Page 58 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

However, she was surprised when instead of going into his grandmother’s suite, he tugged her down the hall. They stopped at a shadowy alcove with a round window overlooking the ski slopes and abandoned their coats on a low table nearby.

“Did you want to show me the view?” she asked as he led her into the deeper shadows.

“No.” And then his mouth was on hers, answering the need in her. She sucked in a gasp as the kiss deepened and Gabe’s tongue found hers. Oh—there was the wall, coming up against her back and holding her upright. His hands worked down her sides before one came back up to cup her face. Anna was almost sure her knees would buckle. She stayed standing, arms around his neck, pulling him in tighter than she’d expected. Gabe nipped at her bottom lip, and a tiny moan escaped her. They shouldn’t be doing this—not in the hall outside his grandmother’s suite, not where someone might come across them—

And what? See that they were all over each other, the way an engaged couple might be? She sank into the kiss, losing herself a bit more. It wasn’t right that they were wearing so many clothes. It wasn’t right at all. Anna ran one hand down the front of Gabe’s shirt, feeling the hard plane of his chest and the ridges of his abs underneath.Tear off the buttons, shrug it down his shoulders—

His grasp tightened on her hips, and he brought her close,soclose, and then let go. In the dim light from the hall she could see the fire in his eyes.

That wasn’t for show. None of this was for show.

It had been for the two of them, andonlythe two of them.

The line between acting and reality blurred, becoming hard to see. What was she going to do about the thudding in her heart and the desire burning hot in her belly? Because there was nothing acted about her reaction.

Gabe took her hand. “I had to.” It sounded like a confession. “Come on, let’s go to dinner. I’m suddenly starving.” But the way he was looking at her, Anna wasn’t entirely certain he meant food.

8

GABE

When dinner was over, Gabe’s grandmother led them to the sitting room and pulled a familiar book from the shelves. A photo album—a scrapbook really, one that she’d been keeping for years. She patted the sofa next to her. “Whenever someone new comes to the family, we go through the old memories.” That was his cue, along with Anna, to sit with her so they could have the best view.

Anna tucked in next to him, and he put an arm around her. It was getting harder to resist stroking her skin or playing with her hair or planting quick kisses on her cheeks. Alotharder. And yes, he’d given in to the desire to haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless—but he hadn’t known how to get through dinner otherwise. His reward was the satisfied smile she wore for the entire meal.

Just enough to help him stay in control.

Everything was different with Anna. Gabe had never had to focus on keeping his hands off a woman before. And he’d never craved the softness of a woman’s skin or the sensation of her curves under his palms like he did with her.

“Now,” his grandmother began, “this is Chase and Gabe.” The two boys had carefree smiles in the photographs as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

“It was a little before my parents were killed in a car accident,” he told her.

Anna took his hand and squeezed. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured. She turned her head and kissedhischeek.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gabe caught his grandmother watching.

“You’re good for him,” she told Anna. “Much more demonstrative than some of the others.” She cleared her throat, letting out a little laugh. “Not that everyone needs to be demonstrative every minute, but...it’s lovely to see.”

Pride and guilt rushed through him, but he pushed them down in favor of pulling Anna close. “You’re right,” he said, smiling at his grandmother. “Sheisgood for me.”

“But how?” Jonas chimed in. “How did you learn to be good for our high-powered businessman of a brother? Does your family move in the same circles?”

Anna tensed in his arms. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, no.”

“Ah. What do your parents do, Anna? I don’t think you’ve mentioned it.”

Gabe wouldn’t have noticed the stiffness in her shoulders if he didn’t know her—if he wasn’t sitting so close. “Chase, I’d rather hear about your plans. You’re definitely going to stick around, right?” he said, hoping to divert the conversation.

“Oh, yeah.” Chase beamed. “Tana and Lindsey love it here, so I decided not to head out to California and will be sticking around.”

Anna relaxed as the conversation turned to work plans and stories from their childhood, and Gabe let out a breath. He’d done it. He’d protected her. Of all his achievements in life, this ranked pretty high.

The conversation rose and fell around them. It settled into a rhythm Gabe recognized from his younger days—Chase telling an old story about learning to ski, and Jonas telling one about the first night managing the resort on his own. The evening reached the end of its cycle when his grandmother stood. “Time for bed,” she said. “I’ll see all of you tomorrow.” Everyone responded with a chorus of goodbyes.

Anna stuck tight to his side on the way to their room. “You’re quiet,” he said, as she kicked off her shoes and put away their coats. “I hope—I hope we’re all right.”

She looked at him, an instant of warning before she was on him, backinghimup against the wall for a change and kissing him with desperate, hungry little noises. “Thank you,” she murmured against his mouth. “I didn’t want to talk about my family, and you... you... thank you.” Her hands worked at the buttons of his shirt and then lower, lower. Anna sank to her knees on the carpet in front of him, and he gripped the waist-high chair rail. Every inch of him came alive, the feeling made even more intense by the sound of his belt coming undone in her hands and his zipper slipping down.

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