Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

“Yes.”

There was a long, pulsing silence and she curled her hand into the front of his coat. “You’re inviting me to stay with you? That’s … big. I’ve never even been to your house on the island. You never invited me before.”

He’d never invited anyone apart from his friend Ryan. It was a safe, protected space where he could work undisturbed.

“I’m inviting you now.” He stroked his fingers over her hair. It fascinated him, shades of platinum and white gold, like the precious metals she used to make her jewelry. “Can I tempt you back to my lair?”

There was a light in her eyes, a brightness that hadn’t been there before. “Why?”

The question froze him.

“Because I don’t think you should go back to New York on your own. What if Richard shows up?”

“So you’re doing this to protect me from Richard?” Her voice was gentle, her eyebrows raised in question. “Thank you, but I don’t need you to make that sacrifice. I’ll handle Richard.”

“Sky—”

“If there’s another reason you’d like me to come back with you, like sex for example, or because I make you laugh, then obviously I’d consider it, but I won’t come with you just because you want to protect me.”

“Sex is another reason.” His mouth was dry. “It’s the main reason. And you do make me laugh.”

Since when did he have trouble speaking? He spoke fluently to the camera on a regular basis but with Sky’s blue eyes fixed on his he wasn’t sure he could voice his own name without multiple takes.

“So—Richard isn’t the reason, sex is the reason?”

“Yes. I want more simple, uncomplicated sex. I don’t want anything else. And if that sounds selfish it’s because I am selfish. I won’t change. I want to be clear about that. I could break your heart.”

“Or I could break yours.” She looked at him and smiled. “Alternatively, we might part physically exhausted but completely intact. You don’t need to spell out terms and conditions, but you want me to know that you’re thinking with your penis?”

He felt heat break over his skin and was relieved he’d arranged to have the capsule to themselves. “Possibly. Probably.”

“That’s good. Your penis makes good, honest decisions. I’ll vote for it in the next election.”

Smiling, he lowered his head so that his mouth was next to her ear. “What the hell are we doing, Sky?”

She didn’t answer for a moment and then she rose on tiptoe, turned her head and kissed him gently on the mouth. “I think it’s called ‘having fun.’ Merry Christmas, Alec.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

AFTER A COUPLE of long flights, Alec and Skylar landed at Logan Airport and took a private plane to Puffin Island.

The pilot was Zachary Flynn. He eyed the pair of them cautiously as they walked across the tarmac, as if he couldn’t quite believe he was seeing them together.

Sky couldn’t quite believe it, either.

She kept expecting Alec to tell her he’d changed his mind.

“Hurry up,” Zach growled, “there’s bad weather coming our way. Unless you want to be stranded on the wrong side of the water, we need to leave now.”

“There’s always bad weather. This is Maine in December. And you can pretty much fly in anything, so stop being a grouch. Good to see you.” Sky reached up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for meeting us, Zach. You’re the best.”

He took her face in his hands and angled it, examining the bruise. His eyes darkened. “If I ever meet him—”

“It wasn’t him, it was me,” she said hastily, “and I’m good, thanks. Really good.”

To her surprise, Zach, rarely demonstrative, pulled her into a tight hug. “I never would have voted for him. You were right to dum

p his sorry ass.” He muttered the words into her ear and she smiled into his shoulder and eased away.