Page 43 of Another Christmas from Hell

“I would love to go out with you, Bryce!” Cayley found herself shouting as she squeezed her eyes shut, praying that he would stop before it was too late.

There was a slight pause, and then, “Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“I mean, I don’t want you to do something that you don’t want to,” Bryce said, and she swore then and there that she was going to beat him with this chair when she was finally free.

“It’s the dream,” Cayley insisted, struggling to keep it together only to sigh when she felt his hands reach for the tape again. Relieved that this was almost over, she forced herself to sit there and keep her mouth shut, but she knew that the second, the very second, that she was free that she was going to make him pay.

Then…

She’d go find the bastard that blasted Christmas music all day so that no one would hear her. Oh, would she make Sean pay, Cayley thought as she felt the tape removed from her arms seconds before Bryce was reaching for her. She opened her eyes, not bothering to hide her glare as he picked her up and placed her on the floor. When her legs buckled, he released a curse, picked her back up and steadied her as she-

Was quickly reminded that she had to use the bathroom. With a murderous glare in his direction, the only warning that he was going to get, Cayley stumbled away from him, only to stop, release a curse, and promptly turned around, awkwardly reached down and snatched the water bottle off the floor as she shot the large bastard who looked really smug at the moment one last glare. That was followed by quickly making her way down the freshly polished staircase and through the newly renovated foyer as quickly as her trembling legs would carry her and into the bathroom, praying every inch of the way that she made it in time.

Five minutes later, she was done, the bottle of water was empty, and she was ready to get that revenge that she’d been dreaming about all day. Tossing the empty bottle in the trashcan, Cayley opened the door, more than ready to do this, only to find herself standing in the foyer, unable to help but wonder where her desk was.

Really hoping that Sean didn’t do something asinine like put her desk on the roof because she’d refused to give him answers that she didn’t have, Cayley reluctantly headed back to the stairs only to wonder why her office light was on. For a moment, she stood there, telling herself that she knew better, but…

Damn it.

Really hoping that this wasn’t a trap, Cayley reluctantly headed to her office, making sure to look over her shoulder as she went, knowing exactly what the James boys were capable of and-

“Oh, my God…”

“Do you like it?” Bryce asked as Cayley stood there, taking in the large office that, up until a week ago, didn’t have any walls, and found herself taking in the freshly painted gray walls with white trim, the black doors, and built-in shelves to the freshly polished wood floors before shifting her attention to her desk and taking it all in again.

“I love it,” Cayley said as she walked into the room and ran her fingertips along the shelves, noting that all of her books and binders had been neatly organized along with several of the photos that she had of her father, the one of her mother holding her when she was a baby, and of her and Sean the day that they graduated high school before glancing back at Bryce to find him watching her.

“How did this happen?” Cayley asked, still trying to wrap her mind around what she was seeing since her office was supposed to be one of the last rooms to get worked on.

“I came in early and left late,” Bryce said, his expression unreadable as he watched her as she tried to make sense of what he was saying.

“You did this?” she asked, swallowing hard when he nodded.

“Why?” Cayley asked as she took in the beautiful office that must have taken a lot of work even as she ran his words through her head again. That’s why he’d been working so hard this past week because he was making sure that her office was finished so that she didn’t have to work in the foyer while they were working. It was one of the nicest things that anyone had ever done for her and-

“Because I missed you.”

CHAPTER23

“Perhaps we could discuss this?” Sean asked, but Bryce wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Not now.

Not after he’d fucked up this badly.

What the hell was he thinking telling her that he missed her? Bryce had to wonder as he finished tying the rope around Sean and-

“Oh, shit!”

-shoved him in their nephew’s closet before closing the door and ignoring his brother’s demands to be released, which were immediately followed by his promises to tell on him.

God, he was a fucking idiot, Bryce thought as he dropped down on the small bed, in no fucking mood to head back downstairs to the Christmas party that he’d let Rory manipulate him into coming to with a few well-placed sniffles. She was evil, Bryce decided, sighing heavily as the sounds of Christmas music, laughter, and murmured conversations reached him from below.

“Aw, what’s wrong, big guy?” Sean asked while Bryce sat there, wondering how he’d fucked this up so badly.

One minute, Cayley’s beautiful lips were pulling up into a smile that had him swallowing hard, and the next, she was absently murmuring, “Thank you for my office,” and reminding him that they were going to be late. He-

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