Holiday Sparks

Darcy clicked off her screen and snapped it at her hip. “I do. I own a duplex.”

Miriam looked over at the tree, then back at her. Her lips were pinched and her ice-blue eyes were even cooler than usual. “How long did you say he’ll be here?”

“Is there a problem?” Darcy didn’t like her tone.

“He’s blocking the front end with all his…paraphernalia.”

Judicious as always, that was Miriam. Darcy bit back a sigh. “Actually he’s going to be here through the day and will be doing the big changes during the overnight.”

“He’s staying in the store all night?”

“He’s doing us a favor, Ms. Blackstone. I’m making myself available for whatever he needs. He’s only charging us for materials. Not his time or his expertise.”

Miriam’s shoulders went back and her spine stiffened. Even more than usu

al, and that was a miracle of anatomy. “I understand that, but he’s…”

Darcy tipped her head to the side. “He’s…” She wanted her to say it. All her life she’d had to deal with people like Miriam Blackstone. She’d had to fight for every promotion in this store because she’d come from nothing. Just because Ben had tattoos all down his arm and looked a little dangerous didn’t mean he wasn’t trustworthy.

For goodness’ sake, the man was the poster child for Christmas and easy smiles.

“I don’t know him,” Miriam finished. “You’ll be here with him all night and you’ll be responsible for anything that happens. I want this store perfect for tomorrow when my parents arrive.”

“Oh, it will be.”

“See that it is, and I’ll make sure my parents know you were the lead on the project.”

Darcy’s skin tingled and all the hairs on her arms stood up. No matter how much she hated Christmas, this was a perfect opportunity to show she could be assistant manager. Christmas was a marketing tool. Nothing more.

“You won’t be disappointed.”

“Since you’ll be here late, I’ll have Mr. Anderson take your morning shift. I want you here when my parents arrive at one o’clock.”

“Understood.”

“And, Ms. Tucker. I can’t stress how perfect this needs to be.”

Darcy nodded. She’d been looking for a way to prove herself and this was it. She hurried over to Ben, who’d shrugged on his jacket. On her way by she motioned to her watch and made the get out of here sign to Jaime. Her lead cashier waved her off and went back to the register. The woman was worse than she was about taking breaks. But Jaime was hourly and breaks were mandatory. Darcy was salaried.

Salaried in retail was tantamount to slave labor. She stopped beside the ladder. Ben stood above her and from this angle she could see more of the tattoo, but still not enough to read it. She seriously had to stop looking at him as if he were one of her dark-chocolate caramel swirl ice-cream bars. It was getting ridiculous.

“Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“You have your jacket on and you’re back on the ladder.”

He looked down, the corner of his lip tipped up in amusement. “You’re observant, Darcy. Did I ever tell you that?” He buried his arm into the limbs of the tree until his face disappeared into the foliage.

What the heck was he doing? Looking to take a sap sample? She rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you going out for supplies?”

“Yes ma’am. I just need to figure out how much more I need. This spruce is a big mother.” He climbed down quickly. The squeak of protest from the ancient ladder made her nervous. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on the man, but he was…well, strapping was a good word. Dense muscles flexed and flowed under his skin. His jeans hugged massive thighs.

Don’t think about his thighs.

“You’ve got lights wrapped around every branch. Is it going to be too much?”

“No, I need to manipulate each branch for the music.”