Free 12 Christmas Romances To Melt Your Heart by Anthology Page A

spine. He couldn’t come up with a response to her proclamation. He skirted past her and into the welcome sanctuary of the crowded living room, keeping one eye warily on Eva and the other eagerly on Sarah. Currently, she was engaged in deep conversation with a group near the fireplace and glanced nervously at him every few minutes. He liked her attention on him—a lot—because his attention sure as hell focused on her.
    “I’m glad you came,” Janna said, sliding up next to him and handing him a hot buttered rum. “And so is she.” With a jerk of her head, she indicated Sarah, as if he couldn’t figure that one out.
    Blake nodded, at a loss for a response.
    “She misses you.” Janna said as the party’s host, Brody, joined them. Janna excused herself, leaving the two men alone.
    “Hey, man, tough luck about the leg. When do you think you’ll be back on the ice?” Brody had moved to the island about a year ago, coached high school football, and did remodels. He’d met Mandy’s husband in the military years ago and come to the island to settle a debt after the man had died saving his life. Not only had he settled that debt, but he’d settled on the island with Mandy.
    Blake swallowed hard. “I’m retiring.” Saying the words out loud for the first time made it real.
    “Is that a good thing?” Brody asked in his usual blunt manner.
    “Good or bad, doesn’t matter. It’s time.”
    Brody grinned. “I know that story. Hard to admit we’re mortal, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah, damn hard.”
    Brody glanced in Sarah’s direction and back to Blake. “You staying on the island?”
    “I don’t know what I’d do here. It’s not like there’s a hockey rink or anything remotely related to skating.”
    “Then do something else.”
    If only it were that simple. Blake shrugged, totally at a loss as to what that something else would be.
    A cheer rose from the group of men gathered around the TV.
    Brody glanced in the direction of the noise. “I’m missing the game. It’s a good one.”
    Blake followed Brody into the living room and hung out with the guys as they watched a college game on the TV. At least it wasn’t hockey. He didn’t think he could handle dealing with hockey and Sarah on the same night.
    Yet, he had every intention of dealing with Sarah. He wasn’t sure why because they’d hashed out their relationship ad nauseam and kept arriving at the same conclusion. Wasn’t that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different outcome?
    Maybe he was insane, and the loss of hockey combined with his insanity had driven him here. He’d be all kinds of fool to pretend he hadn’t come because of Sarah.
    He left the guys to watch their game and wandered about the B&B, pausing to talk to guests while looking for Sarah. He found her outside, sitting with a large group huddled around a blazing fire pit. There was an empty seat next to her, and Blake took advantage of it.
    “Hey,” he said simply, sipping his now-cold, hot-buttered rum and pretending their not-so-chance meeting was casual and relaxed.
    Sarah scooted her chair closer to the fire as if she were cold, not merely trying to get her ass away from him. He almost smirked and scooted his chair closer to the fire, forcing them into tighter quarters. Their knees bumped, and her head shot up.
    Her gaze latched onto his.
    Fuck .
    Nothing had changed, staring into her eyes made time stand still, reduced all his problems to dust until the only thing that mattered was being wrapped in the warmth of her gaze. And it was warm, heated in fact, sizzling hot, just like they’d been in their brief, whirlwind romance and every time they’d hooked up since their magical Christmas Eve one year ago. Only they hadn’t just hooked up. Blake had fallen irrevocably and undeniably in love with the woman who’d saved the kitten he’d found shivering in a snow bank. She’d saved him too, given him hope, made him realize