Free The Yuletide Engagement & A Yuletide Seduction by Carole Mortimer

Ellie,” Patrick told her dryly. “Or the party will be over before we even get there!”
    Which, to Ellie’s mind, wouldn’t be a bad thing!
    But she was prevaricating. She knew she was. Patrick knew she was, too. Why not just kiss him and get it over with?
    â€œThank you for my present, Patrick.” She stood ontiptoe and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “But you shouldn’t have—”
    Patrick put silencing fingertips over her lips. “Don’t ruin it, Ellie,” he told her huskily. “And do you call that a kiss?” he added derisively. “Sarah shows me more enthusiasm than you just did!”
    Sarah was his cousin, and perfectly free to kiss him as enthusiastically as she chose. Ellie—who wasn’t quite sure what she was to him—felt rather more constrained.
    â€œHow about you try again, hmm?” Patrick encouraged throatily.
    He was suddenly very close. Ellie was able to feel the warmth of his body, smell his spicy aftershave, and as she looked up into his eyes she could see that his pupils were dilated, so that only a ring of grey showed about the eyes.
    â€œPatrick…!” She groaned huskily, before she once again rose on tiptoe, her mouth soft and pliant against his as she kissed him with all the pent-up longing inside her.
    Patrick’s arms moved about her waist as he pulled her in against his body, although he let Ellie continue to control the kiss.
    If you could call it control when she just wanted to melt against him and give in to the languorous yearning of her body!
    â€œWow!” he breathed slowly when Ellie broke the kiss, lightly resting his forehead against hers. “Now, that’s what I call a kiss. You have hidden talents, Miss Fairfax,” he added warmly.
    Ellie swallowed hard. “I—”
    â€œWill I do?” Toby burst unceremoniously into thekitchen, coming to an abrupt halt as he saw how close Ellie and Patrick were standing to each other. “Sorry.” He grimaced self-consciously. “I had no idea— I mean—”
    â€œYou’ll do, Toby,” the older man told him dryly as he stepped away from Ellie. “I was just telling your sister how beautiful she looks this evening,” he prompted pointedly.
    â€œEr—yes, sis, you look great,” Toby said, a perplexed frown on his brow. He still sounded slightly flustered—as well he might; the last thing he had expected was to see Ellie and Patrick in what must have looked like a clinch!
    Ellie was a little puzzled as to why Toby was dressed in a black dinner suit and white shirt…
    Patrick shot the younger man a searching look, and whatever he saw there in Toby’s face caused him to give an impatient shake of his head. “Did I forget to mention that Toby is coming with us this evening?” he said blandly, turning to pick up his car keys from where he had left them on the table earlier.
    Not only had he forgotten to mention it—but so had Toby!

CHAPTER SIX
    E LLIE still had no idea, seated beside Patrick in the front of the car as he drove competently through the busy streets, why her brother should be accompanying them.
    Obviously he was Patrick’s assistant, but this was a family party, to celebrate—or commiserate!—with Sarah on her engagement to Gareth. Admittedly, Toby obviously knew much more of the Delacorte family than Ellie had at first realised, but what possible place did he have amongst such a gathering?
    She gave a dismissive shake of her head, giving up on trying to work that one out; she already had enough to think about this evening without worrying about why her brother should have been invited too.
    Patrick’s present, for one thing…
    Even now Ellie snuggled down into the warmth of the shawl, loving the feel of the soft wool against her arms. And Patrick had obviously been out and bought the gift himself. Which made it doubly precious.
    That kiss, for