Page 24 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

He lowers his arms before making another strike. “What makes you think that?”

“You seemed like you wanted to get them alone together, and we both know Harry’s not the kind of person who’d be interested in cutting down his own tree, yet you invited him anyway.”

“Maybe I wanted to be alone with you,” he says, tilting his head at me.

“No, I don’t think so,” I say.

He snorts and takes a swing at the tree.

“You said you come here every year?”

He pauses, glances at me. “Not every year. Last year, my little sister, Willow, was in town. Willow’s all about Christmas.”

“And you came with your stepfather.”

“I did,” he says with a nod. “Jay. But he and my mother were only married a few years.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “He sounds nice.”

“He is…so I’m not sorry. He’s a good guy. The kind of guy who deserved to marry someone nice, and he ultimately did. He and his wife have been together for decades now.” His face twists into something that’s not quite a smile. “You know, they actually met here.”

He’s usually so closed off and hard to read, but for some reason he’s talking to me, really talking, and I sense the hurt under his words.

“I’m sorry you have a hard relationship with your mother.”

That earns me another snort as he raises the ax again. “That would imply I have any relationship with her.”

“I wish I didn’t have a relationship with my mother,” I say, then lift my hand to my lips, as if I could shove the words back in. They’re true, but it’s not the kind of thing a lady would say.

“Oh?” he asks, smiling. He lets the ax hang by his side. “Zach doesn’t talk about them much, but we all know what happened.”

Actually, he probablydoesn’tknow. It’s not like my brother goes around telling people that he was disowned because everyone found out he’s illegitimate. My father didn’t feel the need to punish my mother, but my brother? He couldn’t throw him away fast enough. I’ll never forgive him for that, or my mother for letting it happen.

Zach and I have another brother, Phillip, but he hasn’t bothered with us since finding out the truth. He’s my father’s heir, the one who’s supposed to take over, but from what I can tell, he hasn’t been spending much time with my parents outside of work either.

“They’re awful people,” I say, surprised at myself for admitting it so openly.

“That’s okay, Princess,” Rowan says, lifting one side of his mouth. “Your fate isn’t decided by who your family is. You didn’t choose them, and I’m guessing you wouldn’t have.”

“Why do you call me princess?”

“Because you did decide to go on that show,” he says, grinning full on now. “Thatison you.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

ROWAN

She’s looking at me like I slapped her. Or maybe like she wants to slap me. Fuck. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.

Yes, you did,whispers a voice in my head, adding,you asshole.

“Look,” I say. “I know why you’re doing the show. My sister told me about your nonprofit, and—”

“Then you know that there are some things more important in life than looking like an idiot on screen,” she says, with so much goddamn nobility, she might as well be a princess for real.

“You’re not going to look like an idiot. They’re the idiots.”

The thought of her kissing any of them makes me want to grind my teeth until a back molar crushes. But that’s not because I want those pretty lips for myself. It’s just obvious to anyone with eyes that she’s worth all six of the remaining men.

---