Page 32 of Surrendering His Heart (Buena Hills #4)

Hallie flinched when Princess Pumpkin’s nose pressed against her bent elbow. Despite knowing the dog wouldn’t maul her tonight, old habits died hard.

“You don’t like dogs?” Christian asked, following the golden retriever into the kitchen. He still wore his work clothes, though he’d abandoned his tie, and his top button was undone.

She placed the last snickerdoodle into a plastic container she’d found in a cabinet. “They’re not my favorite.” She spared him a glance before setting the dirty cookie sheet into the sink. “I had a bad experience with one in my neighborhood growing up. I haven’t gotten over it.”

“No problem. I’ll put her outside.”

Hallie grabbed the sponge from behind the faucet, running it through the stream of water. “It’s okay. We’ve reached an agreement.” She patted the dog’s side. “I’ll keep scratching her behind the ears in exchange for her not biting my head off.”

The sound of Christian’s tired chuckle hatched a single bee buzzing in her stomach.

“You won’t bite Hallie’s head off, will you, Pumpkin?” He dropped to one knee and cupped the dog’s face with both hands. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re a good girl.”

Hallie continued wiping the stove, hiding the smile caused by his baby talk.

After a moment, he came up beside her, and the bee in her stomach invited its friends to come play. Ugh … she shouldn’t find him so irresistible.

“When I asked you to babysit my kids, I wasn’t hiring a maid.”

“I know.” Hallie placed the sponge back in its spot before turning to face him. “We made cookies, and things got pretty messy in here. I had them help me clean up after we finished.”

“How does that explain the living room?”

She flashed him an amused side eye in response. “You hungry?”

“Starving.” His stomach growled in confirmation.

Hallie opened the microwave and pulled out the plate she’d heated up a few minutes ago. “I wasn’t sure what you’d planned for dinner, so I ordered pizza. I hope that’s okay.” She placed two snickerdoodles next to the slice and held it out to him.

“That’s great.” He took the meal from her. “Thanks for being here. How were they?”

After securing the container’s lid on top of the cookies, she joined Christian at the table. “They were fine. Isla wasn’t happy to see me at first, but she seemed to warm up after a while.”

“How’d you work that magic?”

“What can I say? I have a talent for luring young children in with baked goods.” Heat rose up her neck. “Forget I said that. I’m not the witch from Hansel and Gretel .”

Christian barked out a laugh, almost choking on his pizza. “I sure hope you don’t intend to eat my kids. I’m kind of attached to them.”

“As you should be. They’re adorable.”

The small tilt of his head to one shoulder made it clear that her comment caught him off guard. And the slight smile softening his features as he studied her turned her body temperature up several notches.

Pull yourself together, girl. You’re not ready to be a mom. Acting on her instincts when it came to Christian would only lead to heartache later when she realized she couldn’t have him.

“You’re probably tired,” she said, placing her hands on her thighs. “I’ll leave you to your dinner.”

His hand on her arm stopped her before she could make her getaway. And dialed up the heat even more. Pretty soon, she’d need a fan to cool herself down. Or a bucket of ice water.

“I promised to pay you.” He reached for his back pocket, but Hallie shook her head .

“That’s not necessary.” A little piece of her heart lodged in her gut at refusing his money. She needed the boost, small as it was, but she didn’t feel right about it. “I did this as your friend.”

Christian’s lips pursed into a thin line as he pulled out his wallet. “At least let me spot you for the pizza.”

“Absolutely not.” Hallie slung her purse over one shoulder. “Especially after your generous order at the Autumn Festival.”

Throwing his head back, his groan morphed into an embarrassed laugh. “You had to go there, didn’t you?”

“Of course.” A grin slid onto her face. “And you’re taking care of my website. Trust me, we’re more than even.”

Christian tossed his wallet onto the table. “Do you want to see it?” he asked eagerly before shoving the last bite of pizza into his mouth.

“It’s done?”

“Not completely, but I’ve gotten a good start on it.” He stood, wiping his mouth on a paper towel. “Hang on, I’ll get my laptop.”

A tug-of-war between Hallie’s head and heart took place as he exited the room. If she left now, maybe she could prevent her crush from turning into the kind of feelings that didn’t go away without copious amounts of heartbreak.

Perhaps it already had.

On the other hand, she wanted to stay. To see her website’s progress, sure. But if she were honest with herself, her feelings were plunging way past the infatuation stage already.

Christian reentered the room a minute later, his laptop open in one hand while he typed with the other.

He placed it on the table in front of her.

“Take a look at this.” Remaining behind her, he planted one hand flat on the table next to the computer while the other gripped the back of her chair.

The position was unsettlingly intimate, and way too tempting.

Hallie scrolled through the home page, pretending not to notice the way his spicy scent permeated her senses in deliciously inviting ways.

Focus on the website, Hal. Not on how good he smells.

The homepage was created with a warm cream color as the background.

Photos of her favorite bakes—outlined by shapes resembling pale green doilies—were placed at pleasant angles with a few lines of description beside each one.

Christian had included links to order for special occasions in prominent positions throughout the site.

The whole vibe captured the exact look she’d been unable to create herself.

“I love it!”

“It’s a starting point.” Even knowing he stood right behind her, Christian’s voice came closer than she’d expected. “We can change anything you’re not happy with.”

Shaking her head, she clicked to another page from the menu at the top. Though unfinished, the start looked as beautiful as the homepage. “This is amazing, Christian. Thank you.”

Shivers danced across her spine as his breath tickled her cheek. Turning to look at him, she forgot all about the website when their eyes locked, only inches apart.

Look away. Her brain urged her heart not to plunge deeper into this hole it had created.

But when Christian’s captivating gaze dipped to her mouth, just as it had during their impromptu dance, her heart declared all-out war. Her brain had no control over the situation.

It would be so easy to kiss him right now. Her pulse accelerated as the temptation to close the short distance between their lips magnified the longer he stayed there.

She wanted to. So much.

Why was he hesitating?

You’re an independent woman. You make the first move.

As her heart urged her to take a leap, her brain fought back with a strong counterattack, listing all the reasons why she shouldn’t. Her brother would hate it, for one thing. She was past the point of listening to him, though.

No, the strongest arguments against starting anything with Christian were fast asleep in their beds upstairs. A kiss with him carried more weight than any other relationship she’d had before. She couldn’t sacrifice her boundaries to appease her romantic appetite .

Still, she didn’t pull away. Maybe one little kiss wouldn’t hurt. It might even take some of the edge off all this tension. Slowly, she began to move toward him, closing the gap inch by agonizing inch.

Christian sucked in a breath. The fragile string pulling them together snapped in two. He backed away, rubbing a hand down his face before taking a seat next to her.

Hallie’s heart dropped to her gut as he slid the chair further away. A heaviness rushed into the empty space.

“It’s taking longer to finish than I’d hoped.” His tone was forced as though trying to ignore what had almost transpired between them. “My boss has piled on the workload pretty thick lately.”

Hallie had to take a few seconds to reorient herself with the conversation. “No problem. It’s probably a lot to manage on top of raising the girls.”

Yeah, remember the girls. If she kept them firmly in mind, perhaps she’d finally convince herself that dating Christian could never work.

She wasn’t ready to step in as a mother figure.

Babysitting them, sure. Once she’d warmed up to the idea, she actually had fun today.

But watching them for a few hours was a lot different than bearing the responsibility of raising them.

He sighed. “Sometimes it’s really hard not to be resentful towards my ex.”

Whoa, they were treading into heavy topics now. Hallie took in the twitching of his jaw, the way his nostrils flared.

“What happened?” She winced. That question had to be crossing some serious boundaries. “Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”

He didn’t look at her. His Adam’s apple bobbed slowly as he swallowed. “She left.”

“What?” Something cracked inside Hallie’s heart at the strangled way he said it.

A pained expression crossed his face when he looked at her. “She dropped the girls off at daycare one day and never came back. When I got home from work, her things were gone, and there was a note.” He jabbed a finger toward the center of the table. “Right there. ”

“What did it say?”

A bitter edge caressed his laugh. “Not much. Basically, that she deserved more out of life and needed to go find herself. Maybe I should’ve seen it coming.

She always blamed me for everything. But I didn’t realize she could be so …

selfish. I mean, Nellie was only six weeks old. I haven’t heard from her since.”