Page 114 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

“My own secrets?” Chris barked out a sharp laugh. “Like what?”

“Like the fact that you outed us to the network before we ever had a chance to talk about things?” She threw her hands up. “Like you thought I’d just be okay with that?”

Chris massaged his forehead, shaking his head. “I didn’t out us to the network. It was the director. He picked up on what he referred to as ‘tells’ between us, and evidently, one of the cameramen caught me watching you and put it together. I couldn’t deny it when he showed me the video.”

“So you wait for me to find out from the rumor mill of journalists?”

Chris ground his teeth. “I’d just found out that morning and I didn’t have a chance to warn you.” But before he could say more, she barreled on.

“I don’t believe you, and I can’t trust you. And that’s why I’m not telling you what’s going on—because I don’t trust you.”

“Are you serious right now?You’rethe one acting untrustworthy.”

“Well, this is how trust works.” Mara crossed her arms, her lips curving downward. “You have to believe me when I tell you that you have nothing to worry about. Dan and I have nothing going on. Got it? Our first day of filming was the first time I’d seen him since graduation.”

Chris scoffed.

“But I guess you’re too busy being Chef Chris to hear anything I have to say,” she spat.

That comment stopped him in his tracks. He blinked a few times, his hands curling into fists. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Your career,” she said with a teenage-gradeduhtone to her voice. “That’s all that you care about.”

“Of course my career is important to me,” he said slowly, as though explaining basic math. “I’ve been working toward my dream for a long time now. Or don’t you have any dreams to work toward?”

Her throat bobbed, and he knew he’d overstepped. He hurried to add, “I didn’t mean that. I’m just saying, we both have important career goals that we’re working on, so why am I wrong to go after mine?”

“I’m not saying you have to sacrifice anything,” she said, her voice low and wavering. When she dragged her green gaze up to him, the rawness almost split him in two. “I just want you to believe me when I tell you that you have nothing to worry about.”

Silence thudded through the room then. Chris raked a hand through his hair, a confusing cacophony of emotions and thoughts storming him. Mara had a point. But so did he. And if they were going to have any chance at a future, it needed to involve a lot more honesty from both of them. That much was certain.

He shifted, weighing his words before he spoke. “You should know something.” He avoided her gaze, the words almost failing him. Until now, he’d been elated about the news and eager to get Mara back to his condo to celebrate. But something about this confrontation felt raw…feltfinal.It was waking him up to something he’d spent plenty of time looking past.

“I’m not supposed to say anything about this yet,” he said. “It’s very new. But the network gave me the globetrotting cooking show I’ve been wanting. I’ll probably be leaving to start filming right after the New Year.”

Her mouth parted, and the air in the room hollowed out, as if the space between them had become a vacuum. She didn’t say anything for a moment.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ll be living and working abroad starting in January.” His voice stuck to his throat, and he could barely meet her gaze. This was harder than he expected. Mostly because she looked more devastated than he’d bargained for.

She looked exactly how he felt on the inside. Which meant that in a very short time, something intense had developed between them. It had felt right all along…until now.

“How long have you known?”

“I told you, it’s very new—”

“I mean how long have you known that your probable next step was going to be a move abroad?” she snapped.

Chris drew a cautious breath. “This has always been a long-term goal, but up until yesterday, it had only been a dream. The whole point of this show was to prove my brand to the network so that we could pull off something new at a higher level of success.”

She tightened her arms, her fingers digging into her skin and turning her knuckles white. “So if all went well and you won, you would be leaving no matter what.”

“Well…yes. Thatwasthe goal.”

“Okay. Good to know.” She clucked her tongue, studying the ground for a moment. “So this was never going to work out anyway.”

Chris watched her, wanting to say so many things:But it still can work out. Don’t you feel what’s between us? Distance doesn’t have to mean anything. But nothing made the leap past his lips.

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