Page 44 of Christmas in Vines

I felt as if something had stabbed a spear right through my gut.

This was Willow’s uncle, the same man who she had seen copying shareholder files—and now I knew why.

My stomach lurched and I shot up, barely making it to the bathroom before vomiting in the sink. Grabbing the porcelain, I heaved up the remains of my dinner and after that, acidic, frothing spit. A cold sweat was washing my forehead, and trickling down my back but I ducked my hands under the water to splash icy liquid onto my face.

Once, twice, a third time until my hair was dripping with it too.

“Jesus Christ,” I murmured, looking into my sallow reflection. My knuckles were white as I gripped the sink’s rim. “How two-faced can some family members really be? Her fucking uncle teaming up with her traitorous ex and his despicable father. This is…fucking vile.” I swallowed. “Willow’s gut feeling was right on the money.”

But how do I tell her?

I doubt she would listen to anything I had to say if I came clean about who I was before that. And tomorrow—I didn’t know what Willow had planned for that night, but one thing was for sure; we would end up in bed at one point. That was another thing; could I sleep with this woman under such false pretenses?

Goddamnit. I had dug myself a hole so deep I might as well surface in China.

Grabbing a towel, I wiped the dampness away then hunched over the sink again. Looking into the mirror, I saw steely determination enclose my gaze. Whatever happens to me, whatever pain I'd suffer after this, it would be worth it because I was going to let Willow know about the traitor in her family.

One way or another.

ChapterFourteen

Willow

Iwoke up that morning with one thing, or truly, person, on my mind—Tyler.

With a silly smile, I turned over in bed, hugged my pillow to my chest and closed my eyes. We’d be taking a trip to Denver tonight to a hotel I’d booked in advance for us to stay the night, away from any interruptions. I knew I’d said New Year’s Night…but I was getting overly anxious, and inside, a bubbling kettle of need.

Tyler was nothing but a perfect gentleman; funny, intelligent, spontaneous man with the chemistry I’d never felt before. A pull, a desire, simmered just below the surface whenever I was around him. I felt it, and the more I was around him, the stronger it got. I could tell that Tyler felt it, too, as there were times when he would look at me and I would see something more in his eyes than lust or casual friendship.

It left me confused and unsure how to proceed with him at times, but…we’d agreed to keep this casual, right?

Flopping on my back, I rolled my eyes, huffing. Who the hell was I kidding? This had passed casual and was heading into dangerous territory and would get even worse when we finally had sex.

What I hadn’t counted on was liking being around him so much, the companionship that went along with it, and the ease that we had with each other. It seemed strange how close I felt to him even though we had been together for two weeks and a half.

We had been slowly getting to know each other for weeks, but this just took things to a whole new level. Not only in our friendship and how we were around each other, but also how I felt about him as a man. A very sexy man who I had imagined kissing me in more places than I had ever had before.

But what comes after?

Why did I even have to ask that question? Couldn’t I just live in the moment and not worry about the ramifications, or the future? A little good sex didn’t hurt anyone.

My alarm went off and I rolled over to shut it off, slid out of bed and winced at the cold floor. Shoving my feet into my house slippers, I went to the bathroom to clean up, grabbed a robe and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Dad was already there, sipping a glass of green tea and paging through a file. I winced in sympathy. I didn’t know what it was like to start a day off without coffee and hopefully, I wouldn’t have to.

“Morning,” I smiled, my gaze dropping to the file before I rolled my eyes. “C’mon, Dad, you cannot seriously be working on Christmas Eve. It’s a holiday for a reason.”

He looked up and his lips twitched. “Sometimes, it’s not that easy to shut it off.”

I reached over, closed the file and slid it to me. “Take a breather. Let’s go play tennis and go to lunch. Oh, I’m going over to Jackie’s tonight for her house party. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Dad smiled, “I’d love that, and tell Jackie hello for me when you see her.”

Returning his smile, I added, “Meet me back here in twenty minutes?”

“Sure, sweetheart,” he kissed my cheek. “Loser pays for lunch.”

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