Page 32 of Take Me Home for Christmas

He let out a satisfied groan as he threaded his fingers into her hair, angling her head for better access. Elle dug her fingers into his shoulders to keep from falling, her knees were suddenly wobbly. A sigh escaped the back of her throat, giving Hayden all the opening he needed. His tongue slipped between her parted lips, sliding against hers seductively.

Elle was nearly overcome at the rush of need that buzzed through her body. She skimmed her palms along the back of his neck, desperate to keep their mouths fused together. Even though other parts of her began to ache for his attention.

When Hayden tore his mouth away and stared down at her, he looked as confused as she felt. “Elle.”

Her name sounded like a confession coming from his lips. She didn’t want to hear what came next. All she wanted tonight was to feel. So she stretched up on her toes and pressed her lips to his once again.

She felt more than heard the low rumble deep in his chest. His hands left her hair to explore the curves of her hips. He eased one hand beneath the hem of her sweater. The heat of his touch had her gasping into his mouth. His other hand cupped her ass, lifting her body against the hard length of his erection. She nearly lost herself then and there.

When he broke off the kiss this time, he swore violently. Elle struggled to regulate her breathing while he took a giant step away from her. She immediately felt the cold in the unheated room. Her stomach clenched at the look of raw anguish she saw on his face.

Hayden shook his head, and her heart sank.No!

“We can’t do this anymore, Elinor.”

He was out the door without another word.

“It lives,”West said when Elle sneaked into the kitchen to forage through the brunch leftovers the following afternoon.

The irritating man had taken over the round kitchen table with his laptop and an assortment of notebooks spread all over it.

“My mom has a perfectly good study she designated for your use,” she grumbled as she filled the tea kettle at the sink.

“I’d make a comment about you not being a morning person, but it’s already afternoon,” he quipped.

The kettle clanged against the gas stove’s burner when she set it down. Elle would not let this man shame her for having a pity party alone in her suite last night. One that had lasted well into today, it seemed. Her emotional well was totally depleted after pretending for the rest of the party that everything was fine. That she was fine. The pretense was difficult to maintain in front of her family and a town full of people who’d known her all her life. It helped that Hayden had vanished from the bar.

Hayden kissed me.

Her hand shook as she fished through the tea tin for a bag of chamomile. He’d kissed her, and it changedeverything.How could she go on simply being “just friends” with Hayden now that she knew what it felt like to have his tongue tangled with hers? Or his bare hands sliding along her skin? Or his hard length pressed against her?

He’d wanted her last night. There was no mistaking that. And then he’d left her.

We can’t do this anymore, Elinor.

His words had been like water dousing a flame.

What did they even mean?

Had he left the party to “forget about it” just like he claimed he’d done after last New Year’s?

How did someone even do that?

“A woman named Bernice was here looking for you,” West announced, cutting into her thoughts.

Elle froze as she reached for a mug. “She isn’t here now, is she?”

Bernice was camped outside the storage room when Elle emerged last night. It had been a good fifteen minutes after Hayden had stormed out. Fifteen minutes where Elle had been too numb to react. Luckily, she was able to stave off the waterworks until she got back to the inn.

But Bernice always saw too much. And even when she didn’t see things with her own eyes, she was quick to surmise the basics of the story, which she then would spread around Chances Inlet as gospel. The little devil had coaxed a deal out of Elle last night. She’d keep her mouth shut as long as Elle helped out with the social media for the entire town.

“She left about an hour ago. But not before delivering strict instructions for you to report to the mayor’s office at nine tomorrow morning. Sharp.”

“Fabulous.” Elle pulled the whistling kettle from the stove and poured the hot water into her mug.

“Does Helen know you’re moonlighting while on assignment here?”

Elle aimed a glare at the man. “It’s only moonlighting if I get paid. And the only thing Helen cares about is you finishing your book.” She sat down at the table. “I’m supposed to give her a status update this week. Can I tell her you’re almost done?”

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