Page 69 of Only for Christmas

She had a sudden vision of him playing with mini versions of himself, cute blonde kids with their dad’s infectious laugh and positive can-do attitude. Good at sports, popular at school. She could see it: the all-American family. Wholesome. Pillars of the community.

In contrast, all she could see when she tried to imagine herself in the picture was the Addams Family. Sullen kids with pale expressions and a passion for beheading rats.

The alcohol was making her morose. She took another slug. ‘I can see you as a family man,’ she said, her vision decidedly dizzy. ‘You’re great with Max and Elliot.’

‘You too,’ he said, placing his glass on the coffee table, dislodging Fred from the sofa. ‘I could hardly believe it yesterday. Ms Anti-Christmas was all of a sudden Ooh, let’s go see Santa! Look at the reindeer! Who wants a candy cane?’ He reached over and tickled her ribs.

‘Stop that!’ She edged away, trying not to spill her wine. ‘I was doing it for the boys. They’ve had a rough time lately.’

‘I think you needed it as much as they did.’ He patted his lap. ‘Feet up.’

She pinned him with a confused look. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Put your feet up.’ When she didn’t respond, his picked up her feet and swung them onto his lap.

‘Hey!’ She fell backwards, slurping her wine. ‘What are you doing?’

‘You’ve had a shock. You need to relax.’

‘The only shock I’ve had is you upending me.’

‘Want me to stop?’ His fingers sank into the arches of her feet, sending a fizz up to her thighs. Crikey, this was certainly better than the wine.

‘Yes.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Sure?’ His fingers dug deeper.

‘No.’

It was hard to think straight with his warm hands circling her feet and kneading the knots out of her toes. It was nice. More than nice. Exquisite. Bone-meltingly good. Her eyes drifted shut. Five minutes and then she’d get him to stop. There was no rush. Other than it felt like her resistance was ebbing away with each stroke of his hand. No wonder Fred liked being petted if this was what it felt like.

Lucas continued massaging her feet. ‘I got a glimpse of the real you yesterday. The person you were before shit-face did his disappearing act. I liked her. She’s fun.’ When Sarah opened her eyes, she found him watching her, his expression tentative. ‘Is she here to stay?’

Her head flopped against the cushions. ‘Not while I have Stephen to deal with.’

‘Every good Christmas story needs a bad guy. Think of him as the Grinch. Only don’t let him steal your Christmas. You hear me?’

‘I hear you.’ Her ears were the only thing that appeared to be working. Every other part of her body had melted into a puddle of useless fluid. Who knew a foot massage could be quite so… unravelling.

And then he said, ‘So where’s the fruity body lotion you bought yesterday?’

It was like being doused in cold water and electrocuted at the same time. Her wine shot in the air, she sat bolt upright and her cheeks flamed hot. ‘Harper told you? I can’t believe she told you!’

‘Told me what? That you bought some body lotion? Yeah, why? Is it a big deal?’

She searched his face, looking for signs of trouble, but he appeared innocent enough. She wasn’t fooled, though. He was up to mischief.

‘I thought you might like me to massage some lotion into your feet?’ His lips twitched… and there it was. The smile. A wicked glint in his eye and she knew that he knew.

She dislodged her feet from his grasp. ‘I need the loo. I’ve spilt my wine.’

She ran for the bathroom, his teasing laughter ringing in her ears, mortified that Harper had told him about their shopping trip. What was the woman thinking? She was his sister, for crying out loud. Did she have no boundaries?

Sarah screeched to a halt in front of the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, her pupils were dilated and her hair was loose and messy. She looked like she felt: completely unravelled.

Boy, was she in trouble.

Chapter Fourteen

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