Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

“I was angry. Mostly with myself. I should have seen it. It was a campaign. A campaign to win me because he thought, and my family thought, I’d make a good wife. Another business contract. I was his goal, except that I had my own goals and they didn’t match his. I worked it out the other night, when he revealed a few things he probably didn’t intend to.” She turned the branch in her hands. “I like the shape of this. It would make a wonderful table decoration.”

Alec looked at the gnarled, misshapen piece of wood and decided it was one of those situations where it was best not to comment. “You must be furious with your parents for interfering.”

“I am. It’s manipulative, isn’t it? Controlling. And insulting, to think that I’m not capable of making those decisions for myself. It’s proof that they still don’t accept who I really am, and keep trying to mold me into the daughter they would like to have.” She tugged a hat out of her pocket and slid it onto her head. “I hate that I was so deluded. I feel foolish.”

The sweet, honest admission tugged at his heart.

He watched as she gathered up a few more branches and twists of greenery, wondering what she was going to do with them.

“Will you call him?”

“No. We don’t have anything to say to each other. I’m moving on.” She glanced around, scanning the snow-covered hedges. “Do you have mistletoe in your garden?”

He tensed, wondering exactly what she meant by “moving on.” “Why?”

She gave him a long look followed by a sympathetic smile. “Wow. She really did do a number on you, didn’t she?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. And giving me that look and using that chilly tone you use to silence your poor family isn’t going to work on me. I won’t walk on eggshells around my friends. Friends are always honest with each other. That’s how this goes. So don’t freeze me out.”

“Are we friends?”

“Well, we’ve seen each other naked.” Her eyes gleamed with humor. “And you stroked my back when I was ill. Any person who does that is a friend. You know a bunch of embarrassing facts about my parents, and I know about yours. I’ve just shared a hell of a lot I don’t normally share, and I’m guessing you’re the same. So tell me the truth. Have you dated anyone since your divorce? Had wild sex with anyone?”

He inhaled sharply. “Sky—”

“Oh, come on, Alec. You’re a sexy, physical guy. A million women will have put the moves on you. Are you telling me that iron self-control hasn’t been tested once?”

He wondered what she’d say if he confessed that the biggest test had been with her. “I haven’t dated much. I don’t want the complication.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Sex isn’t complicated.”

“Sex is never just sex. There’s always an agenda.”

“You think so?” Her gaze slid to his mouth and lingered there for a long moment. Then she stepped forward and slid her hand round the back of his neck. Before he had time to react, she rose up on her toes, drew his head down to hers and kissed him.

A shock wave of heat burned through him.

Her lips were warm and sweet, her mouth moving over his in a slow, thorough exploration, as if answering a question he had no memory of asking.

He stood still, hands clenched by his sides, heart pounding, desire engulfing him in brutal waves.

Her hand moved from his neck to his cheek and he felt the warmth of her palm as she cupped his face. He opened his mouth to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing and felt the tip of her tongue trace his lower lip and glide lightly against his, smooth silk and dizzying seduction.

He should have pulled away, but he didn’t. Instead he brushed his mouth over hers, allowing himself a single, tantalizing taste of what she was offering. That brief, intimate touch was all it took. Engulfed by a savage, sexual heat, he dragged her against him and plundered her mouth as if her kiss was an antidote he needed to survive.

All around them was snowy silence and the raw cold of winter, but his whole world was her mouth, the jagged rhythm of his heart and the slow, relentless pumping of his blood.

The few fleeting relationships he’d had since parting with his ex-wife hadn’t left the tiniest scratch on his emotional defenses, but if there was one thing he’d learned over the past couple of days it was how badly he’d underestimated Skylar. Or maybe he’d always sensed that she was a threat, and that was the reason he’d kept her at a distance. Either way, he knew she had the power to break down every barrier he’d ever built.

His fists unclenched and he was about to push her away, when she eased away and stepped back.

Her smile finished the job her mouth had started.

Alec’s head spun. He felt as if he’d banged it on a low beam, or drunk an entire bottle of whisky in one session.

He tried to make sense of it and failed. “What the hell was that for?”