The Millionaire's Snowbound Seduction

‘Because I’ll ask them to. You won’t have time to do that sort of stuff after we’re married.’

‘What sort of stuff?’ she asked, after a pause.

‘You know. This stuff. Mucking around in the kitchen.’

‘Mucking around in the…?’

‘Yeah.’ Nick shoved back his chair, stacked the plates, and rose to his feet. ‘I know you didn’t do this for the money,’ he said, as he scraped the leavings of their meal into the trash. He looked back and flashed her a smile. ‘As if there could possibly be much money, playing around with cookbooks.’

Holly folded her hands tightly in her lap. ‘Really?’ she said, very calmly. ‘And how would you know how much money there is, playing around with cookbooks?’

‘Well, I don’t know. Not exactly. But I figured—’

‘You figured wrong,’ she said, in that same calm voice, and then told him exactly how wrong he was.

Nick’s eyebrows shot towards his hairline. ‘Really?’ He laughed and shook his head. ‘Wow. I had no idea—’

‘As for doing it for the money…do you build hotels for the money?’

‘I don’t build them, baby, I own them.’

‘It was a figure of speech.’

‘I know, but—’

‘Answer the question, please. Do you build them for the money?’

Nick licked his lips. He had the sudden feeling that he was heading into deep water in a leaky rowboat.

‘Well, sure. I mean, I like what I do. Hell, I love it. But—’

‘But you like being paid, too. Surprise, Nick. So do I.’ She smiled tightly. ‘And, while we’re on the subject, I’ve always liked what you’d probably call “mucking about” the house. Sewing. Cooking. Fussing.’

‘Yes. I know that. I—’

‘No. No, you don’t know that.’ Holly kicked back her chair and got to her feet. ‘You never understood that I liked contributing what I could to our marriage.’ She grabbed the salt shaker and pepper mill from the table, marched to the counter and slammed them down. ‘Not money, but things that I hoped would make our lives more pleasant and take some of the burden, the worry about money, off your shoulders.’

‘Sweetheart, that was generous of you. I’m only trying to point out that none of that is necessary anymore.’

Holly swung towards him, eyes flashing. ‘I hate it when you use that condescending tone with me!’

Nick stared at her. What the hell was happening? ‘Holly, baby—’

‘My name is not Hollybaby! I might have been young when you married me, but I was a grown woman, not a—a starry-eyed Rapunzel, living in a tower, waiting for a man to come along and rescue me.’

‘Hey.’ Nick held up his hands. ‘How about we take a deep breath and calm down?’

‘I hate it even more when you patronize me!’

Holly spun back towards the sink and plunged her hands into the soapy water. Six endless years had gone by but nothing had changed. Oh, they were arguing, yes, instead of sulking in silence, but Nick still saw her as a helpless, spoiled little rich girl. All that was left, if time really was going to spin backwards, was for him to end this scene by saying he had work to do…

‘Do you want help with the dishes?’ he said, after the silence had become almost unbearable.

‘No.’

He sighed. She didn’t want anything, not from him. He could read it in the set of her shoulders. Damn if he didn’t feel as helpless as he’d felt years ago, wanting to go to Holly and either kiss her or shake her until she understood that all he wanted was her happiness.

The only solution was to get himself out of here before one of them said something they’d regret.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘In that case…I’m going to get my computer. I have some work to do.’

Holly dumped a pot into the sink. Soapy water sloshed over the edge.

‘Important work, I’m sure.’

‘Yes. Of course it’s—’

‘Important. I know. After all, you don’t deal in cookbooks.’

‘Holy hell,’ Nick roared. He stalked to the sink, clasped his wife’s rigid shoulders, and spun her towards him. ‘You’re right. I don’t deal in cookbooks. I run a Fortune 500 company, baby, and I’ll be damned if I’ll apologize for it!’

‘Why would you? I’m sure the world turns at your command.’

‘You never gave me any credit for what I did, Holly. Well, try this on for size. I’ve got the biggest deal ever in the works right now.’

‘Imagine that,’ she said politely. ‘I’m just amazed a man of your importance would have chosen to rent a cabin like this for a weekend.’