Page 34 of One Night at Christmas

“I do because I’m not letting you take care of me.”

“You let me get this apartment.”

“I was desperate. We’re not going to keep going like this.”

“So, you’re not going to let the man who loves you take care of you?”

She almost fainted. He said the words as if they came naturally. It was taking her a minute to get used to knowing how he felt.

“You’re not being fair,” she complained, and he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Why should I play fair? I lost you before, and I’m not going to do it again. We’re going to figure this out.”

She left him there in the living room and went to check on her daughter. Her sweet baby girl lay on her side in the middle of the empty bedroom, asleep. Charon’s heart melted. She went over and stroked Naomi’s cheek then picked her up from the midst of her toys. In the living room, she gestured with her chin to Bryson. He quickly prepared the futon. Charon laid her daughter down on it and covered her with a comforter.

“We’ll have to keep it down,” she whispered. “She’s played herself out.”

He watched Naomi as if fascinated and then drew Charon close to his side. “I want to stay the night.”

“Bryson.”

“I don’t want to leave you. Not anymore. Tell me I can stay. I promise to keep my hands to myself.”

She wanted him to stay as well. The thought of him getting on a flight back to New York was too much to bear. “Okay, but we can only be friends right now, Bryson. I mean it. As far as I’m concerned you’re off the market until you’re single, and until we figure out what to do.”

“I’ll talk to my lawyer in the morning.”

Chapter Fourteen

Bryson opened his eyes and wasn’t sure where he was at first. Something stirred beside him and he looked over to find he was in the best place in the world. His heart nearly exploded. Charon lay beside him with her daughter cradled in her arms. The two slept on, and he couldn’t take his eyes off them.

Charon was his. At last, she was his, and he planned to move the earth to make it permanent. Lying beside her all night had been torture. He hadn’t slept for hours because every molecule in his body was aware of her. His dick wouldn’t relax. It continued to drive him to pull her into his arms and make mad passionate love to her. Thankfully, he resisted.

He left the futon to go to the bathroom. After he relieved himself and cleaned up a little, he dialed his wife. His stomach turned, thinking about her rejection of him physically. Charon hadn’t done that. Their time together was unforgettable, and he knew she still wanted him. He’d seen the lust in her eyes when she didn’t notice him looking. His deflated ego grew ten times, and he chuckled under his breath as he pressed the phone to his ear.

Soon.

“Bry, I assume you’re going to be back by tomorrow night. We have to put in an appearance at Angela’s.”

He cringed. She couldn’t get it through her head that he hated the shortening of his name. Before he saw Charon, he had looked forward to their friend’s party. Christmas with Charon appealed far more. “I haven’t finished my…business…here. I won’t be back for a couple days.”

She didn’t speak for a moment. He considered elaborating on the business lie. Up until that night, he’d been honest with her. Their relationship wasn’t conventional. It certainly wasn’t intimate or personable. They were like two business partners, and he had never questioned it until tonight.

“You’ve got a lover.” She chuckled. “Good for you. That’s all fine, but your ass needs to be in New York for the party. Fuck her and then get home. You know I’ve been wooing Angela for that property in upstate New York.”

He ground his teeth, hating that she’d called him on his lie. “I don’t give a damn about the property.”

“And I didn’t give a damn about getting Freddie to sign over his shares to you, but I got him to change his mind.”

“I never asked you to sleep with him! I’ve never slept with anyone to get what I want.”

“As if you could,” she quipped. “No woman in her right mind would—never mind. Come on, Bry. Do this for me. We have an agreement. We help each other.”

His gut twisted a little more. No one like Gretchen knew how to cut him down. Her words were always sharp and bitter. He wondered what he had been thinking aligning himself with her. For money? Sure, he still valued the power and financial gain that he obtained. He still wanted to wheel and deal because it seemed to be a part of his nature. But having all that without Charon wasn’t an option. Gretchen, on the other hand, made him feel sick.

“I want a divorce,” he said.

“What?”

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