Rags To Riches Collection. Rebecca Winters

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ his gaze seemingly arrested by her lips—arrested and absorbed. It made her blood chug and it chased her tiredness away in the time it took the lights on the Christmas tree to wink on and then off. And the longer he stared, the more she remembered the feel of his lips on hers and the taste of him, and the yearning, the craving, built inside her until she had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop him from looking at her like that.

      He jolted away from her, his gaze shooting to the Christmas tree. She closed her eyes and tried to get her breathing back under control. ‘I...’ She swallowed. ‘It’s been a great day. You must be over the moon. You gave Ella a Christmas she’ll remember for ever, and Holly had a ball. Not to mention the rest of your family.’

      ‘And you?’

      When he turned back it was almost as if that earlier moment hadn’t happened. Her heart burned in protest even as her common sense told her it was for the best. ‘I’ve had the best Christmas ever.’ Her voice emerged on a husky whisper. She couldn’t help it. ‘What about you? Did you enjoy today or were you too preoccupied with making sure everyone else had a good time?’

      He lifted his tumbler, breathed in the fumes, but he didn’t drink. ‘I had a great day.’ He started to lift the tumbler to his lips and then paused and offered her the glass.

      She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. ‘I’m not a fan of whisky.’ Not even the gorgeous single malt Scotch that had been Verity’s gift to Cade. ‘I prefer something sweeter.’

      He took a sip and his eyes suddenly gleamed. ‘Something sweeter, huh?’

      ‘I’m fine, Cade. I don’t want anything, honestly.’

      ‘I noticed you didn’t stuff yourself senseless at lunch like the rest of us and then spend the afternoon nibbling on all the assorted goodies.’

      ‘I ate my fair share, thank you very much!’ She just hadn’t gone back for seconds. And she hadn’t picked too much between meals—other than a couple of handfuls of cherries. She was still intent on slimming down.

      She had slimmed down.

      Today had shown her just how much she’d always comfort ate at Christmas...and how much she comfort ate full stop. She didn’t want to do that any more.

      ‘Yet you have a sweet tooth.’

      ‘That I’m doing my best to control.’ She wasn’t given to pats on the back—not for herself—but she couldn’t help feeling she deserved a big fat pat on the back for that. There had been moments when that self-control had been sheer torture.

      ‘You have a sweet tooth,’ he repeated, ‘and it’s Christmas.’

      She didn’t trust that gleam in his eye. ‘So?’

      He slid across the floor and seized her jar of chocolate sultanas and lifted them in her direction. Her mouth promptly watered. No amount of self-control could prevent that.

      She tried to distract herself. ‘Harry and your mother wouldn’t let me tidy up.’ Presents still sat in festive stacks about the room.

      ‘Absolutely not. That’s what Boxing Day is for.’

      He said it exactly the same way Verity had.

      He shook the jar. ‘Nicola, these are unopened.’

      The sound of chocolate sultanas tinkling against glass sounded like raindrops hitting parched earth and cued more mouth watering. ‘I...um...’ She stared at the jar. Simon had kindly informed her that its contents looked like kangaroo droppings, but not even that thought could stop her from salivating. She swallowed. ‘I’m saving them for when there’s not quite so many other nibblies around.’

      ‘You’re not bringing these out to share with anyone.’

      She wasn’t?

      ‘They are all yours.’

      Her heart thudded in anticipation...and greed.

      He slid back over to the sofa, bringing the jar with him. He broke the seal. ‘Oops.’

      His utter lack of remorse should’ve made her laugh, only he waved the jar under her nose and the combined scent of chocolate and sultana hit her. Her stomach clenched. Her resolve faltered.

      ‘They’re open now.’

      The invitation in his voice could tempt a stronger woman than her. She forced herself to think of Melbourne, of Diane and Brad...and her mother. She sat up. She planted her feet on the floor. ‘Then by all means help yourself to as many as you’d like.’

      The gleam didn’t leave his eyes, but a new determination entered them as he planted himself on the sofa beside her. He tipped a pile of the confectionery into his hand and held it out towards her. Taking one sultana, he lifted it to his lips and ate it slowly. ‘Mmm...delicious.’

      For a moment she couldn’t move. She wanted to yell at him for tempting her resolve so outrageously.

      A second sultana followed suit. That hand waved temptingly beneath her nose.

      He lifted a third...

      She could stand it no longer. She seized a sultana from his cupped hand and popped it straight into her mouth. The chocolate melted on her tongue. When she bit down, the flavour of the sultana exploded through her. She groaned and closed her eyes in ecstasy.

      When he took her hand and poured the sultanas into them, she made no protest. She ate them, savoured them.

      He watched her devour them. The gleam had left his eyes, replaced with something she couldn’t read and was too cowardly to decipher.

      ‘You really do love them.’ His voice was low.

      ‘They’re my favourite food on earth.’

      ‘Then why deny yourself? Especially today?’

      The pile he’d tipped into her hand had gone. She’d eaten them all. And she wanted more. Lots more.

      Are you going to be a complete glutton, Nicola Ann?

      With a gulp, she seized the lid and tried to put it back on the jar, only Cade wouldn’t let her. He captured her hand, his grip tightening until she looked at him. ‘Why deny yourself?’

      Her pulse throbbed at the contact. She tried to shrug. ‘Once I start eating them, I can’t stop.’

      ‘And what’s wrong with that?’

      He couldn’t be serious? ‘If I keep eating them, I will get fat. Fatter,’ she amended. ‘How on earth will I lose weight if I keep indulging?’

      ‘So you won’t even allow yourself the occasional indulgence?’

      ‘It’s dangerous to indulge a weakness.’

      His eyes narrowed. He poured more sultanas into his hand and held one out to her. She swallowed. She tried to say no, but his eyes urged her to throw caution to the winds, to live in the moment.

      She СКАЧАТЬ