Free The Christmas Bride by Heather Graham Pozzessere Page A

will be waking—”
    â€œAt one in the morning?” he said. Those eyes of his were on her again. And he was smiling.
    â€œI have to go back,” she said stubbornly.
    He kissed her lips. Then he moved away, rising on one elbow. He watched while she donned her suit, then comfortably slipped into his own. “I’ll walk you down for your robe and back to your room.”
    â€œYou don’t have to.”
    â€œI said I’ll walk you back.”
    Cary’s suit was still soaked, so cold after the warmth they had shared! As she hurried for the door to the stairway, she brushed by the bedside table, looking down as she struck it with her thigh.
    And she stared at the picture. The picture of Sara McCready. Smiling so beautifully.
    Oh, God. But Jason didn’t seem to notice. He moved past her, opening the door, then starting down ahead of her. He found her robe by the pool and set it around her shoulders, then smiled. “You’re shivering.”
    â€œI’m cold.”
    â€œYou could have stayed warmly by my side.”
    â€œWe both have children.”
    â€œWe had more time.”
    â€œNo.” She shook her head, backing away from him.
    â€œCary, if you regret anything—”
    â€œNo, I don’t regret anything. It was wonderful. You know that. I mean…” Oh, she wasn’t good at this; she wasn’t good at all. She might as well be honest. “It was my first time since…Richard. And maybe I will be able to start seeing people again now. Thank you. But I need to be alone.”
    â€œCary—”
    â€œI have to go!”
    â€œWait!” he said demandingly.
    Why was she feeling such a swift rise of panic and handling things so poorly? “I have to go! And I don’t care what my leaving means. Even if you fire me!”
    His jaw went very square. “Cary! I’m not firing you!”
    The panic left her suddenly. But she still needed to escape. “So I don’t have to clean out my desk,” she murmured. She wanted to laugh, wanted to cry. She wanted to throw herself against him all over again.
    But most of all she wanted to be alone. Alone to deal with the sudden anguish that seized her now. She couldn’t let him walk her back. She turned and ran from the pool to the steps that led to the balcony, then back to her own room.
    Â 
    She spent the morning desperately trying to feel and act normally.
    She must have done a better job than she had expected, because neither Danny nor Angela seemed to notice anything amiss. Cary didn’t know where Jason was; she hadn’t gotten a note from him, and he didn’t appear at the table when they went down for breakfast.
    To Cary’s dismay, he did appear at the bunny slopes that afternoon. And although he had a meeting scheduled, he just brought the meeting to the bunny slopes with him. Cary recognized a number of the sales staff. They had looked a little dazed at the locale he’d chosen, but nobody was about to say anything.
    Cary thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Especially when she skied down the little slope and, despite her very best efforts and determination, ended up on her hind end in the snow. Jason was there, smooth and sleek and infuriatingly comfortable on his skis, to assist her. “We’re going to talk tonight,” he told her briefly.
    â€œNo! The children—”
    â€œThe children are going to the lodge’s kids’ dinner club. They’re going to have hot dogs and play games and pop popcorn to string on the tree. And they’re going to sing Christmas carols and make Christmas gifts and have a great time. It is the Christmas Season! Have a little spirit!” he told her. “Be ready at six.” By then he had her on her feet and was gliding away.
    She couldn’t begin to move so quickly. She could hardly move at all.
    â€œBe ready for what?” she demanded.
    But Jason McCready either didn’t