Page 171 of His Christmas Temptation

That was another thing tormenting her. “I heard from Sylvia. She’s got a new job, and she’ll be hiring for her management team. I mean, I don’t have an MBA—”

“Pish. You’re amazing. If you weren’t, Frost would have fired your ass on day one. He knows he’s lucky to have you, and so did Sylvia. At least she appreciated you more than he does.” In the background, it sounded as if Loree took a bite out of something. “Your red wine truffles are to die for.”

“You got them?” Earlier in the month, she’d whipped up a few of her sister’s favorites and used her lunch break to head to the company’s mail room to ship the package, hoping it would arrive in time for Christmas.

“Saturday. But, shh. Don’t tell Joshua!” She laughed. “I hid them in the back of the cabinet behind a box of cereal he’d never be caught dead eating.”

“With marshmallows in it?” That had been an occasional treat growing up. Most of the time, they’d had buttered toast or whatever pieces of puffed corn or wheat came in a big plastic bag.

“He makes fun of my eating habits until your goodies arrive. Then suddenly he’s all Mr. Sweet Tooth. But anyway, if I stuff your tin behind bagels and cereal and then stack tubs of cake frosting on top, they’re safe.”

“Next time I’ll send twice as much.”

“No! I still won’t share, and that will mean I eat twice as much.”

“But anyway, candy for breakfast.”

“It’s Christmas.” She said the words simply, as if that explained everything. Which pretty well, it did. “Anyway, back to Sylvia. Are you going to take the job?”

“I’m thinking about it.” For her sanity, she needed to be away from Frost. And Sylvia had already agreed to allow the time off.So why haven’t I accepted the position?

She rationalized that it was because she could continue to advocate for the employees and make a difference at Christoff. But the truth was, despite it all, she hated to sever the relationship with Frost entirely.

“You’ll make the right choice. It can’t hurt to go for an interview and explore your options.”

That part was true.

“I just want you to be happy. Sometimes we have to rip off the Band-Aid, you know?”

Maybe getting away from him, a fresh start, would help. It had to be better than facing him every morning and spending ten or twelve hours together.

Determinedly she shoved thoughts of him to the back of her mind and asked about the wedding plans and how school was going.

“We don’t have to talk about me, sis. I’m also here to support you as well.”

“I’m tired of listening to the sound of my own voice in my head. And really, hearing about you makes me happy.”

“For real?” Loree asked.

“For real.”

As if she couldn’t contain her enthusiasm one more moment, Loree gushed, “My dress came in.”

“I need pictures!”

“I’ll send some after the fitting. It was a little big.”

That caught Kaylee off guard and concerned her. “Which means you’ve lost weight?”

She laughed.

“You’ve got to do a better job of taking care of yourself.”

“Says you!” Loree laughed. “Anyway, don’t worry. I think the candy will help me put some of it back on.”

They spent the next ten minutes talking about decorations for the venue and dozens of other details before the conversation drew to a close.

“I miss being home.” This time, Loree’s voice was thick with emotion.

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