Free Unwrapped by Erin McCarthy, Donna Kauffman, Kate Angell Page A

bring someone, and there are so many people there, one more will hardly be noticed.”
    “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
    There was a long pause where he stared at her so intently she wanted to squirm, but she stood her ground, head up.
    Then he just said, “Alright.”
    Part of her was relieved. Part of her was disappointed. Maybe in some way she had wanted him to try a little harder to coax her. Not that there was anything fair about that. He had offered, it had been a generous offer, and she had refused. Why would he twist her arm?
    Because he wanted to be with her, that’s why. That’s what she wanted him to say. But that was a stupid expectation. Christian had a family to go to and he had just met her.
    Blue beat a path to the bathroom before she said anything else and before he offered to join her in the shower. Any more intimacy would undo her.
    She locked the door and turned on the water. She would shower alone. Be alone.
    Just like she was every day.

Chapter Eight
    C hristian watched Blue across the table in Roy’s kitchen, wondering what was going through her head. She was animated enough with their host, smiling and laughing as he told her stories, but she was not meeting Christian’s eyes, and she seemed nervous.
    Maybe not nervous. Remote. She had retreated from him. That was obvious. He didn’t know why.
    Or maybe he did. He just didn’t want to acknowledge it.
    He was too much of a goofball for Blue. She was a cool chick, into cool guys. He was a toy engineer who got off on family dinners, playing with kids, and singing off-key while doing the sprinkler. Not her style.
    How could he expect her to prefer coming to his sister’s house for dinner when she could be on the beach in Florida? He couldn’t.
    “So I got out of the navy in ’51 and settled down here and took over this place,” Roy was saying. “Ain’t exactly the Ritz but I did alright. Thought about changing the name, but it always gave me a chuckle and people around here knew the No Tell.”
    “We were so glad to find you and this place last night,” Blue told him, piling egg on her fork. “I don’t what we would have done without you, Roy.”
    If Christian wasn’t mistaken, the old guy blushed a little. “Hope it was comfortable enough for you all.”
    “ Very comfortable,” Christian interjected, willing Blue to look at him and remember what had passed between them.
    She did, but her look was definitely one of disapproval. Oh, so now not only was she not coming to dinner with him, she was going to pretend that the night before hadn’t happened? The hell with that.
    His goddamn world had been rocked by this woman, and she was going to have to hear about it.
    “You can call on my house phone to get your tow, though I don’t know how soon they’re going to be able to dig your car out.” Roy said. “I checked on the Internet and it looks like the highway is reopened so you can get south if you want in your good car. If I were you, I’d just book a tow truck and go on and enjoy your Christmas and worry about getting your car from the garage in a few days.”
    “That’s what I was thinking,” Blue said with a nod.
    Christian was still stuck on the fact that Roy had checked road conditions online.
    “That is, if Christian doesn’t mind me hitching a ride with him to Lexington.”
    That was the stupidest thing she’d ever said and he was actually a little bit offended. “Of course not. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
    His bed would be preferable but if that weren’t an option he would make sure she was safely wherever she wanted to be.
    Suddenly feeling gloomy, Christian bit off a piece of his bacon and chewed it hard, watching Roy stare at Blue with no small amount of admiration as she smiled at him. Is that what he looked like? Moony? He felt kind of moony and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
    After another twenty minutes of eating and small talk Blue indicated they should be heading out. “If