cheekbones look rugged?
Somehow, he pulled it off.

Lila opened the small fridge she kept in the back. Mostly,
it contained water, juice, some diet soda. Nothing to feed a big, she imagined,
hungry dog. There was half a sandwich, though. Her assistant left it there the
other day. Meatball sub. Lila didn’t think Agnes would mind giving it up,
especially when she found out why; she owned two dogs herself.

Reminding herself that for all his shiny glamor, Sam
Laughton was just a man. Lila picked up the water and sandwich, and reentered
the shop. When he turned, smiling in welcome, she silently scoffed at her own
silliness. Just a man? Hardly. At least not like any man she’d ever met.

She set the water down, stepping back away from the spray
created by the dog’s enthusiastic drinking.

“Wow,” she smiled. “He really needed that. I
thought he might be hungry. A meatball sub isn’t the healthiest option.”

She handed the sandwich to Sam.

“It will do in a pinch.”

Apparently, the dog agreed. In no time, he ate his snack,
drank down another bowl of water, and found a spot just right for a nap.

“Dry, rehydrated — a nice bit of food in his belly.
That is one happy dog.”

“Animals have simple needs.” She looked Sam up and
down. “Most animals.”

“My needs are simple,” Sam assured her. When she
snorted in disbelief, he shrugged. Then grinned.

“Relatively simple. I like to be dry. I’m always
happiest when my belly has something in it. Water is essential.”

“And?”

Oh good, Sam thought, seeing the lovely twinkle back in her
eyes. They were reentering the flirt mode.

“If I ask you about your supply of mistletoe, would
that be cheesy?”

“No. Not cheesy, just ill timed. There was a big run on
it this week. I’m all out.”

“None hanging in the shop?”

“I tried that last year. It gave too many men the wrong
idea.”

“They all wanted a kiss?”

“Most of the guys were fine. It was the others that
caused the problem. They wanted to grab any woman within a five-foot-radius.
The mistletoe was taken down before closing.”

“There are always a few jerks who ruin the fun for
everyone else.” Sam moved closer. “We could skip the mistletoe.”

Lila tried not to smile. He looked so hopeful. That look did
wonders for her ego.

“Where’s your holiday spirit?”

“Oh, my spirit is just fine.” Sam’s eyes dropped
to her lips.

Not today, fella. Lila was afraid if she let Sam Laughton
kiss her, it might end up as a lot more. Her bed was up those stairs. Maybe
they would get to the bed. Doing it in her shop wasn’t high on her fantasy
list, but with Sam, she had the feeling anyplace would be the right place.

“Rose bought a dozen sprigs.”

“I don’t want to kiss Rose.”

Good to know
, Lila thought.

“You’ll be at the Christmas Eve party tomorrow night.
I’ll be there.”

Sam caught on quickly.

“We’re bound to end up under one of those handy
mandatory kiss makers. A dozen. Hell, I imagine by the end of the night, we
might hit them all.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. How do I know you’re
a good kisser? Maybe you’ll think I’m too sloppy.”

“Are you?”

“I haven’t had any complaints.” Lila tilted her
head, a questioning look on her face.

“Me?” Sam asked. “I hate to brag…”

“Oh, go on. You know you want to.”

“If you insist. The first woman I ever kissed swore I
was the best she’d ever had.”

“And she was…”

“Twelve. I was a precocious ten.”

Lila was fascinated. An insightful, if humorous, look into a
young Sam Laughton

“Did this much older woman have a lot to compare you
with?”

Sam shrugged. “Let’s just say Marcy wasn’t the kind of
girl who waited for mistletoe.”

“A year-round kisser.”