Page 1 of One Night at Christmas

Chapter One

Bryson peered into the screen and flashed that amazing smile that always had Charon’s belly fluttering. He was so beautiful and sexy and a million other adjectives that described physical perfection. “What are we having for breakfast today?”

Charon pretended his smile didn’t set her knees quivering. She leaned on her kitchen counter and straightened the tablet she used to connect with Bryson. “Whatever you want, but usually you ask for eggs and bacon.”

“I know, but today my sweet tooth is acting up. I felt it when I woke up. I’m thinking Charlie’s Restaurant for lunch.”

“The cheesecake?”

“Mm, yeah.”

She laughed. “What do you have it like once every other month? You’re like clockwork. I don’t get you. If I don’t have my daily chocolate, I’m liable to kill someone. In fact, I wonder if something in the chocolate itself doesn’t calm the beast.”

“You don’t look like a beast.”

She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Don’t you start, mister. If you get to flirting with me, you’re going to be late going into the office, and I’m going to skip working on my art before my afternoon shift.”

His voice dropped an octave. “Come on, Char. You know you want it.”

“Stupid.” She cracked up, a ploy because when he talked like that, it got her wet. He probably knew what he did to her. Bryson looked good enough to have had a hundred women in his bed. She didn’t know if that was true because he didn’t brag about it. Maybe he left that information for his male friends. The two of them, they talked about everything else, including the direction they chose for their lives.

“Char.”

She left the tablet where it was and hurried to the refrigerator to gather a few ingredients. “Would you stop calling me Char? Jeez, you white people shorten everything.”

“You say that because I’m white.”

She snorted. Bryson was never offended when she pulled race on him. Normally, he just shot it back, teasing her to no end. She loved it. They were free and easy with each other, although she couldn’t imagine why. No two people could be more different.

“That’s right, so get it straight,” she told him. “How would you like it if I called you Bry?”

“My great aunt twice removed calls me that.”

“Liar.”

“If I had one.”

“Uh-huh.” She set a carton of eggs on the counter. “Okay, I’ll make raspberry goat cheese crepes. How’s that sound?”

“Delicious.”

She watched for a moment as he carried his laptop into his own kitchen and pulled the ingredients from it that she called off to him. This was their ritual every morning. Bryson would make a request for a particular breakfast, and she would cook it at her place while instructing him on how to prepare the food on his end. Over the last year or so, Bryson had learned to cook decently. At least it seemed so from the looks of the food and his moans of pleasure when he ate it.

They both cracked eggs into a bowl. She handled hers with one hand and watched his strong hands fumble just a tiny bit. Bryson was big at six foot five inches. Not only was he tall, but his broad shoulders and massive chest could intimidate anyone. He told her he played football in college, and she imagined the other players must have cowered in fear when he came charging down the field.

“That’s going to turn out even better than last time.” She watched his progress and approved.

“I’d rather eat yours.”

She flushed. The innocent statement gave her ideas, which she dismissed. “When you invent the teleportation device that can send food five hundred miles, we’ll try each other’s dishes.”

“We’re not so far apart, you know. There are modern conveniences such as the airplane, the car…”

She said nothing, concentrating on fixing breakfast. They had the conversation many times before. During some of them, she suggested they meet in real life. In other conversations, he suggested it. They never followed through despite speaking with each other every day and many nights for a little over two years.

Then there’s the problem that I love him.

“I was only teasing, Charon.” His voice was low, but he wasn’t attempting to sound sexy.

Her heart beat faster, and her breaths came out noisy and erratic. She worked on calming down.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly.

She licked her lips, head lowered.

“I don’t know why I’m apologizing,” he went on. “I keep thinking about it. I want to see you. We said we wouldn’t.”

“It might ruin everything.”

“How?” he demanded, and she looked at the screen. His blue eyes flashed slight anger. She couldn’t love him more just staring into his handsome face. Maybe it was about his looks, and that’s why she felt she loved him. Maybe she was vain.

The thought almost made her laugh, and her emotions calmed somewhat. “Okay, I’ll remind you since you seem to have forgotten.”

He folded his arms over his chest. The crisp white shirt he wore pulled at his bicep. His routine was to put on his suit jacket only when he was ready to walk out the door. She was glad he hadn’t put it on. He gave her a nice view she often kept in mind as she went to work at the pizza restaurant.

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