Page 28 of Craving Her Christmas Boss

Now he looked a little embarrassed. ‘I wanted to play ice hockey. So I did my undergrad degree in Canada—home of ice hockey.’

‘Did you play?’

‘Semi pro.’

Wow. No wonder he was good at skating. But the know to Harvard was even more interesting. ‘Did your dad mind?’

‘For a while. He got over it.’ He was quiet a moment. ‘Once he saw how serious I was, he really came on board. He even built a rink at —’

‘How come you ended up working for the family?’

He looked surprised at her interruption, but Imogen didn’t want to hear about his money. Not, Oh, I had a whim to play hockey, so daddy built me my own stadium-sized rinkkind of money.

‘I guess I didn’t fall too far from the tree after all.’ His smile was wide. ‘I wanted to succeed in business, but I wanted to do it my way. So I did my MBA at a school just outside Paris.’

‘Paris?’

‘Which was why doing French in Canada was helpful.’

Double wow—a man of many talents. But then she had known that already, hadn’t she?

‘And then I stayed on the continent — away from the family empire until I was ready for it.’

‘And you’re ready now?’

‘I think so.’ He nodded. ‘I’m determined to be.’

She glanced at him—that sounded a little as if Mr All-Round All-Star had the need to prove something. ‘What happened to hockey?’

‘A knee injury that kept me on the bench for most of my last season. A realisation that I did want to do other things.’ He turned to her suddenly. ‘What about you? How did you end up in Edinburgh? Why so far from home?’

Why indeed? She kept her focus on moving her skates. ‘We all do it. Get a job for a while, in some money, then go overseas and travel.’

‘What job did you do?’

‘Office admin and an accountancy firm.’

‘Why didn’t you do your studying with them?’

That would have been perfect—on the job experience in an accountancy firm. ‘It didn’t work out.’

‘Why not?’

Because she had been fool enough to sleep with her boss. Fool enough to think a guy like him could love a girl like her—as if their core values could ever harmonise.

‘It just didn’t.’ Her legs wobbled. ‘I like it here a lot. I love the store. It’s a great environment. I love —’

‘Mixing business and pleasure?’

She gave him a cool look. What exactly did he mean by that?

‘Shopping.’ He grinned. ‘What woman doesn’t like shopping? And you get to workandget qualified in one of the most exclusive stores in the country.’

He swapped position again, moved back behind her, only closer this time. He measured his legs to hers, matching the rhythm of her gliding, wrapped his arms around her waist.

‘Are we ice dancing?’ She couldn’t get air into her lungs, and it wasn’t because of the exercise.

‘Just about.’

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