buying a gift for my niece,” he said. “She’s about your age. Do you think she would like this doll?”
“No,” the child answered positively, shaking her head. She pointed toward a round-faced baby doll dressed in frothy lace. “That one’s much better,” she said earnestly. “You should buy that one.”
Amused, Max replaced the dark-haired doll and picked up the other one. “This one, huh?” he asked, noting that the prices were comparable.
The tot nodded. “That’s a much better one for your niece.”
“Then I’d better buy it, hadn’t I?”
He grinned at the look of relief that crossed the child’s face when she glanced at the dark-haired doll. The little girl returned his smile with a particularly sweet one of her own and then disappeared into the crowds around her. Max assumed she’d returned to her mother’s side. He’d bet the kid would be urging her mom to hurry and buy the dark-haired doll for her before some other inconsiderate shopper snapped it up.
Kids, Max thought with an indulgent shake of his head. They were cute, but weird. He would never figure them out.
All in all, it was a good thing he’d long since decided he would never have any of his own.
“HE’S GORGEOUS,” Lynn Patterson whispered as she and Ryan both finished ringing up their sales. “What does he want?”
Ryan followed her assistant’s gaze to the tall, blond man in the green sweater, who was studying a display of clown dolls. “He said he wants a gift for his niece.”
“Niece? Not daughter?”
“Something tells me this guy doesn’t have any kids,” Ryan said wryly, remembering how blank he’d been when she’d asked his niece’s age.
“Then he’s probably single. What are you waiting for, Ryan? Get over there and offer assistance to the man. Personal assistance.”
“Lynn,” Ryan groaned.
“C’mon, look at him. He’s amazing. That hair. Those eyes. Those shoulders. He looks like…like—”
“Like a heartbreaker,” Ryan said flatly.
“Well, yeah,” Lynn admitted. “But what a way to go.”
Ryan’s attention had already wandered. “Lynn, do you see those two kids over there? The boy and girl?”
“Hmm. Cute, aren’t they?”
“They’ve been hanging around in here for quite a while. I don’t think they’re with anyone. Help me keep an eye on them, okay?”
Lynn frowned. “You think they’d try to steal something? At their age?”
Ryan sighed. “Unfortunately, it’s a possibility. They’re starting younger these days.”
Her gaze wandered back to the children. They really were cute kids. The boy hovered protectively over his little sister, watching her so carefully. And the girl was an adorable moppet, curly haired, big eyed, pink cheeked. Their clothes were faded and worn, and there was something about them that made Ryan feel a bit sad.
She couldn’t define it. But there was something…
“I’ve decided to get this one.”
The blond heartbreaker leaned against the counter, a lace-clad baby doll clutched in one hand and the football she’d noticed earlier in the other. He was giving her that sexy, crooked smile again—the one that made her insides quiver even though she told herself it was ridiculous to react that way.
Lynn, she noted wryly, had suddenly—and deliberately, Ryan was sure—disappeared.
Keeping her expression as polite as possible, she reached for the doll in the man’s hand. “This is a nice selection. I’m sure your niece will love it.”
“I hope so. I had some assistance from an expert,” he said with a grin, nodding over his shoulder.
Following his gesture, she saw the little blond girl and her brother. Ryan smiled, then turned to the cash register. “Will this be all?”
“For now,” he murmured, making the words sound as though they had another meaning.
She didn’t even blink; she simply rang up the purchase and gave him the total. He handed her a gold credit card.
“My name’s Max Monroe,” he said unnecessarily. “I have some more shopping to do and then I thought I’d grab an early dinner in the Mexican restaurant downstairs. Will you join me?”
“Thank you, but no. I have to work,” she explained. She wasn’t exactly surprised by the invitation, but she still felt a bit flustered by it.
He lifted an eyebrow. “You’ll have time to eat, won’t you?”
She shook her head. “It’s one of the busiest shopping days of the season. I won’t be able to take off any time this evening.”
“Then how about a late dinner? After your shop closes, I mean.”
“Thank you again, but no.”
“Some other time, maybe?”
She gave him a vague smile. “If you’ll excuse me,” she murmured, nodding to the two women who’d just come up behind him, their arms loaded with dolls and accessories. “I have to tend to my other customers now.”
Max didn’t look particularly disappointed—not that she’d expected him to. She was sure he could find any number of women in the mall who’d dearly love to “grab an early dinner” with him. She just didn’t happen to be one of them.
He gave her a jaunty salute, tucked the bag holding the doll under his arm with the football and sauntered out of the shop.
Ryan was aware of several long, appreciative sighs from customers in her shop who’d watched him leave. She was also well aware of the frown of disapproval she was getting from her assistant. She suspected that Lynn had overheard the invitation, and Ryan’s refusal. She knew she’d be hearing about it later.
But for now, she had a shop to run.
“OH, MAN,” Pip groaned outside the doll shop. “He crashed and burned.”
“What does that mean?” Kelsey asked innocently.
“Never mind.” He sighed. Things had looked so promising for a minute there.
“There he goes,” Kelsey whispered, pointing toward the glass elevator in the center of the mall. “Our dad’s getting away.”
Pip looked at his Batman digital watch and frowned. “We have to be going, too.”
“But, Pip—”
“It’s getting late, Kels. You don’t want to get caught, do you?”
She
