Courting the Clown (11 page)

“No.” She took the check, ripped it neatly into a few pieces and pushed the confetti towards him. “Put the money in the girls’ college fund instead.”

Nick gave her a look that had her make mental note to check the precise amount of her paycheck at the end of the week.

She stood, and he followed her to the door and held out her raincoat. She got her things together, and then noticed the small bag she’d left by the front door. “Damn! I forgot.” She held up the green plastic bag with the R&R logo on the side. “I brought a present for Lana, and then forgot to give it to her. Is she still awake?”

Nick leaned sideways and peeked into the living room. “I have a sneaking suspicion they’ve fallen asleep.”

“Oh.” Sylvie found she was disappointed. She’d wanted to see Lana’s face when she opened it. Her smiles were so rare, but all the more precious. “Okay. I’ll just leave it, then, and she can open it in the morning.”

“Let me check if her eyes are still open,” Nick said, and was gone before she could open her mouth. She groaned. Had he read her mind? Was he going to wake the little girl up for this?

He returned shortly, a yawning Lana in her arm, and she felt a stab of guilt. “We caught her just in time,” Nick said. “Lana, Iffy’s got another present for you.”

The little girl’s eyes opened wide, and she didn’t look sleepy anymore. She wriggled, and Nick let her slide to the floor. Sylvie dug out the big parcel out of the bag, and handed it to her. “Happy birthday, Lana,” she told her, and the child whispered a shy thank-you.

She unwrapped the gift slowly, methodically, and this time she was allowed, no little sister to urge her on, ‘helping’ to rip the paper away.

Then the plastic box was revealed. Lana stared at it, turning it this way and that.

“It’s a clown kit,” Sylvie explained. “It has a jester’s hat, and a plastic nose, and lots of other fun stuff. And face paints. You can use it to turn yourself into a clown. Or Emily. Or your daddy,” she added, grinning as she gave Nick a sideways glance.

“No problem,” Nick said. “I’ll be your clown anytime, Lana. Just as long as you don’t make me into a giant Barbie doll like your sister did.”

Lana wasn’t listening. She opened the box, and her small hands vanished into a pile of multi-colored stuff. She withdraw a big red nose, and Sylvie finally got to see that smile. The wait was worth it. Lana giggles as she turned the tiny switch at the base of the nose, and a tiny light went on, the nose blinking red when she put it on.

“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Sylvie said. “If I’d had one of those, maybe your sister wouldn’t have found it necessary to stuff my nose with snow.”

Lana dug deeper into the box, her eyes shining. “Thank you,” she said, looking up shyly.

“You’re welcome, Lana,” Sylvie said, swallowing an unexpected lump in his throat. No wonder Nick was ready to do anything to make his daughter smile.

“Bye, Iffy,” the child whispered, and then put her thin arms around Sylvie’s neck in a very brief hug. Then she ran out of the kitchen, and they could hear her footsteps on the stairs.

“That’s quite an honor,” Nick said, looking stunned. “She rarely even hugs me on her own initiative.”

“Dress in polka dots, and that might change,” Sylvie quipped. She picked up her bags and held out a hand. “Goodbye. It’s been... interesting.”

His hand was warm. And he held it far too long for her peace of mind, his gaze penetrating through all the clown layers and making the woman inside tremble. “Bye for now, Sylvie. See you soon.”

Chapter 7

A couple of days later, Nick was again standing in the ladder, making her hit the wrong chord. She nodded at him, and forced herself to finish the song, before closing the piano and walking to the edge of the platform. “Hi, there,” she said cheerfully, embarrassed at the way she was reacting to him and very grateful homo sapiens hadn’t evolved telepathy yet. She did not want him to read her mind right now.

“Hey. You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”

Sylvie glanced around the store. Barbara and Ann were trying to be inconspicuous, half-hidden behind the doll pram display, but they were staring and whispering. No doubt what they’d spend their lunch hour gossiping about. “No,” she replied.

“Great. Join me? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Uh oh. It doesn’t involve polka dots, does it?”

He smiled. Oh, Lord. It really had been too long – she’d forgotten the effect that smile had on her, and she sucked in a breath and clenched her muscles.

“No polka dots,” he confirmed, and jumped down from the ladder. “Come one.”

She climbed down hurriedly, all too aware of him following her progress. “I’ll get my coat,” she said, hurrying to the staff room. He ambled after her, but got side-tracked by Mary, and was still there, discussing something, when Sylvie returned.

“I’ll steal your pianist for an hour, okay?” he said to Mary, who nodded with a smile, and gave Sylvie a look that had her blush deepen. She just hated that, but she couldn’t control it. Even though she had absolutely nothing to blush about.

Unfortunately they went straight across the street to the usual place, and as they sat down, Sylvie saw Barbara and Ann hurry out of the doors of R&R, heading straight towards them. Typical. She almost groaned aloud, but caught it just in time. Nick probably wouldn’t appreciate hearing about his staff’s speculations about the two of them.

Oh boy. Was she stupid to read something into the way he said that? She looked down and tried to collect her thoughts. She also needed to remember that her every move, her every facial expression was being avidly recorded by the two gossipers across the room.

They chatted lazily about nothing at all for a few moments, then Nick got that determined look on his face and lowered his voice. “What I wanted to discuss with you...”

“Yes?”

“You see... there’s this Christmas party I need to go to. Friday. At the office. I was wondering if I could persuade you to join us.”

Sylvie stirred her coffee and tried to think. She had to be careful not to read the wrong thing into this. She might instantly think he was asking her on an actual date, and that was just because she seemed to have developed a crush on him. He was, however, her boss. If he was making an appointment for them together, it would most likely be work-related. “I see. Is this something that would regularly be a part of my job while I’m working for you. Escorting you to things like that?”

He seemed almost irked. And confused. It rather looked like he wasn’t quite sure about the answer to the question. “Well... no. Not exactly. This isn’t a job.”

“Then what is it?”

He tapped his fingers on the table, looking so nervous that it had a diminishing effect on her own nervousness. He rather looked like a schoolboy trying to work up the courage to ask a girl to the prom, and it was so sweet she couldn’t help but smile secretly, since his attention was on the tablewear anyway. “I was hoping you’d like to go,” he then said.

Okay. That sounded a bit clearer. “So, you mean, like a date?” she asked, making sure.

He stared at her for so long that she felt like sinking under the table into mortification, certain she’d misunderstood something terrible -- but then he relaxed, leaned back and smiled at her. He looked relieved, and his smile had altered subtly. It reached far into her nerve system and warmed her all over. Oh, boy. “Well, yes. I guess that’s exactly what I mean. A date.”

Oh boy. “I see.” Now what? Did she want to go on a date with Nick? Hell yes! Was it a good idea? Hell no! “So, it’s a Christmas... party, you said?”

“Yes.” He had recovered. The embarrassed schoolboy look was gone, and Mr. Confident was back. “It’s an office Christmas party. My offices. We do it every year.”

He laughed at that. “I promise. No clown suit. Not even a Mrs. Santa suit – although I will have to dress up in a Santa suit for a while.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Afraid so. You can consider it your revenge for the clown thing. Not my favorite thing, but my staff expects it. It’s a tradition by now.”

“Jelly-belly and all?”

Nick nodded. “Yup. And all.”

She couldn’t resist this. “So let me get this straight – you’re asking me to go on a date with
Santa
?”

“ I’ll only be Santa for about an hour or so. After that you’d have to put up with
me
.”

Sylvie played with her sandwich. She’d lost her appetite, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about this thing. Why was he asking her? This was complicated. Too complicated. She liked this man. Under any ordinary circumstances she’d love to go out with him.

But he was her boss. And the father of two little girls, one of whom had developed a weird attachment to her. “But... are you sure you want to show up at an office party with an employee? Isn’t that against some kind of office rules?”

His eyes twinkled. “You’re just a temp. I’ll take my loopholes where I can find them.”

“I see. So I won’t get in trouble for fraternizing with the boss?”

“I don’t know about that,” he said seriously, and she frowned at his tone, wondering if the invitation had been withdrawn. “I guess we’ll just have to fraternize at our own risk,” he added, and she bit into a tomato slice to buy some time.

Was he flirting with her? She was pretty sure, but it had been so long, she wasn’t even sure what flirting looked like anymore, and she was hopelessly lost here, wondering if he was asking her out for real, or if she was just a convenient stand-in for a real date.

Nick was waiting for an answer, his eyes steady on her, but she sensed an increasing tension in him as she didn’t reply.

“If you feel uncomfortable about it, just say no,” he said. “It’s just an invitation. It won’t have any effect on our agreement or on your job. Damn, I suppose this is why it’s not a good idea to fraternize with the boss, huh?”

Someone passed them with a quick hello, and Sylvie noticed one of her colleague from the store. He settled in a corner – fortunately out of earshot – where a couple of other co-workers were already seated.

They were staring. The two women with curiosity, and more than a little envy. She didn’t blame them. The man was gorgeous, damn him. And he’s asked her out on a date. But why? Because he was attracted to her? Or because he wanted to keep her close, making sure she wouldn’t back out on his daughter? Or just because he needed someone to accompany him and she was handy?

The answer to that question wasn’t long or complicated, was it? Sylvie allowed a smile to bloom on her face as she shook her head again. “No. That’s a yes. I’d love to join you.”

Of course. Grandma Alex would do it in a heartbeat. And why not? What was the worst that would happen? It wasn’t as if she’d do something stupid like fall in love with the guy at their first – and probably only – date. It wasn’t as if she’d ever be stupid enough to allow herself to seriously fall for a guy with kids. She wasn’t the mom type – let alone the step-mom type.

He nodded. “Excellent. I’ll pick you up around seven, okay?”

“How formal is this?” she thought to ask, rather anxiously. Just the foyer in his office building was terribly classy. Would her wardrobe stand up to the challenge?

“Don’t worry about it. It’s casual. Most people won’t change after work, so whatever you’d wear at the office is fine.”

“That’s a relief. I’m short on fairytale gowns,” she joked. She looked at her watch. “I should get getting back. And don’t you have a meeting to run to?”

His eyes flashed. “My most important job is being a dad. The girls are more important than
Robots and Ragdolls
, but fortunately they mix well. I usually work from home during the afternoon. They help.”