Page 36 of Another Christmas from Hell

“It appears that way,” Bryce said as he watched her absently worry her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought it over. After a moment, Cayley shook her head as she stepped away from the door. “It’s a trap.”

“Probably,” Bryce murmured in agreement as he stood there, considering the small woman in front of him.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while,” Cayley said with a helpless shrug and a hopeful smile that quickly died away when he didn’t say anything. “Please don’t send me back out there.”

Making sure to look put out because he couldn’t very well have her knowing that kicking her out was the last thing on his mind, Bryce leaned his shoulder against the wall as he considered how he wanted to handle this. Make her beg or-

“I’ll take the couch. Thanks!” the little brat said with a huge smile as she made her way over to his couch, grabbed the blanket he had folded over the back, and dropped down on it with a satisfied sigh and an absently mumbled, “This is a really nice couch,” as he stood there, glaring.

When she simply ignored him, Bryce pushed away from the wall and dropped down on the oversized leather chair so that he could glare at her. She really was a pain in the ass, Bryce thought as he watched her quickly settle on a movie, toss the remote back on the coffee table before curling up on her side as she settled in for the night and-

“Are you going to tell me what you’re up to or do I have to guess?” Cayley asked, her beautiful green eyes that looked blue today glanced in his direction as he turned his attention to the movie that she’d picked out and-

Of course, she pickedDie Hard, Bryce thought, biting back a smile as he asked, “Guess what?”

“Why you’re suddenly acknowledging my existence,” Cayley said, sounding more curious than anything.

“Is that what I’m doing?” Bryce drawled as his gaze flickered back to her to find her watching him.

“Yes,” Cayley mumbled, looking lost in thought as she watched him.

“Fair enough,” Bryce murmured absently as he watched her for a moment. “Then again, the same could be said about you.”

When she began worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, he knew that he’d fucked up. “Is that what you think? That I ignore you?”

“You can stay here if you want,” Bryce said as he got up, deciding to call it an early night since the last thing that he wanted to talk about tonight was just how fucking much it killed him that she’d barely said one fucking word to him over the years.

“Bryce, I-”

“There are extra blankets in the closet and food in the fridge. Help yourself if you need anything,” Bryce said as he headed to his bedroom, more than ready to call it a night.

He hated this fucking hold that she had on him, always had, Bryce thought as he headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower before pulling on a pair of boxers and dropped down on his bed with a sigh as he told himself that it didn’t fucking matter. He was only doing this to prove that the Bradford curse was complete bullshit so that he could get his hands on Thomas House. He kept telling himself that until sometime later as he watched Cayley quietly let herself into his bedroom and headed for his bathroom.

For the next fifteen minutes, Bryce lay there, staring up at the ceiling, grinding his jaw as he struggled to stop thinking about her, only to pray that she put him out of his fucking misery as he listened to her taking a shower.

God, she was fucking killing him.

Closing his eyes, Bryce slowly exhaled as he folded one arm behind his head while he waited for her to finish what she was doing so that he could clear his fucking head and-

Bite back a groan when he felt her climb onto the bed and lay down next to him a few minutes later. After a slight hesitation, Cayley was curling up next to him and placing her head on his shoulder as he slowly exhaled and felt all the tension in his body fade away.

CHAPTER19

“Perfect,” Cayley said with a satisfied sigh as she took in the files, notebooks, and snacks that she’d placed on the coffee table to ensure that her day was productive and-

She really didn’t want to have to work from home, Cayley thought, feeling her shoulders slump in defeat as she reached over and grabbed the file on top, deciding that she should just get it over with. At least she could work in comfort, Cayley told herself, biting back a sigh as she grabbed a fresh notebook and a pen and set to work as she thought about all the perks of working from home.

She was able to work in her pajamas, enjoy a leisurely breakfast while working with a movie playing in the background, and…she really wanted to go to work today, but this was the next item on her list to prove the big jerk face that was pissed at her, wrong. She could do this, Cayley told herself, following that up with a firm nod as she reached over and grabbed the cold PopTart that she’d been forced to settle for because she had no idea where her toaster was. She should probably unpack, Cayley thought, absently nodding as she took in the boxes that she’d moved out of the way to make room for her Christmas tree.

Two days and she could go back to the office, Cayley reminded herself as she focused on the file on her lap and went through it, making notes on the notepad, and wrote down questions that she had even as she debated calling someone for help. It surprised her that the first person she thought about calling was Bryce. She never would have even considered calling him for something like this before and-

God, that man could snuggle.

It felt so good being in his arms last night. She loved the way that he held her, loved waking up to find him gently caressing her back as he held her. She hated leaving him this morning. She never had that problem with Kevin. Those few times that he’d actually held her had been nice, but he’d never made her feel the way that Bryce did last night. Bryce made her feel like he never wanted to let her go.

She should definitely call him.

Deciding that was a good idea, Cayley reached for the phone only to end up worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she told herself that this was a good idea. It was his project, she told herself, only to sigh as she scrolled to Sean’s number and-

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