Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

“Nothing is happening.”

“He was there for you when you were in trouble. That’s pretty powerful, Sky. But I’m worried. I don’t think Alec is capable of happy-ever-after.”

“I don’t want happy-ever-after with Alec. Relax.”

“His divorce had a bad effect on him. What if he hurts you?”

“He isn’t going to hurt me—” She broke off as Lizzy came running back into the room.

The little girl screeched to a halt when she saw them. “Why are you hugging?”

“Because that’s what friends do.” Sky released Emily, who stepped back and smoothed her hair.

Lizzy giggled. “Sky has blue paint in her hair.”

“Does it look good? Tell me it suits me.” Sky picked up the paintbrush and advanced on Lizzy. “I think you need blue hair, too.”

With a squeal of delicious panic, Lizzy raced toward the front door and ran slap into Alec.

“Whoa.” He caught her before she could fall, scooping her up in an easy movement. “What’s the rush?”

“Sky was going to paint my hair blue!”

He hadn’t shaved and his weatherproof jacket brushed against his dark jaw. His shoulders seemed even wider than normal under the bulky material.

“Is that right?” His face was serious as he listened. “Want me to pin her down so you can paint her blue instead?”

“She’s already blue.”

Alec’s gaze shifted to Sky’s hair. “So she is.” He met her gaze and Sky felt her insides tumble, freefalling and spinning.

Mr. Outdoor Guy, she thought, and felt something ripple through her. “Why aren’t you working?”

“I came looking for you.” His tone together with his penetrating gaze made her feel as if she’d been picked up and tossed around by the incoming tide.

They were in public, but the way he looked at her made her feel as if they were alone.

Had Richard ever looked at her with that degree of focus? As if she were the only person in the room?

He’d come looking for her.

“Oh. Well that’s—” Romantic, she thought, and a delicious whisper of sexual awareness tickled her skin. “Great.”

“I half expected to have to dig you out of a snowdrift.” He lowered Lizzy carefully and Sky frowned.

Not so romantic.

He hadn’t come looking for her because he’d missed her, but because he assumed she’d screwed up and fallen in a snowdrift.

Her false assumption made her prickly. And uneasy. Her relationship with Alec wasn’t about romance. It was about lighthearted fun and lots of physical chemistry.

“If you were worried, you could have just called. You didn’t need to climb in the car.”

“I called. Your phone is switched off.”

Her phone?

She scrabbled in her pocket, pulled out the phone and realized he was right. She’d forgotten to switch it on. It had been one of the many things about her that had driven Richard insane. “I’m sorry.” She stammered the words, the apology instinctive. “I wasn’t thinking. I mean I was thinking, but I wasn’t thinking about the phone. That’s just it. I was dreaming and miles away and—” Her flood of excuses tailed off as she noticed they were both staring at her. “What? I’ve said I’m sorry.”