Page 89 of Another Christmas from Hell

“I’m in love with you, Cayley,” Bryce said, pressing another kiss against her forehead before pulling back just far enough so that he could kiss the tip of her nose, her cheek, and then he was brushing his lips against hers in an achingly sweet kiss that left her trembling.

“You pushed me away, Bryce,” Cayley whispered, tempted to say the words back to him, but…

She had to be sure.

“Untie me, Cayley,” Bryce said, shifting beneath her to pull his hands free as she slowly exhaled, wishing that it didn’t have to come down to this, but he really didn’t leave her with a choice.

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that,” Cayley said with a sad shake of her head as she climbed off his lap and considered the large man currently at her mercy and-

“Oh, shit,” Bryce said, clearly seeing the problem.

Nodding, Cayley said, “Exactly,” as she stood there, debating her next move while Bryce began frantically yanking at the ropes securing him to that chair.

“Does the fact that I just confessed my undying love to you mean anything?” Bryce demanded as he continued trying to yank his hands free, but he wasn’t going anywhere, and they both knew it.

“I mean, it definitely helped,” Cayley murmured absently as she considered her options, which she had to admit were kind of limited with them being locked in here and all.

Then again, maybe the James boys already left. It was possible, considering that it was Christmas and their sister would kill them if they didn’t show up. With that in mind, Cayley made her way to her bedroom door and-

“Not happening,” Sean said from the other side of the door, sounding bored.

“Shouldn’t you be at Rory’s?” Cayley asked, turning around to take in her room as she debated her next move.

“We’re taking shifts,” Sean said with a long-suffering sigh that had her absently nodding.

“You know that they’re not going to save you any food, right?” Cayley asked as her gaze landed back on Bryce as he continued tugging at that rope.

“Probably not,” Sean said, not really sounding all that concerned.

“You ate everything in my kitchen, didn’t you?” Cayley asked, shifting her attention to her bed as she debated something, but…

No, this would work, Cayley thought as her gaze shifted back to Bryce.

“And everything in Bryce’s fridge,” Sean murmured.

“You mentioned something about supplies during my kidnapping?” Cayley said, watching as Bryce’s panic doubled. She hated having to do this, she really did, but she needed to make sure before she said those three little words that would seal her fate.

“In the closet,” Sean said, sounding pleased.

“Cayley, we can talk about this,” Bryce said, shifting nervously in his chair, but sadly, they were past the talking stage.

Nodding, Cayley said, “You can go now, Sean,” as she made her way to the closet and found the box they’d left behind.

“Wait. Don’t leave!” Bryce said with an edge of desperation to his voice.

There was a heavy pause, and then Sean murmured, “Merry Christmas,” as she heard the telltale sounds of a lock click open, once again reminding her why he was her best friend.

“You son of a bitch!” Bryce shouted when the sounds of her apartment door closing followed seconds later, leaving her to ensure that this was a Christmas that neither one of them ever forgot.

* * *

“Now, where were we?”the small woman that should be professing her undying love for him asked with a satisfied sigh as she dropped down on the chair that she’d dragged in here from the kitchen.

Bryce opened his mouth only to swallow hard as his gaze shifted to the assortment of items that she had lined up on the floor next to her chair. Trying not to panic, he took in everything from the kitchen shears to the can of whip cream before landing on the bottle of peppermint lube and the roll of duct tape that she got from the box before shifting his attention back to her and-

“Why are you taking notes?” Bryce found himself wondering as he watched the woman in question shift to get more comfortable as she glanced down at the legal pad on her lap.

“I’m not taking notes,” Cayley murmured absently as she frowned down at whatever she was reading on that legal pad.

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