Page 47 of Another Christmas from Hell

“That’s really not going to work for me.”

CHAPTER25

“This isn’t what we discussed,” Cayley pointed out as Bryce adjusted her in his arms before he sat down on the couch with a satisfied sigh.

“It’s the accelerated version of what we discussed,” Bryce said as she found herself straddling his thighs and wondering why he was being so difficult about this.

“Is it, though?” Cayley found herself asking as she shifted to get more comfortable.

“Mmmhmmm,” Bryce murmured absently as he placed his hands on her thighs. “This will make it easier for you to interrogate me.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but…

“Fine,” Cayley said with a firm nod as she folded her arms over her chest and glared at him, knowing that the best way to interrogate a James brother was through intimidation. “We can begin.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Bryce murmured dryly, not really looking all that intimidated, but that was fine.

More than fine.

Because he would soon learn that she took her interrogations seriously. She opened her mouth to begin, only to end up swallowing hard when he asked, “Do I scare you, Cayley?”

“This is my interrogation,” Cayley reminded him as she narrowed her eyes on him.

“Answer the question,” Bryce said, his gaze locking with hers as he gently ran his hands over her thighs while she sat there, unable to look away as she found herself answering, “Yes.”

Nodding, his gaze dropped to watch his hands move over her thighs, appearing as though he was thinking that over. “What did you want to know?” Bryce asked as she found herself following his gaze and watching as his large hands slowly moved over her bare skin and found herself mesmerized by the action.

“What did you do to Sean?” Cayley asked as she glanced back up and found him watching her again.

“Dragged him down the stairs and then shoved him beneath the kitchen sink before securing it with a childproof lock,” Bryce said, only to add, “But that’s not what you wanted to know.”

No, it wasn’t.

For a moment, Cayley sat there, thinking about all the questions that she came up with while she’d been waiting for him, hoping that they would be enough to help her figure out what she wanted, but…

“I’m not going to hurt you, Cayley,” Bryce said softly as he reached up and cupped her face in his hands.

“You can’t promise that,” she said because the last thing that she’d expected from Kevin was for him to hurt her.

He’d been…safe.

There really was no other way to describe him. Being with him had been comfortable and so easy. They’d never argued, never really disagreed about anything, and she’d never been this confused before, Cayley thought, biting back a sigh as she sat there, watching Bryce’s large hands slide up her bare thighs one last time before they reached up and cupped her face.

“I’m not going to suddenly disappear on you,” Bryce said softly as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

“Then what are you going to do?” Cayley found herself asking as she reached up and covered his hands with hers.

“First,” Bryce said, pressing one last kiss against her forehead as he dropped his hands, turning them so that he could entwine his fingers with hers, “I’m going to walk you back to your apartment and say goodnight.”

“I sleep better in your arms,” Cayley felt obligated to point out with a solemn nod, watching as his lips twitched.

Clearing his throat, Bryce said, “Then, I guess I’ll be walking you back to your apartment so that you can growl viciously at me in your sleep.”

Nodding, Cayley said, “That would make things easier for me.”

When she continued sitting there, blinking at him, Bryce said, “You want me to carry you, don’t you?”

“I really think that went without saying.”

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