Page 85 of His Christmas Wife

When his father had lost the fortune and Greta ended their engagement—keeping the ring—he’d compartmentalized his emotions and outlined the next dozen logical steps, seeking the counsel of trusted members of the Zeta Society, meeting with lawyers, relocating his father to the remotest reaches of Alaska, forming a corporation, starting his own business.

When his mother passed, the grief had been devastating, but then, too, there’d been a list of things to do, a funeral to plan, a reception to organize.

But now…?

Kaylee was gone, wouldn’t answer his calls, had refused to be his hostess for the New Year’s Eve party, and she wouldn’t be back to work for a week.

He dug his hand into his hair.Fuck that.

Determined to clear his thinking, he changed into workout gear and headed for the treadmill. Even wearing earbuds, pounding out miles to a seminal album from Slipknot, he couldn’t banish thoughts of Kaylee from his head.

Frustrated, obsessed, he switched to free weights until his muscles burned.

No better than he’d been an hour ago, he restarted the album and hit the rowing machine, punishing his mind and body as if the demons of hell wanted to drag him under.

And maybe they did.

Finally, heart rate in dangerous territory, drenched with sweat, he eased off his strokes.

And the moment he did, images of Kaylee flashed through his mind, smiling, uptight hairdo, lecturing him about employees, bent over her couch, spreading her legs for him, trembling beneath his lash.

He closed his eyes, and the last picture vanished.

The workout hadn’t cleared his head. It had left an empty void where his future had once been.

* * *

“You’ve been crying.”

Kaylee sighed as she paced her apartment’s living room, her phone pressed to her ear.

As usual on Christmas morning, Loree called. She’d been bright and chipper, and Kaylee had responded in kind. Or so she thought.

But she should have known better than to think she could hide anything from her little sister.

Until their mom met the man who’d become their stepfather, it had been the three of them against the world. Even though they now had younger siblings, she and Loree shared a deep connection, one that a thousand miles and infrequent conversations couldn’t sever.

Still, because of the holiday, and knowing how busy Loree was with school and wedding planning, Kaylee forced a false pretense. She hated burdening anyone one else with her emotional angst. “Everything’s fine.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

The levity made Kaylee laugh, a welcome respite from the overwhelming grief of the last twelve hours.

“Nice try, big sis. I know the sound of your voice well enough to know when something’s going on. Now tell me. Or I’ll pester you with questions until I pry it out of you.”

Of that, she had no doubt. “It’s silly, really. You don’t have time for this. And we should talk about happy things.”

“It’s the bosshole boss again, isn’t it?”

Kaylee didn’t respond right away, and her lack of answer was enough for Loree to jump to conclusions.

“Aha! I knew it. It’s always him. So—what?—didn’t he approve your time off request? He’d better not keep you from being my maid of honor.”

“Nothing will stop that.” She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure how she’d make it happen. But once she’d struck a deal with Frost, she’d allowed herself to mentally plan the trip.

Now, even if she had to max out her credit cards and drive her clunky car halfway across the country, she was going to the wedding.

“What did BH do again?”

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