BAYOU NOËL Read Free Page A

pictures and personal items that had
already been set around the room, as well as the Noël
decorations.
    His clever mind wouldn’t miss the less than
subtle displays of nesting.
    And he wasn’t pleased.
    “What is this?” he growled.
    “My home.” She wrapped her arms around her
waist, acutely aware that he’d left behind his jacket and tie. With
his shirt unbuttoned to reveal a glimpse of the chiseled muscles of
his chest, and his dark hair ruffled, he’d never looked more
outrageously male. A shiver shook her body as the image of licking
her way over that smooth, caramel skin seared through her mind.
    No .
    She was not supposed to be fantasizing about
the annoying puma. She’d spent too many years in that daydream. She
forced herself to meet his burning gaze. “And I don’t recall
inviting you.”
    His hands landed on his hips, his eyes
reflecting the twinkling lights. “You had a home.”
    “No.” She shook her head, refusing to be
intimidated. “I was an employee who happened to live beneath your
roof.”
    He looked shocked at her blunt words. “That’s
bullshit. You know my mother considered you family.”
    Molly rolled her eyes. Of course he would try
to use his mother to convince her. God forbid he actually said that
he might think of her as family.
    “But I’m not,” she insisted, turning to pace
toward the mantel where she’d placed a photo of her mother and
father. Her father had his arm around her mother’s shoulders and
they were gazing into each other’s eyes with blatant affection.
Loneliness sliced through her heart. “Not in any real way.” With an
effort she turned back to Garrick, willing him to understand.
“Tonight, when you and your mother light your family candle on the
Noël tree, I’ll be alone.” Her lips twisted into a sad smile. “Next
year, I want to light a candle with someone.”
    He prowled forward, his presence seeming to
shrink the already small room. “Don’t do this, Molly. We’ve shared
five years together.”
    “Through letters,” she snapped, ignoring the
magic of their almost daily correspondence. She might have
discovered the real Garrick beneath the composed Diplomat, but it
wasn’t enough. She wanted a flesh and blood lover who would share
her life. The good, the bad. The ups and downs. To hold her during
the night and stand at her side during the day. “While you were
thousands of miles away.”
    His eyes softened, and he reached out to
lightly brush a finger over her cheek, his touch agonizingly
gentle. “And yet I never felt closer to anyone in my life.”
    Oh, his words…his gaze… Pleasure seared
through her, her cat surging toward the touch of the male she
considered her mate.
    It was the logical side of her brain,
however, that was currently in charge. With a deliberate motion,
she brushed his hand away.
    “The distance was safe. But as soon as you
came home, you treated me like a stranger. You put up barriers
between us.”
    His expression became guarded. “That’s not
true.”
    “No?” Her voice revealed her pent-up pain.
“How many times did I wait at the door for you to arrive, only to
be treated with an aloof politeness when you finally made your rare
appearance? Or how about when I invited you to take an afternoon to
spend alone with me? Every time, you told me that you had too much
work to get away.” She gave a shake of her head, feeling raw as she
exposed just how deeply she’d needed him. “It might have taken me
awhile, but I finally got the message.”
    Ignoring her warning glare, he once again
trailed his fingers over her cheek, tracing the line of her
stubborn jaw.
    “What message, Molly?”
    Her cat clawed beneath her skin, desperate to
reach the male she desired with every fiber of her being.
    “I might be good enough to relieve your
boredom when you’re far from home, but obviously I’m not the type
of female you want to have an intimate relationship with.” She
shrugged, pretending she wasn’t melting