Page 15 of One Night at Christmas

Bryson woke and checked the bedside table. He had just four hours until his flight home. The night had been fantastic with Charon, and he didn’t want it to end. He had hoped during this trip to convince her to continue to talk to him. Unfortunately, Charon had a huge conscious. Not that he was okay with cheating. He didn’t think talking to Charon was cheating on Gretchen. They had discussed it, but he didn’t admit as much to Charon. Gretchen expected to have lovers, and she’d told him he was free to do whatever he wanted.

As he stretched, he wondered whether he would mind if Charon slept with another man. That is, if she were his wife. The thought almost made him laugh. Hell no! If he had his way, Charon would be his exclusively—forever.

He rolled over and spooned her ass. Pleasure erupted throughout his entire body. Charon was everything he had hoped, and why wouldn’t she be? He loved her. God, how he adored everything about her, even her stubborn way of sticking to her guns and refusing to be his mistress.

Well, I’d prefer if she gave in.

He scootched closer to her, folding his body as much as he could around her soft form. His dick grew hard as he snaked a hand over her waist and flattened his palm on her belly. She made a small mewing sound that nearly moved him to wake her up. No, he wouldn’t, as much he might desire to. He’d been selfish enough, keeping her up all night long, making love to her over and over. She needed rest, and holding her had to satisfy him.

Tiredness descended once again as he stilled. Another small nap, and then he would spend the last hours with her. Pain rocketed through his chest for a moment. The thought of losing her closed off his air supply. He fought the emotions. She told him months ago they would come to this point, and what else could they do? She wanted a simple life, and he wanted the power and position he had dreamed of for ages. And how could he possibly live in the country? The thought was cringe-worthy. Neither of them was willing to let go of their ambitions.

He rose just a bit and rested his face against hers. Inhaling brought her sweet scent inside him. He had to remember what she smelled like forever. It would help on nights when he lay alone or he lay with some woman who didn’t mean anything. Charon, who made him laugh and challenged his way of thinking on practically every subject, wouldn’t be a part of his life anymore. He almost wished he could get her pregnant before she left.

A phone rang, and Bryson struggled to come to consciousness. He’d been dreaming of making love to Charon in his bed. In the dream, they were together. Still groggy and with his eyes half closed, he reached out to answer the phone.

“Yeah?”

“What the fuck?”

Bryson came fully awake and sat up. Oh, hell, he’d answered Charon’s phone, and there was no undoing it. For a moment, he couldn’t think. The sound of running water reached him, and his befuddled mind registered that Charon was in the shower.

“Hello?” the voice on the other end of the phone demanded.

Bryson pulled it away from his ear to check the screen. Sure enough, it was Charon’s ex-boyfriend. Bryson hadn’t meant to answer. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her or stand in her way. He knew she was thinking about getting back with this guy and that she had put off returning his call so the two of them could have their Christmas date. Now, he’

d gone and screwed everything up. He had to fix it even if he didn’t like the thought of that bastard touching her.

“Okay, look,” he said, “I didn’t mean to answer the phone. Let’s get that out of the way.”

“Where’s Charon? Who the hell are you?”

Bryson moved to the edge of the bed. “Who I am isn’t important.”

“Like hell it’s not. Where the fuck are you? I’m coming there to kick your ass.”

“Really? That’s what you think Charon will want?”

“Don’t try to lecture me.”

“She’s with me.” He wanted to add the word permanently but resisted. “For now. You don’t like it. I get that, but those are the facts. My understanding is that you two aren’t together.”

“That’s temporary!”

“Okay, then you’re going to overlook this call.”

“Say what?”

“If you plan to be with her, then you’ll forget this conversation ever happened. I’m not going to be with her.”

“So you’re using her for her body?” His tone condemned Bryson.

“What Charon and I are doing isn’t your business.”

“That’s funny, asshole. You’re sitting there trying to tell me what I’m going to do, but you don’t want me getting into your business.”

Bryson’s patience snapped. He needed to get this idiot to agree not to harass Charon for his mistake and to think about whether he cared about her enough to stay with her. Plus, Charon would be out of the bathroom soon, and he didn’t want her to find him talking to Morris. “I’m saying you need to think about how much you love her.”

Both of them were silent for a few beats, and then Morris spoke softly. “So you’re not going to stay with her?”

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