Be Mine for Christmas Read Free

up. “Reece Madsen?”
    “I know what you’re up to.” Reece gave a quick nod toward Ellie, who looked dumbfounded.
    Larry shook his head. “This is about the candy canes.”
    “Yeah, right. And I can guess whose candy cane you’re talking about. You and I both know what you got in mind. Well, not with this lady you don’t.”
    “Is Ellie your—”
    “Yeah, she is,” Reece said, cutting him off. “So keep your mitts off her if you know what’s good for you.”
    Ellie pointed her finger at Reece. “Now you wait a second.”
    “No, you wait a second. I’m handling this.” Reece faced Larry. “Sheila Gainer and Nancy Lewis? Two single moms just trying earn a buck? Think I didn’t hear what happened at The Kitti Kat Den? How you—”
    “That’s it,” Larry said, waving his arms. “We’re done. Get out. Both of you.”
    “Both of us?” Ellie said. “But I…”
    “You’re fired. You’ll get a check in the mail for your morning hours.”
    “Mr. Neams, I had nothing to do with this,” Ellie said.
    “You’re with him.”
    “We met at the convenience store and—”
    “Sounds very romantic. But I’m not interested.” He began walking away.
    “Wait,” she said. “Won’t you at least listen to me?”
    Larry tossed his reply over his shoulder. “Leave now, or I’ll call the police and have you thrown out.”
    “We better go.” Reece took her elbow.
    Ellie snatched her arm away from him. “He was only telling me not to give out more than one candy cane per customer.”
    Reece paled. She marched ahead. He trailed her.
    She stopped at an employee closet, grabbed her purse and jacket, then whirled on him. “Don’t you even talk to me.” Then she stomped out the door.
    He tossed the coffee into a trash bin and chased after her. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I acted like—”
    “A meddling idiot who cost me my job.”
    “But I thought…”
    No, the truth was he hadn’t been thinking at all. Not of reality anyway. Not thinking of how Ellie would view his jealously protective and possessive behavior. And if he told her it had to do with a car accident he been in five years ago she’d just label him a psycho.
    That was why he’d never told anyone about those agonizing minutes before the ambulance came, that time when he was sure he was dying. The pain had been so bad he’d just wished for the end to come fast. Then she appeared like a dream, insisting he fight to stay alive, telling him to hold on and not give up.
    How he could have seen Ellie Dean’s face when he’d never met her before had Reece completely baffled. But it also had him convinced their meeting yesterday was no accident.
    Watching her now as she unlocked the door of an aging burgundy Mazda, he fought against the urge to run after her. To explain everything.
    Would she believe him?
    “Ellie?”
    She glanced back at him and said, “I guess Brandon won’t be getting those gifts I hoped to buy him after all.”
     
    **
     
    Ellie slid into the driver’s seat, worrying. Hopefully, Larry meant what he said about paying her the thirty bucks for the hours she’d put in today. Her budget fell farther into the red every month she went without work, and with Christmas coming she needed every dollar.
    “Ellie, wait!”
    A part of her wanted to ignore him and drive off, but Reece was a sight to behold loping across the parking lot toward her with his athletic grace and blue-eyed angel face. Yeah, okay, so he was eye candy. But that wouldn’t get her job back.
    Reece slowed as he reached her car. He held the driver’s side door open and leaned in toward her. “You said it was only a holiday gig, right?”
    “Right, but I still needed the work badly.”
    Steam came out of his sexy mouth as his words hit the cold air. “I can hire you for the holidays. In our gift shop at the tree farm. Tuesday through Sunday until Christmas eve.”
    Once again he was offering charity and it grated on her. “Thanks, but it’s not your