Page 58 of A Very Naughty Christmas

Twisting to face him, she demanded to know, “Why are you being so nice? You weren’t very happy with me the last time we spoke.”

“Yeah,” he answered softly. “About that. You’ll learn as you get to know me better that I have a bit of a temper, though it burns out quickly. I was over my snit by the time the painting arrived on Monday.”

“A two-day snit isn’t so quick if you ask me.”

“What do you call one that lasts twelve years?” he asked pointedly.

She felt her face flush as she gave him a sad smile. “Touché. I’m sorry about that. I should have given you the opportunity to explain, but what I heard was pretty damning.”

“Which I realized by Monday.”

“And what about you?”

“What?”

“Don’t you think you owe me an apology?”

“For what?”

Her jaw dropped. Was he kidding? “Kyle, you called me a snob.”

“You are a snob, baby; however, I’ve decided to help you grow out of that.”

She choked. Had she heard him right? “Look around you. I live in a shit hole, own nothing more than what you see, and I walk everywhere or take the bus because I had to sell my car to pay past due bills, including a student loan for a degree I wasn’t able to complete. I live off tips that are never guaranteed. A bad night means I eat ramen noodles, a good one means I can afford to buy beef. Steak, shrimp, champagne, not to mention fresh fruit and vegetables are all beyond my budget, despite working sixty hours a week. What the hell could I possibly have to be snobbish about?”

He rolled to his side, which prompted Lucy to let out an irritated meow and jump down. His fingers curled around her neck to bring her face close. In the dark, she saw his stern, serious expression. “First off, take a deep breath and watch your tone. Second, the very definition of a snob is someone who has an exaggerated view of a high social position, yours is in reverse. Not the usual way of it, and as you say, it is what it is.”

“So fuck it?” Feeling her anger rise inside her, she tried to pull away.

“Third, you threw steak in my face like I dine on it every meal and champagne as though I guzzle it following a workout. A few months ago, I spent several weeks in a small town in Indonesia that was ravaged by an earthquake. Believe me, babe, I’d have beenhappy with a hot cup of ramen.”

Great day in the morning! He was right. She had done that, throwing his wealth in his face. And she’d forgotten all the good things people had told her about his charitable works; it hadn’t sunk in until now. Her resentment was so ingrained, it had rolled out of her spontaneously. That she hadn’t said caviar and lobster made her feel only slightly better. Before she could formulate an appropriate apology for being a real bitch, he continued setting her straight.

“I’m going to show you that just because people have money, doesn’t mean they are looking down on you, or others that have less. Quite often, they are the people who are trying to right the social wrongs and have the power to do so.”

“Kyle, I’m—”

He cut her off, not quite done with his set-down.

“I’ve seen shades of the sweet Dixie I knew in school, and I’m determined to dig her out from beneath all the crap you’ve suffered, because I think we have something here worth exploring. And as we move forward with that, I’ll remind you of something I told you in a tent not so long ago.”

She frowned. He’d said a lot that day. “What’s that?”

“That if you were mine, I wouldn’t hesitate to take you over my knee to set you straight.”

That made her bristle and all thoughts of apologies—and in the spirit of the season, good will toward men, particularly this man who thought he could actually spank her—went out the window.

“Are you done?”

“There’s that tone again. We’ll work on that too.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I do, because there’s something between us, and I think once we get to a good place on numbers one through three, you’ll agree with me on number four.”

“Um, I don’t recall you mentioning number four.”

“That this is something that is worth exploring.”

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