Free Sweet Christmas Kisses by Ginny Baird, Grace Greene, Donna Fasano, Helen Scott Taylor, Beate Boeker, Melinda Curtis, Denise Devine, Raine English, Aileen Fish, Patricia Forsythe, Mona Risk, Roxanne Rustand, Magdalena Scott, Kristin Wallace Page B

day?”
    “Good. Really good. Bridget’s man is coming to town for Valentine’s Day, so she’s walking on air.”
    He knew all about Bridget’s fiancée who was attending med school in Florida.
    “That’ll be fun for them,” he said.
    They discussed dinner; she was planning on having last bit of the leftover vegetable soup she’d made, and he’d enjoyed meatloaf and mashed potatoes cooked to order at a local diner. Then the conversation morphed to discussion on comfort foods.
    She found herself laughing at some silly something he said about gravy needing its own food group, and she was struck by how much she thoroughly enjoyed talking with him about a lot of nothing.
    “My last meeting is coming up,” he told her. “I’ll be flying home late Friday night.”
    “Won’t you be tired? Should you wait until Saturday to fly home?”
    His soft chuckle rumbled in her ear and sent a shiver coursing across her skin.
    “I won’t be flying the plane, Christy.”
    She grinned. “Of course.”
    “Besides, I’m ready to come home. I’ve been away long enough. Listen…”
    There was a long moment of silence, and as the seconds passed, the pause became more… pointed. Suddenly, that old fear that lived in the pit of Christy’s gut sparked to life. What was it he wanted to say? She’d grown complacent during their phone calls lately, hadn’t worried about him bringing up subjects that would embarrass her—like the night they’d churned up that feverish passion. The night he’d slept with her out of pity. They hadn’t talked about their intimate encounter since Izzie’s funeral, and she hoped they never would. He’d apologized once and he had wounded her, bone deep. She didn’t need to endure that again.
    She pressed the phone to her ear, listening hard. Was he holding his breath? He must have been because he suddenly expelled it audibly.
    “I’m going to get off here and jump into the shower. You have a good night, okay?”
    “You too.”
    She disconnected the call and sat staring across the room. The fear slowly subsiding, and then she realized she was filled with… something. Longing? An achy yearning? 
    What the devil was wrong with her?
    She missed him!
    When exactly had her days begun revolving around Aaron’s nightly phone call? While at work, she made mental notes of things that happened, things that she could share with him. When the phone rang, she had a visceral reaction. His calls brought her such heart-palpitating joy. His voice made her smile. That light laugh of his, the one that rumbled from deep in his chest, could make her toes curl.
    If she didn’t know better…
    “Oh, hell.” She uttered the words with a drawn out groan.
    She’d reached out to Aaron because she’d promised his daughter that she’d watch over him. Christy had talked herself into visiting him that first time, and she’d resigned herself to being his phone-a-friend.
    How on earth had she allowed herself to fall in love with the man?

Chapter Twelve

     
    The phone jarred Christy awake. Her eyes popped open and she sat up straight, automatically reaching for her cell phone on the coffee table.
    Aaron’s name showed on the screen, and she frowned when she saw the time.
    “Hello? Aaron, are you okay?”
    “It’s not too late, is it?”
    “No,” she murmured the polite answer even as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
    “I wasn’t going to call tonight,” he said. “I got in so late. But I couldn’t sleep. Then I…” He heaved a sigh. “I felt this overwhelming need to talk to you. I have something I want to show you. Something you, maybe, can help me figure out? But I obviously woke you.”
    “Yeah, I fell asleep on the sofa.” Waiting for his call, she silently added.
    “Ah, that explains why your lights are on.”
    “You’re outside?” She stood and crossed to the living room window.
    “I was wide awake and feeling antsy, so I went for a drive,” he told her. “I ended up at your