Free A Christmas Affair by Adrianne Byrd

wrong, you’ve been doing an admirable job trying not to show it, but you’re not fooling anyone. I saw how you watched that interview the other day. Admit it.”
    Lyfe was a second away from denying the charge, but stopped short when he saw his brothers lined up by the pool table, ready to call him on his bullshit. “Look. Maybe you all forgot, but
I
was all set to marry Corona Mae a decade ago. She’s the one that left
me
. I emptied out my measly savings account and bought her a diamond. And I was left standing in a too-small rented tuxedo with half the town staring at me.”
    “Diamond chip,” Tess corrected for another round of chuckles. “A hundred and fifty bucks don’t get you far, even if it was back in the day.”
    “Whatever! I was proud of that ring.” He sat up straighter. “It was the best I could afford.”
    “There was always the bubble gum machine,” Dorian said, jumping in on the act. “Who knows, if you’d gotten her a ring from there, she might’ve showed up.”
    “All right, enough,” Lyfe barked. Everyone jumped at his harsh tone, and he realized that maybe he needed to call it a night and just get back home to Sadie. “Look, guys, I’m really not up to this. I think that I should go.”
    “Fine. I’ll drive you home,” Tess said, snatching his keys off the table.
    “To Atlanta?”
    “You’ve been drinking.”
    “I also have five brothers here who can drive me home.”
    “Home? I’m not ready to go home,” Royce said, glancing around. “Anybody ready to go home?”
    Like good little soldiers, the rest of the Alton clan shook their heads and pretended like they couldn’t possibly be torn away from the party of the century.
    “Good. Then it’s settled. I’ll drive you.” Tess smiled broadly.
    Lyfe glowered at his brothers. “Judases.”
    “C’mon, Lyfe. I’m just trying to help you do what you should’ve done a long time ago—get your girlfriend back.”
    When his face twisted in confusion, she added, “I’ll explain my plan on the drive home. And then you can thank me later.”

Chapter 8
     
    “I thought you said that this was just going to be a small intimate party,” Corona said, settling down into her vanity chair to put the final touches on her make-up.
    “According to my mother, a hundred of her closest friends qualifies as a small party.” Rowan chuckled as he fidgeted with his tie. “If you’re going to be a part of the James clan you better get used to these sorts of things.”
    “Warning received,” Corona mumbled and then took a deep breath. “It just seems like we’re always going to one party or another. It would be nice if we could just carve out some quality time with Melody.”
    Rowan’s hands fell to his sides. “You think that’s going to help her warm up to me?”
    Corona shrugged and held on to her optimism. “At the very least it will help her get used to the idea of our getting married.”
    “Wishful thinking.” He laughed then began attempting round two with his tie. “If that’s what you think, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I can sell you.”
    She laughed. “C’mon. It’s not that bad.”
    “Oh? Is that why she told me that she thought that people who made a living by pretending to be other people were stupid?”
    Shocked, Corona dropped her blush brush and jerked around on her small chair. “She did not!”
    “Oh, she most certainly did,” he said, laughing and shaking his head. “That was about a minute before she said that she didn’t know how she felt about having a
white
father.”
    Corona’s mouth stretched wider.
    Rowan turned away from the full-length mirror with his tie perfectly aligned. “It’s okay. I know that she’s just acting out. It’s been the two of you for so long, so now she doesn’t want to share. I get it.”
    “That’s still no excuse,” she said, finally finding her voice. Melody was certainly a beautiful child, but Corona wasn’t blind to the fact that her child was a