Page 73 of A Little Harmless Pleasure

“Hey, Anna.”

“Merry Christmas to you!”

Cynthia held the phone away from her ear, then brought it back to talk to her friend. “Oh, you’ve been partaking of some wine.”

“Yep. Max is somewhere, but I lost him.”

She shook her head. Anna was insane on a normal day, but when she drank, she was crazy with a capital “C”. “I have a feeling he isn’t far.”

“He’s here somewhere.”

She smiled. Drunk Anna was so much fun.

“Who are you talking to?” Cynthia heard Max say over the phone.

“Cynthia. She lives in Honolulu.”

He chuckled. “Yes, she does.”

There was a jostling and then Max came on the line.

“That’s my phone, Maxwell.”

“Merry Christmas, Cynthia,” he said, ignoring his wife.

“Mele Kalikimaka. I take it you’re at a party.”

“Family. That’s all. How are you doing? How’s the bakery doing?”

She looked around her kitchen and smiled. “Doing very well.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am.”

“You shouldn’t be. I knew you would be successful.”

That gave her pause. “Seriously?”

“Yes. You have a first-rate mind, and you bake amazing cookies.”

For a moment, she couldn’t think of anything to say. The fact that Max had said it, meant so much to her. He was more than her former fiancé. He had been running his family business for years and also had an MBA.

“Wow. Thank you,” she stammered.

“Now, I’m going to take this drunk woman I picked up for the night home. Say hello to your ugly boyfriend.”

“I will.”

She clicked off her phone, a smile curving her lips. Breaking her engagement with Max was one of the best things she had ever done. It had allowed Max and Anna to fall in love. Better, it had brought Chris to Georgia so they could meet. It was painful at the time, but glorious now that she had a new life with Chris.

Looking around her kitchen, she noticed a few more things that needed to be done before she left for the holiday.

Chris stopped just inside Cynthia’s new bakery kitchen and smiled. Who would have thought the buttoned down, uptight woman he’d met in Georgia would be so happy playing in a kitchen? Her face was flushed with exertion, her unruly blonde hair curling around her face. The smudge of flour on her nose added, rather than detracted, from her appearance.

Satisfaction whipped through him because he knew he was part of the reason for her happiness. It had taken them awhile and he’d almost screwed it up. But thank god for Cynthia’s patience and her love. Now, if he could keep all he’d planned for tonight a secret just a bit longer, everything would be great. He’d used subterfuge to keep his Christmas present a secret, but as it was Christmas Eve, he figured he’d succeeded. Besides, he didn’t think he could wait any longer.

She noticed him then and smiled, the joy and beauty of it hit him square in the chest. He would never get used to seeing her like this. Even as the gravity of his plans weighed on his shoulders, he smiled. There was nothing else he could do. Her happiness was his quest in life.

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