Page 56 of All I Want For Christmas

“What are you doing?” she asked, fighting the urge to back up. That much muscular man was more than she could resist if he came on to her.

“I’m getting out of bed so we can see what’s going on out there. Fix the problem. Get you out of here.”

He didn’t sound belligerent or upset. He looked calm, like he always did. But there was something in his expression that told her he wasn’t entirely pleased with the situation. Neither was she.

“I figure at least if I miss the cruise I can hang out for a few days in the sunshine, right?” Not that she could afford either a plane ticket to Miami or a hotel, but that’s what a credit card was for. She just couldn’t face driving back to Cincinnati in a rental car and spending the night alone in her empty apartment.

“Or you could spend the night in Lexington with me. Have dinner with my family. Then tomorrow you can go to Miami. You don’t want to spend Christmas at the airport.”

No, she didn’t. But it didn’t matter. Why should Christmas be any different now than it had been her whole life? Part of her wanted to say yes, she’d love to spend the night with Christian and his family, but it would be like playing house. He wasn’t hers and his family was going to think it was weird as hell for her to be there.

And she didn’t think she could sit there in that kind of family togetherness knowing she wasn’t part of it, knowing that she didn’t belong. “I seriously doubt your family wants a total stranger invading their Christmas.”

He scoffed, standing up. “Please. They’re always telling me to bring someone, and there are so many people there, one more will hardly be noticed.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

There was a long pause where he stared at her so intently she wanted to squirm, but she stood her ground, head up.

Then he just said, “Alright.”

Part of her was relieved. Part of her was disappointed. Maybe in some way she had wanted him to try a little harder to coax her. Not that there was anything fair about that. He had offered, it had been a generous offer, and she had refused. Why would he twist her arm?

Because he wanted to be with her, that’s why. That’s what she wanted him to say. But that was a stupid expectation. Christian had a family to go to and he had just met her.

Blue beat a path to the bathroom before she rid anything else and before he offered to join her in the shower. Any more intimacy would undo her.

She locked the door and turned on the water. She would shower alone. Be alone.

Just like she was every day.

Chapter

Seven

Christian watched Blue across the table in Roy’s kitchen, wondering what was going through her head. She was animated enough with their host, smiling and laughing as he told her stories, but she was not meeting Christian’s eyes, and she seemed nervous.

Maybe not nervous. Remote. She had retreated from him. That was obvious. He didn’t know why.

Or maybe he did. He just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

He was too much of a goofball for Blue. She was a cool chick, into cool guys. He was a toy engineer who got off on family dinners, playing with kids, and singing off-key while doing the sprinkler. Not her style.

How could he expect her to prefer coming to his parents’ house for dinner when she could be on the beach in Florida? He couldn’t.

“So I got out of the Navy in ’51 and settled down here and took over this place,” Roy was saying. “Ain’t exactly the Ritz but I did alright. Thought about changing the name, but it always gave me a chuckle and people around here knew the No-Tell.”

“We were so glad to find you and this place last night,” Blue told him, piling egg on her fork. “I don't know what we would have done without you, Roy."

If Christian wasn’t mistaken, the old guy blushed a little. “Hope it was comfortable enough for you all.”

“Verycomfortable,” Christian interjected, willing Blue to look at him and remember what had passed between them.

She did, but her look was definitely one of disapproval. Oh, so now not only was she not coming to dinner with him, she was going to pretend that the night before hadn’t happened? The hell with that.

His damn world had been rocked by this woman, and she was going to have to hear about it.

“You can call on my house phone to get your tow, though I don’t know how soon they’re going to be able to dig your car out.” Roy said. “I checked online and it looks like the highway is reopened so you can get south if you want in your good car. If I were you, I’d just book a tow truck and go on and enjoy your Christmas and worry about getting your car from the garage in a few days.”

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