Page 39 of Christian Clause

I laugh again. I should have known better than trying to hide things from Debra.

“Thank you for everything, Deb. If you hadn’t invited me to come back here, I would have still been in Georgia feeling sorry for myself.”

Winking at me, Debra says, “What would you do without me?”

I throw my arms around her again. “Absolutely nothing.”

We laugh together and I tell her about the conference and how much I enjoyed myself with Christian.

“All will be fine,” she tells me, and I believe her.

“Merry Christmas, Deb.”

“Merry Christmas, Hope.”

Chapter Twenty

Christian

“Would you like to come in?” Katherine asks me as I pull into her driveway.

I shake my head. “I have made other plans.”

“Oh, come in, Chris. We’ve got to celebrate. I have my business back successfully, all thanks to you. I have champagne and caviar.”

I smile. “I’m sorry, Katherine. I have to be somewhere else.”

Her delicately carved brows shoot up. “Where else could you possibly go on an evening like this instead of spending it with me?”

I don’t think it is any of her business, so I keep quiet. I wish she’d just exit the car. The snow is beginning to build up, and I want to get the hell out of there.

“Chris,” Katherine purrs and I inwardly groan. I don’t have time for this. “You and I have known each other for a long time now. I want you to know that I care a lot about you.”

No! I can’t do this. Not tonight.

Before I can tell her I’m not interested in hearing what she has to say as I have to leave, Katherine leans into me from the passenger seat and tries to kiss me. Hastily, I pull back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” My voice is tinged with fury.

Katherine, her face reddened, sits back and lowers her head. “I’m just trying to show you how I feel.”

I grit my teeth as I regret not telling her off when she unexpectedly tried to kiss me in my office a short while ago. So, now she thinks I’m available for her to grab and try to kiss every time? It’s shocking as she has never been this bold and needy in the past.

“Katherine, I’m in love with someone,” I quietly say into the thick silence that follows her admission.

She gasps and twists in her seat. “What did you just say?”

“I’ve fallen in love with Hope.”

Her shriek resounds in the car, drowning out the quietly playing Christmas carol on my speaker.

“Your PA?”

I nod. “She’s more than just a PA to me.”

Katherine stares at me as if I’ve gone crazy.

With a solemn voice, I say, “Katherine, we can no longer have secrets between us. I hurt Hope the other day because I didn’t want to tell her why she has been seeing us together. I love her, and I’m secretly dating her. So, I can’t lie to her and keep things from her. I also don’t want you to come between us.”

---