Page 89 of His Christmas Wife

Again, tears stung her eyes, and she swiped them away as she placed the cheesecake and pies in boxes to keep them safe as she drove.

Then she arrived at the plateful of red wine truffles. Instead of wrapping them or moving them to a zippered bag, she looked at them.

As a rule, she didn’t have sweets for breakfast.

But as Loree said, it was Christmas.

The reminder of the conversation made her mind spiral to Frost. What was he doing today? Not that it mattered to her. Working? Going to a gathering? Hanging out with friends? Trying to figure out why the hell she’d walked away from their deal?

If she hadn’t run, would they have spent the evening together, along with some of their time off this week?

Instead her house was empty, her gift remained unopened, and the days between now and January 2 promised to be long and lonely, maybe unfulfilling.

As a lump formed in her throat, she shook her head. Until now, she’d loved her alone time, using it to rest and read business books or sometimes joining Maddie when she volunteered at the shelter.

But today, more than ever, Kaylee’s family needed her, and she needed them.

Though she shouldn’t, she picked up a truffle and bit into it, trying to chase away her feelings.

It was still a breakup even if only one person thought it was, right?

CHAPTERTWELVE

“Rise and shine, ex-dreamboat.”

As the blinds in his room opened, Frost blinked against the sunlight. What the hell?

He was convinced he hadn’t told Jolly to wake him up. “What time is it?”

“Eight a.m.”

Shit. That couldn’t be right. He hadn’t slept that late in a decade.

He scrubbed a hand down his face, and gritty stubble abraded his skin. When had he last shaved? Or done anything except reach for a bottle of whiskey?

Christmas Day had been spent working out, going for an outdoor run. Then he’d ended up at the Quarter, though he’d never left the bar.

Aviana joined him for a drink, then kicked his sorry ass out after informing him he deserved his heartbreak. He denied that’s what it was.

“You need to be honest with yourself at some point, Frost. And I warned you not to play with her. Leave the innocents alone.”

Back at home, chastened, he’d stared out the windows in the dark, drinking, watching the revelers below. Families together, couples laughing. Everything he didn’t have.

Yesterday morning—at least he thought it was the previous day—he’d gone through the motions of looking at financial statements for both companies, prepared a revenue forecast, outlined his one-year and five-year strategic outlooks, jotted notes for changes, and he finally accepted a call from Brigette who said she should fire him.

He’d agreed, then added his final thought.“But you know damn well you’re getting better results than you would with anyone else. So enjoy your vacation and leave Christoff the hell alone.”Then he’d hung up and instructed Jolly to block any more incoming calls from anybody on the company’s board of directors—something he should have done days ago.

After that, he’d consumed enough whiskey to drown in, but even that hadn’t been enough to vanquish the haunting image of Kaylee’s tear-streaked face.

Yeah, he’d done that to her. And it was his greatest shame.

Heartless bastard.

Aviana was right about playing with innocents. But Kaylee was so much more than that: complex, fierce, a warrior in her own right.

“Shower’s running.”

“You bothering me for some particular reason?”

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