Christmas Holiday Husband Read Free Page A

about his superb physical assets. In the bright light of the bathroom she’d explored and admired him, watching with fascination as his sex responded to her slippery caresses.
    She shook herself back to the present and accepted her coffee, eyes avoiding his probing gaze, willing the tremors to leave her. For she was shaking all over, remembering. And she must try not to remember. Not to remember that golden week when she’d finally been treated as a woman. “It sounds as though the twins know how to tell the time, anyway,” she said in desperation.
    “They’re okay on time, and numbers generally. Julia got them up to speed there.”
    Ellie noticed he said his wife’s name matter-of-factly—no emotional catch in his voice.
    “And you’ll find they’re very good on how animals make babies.” He flashed a wicked grin at her as Ellie choked on her coffee. He rose and reached to circle a firm hand over her back until she recovered from her splutters.
    She had to fight hard not to respond to his well-meaning caress. Because of course it was only a pat on the back—she’d certainly not read more than that into it.
    “Fine on colours,” he continued, hand still circling softly. “No good at reading. Should they be reading yet?”
    She cleared her throat and tried to shrink away from him. “It’s time to make a start. I’ll get onto that right away.”
    He nodded, satisfied. “How strange it should be you,” he mused. “Ellinore for Ellie. I gave it no real thought...”
    “You had other things on your mind.”
    Another woman, another family.
    “Yes... well...” He finally removed his hand and Ellie willed herself not to snatch it back. It had felt so right, moving across her thin T-shirt, comforting her yearning skin.
    She took a bite of her toast, and found she’d not yet spread it with jam. She reached for the jar—brand new, the lid firmly screwed on. Store-bought, not homemade, which she found surprising so far from the nearest town. She wrenched at it to open it, but it was stuck down with sugar.
    Tony closed a warm hand around hers. “Let me,” he said without fuss.
    She relinquished the jar to his superior strength, and watched as he twisted it undone. “Not a luxury I’m used to.”
    “Strawberry jam?”
    “A man to open jars.”
    He laughed at that. “Husband’s duty,” he said. “Julia ended up as weak as a kitten. Ginny has some arthritis in her hands. And my two tinies aren’t up to it yet.” He cast an amused glance in the twins’ direction. They peeked around the doorframe, waiting for Ellie to finish her breakfast. “Can’t wait for the teacher, eh? We’ll see how long that lasts.”
    “Don’t put them off before I’ve even started!”
    He dropped his voice so only Ellie could hear. “They’re keen for any attention at all. They’ve... missed out on some of the things they should have been enjoying.”
    Ellie watched his beautiful lips compress, itching to hear more, yet not wanting to know how much in love he’d been with the mother of his children. She pushed the last corner of toast into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “Right,” she said. “We’ll see how enjoyable we can make things. Do you have any cardboard? Old grocery cartons that we could cut up, maybe?”
    “I’ll have a look in the storeroom,” he said. “I’ll get Ginny to give you a tour of the whole place later today—she said you didn’t see much last night.”
    “I was deathly tired. Late start. Long trip on unfamiliar roads. She said it’d be okay if I unpacked and went to bed early.”
    “No worries. I was out with the vet until late—one of our mares was having a difficult time foaling.” He sent her a devastating smile. “It’s nice to meet you looking fresh as a daisy if deathly tired was the option.”
    Fresh as a daisy? A daisy that was so overcome with shuddering expectation and shock that she was in danger of shaking her petals off... “It’s just this yellow T-shirt,”