Free Romancing the Holiday by Jaci Burton, Helenkay Dimon, Christi Barth

door. “I was just coming in to see if you had any interest in breakfast.”
    Now there was a terrible idea. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”
    His smile dropped and his eyes narrowed as she got closer. “You look like someone punched you.”
    “They kind of did.”
    He came around the front of the vehicle in three long strides and met her at the passenger door. His hands went to her arms, rubbing up and down her now-frozen limbs. “Are you okay? What happened?”
    Lila nibbled on her bottom lip as she internally debated how much to tell him. “Darla and this lady named Cleo—”
    “Ah, Cleo.” The tension pulling across his cheeks left as he began to nod. “She’s a town treasure.”
    “Is that what we call her?” Lila tried to ignore the way her breath curled in a puff of smoke when she talked. Also tried to wiggle her toes to get the feeling back down there. The cold had settled the second she stepped through the door and was slowly freezing her from the inside out.
    “We do because we’re respectful.” He winked as he said it. “Did she tell you I was a catch?”
    “She’s your biggest fan.”
    Spence waved when a passing car honked its horn. “Oh, that’s new. Trust me. I was ‘that other Thomas boy’ when she tried to have me arrested at fifteen for stepping on her hedges.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “Austin is her favorite.” He slipped Lila’s coat from her stiff fingers and put it over her shoulders, guiding her arms inside. “She turned her sights on me after Austin got married and Cassidy moved in with Mitch. I’m pretty sure Cleo views me as a dating charity case.”
    Lila held her breath as Spence zipped her jacket. His hand lingered just below her breasts for an extra second as his gaze went to hers and an unexpected warmth flooded through her.
    “She seems determined to marry you off.” Lila fumbled the words when Spence let his fingers trail down her jacket to her waist before he pulled back.
    “Worse, she had coffee with Dad a few times before he left for D.C. Between the two of them I’m getting the full-court marriage press.”
    Something in the lightness of Spence’s voice and the way he smiled over the clear annoyance in his voice grabbed her attention. “You’re close to your dad.”
    “Very. He grew a business while raising two rowdy boys. No one ended up in jail or rehab or under an overturned tractor.” Spence’s eyes glowed with admiration. “I’d call that a miracle.”
    “What about your mom?” Lila asked before she could weigh the question. She didn’t want to break the spell or stop him from talking, but she could almost see the shield rise the second the words left her mouth.
    Spence’s shoulders stiffened and the light went out of his eyes as if something inside him dimmed at the thought of the woman who gave birth to him. “Not around.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “No big deal.” He opened the passenger door. “We may as well give the town something to talk about and leave together.”
    She wanted to stay and talk and learn more about him. In all those hours together he’d guarded every word, careful to share little and ask even less. Having him open up, even that small amount, left her wanting more.
    But the moment had passed and that was clear in the way Spence morphed back to his mix of charm and control. She sighed at the loss. “Where are we going?”
    “It’s time to rebuild that campground.”
    “You’re still planning to help me.”
    “Yeah, Lila. I’m going to help.” He motioned for her to get in the truck. “You’ll survive it, I promise.”
    She wondered if she’d survive being this close to him. She knew from experience that forgetting Spence was not an easy thing to do and when his campground work was done, she doubted he’d want her to do anything else.

Chapter Six
    Spence walked around the main cabin at the campground the next day. It was the one Lila would eventually move into, likely sooner than he thought