Page 55 of One Kind Soul

Right?

Christian braced his hands on her biceps, his gaze hopeful as he searched her face. “I would love to have you for another week, Nixen.” He jutted his chin toward the house. “So would Tessa.”

“She’ll happy dance all over the place.”

“It’s taking all my energy not to happy dance all over the place as well.” He squeezed her arms before releasing them. “I have one condition for this additional week though.”

“A condition?” And here she thought she was taking control here. “What condition?”

“You stay with me at the farm for the extra week. I want to be around you as much as possible.” He took her hands in his. “I also want to put these hands to work on some things at the farmhouse.”

She pulled her hands free and swatted him in the chest. “I’m not free labor, Chrissy.”

“But you’ll look so hot carrying a hammer around. I need that fantasy to become a reality.” He stepped in close and tipped her head up to brush a soft kiss to her lips. “Seriously, Nixen. Stay with me. Please.”

Nicole nipped his bottom lip. “Okay.”

“Starting tonight? I can help you pack your things.”

She pulled her phone from her purse. “Let me make sure I can get the week off first, Mr. Eager.”

He slid his hands into his pockets. “Fine. I’ll wait over here.” Christian rocked back on his feet, looking pretty adorable in his anticipation of having her around longer.

Meandering a few feet away, Nicole dialed the resort and asked to speak to Xavier who was in charge of staff scheduling. While it was ten o’clock here in Vermont, back in Hawaii, Xavier was still in the midst of his workday.

“The Nalu Resort, Xavier speaking.”

“Hi, Xavier. It’s Nicole Travers.”

“Hey, how’s Vermont? Have you seen any moose?”

“No, not yet, but I’m hoping to stay an extra week here to get the chance to. How does the schedule look?” She literally crossed her fingers. She’d gotten both her and Christian’s hopes up with the potential for more time. It would be a shame if it didn’t work out.

“Ah, let’s see . . .” Xavier hummed a little tune as he tapped away at his keyboard. “Uh . . . yeah, we can make that work, Nicole. Especially for you. You never take a sick day and I get a ton of messages from guests about how great your service is.”

“You do?”

“Well, yeah. Hasn’t your supervisor told you? Supervisors get copies of the guest comment cards.”

“No. She never told me about any positive comments.” Maybe her job wasn’t as meaningless as she’d always believed. Those comments would have gone a long way in motivating her, especially after Tessa had left. Why was it so hard for people to say nice things about her?

Although . . . Christian didn’t have difficulty saying nice things about her.

“Well, you’re a rockstar, Nicole. You enjoy that extra week in Vermont. I’ve got you covered here.”

“Thanks, Xavier. Enjoy your day.” She hung up and found Christian sitting on the open tailgate of his truck.

He patted the space next to him. “This is the cleanest this tailgate will ever be because it’s still new. Give me a few days, and she’ll be all broken in.”

Nicole hopped up next to him, her dress inching up and revealing her thighs in the process. She fixed the dress, but Christian immediately slid it back up.

“It looks better this way.” He gave her a sexy grin. “So . . . a bonus week or not?” He closed his eyes, a wince in his expression as if he were bracing himself to be punched.

“I have been granted the extra week.”

Christian launched at her, his arms coming around her to hug her tightly. He released her just as suddenly. “That’s cool,” he said in a disinterested voice, one leg swinging casually.

She elbowed him. “It’s okay to be excited. I am.”