Free A Christmas Affair by Adrianne Byrd Page A

handful. “Tomorrow when she comes back from her sleepover, we’re going to have a looong talk.”
    Rowan shook his head. “Nah. Don’t do that.”
    “But—”
    “I have to win her over on my own,” he said, strolling across the spacious bedroom and settling his hands on her shoulder. “If you go running off and reprimanding her every time we talk, then she’s going to stop talking to me all together.”
    “But—”
    “Trust me on this.” Rowan tilted up her chin. “I used to pull this same stunt on every one of my stepmothers.”
    Corona lifted a brow. “You chased them all away?”
    “Nah. My father’s habitual cheating took care of that. I just didn’t see the point in being nice to them if they weren’t going to stick around.”
    “Is that supposed to reassure me?”
    “Yes.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss against her lips. “Once Melody sees that I’m not going anywhere, then she’ll open up.”
    It made sense, but Corona remained dubious.
    “Trust me,” he repeated.
    “All right.” She shrugged. “My lips are sealed—but you
will
tell me if she says something that’s really out of line, right?”
    He held up his hands. “Scout’s honor.”
    Corona cocked her head as she narrowed her eyes.
    “All right. I was never a scout, but I did play one on TV once.” He winked.
    “Ha. Ha.” She stood and headed over to her jewelry chest. While she picked out a pair of loop diamond earrings, her gaze settled on the small golden band with a tiny diamond chip in the center, and suddenly she felt a tightening in her chest. She reached and brushed her finger over the ring, but didn’t pick it up.
    “Medlody will be fine,” Rowan said, coming up behind her. “Trust me on this.”
    “I didn’t say—”
    “You didn’t have to.” He brushed a kiss against the back of her shoulder. “It’s written all over your face.”
    Corona drew a deep breath. “You know me so well.”
    “I’d like to think I do.”
    She turned around and allowed him to pull her into his arms. “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “Well … usually by the time a man proposes to awoman,” he began, peppering her nose with kisses, “he has met his future in-laws.”
    Corona tensed and tried to pull out of his arms. “I … just … I don’t know if—”
    “All right.” He held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to stress you out or anything. Let’s just calm down and try to have a good time tonight. You think that we can do that?”
    Corona chugged in another deep breath and nodded.
    “Then can I at least get a smile?” He tilted his head and waited until her lips thinned out into a smile. “That’s my girl.” He swiped another kiss on her lips and then gave her a loving smack on the ass. “We better hurry. We don’t want to be late to our own party.”
    Ask him, she urged herself.
“Uh … Rowan, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
    “Oh?” He reached for his evening jacket.
    “Yeah.” She tried to force casualness into her voice. “You didn’t happen to have stumbled on to any of my … books in the walk-in closet, have you?”
    He turned with a raised brow. “You read while you’re in your closet?”
    “No … no. I don’t read in there. It just happens to be where I store some of my personal things.”
    His confusion deepened.
    “Oh, never mind,” she said, convinced that he didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. “It’s not a big deal.” Maybe she had just imagined that her secret hideaway had been tampered with.
    Rowan walked over and wrapped his arms around her again. “Did you lose a book or something?”
    “No. It’s just … Please forget about it. Let’s just get to this damn party so this evening can be over with.”
    Rowan lifted a brow. “An interesting way to view our engagement party.”
    “Nooo. I didn’t mean it like that.” Why did she keep putting her foot in her mouth? “Really, baby.” She lifted up on her toes and