Page 178 of His Christmas Temptation

He blinked. His gran was always so refined that the mild curse shocked him.

“They turned out to be garbage as well, abandoning your mother when the scandal happened.”

“Like most of her friends.”

“It’s when the truth is revealed, isn’t it?”

He nodded.

“And there’s Kaylee…”

The woman he was obsessed with. Enough so that he’d placed her ring on his nightstand. As a reminder of what he’d lost?

“You can spend your life bearing the wounds left by others, be cold and distant hoping to protect yourself. No one, especially me, would blame you. But I saw you with her, your tenderness, the glances you shared, your gentle touches, the way you wanted to protect her.” She folded her hands in her lap. “What do you want, Evan? If my suspicions are correct, getting it may require taking the biggest emotional risk of your life.”

“But she walked away.”

“You’re thinking her behavior was reminiscent of Greta’s?” Gran guessed.

Kaylee hadn’t even given him the opportunity to talk things out—and maybe she wasn’t open to compromise.

“I take it she needed her job.”

He knew exactly how much she and her family counted on her income.

“Your ex walked away because of a lack of funds. Kaylee left despite her need for a paycheck. Big difference.” With that, she stood. “That girl loves you, Evan.”

“You can’t be sure.” Could she?

“I can tell you this; you come by your stubbornness honestly. My daddy had to encourage your grandfather to propose. He couldn’t believe I’d have him.”

“Another true story?”

She crossed a finger over her heart, in an age-old gesture to vow she was telling the truth. “If you want her back, you’ll have to give her everything she wants.”

“Meaning?”

“My dearest Evan, you’ll have to tell her how you feel, risk your heart.”

All that?

“And you’ll need to grovel.”

Long after she left, Frost remained where he was as if paralyzed, Gran’s words echoing in his ears.

She believed Kaylee loved him?

He wasn’t as convinced, maybe because he didn’t deserve a woman as beautiful, as caring as she was.

Was he even capable of feeling that depth of emotion anymore? He’d loved Greta, or at least he’d thought so at the time. But when she’d walked away, part of him had been relieved.

Now though, with Kaylee? Ever since Christmas Eve, the weight of his grief buckled his knees.

Gran was right; he’d hardened himself after the scandal. It had given him resolve and helped him survive and claw his way back to the top.

Going to Kaylee would be akin to ripping open his heart and throwing it on her mercy.

But in that moment, an invincible truth hit him.

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