Page 110 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

Was it so wrong to still hate Dan? His nostrils flared as he beat back the urge to storm over there and physically remove him from Mara’s personal bubble. Dan placed a hand on the side of her arm, and Chris frowned.

That did it.

He was going over there.

He tore off his apron and headed for Mara and Dan. He pressed a hand to the small of her back once he got close. “Mara, can we have a word real quick?”

She looked up at him, surprised. Dan’s gaze flitted between the two of them.

“Uh, sure.”

Dan sent him the fakest smile he’d ever seen. “Great. Mara, I’ll be in touch. Can’t wait to connect about this.”

Dan wandered away, and Chris strode toward the hallway, Mara lagging behind. Once they were alone, Mara crossed her arms.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Nothing. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He cleared his throat, sniffing as he jerked his head toward Dan’s retreating figure. “He’s been extra friendly today.”

Mara lowered her head, her green eyes growing stormy. “What’s that supposed to mean?

“He can’t seem to stay away from you.”

“I’m shocked you even noticed,” Mara spat. “With how much time your press pandering has taken up today.”

“My press pandering?” Chris scoffed. “Oh please. I’ve been right alongside you in the kitchen all day.”

“Yeah, you have. Making sure this is, and stays, theAll About Chris Show.” Mara’s nostrils flared. “I can’t even talk to Dan without you freaking out. Are you really that insecure?”

“I’m notinsecure,” he hissed, stepping toward her. “But I amconfused. What you said this morning at the press conference—”

“About our ‘relationship’?” She used exaggerated air quotes. “You know, Chris, I’m wondering who even told the network about us. Could it have been you? Areyouthe one leaking this to the press? Hmm?”

He watched her for a moment, taken aback by the vehemence behind her words. He hadn’t leaked it to the network, but the director had. They had told Chris that hinting at a romance would be a great ratings boost, so of course Chris had agreed. The bigger the audience and ratings, the bigger the payout for Glenford. Besides, it wasn’t like they’d be able to hide it for long. The director had caught on early enough, and these shows could tease anything they wanted out of the footage, which they’d both agreed to when they signed the contracts to compete on the show.

In a flash, the fight went out of him. He pinched his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead.

“Listen, can we start over?” He dropped his arms to his sides and sighed. “I’m sorry. This is getting messed up. I want to take you out tonight so we can talk things over.”

She studied him stonily.

“We’ve had a lot of late nights, so we deserve a night out to just have somebody else cook while we drink all the expensive wine.” He offered a smile. “You know? Let me take you out.”

Mara seemed to be considering it, judging by the way she chewed on her lip. Finally she nodded, glancing away. “Yeah. Okay. That’s fine.”

“Six o’clock?”

“I have a meeting tonight, actually, so let’s do a little later. Pick me up at my place around seven?”

“Done.”

They shared a tentative look, and Chris fought the urge to wrap her in his arms, but if she was uncomfortable admitting that there was something between them, he didn’t want to make it worse. He’d figure out what was up at dinner.

“See you later.” Mara hurried away before he could even reach for her hand, and he watched her head back into the multipurpose room. Things didn’t feel as good between them as they had last night, but Chris was sure he could smooth everything over, given the chance.

Because one thing was certain.

He needed Mara in his life for the rest of this trip. He wasn’t sure what came after the competition, so he wanted to lap up every second of this sweet hometown bliss.

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