Free A Home for Christmas by Deborah Grace Staley Page B

take over his practice.”
    “I know.”
    “You—you know? How?”
    “Dixie. There aren't many secrets in a small town.”
    Janice nodded. She should have realized that. She might have if she hadn't been so distracted by this attraction between her and Blake.
    “So what's holding you back?”
    “My life is here.” She stood and walked over to the window and away from Blake. City lights winked at her instead of stars.
    He followed. “You sure about that?”
    She wasn't sure of anything. She felt like her life had been shaken up and poured out in a hopeless jumble on the floor.
    “Like I said, I need time to think.”
    “Okay. Fair enough.”
    She could see him reflected in the window. He took two steps back, and headed for the door, but stopped before reaching it. Janice pivoted and watched him. He put his hands on his hips, his head dipped, and then he was facing her.
    “At the risk of coming off like a complete idiot, I think there's something special between us. Call it attraction, a connection, I don't know. But I want to . . . ”
    He approached her in slow measured steps. “I want to know everything about it. About you, about us together, about where this might take us.”
    He grasped her arms, then slid his hands from her shoulders to her wrists and back again. Janice grabbed the front of his jacket with both hands and willed her knees to keep her upright.
    “I've never felt anything like what I feel when you're near me,” he continued, his voice soft and low.
    “I know,” she breathed. Janice closed her eyes and leaned into him.
    He smelled like leather, warm spice, and one hundred percent male. He was the culmination of every fantasy she'd ever had.
    “The kisses we shared earlier . . . ” He squeezed her shoulders and rested his forehead against hers. “I can't get it out of my mind.”
    She closed her eyes. All other kisses for the rest of her life would be measured against Blake's. The way he made her feel frankly scared her senseless. She couldn't let herself feel that way for anyone.
    She released his jacket and balled her fists, then forced herself to move away from his touch. “I'm not free, Blake.”
    Blake raked a hand through his hair. “There's someone else?”
    “No.”
    “Then what is it?”
    She crossed her arms. “I thought you said something about no pressure.”
    He held up his hands. “Sorry.” He backed away. “It's your decision to make. I won't pressure you, but . . . I'll be hoping.”
    The door closed softly behind him, and Janice was left in a state with which she was intimately familiar. Alone.
    You. There's still time for you. Don't waste it. Don't wait for tomorrow. You never know what it will hold. Promise .
    Eve Carlisle's words hung in the room like she'd just spoken them.
    Time. Don't waste the time she had. Still time for her . . . .
    Janice chewed on her thumbnail. Time for what? She had a life. A safe life. For as long as she could remember, she'd envisioned Angel Ridge as an ideal that couldn't possibly be real. She'd have to be insane to give up everything she'd worked so hard to achieve and move to a place that didn't exist.
    What if it does? the voice whispered. It's your time . . . if you let tomorrow come.

Chapter 6

    Insane. She was completely insane. Hearing voices. Telling her partners she would take the rest of the month off as they'd suggested. Packing her bags. Sitting in front of her uncle's house, prepared to spend the holidays in Angel Ridge.
    Janice eased her sunglasses off. She couldn't fault the weather. It was a beautiful day with nothing overhead but a wide expanse of cloudless blue sky. She opened the door and grabbed her coat from the passenger seat. After shrugging into it, she walked up to the front door.
    Since it was a doctor's office, she tried the doorknob, but found it locked. She looked for a lit doorbell button, but only found a raised knob with something like a key protruding from it. Janice turned the key.