Page 15 of Another Christmas from Hell

“I’ve spent most of my life avoiding the little pain in the ass and now, you want me to spend time with her?” Bryce asked on a tired sigh as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face.

“Do you have a better idea?” Rory asked.

“That you fire her and let her move into another apartment?” Bryce suggested as he dropped his hands away, already knowing that she wouldn’t do that, especially since they needed the help.

“That’s really not going to work for me,” Rory murmured, sounding thoughtful as she considered him for a moment while he sat there, deciding that maybe it would be better for everyone if he-

“We’ll sell you the Thomas property,” Rory said, making everything in him go still.

He’d been kicking himself for not buying the old Thomas House when he had the chance, but at the time, Rerum Highland Construction had been on the search for old houses to renovate to build their restoration portfolio and managed to get the property first. Since it meant more work for Rerum Highland Construction, Bryce forced himself to move on, knowing that he’d get a chance to work on the old house that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since he first saw it.

Only, it never happened thanks to all the jobs that came their way, but now…

“What do I have to do?”

CHAPTER8

This was starting to get creepy, Cayley thought as she sat there, sipping her Shirley Temple as the man that had been watching her all day sat down on the other end of the bar and-

Continued watching her.

She should probably be concerned about that, but since she was used to Bryce glaring at her, Cayley shifted her focus back to the list that she was working on, determined to prove the big jerk that stole her lunch out of her desk wrong. She was fine on her own. More than fine, in fact. And, to prove that she was fine, she came to this lovely bar to work on her list alone.

She was going to come up with a plan that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was more than capable of being alone and what better way to do that than around the holidays? She’d start with Thanksgiving, which was in two days and enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving dinner home alone. She would follow that up by putting up the Christmas tree she bought at a yard sale a few years ago the following day, starting a new tradition, decorate it, bake cookies, and do all the Christmas-related activities leading up to Strawberry Manor’s annual Christmas party and when she was done…

She was going to rub it in the big jerk’s face, Cayley thought with a satisfied sigh as she took another sip of her delicious beverage, only to once again find herself wondering why Bryce was still watching her. After more than twenty years, Cayley was used to him glaring at her, but this wasn’t glaring. The way that he watched her was…determined and, admittedly, starting to concern her.

She definitely preferred glaring to this, but at least he hadn’t brought up that nonsense about being in love with him again. That was something, Cayley thought as she watched a beautiful blonde woman wearing a black cocktail dress approach him. She still wasn’t sure why he thought that she was in love with him, especially since she never went out of her way to spend time with him, mostly because of that whole glaring issue that he seemed to have going on.

There was no question that he was handsome. All the James boys were, but she’d always secretly thought that he was the best-looking James brother. She’d made the mistake of admitting that to Sean once when they were little, which had resulted in her being trapped in his attic until she took it back. All the James boys had similar features, dark hair, large builds, and intense green eyes, but there was just something about Bryce that made her…wonder why she was even thinking about him.

Definitely losing her mind, Cayley thought, biting back a sigh as she continued sipping her delicious drink while she glanced around the bar that she normally never went to alone and felt her stomach drop when she spotted her ex-fiancé across the room. She hadn’t seen him since she gave him back his ring six months ago, but she had to admit that he looked good. Better than he had when she’d forced herself to walk away after he’d made it clear that asking her to marry him had been a mistake.

She’d wasted two years of her life on him, and she-

Really wished that she’d left when she had a chance, Cayley thought, unable to help but groan as she watched Kevin make his way towards her. He took the stool next to her as he gestured for the bartender. For a moment, he didn’t say anything to her while she sat there, waiting for a sense of regret, longing, something, but there was nothing and she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about that.

“What are you doing here?” Kevin asked, not bothering to look at her as he stared straight ahead.

“Enjoying a lovely night out,” Cayley said as she turned her notebook over.

Nodding, Kevin said, “You haven’t returned my calls.”

“Because you made it pretty clear that you weren’t interested in being friends,” Cayley reminded him, really wishing that she’d left when she had the chance because this was the last thing that she needed right now.

“That probably had something to do with the fact that I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my life with you, Cayley,” Kevin said evenly as he accepted a beer from the bartender and took a sip.

“Which, of course, explains why you showed up at my doorstep one night to tell me that you thought we were making a mistake and that you weren’t sure that you could see a future with me,” Cayley said, wondering why they were playing this game when six months ago he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.

“I told you that I needed time to figure out what I wanted,” he bit out, turning his head to glare at her.

“No, what you told me was that you’d made a mistake and you didn’t think that you could force yourself to go through with it,” Cayley reminded him, deciding that she’d had more than enough for one night as she moved to climb off the stool when his next words stopped her.

“Are you here with someone?” Kevin demanded, looking pissed as she opened her mouth to tell him that it was none of his business when a large, tan hand was wrapping around hers and giving it a gentle tug as she found herself looking up at Bryce.

“Dance with me,” Bryce murmured softly, giving her hand another reassuring squeeze that had her climbing off the stool and going with him as she slowly exhaled, willing her body to stop trembling.

“Are you okay?” Bryce asked, pulling her onto the dance floor.

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