Page 26 of Miles & Mistletoe

The four of us made conversation for a little while longer. Well, Patience and I made conversation while the men interjected here and there, before we parted ways.

“She seems nice,” I said to Ian as we departed the museum.

“She is. Too nice for him,” Ian grunted.

“You weren’t exactly a barrel of sunshine in their presence either.”

“If you knew what he’d done to me, you wouldn’t be so quick to come to his defense.” Ian held the town car’s back door open for me to enter.

“I wasn’t defending him. Just pointing out that he wasn’t the only cold one. And why don’t you tell me what he did? That way I can hate him or dislike him as much as you do. That’s what friends do.”

Ian lifted an eyebrow as the driver began pulling off. “It is?”

I nodded. “Of course. If one friend hates someone, then it’s the duty of the other friend to hate the person just as much.”

“What if the person being hated is the friend, relative, or spouse of the person being hated by friend number one?”

I wrinkled my brows in confusion before shaking my head. “Then it gets complicated.” I waved his question off. “We’re not there yet, anyway. Just tell me what Aaron Townsend did to you.”

Ian sat back against the backseat and stared off into space for a little while. “He sided with my brother over me.”

I sat up, fully turning my body to face Ian. “What does that mean?”

He finally turned to look toward me, and I was surprised to see a somewhat shame-faced expression.

“A few years back, my brother and I were running Zerlinger Beer together. We had a difference of opinion on what direction the company should go in. As a result, we nearly split the company in half. Some of our business partners were made to choose sides. As an investor in Zerlinger at the time, Townsend Industries opted to support Bruce, my brother.”

I took in the information. “Ah. So, he bruised your ego?”

Ian turned to me sharply with a narrowed gaze. That expression might’ve intimidated a number of other people. And if I didn’t know him, it would’ve definitely intimidated me. However, at that moment, it merely made me burst out into a giggling fit.

“What’s so damn funny?”

“You. You’re holding a grudge for years, and yet you’ve remained the CEO of Zerlinger Beer. Your brother is nowhere to be found, at least from what I’ve seen. But your bruised ego just can’t let go.” I giggled some more and shook my head. “Men.”

A growling noise came from Ian’s mouth and that caused me to laugh even harder. That is, until I was pulled by my arms into his lap. His firm lips were soon silencing my giggles, replacing them with moans of need. I sighed against his lips.

“We’re done talking about business and my ego,” he growled.

“You won’t get any argument from me.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the car door was opening and Ian was just shy of carrying me out of the car toward the entrance of the hotel we were staying in. I missed the Christmas lights that adorned the hotel’s lobby and entrance way, along with the green and white Christmas trees. I was way too caught up in anticipating the feel of Ian once we were again behind closed doors.

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