Page 14 of All I Want For Christmas Is You

“What?”

“My ex will tell anyone who’ll listen I cared more about the mine than my own family. That I forced her to live in that ‘crappy town’ where she had no friends and couldn’t do anything. So, there you go. My mom was the same way. I was just a kid, but I can remember feeling defensive of my dad. He was a good guy, and the idea that what he had to offer wasn’t enough really messed with my head.”

“Do you live so far from town that she couldn’t meet friends for coffee?” She leaned back in her chair. “How far are we talking, Hermit Man?”

He laughed. “I’m not a hermit, trust me. And we’re less than fifteen miles from town. Her real issue was that I didn’t have money. It’s why she left me.”

“Wait, I thought Jessa said you were wealthy.”

“Now, I am. I didn’t get there quickly enough for her. But she found her own way to get rich, and she’s still not happy, so there you go. Money doesn’t buy happiness.”

She thought of that tab she kept clicking on her laptop. “But it sure does buy peace of mind.” One day, it would be nice not to check her sales five times a day.

“I can’t argue that.”

“Was it hard? Her leaving?”

“I don’t talk about this much because it doesn’t make me look good—”

“But since we’re never going to see each other again…” She hunched a shoulder. “I’m safe.”

“There’s nothing safe about you at all.”

She didn’t know what he meant by that, but her body thrilled to the way his voice went deeper, more gravelly, when he said it.

“But yes, it was hard. She took my kids away from me. I had to share them, which meant duplicate bedrooms, sets of clothes, and toothbrushes. That pissed me off. On the other hand, it was a relief. Coming home from work was stressful. There’s nothing worse than walking in the door knowing your wife is angry and ready to unleash on you.”

She’d never talked so openly with a total stranger, and she loved it. It felt like a gift.

And it’s probably the only one I’ll get this Christmas, so I’m going to take it.

She dove right in, asking the hard question. The kind she’d never get to ask her ex.

“Were her feelings valid? Were you not giving her enough?”

“This is a little more involved.” He gestured to the empty chair next to her.

Oh. He wanted to sit closer. “Please.” She closed her laptop and slid it into the tote bag, freeing space at her table.

She’d been so lonely, so starved for connection.

Who would have imagined it would come in the form of this gorgeous, blue-eyed stranger?

Chapter Three

Carols played on speakers throughout the hotel, and children chased each other around the Christmas tree, its limbs sagging with ornaments and gold garlands. Clusters of guests chatted, their shopping bags stuffed with shiny wrapped presents.

But for all the activity swirling around her, all the holiday excitement glittering in the air, Margot didn’t want to be anywhere but with him.

Her pulse quickened when he took his empty mug and joined her. “So, like I said, I met Courtney my senior year at Colorado School of Mines, and she was twenty minutes away at the University of Denver. I didn’t have a lot of time to date—”

“And see, she saw your red flag from the beginning, and yet she continued to pursue you.”

He stilled for a moment before nodding. “There you go again.” He shook his head in wonder. “Soundly proving your theory. You sure you’re not a scientist?”

“Ha. I wish that was the reason.” Instead of a traumatic divorce.

“That was her issue with me from the start. I wasn’t calling her enough. I wasn’t prioritizing her.” He pressed both palms onto the table. “That first night we met, I told her my plans. She wanted to know what I was going to do after I graduated, and I told her everything.”

---