Page 57 of Another Christmas from Hell

“I beat the hell out of him with that sleeping bag and shoved the rest of the candy bar down his throat and shoved him into that insanely large pantry in the kitchen before I took off running for my life,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly.

“And when he caught up with you?” Bryce asked, placing the padlock on the hardwood floor that he was hoping to be able to salvage.

Blinking up at him, Cayley said, “I don’t like to think about that,” making him chuckle as he found himself reaching for her hand again.

“What do you think?” Bryce asked as they walked into the large house that he couldn’t wait to start working on.

“It’s beautiful,” Cayley said with a warm smile as she took in everything from the ceiling that was in the process of caving in, to the aged wallpaper that was probably the only thing keeping the crumbling walls up, to the hardwood floors covered in debris before glancing at him. “What are we doing here?”

“We are here to take a look at the house that Rory and Connor are selling me so that I can restore it and make an obscene amount of money on it,” Bryce said, giving her hand a gentle pull that had her following him down the long hallway that led to the kitchen.

“You’re going to sell it?” Cayley asked as she trailed her fingertips over the white trim lining the long hallway.

“Yes,” Bryce said as he pulled her into the large kitchen.

“But it’s so pretty,” she mumbled sadly, making him chuckle.

“It’s going to be even prettier when I’m done renovating it,” Bryce said with a teasing smile as he released her hand so that she could explore the large kitchen he was going to gut and update, but he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t really fucking tempted to restore it to its original design and blend in the modern touches.

The only problem with doing that was that it would make it harder to sell. Most buyers wanted a modern kitchen with all the modern trends throughout the house, which would make it easier to sell. Returning the kitchen to its original design, even with all the modern conveniences, would make it a hell of a lot harder to find an interested buyer and was a risk that he wasn’t sure that he wanted to take right now. He’d find a buyer eventually, but until then, he’d be stuck with it.

It was the same risk that they were taking with the Dawson Project, but unlike this house, they already had a long line of interested buyers who could tell them exactly what they wanted. He’d considered seeing if anyone on the waitlist would be interested in this house, but…

He wanted to do this his way.

“Why did you go to work for Rory instead of opening your own company?” came the question that brought his attention back to the beautiful woman that he was struggling to stay away from.

“Because I love my sister,” Bryce said, watching as she took in the large fireplace that had once been used for cooking meals in but now housed a rusted woodstove that he was going to have to rip out.

“I don’t think that was ever in question,” Cayley said, throwing him a curious look as she ran her fingertips over the brick that had been painted white at some point.

“Would you believe that I didn’t know what I wanted to do at the time?” Bryce asked, watching as she made her way to the cabinets that were falling apart.

“And now?” Cayley asked, glancing up at him as she continued making her way around the room.

“I love what I do, but I want more,” Bryce found himself admitting.

Nodding absently, Cayley walked past him and glanced out the window overlooking the backyard as she said, “Which is why you came up with the Dawson Project.”

“Yes,” Bryce said because he needed a change. He loved what he did, loved helping his sister and working with his brothers every day, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. Over the years, he’d debated going out on his own and figuring out what he wanted to do, but it wasn’t an option.

He’d promised Rory the day that she decided to start her own construction company that he would always be there for her and with everything that Rerum Highland Construction had planned, walking away wasn’t an option. They were taking on the impossible with this project and he needed to be there to help his sister.

“It’s also why you flip houses,” Cayley correctly guessed.

“I enjoy it,” Bryce said, unable to take his eyes off her.

“I’ve always loved this house,” Cayley said with a warm smile as she ran her fingertips over the cracked kitchen countertop as she made her way to the large pantry door hanging off its hinges.

“It’s a beautiful house,” Bryce found himself murmuring in agreement as he thought about what this house would look like once he was done renovating it only to find himself swallowing hard as he allowed his mind to go where it didn’t belong.

It would be so fucking easy to give in and find out just how good it would feel to wake up with her in his arms every day and losing himself in her body every night for the rest of his life. It was so fucking tempting, Bryce thought, only to be reminded of the reason why he couldn’t have her when she asked, “Why don’t you like Christmas?”

CHAPTER31

“Stupid Christmas cookies,” Cayley mumbled sadly as she took in the sugar cookies that she’d spent that last two hours making and couldn’t help but wonder why the icing that she’d made kept sliding off, taking the colored sugar and candied Santas along with it.

At least they tasted good, Cayley told herself as she picked up the one closest to her and-

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