Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

he was inside Billings right now, listening in on her and Thomas?

But no. No. It couldn't be. He wouldn't skip out on his parents, his sister, their Christmas vacation, just to

mess with her. He wouldn't. She had to believe that. She had to believe it or she was going to go insane.

"Just deal with the current problem," she whispered, wiping the fog off the mirror and staring at her

reflection. Thomas.

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What was she going to do? She had thought this was over. Thought that slap, for better or for worse, had put a

stop to this insanity. But now, here Thomas was, in her room. They were alone and her skin was humming

again. She took a deep breath and slipped into her white silk robe.

She had to tell him they couldn't do this anymore. Maybe it was intriguing and fun, but it couldn't be real.

What she had with Daniel was real. Yes. That was what she was going to tell him, and he would just have to

understand. She looked into the mirror, into her own blue eyes, and steeled herself for the conversation. But

when she reached for the door handle a minute later, she realized she was still shaking. And it wasn't from the

cold.

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PLEADING MANTRA

***"Thomas, I-"

Ariana's words died on her tongue as Thomas held out a pair of Noelle's sexiest underwear-a red thong with

a tiny wedge of fabric at the front.

"Are these yours or Noelle's? 'Cuz I gotta say, my imagination is going to some pretty sweet places right

now...."

"They're not mine," she said, snatching them away from him and tossing them onto Noelle's bed with all the

other clothes that hadn't made the cut for her trip home. "Thomas, listen-"

"Look, I just came over here to make peace because it looks like we're going to be stuck here for a couple of

days," Thomas said, pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "And I still haven't heard that

apology for teeing off on me."

Ariana clutched her arm again. "What do you mean, stuck here?"

Thomas gestured at Ariana's computer, which was showing

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streaming video of a weather forecast. Clearly he'd helped himself to her Internet connection. She reached