Free Another Snowbound Christmas by Veronica Tower Page A

full and working.
    “Thanks,” Ron said as he set the plates down into the space she had just made. “Why don't you sit down now? It's Christmas. This is part of my present to you.”
    Making another mess for me to clean up? Kara wondered. What kind of present is that?
    Ron stared at her, his happy, hopeful expression rapidly dissipating.
    Kara decided to make a special effort to save the holiday, although she really didn't feel like celebrating anymore. “Let me just get this first,” she said as she twisted the top of the bag of bread and secured it with the little plastic fastener.
    Ron started filling the top plate—eggs sunny-side up, two links of sausage, pancakes, hash browns and toast. It was way too much for her to eat—more waste to be disposed of.
    When he finished filling the plate he carried it over to the kitchen table and set it down near a tray, which he had obviously intended to use to bring the breakfast upstairs to her.
    Kara sighed again. She felt overwhelmed by all the mess and clutter in her kitchen.
    “Come on,” Ron coaxed her. “Come relax for a couple of minutes.”
    Kara forced herself to join him at the table.
    Ron pulled the chair out for her as she approached and scooted it in beneath her as she sat. A glass of orange juice already sat on the tray together with her tableware.
    Feeling self-conscious and anything but comfortable, Kara picked up her fork and sampled the eggs.
    Ron's hands slipped on to her shoulders and began to massage her tight muscles, his strong fingers slowly working their magic.
    Kara reluctantly leaned back against him and admitted that what he was doing felt good. “That's nice,” she whispered.
    “I'm glad,” Ron whispered back.
    His thumbs began to knead her shoulders, pressing against the tight cords so that a moan of pleasure escaped her lips. She slipped down a bit in her chair, so that the back of her neck rested on the top of her chair and her head pressed against Ron's stomach. Her robe and nightgown hiked up a little bit beneath the table. “That feels really nice,” she corrected herself.
    Above her, Ron smiled. His hands shifted position ever so slightly so he could work at loosening the muscles at the base of Kara's neck. “Why are you so tense this morning?” he teased. “We're definitely going to have to do something about this.”
    The fork slipped out of Kara's hand and clattered to the floor. She started to sit up, but Ron's strong hands caught her by the shoulder and insisted she lay back in her chair again. “We'll get it later,” he told her. “You just relax now. If you like, I'll feed you later.”
    His hands went back to working on her shoulders and they felt wonderful. When had she become so tense? Kara knew that her younger sister had always thought she was uptight but that was a lot different than being this tense. She'd just gotten up! What did she have to be stressed about?
    Kara closed her eyes and relaxed back against Ron. She fully expected his hands to begin to stray soon, reaching down to feel her breasts, which really wouldn't be bad, even if it meant him stopping what he was doing to her shoulders.
    Ron didn't do that however. He patiently worked his way across her shoulders and began again to gently knead the bunched muscles in her neck.
    “We don't do things like this enough anymore,” Ron whispered. “We're always running around. You know what would be nice? We should take the morning off and pamper ourselves. We'll stretch out on the bed and I'll give you a very proper massage with hot oil to get your flesh gleaming and your muscles stretching out.”
    “We can't do that this morning,” Kara whispered even though she adored the idea. She couldn't believe how wonderful Ron's fingers were making her feel, and now that her muscles were actually beginning to limber up and relax, she couldn't believe how incredibly tired she felt either. Hadn't she just finished a night's sleep?
    “You've been working too hard,”