Page 20 of A Strange Christmas Game

Maybe after five and twenty years of mundanity, she was finally experiencing something serendipitous. It certainly seemed so.

“Are you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

She said, “When you asked me to put down that pan, I knew I was lost.” Off his look of confusion, she clarified. “I knew that if you asked me something and saidpleaseat the end of it, I’d do it.”

He started to smile. “I couldn’t comprehend the sight of you.”

“No? Did you think I was a Christmas ghost?”

“Youarethe most beautiful woman I’ve seen… you were in my house, and… no, not a ghost. An angel, perhaps. Or a spirit.” His smile shifted into a grin. “About to try her hand at hitting me with something quite heavy.”

Florence watched him as he leaned close to her, waiting for him to be near enough to do what she thought he might. She waited to feel nervous. The nerves did not come, even when he kissed her lightly, his lips warm and soft along hers.

“I know you are Charles,” she said, scarcely louder than a whisper. “And if we are to kiss, you should know that my surname is Brown, not Doyle.”

He chuckled. “I am… not surprised. I’ve a past, Miss Brown. This isn’t the only name I’ve gone by.”

“Florence.”

“Florence. I have my own stories. I’m the last person to judge anyone for such a small use of subterfuge.”

She pressed her lips to the side of his mouth as he finished speaking. “Then, I hope to hear them one day.”

“One day,” he said in agreement. “But not tonight. Tonight, you rest.”

She hated to admit that he was probably right to remind her.

One did not faint if one was well-rested. Generally. She did not know how she would sleep with him so close by, not because she worried about what he would do, but because he made her feel so compelled to touch him, speak to him, that she did not know if it was possible for her to sleep. Her consolation was that he did not seem keen on leaving her to her fate.

He won’t leave until he is sure I am settled.And if settling were to involve this man whom fate decided to cast into her path, then so much the better. Some might consider her overly hopeful.

But she could dream the same as everyone else during this time of year.

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