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      “You’ll miss Phil, no doubt?” It was a question, not a statement. Those eyes watched her like a cat stalking a mouse, waiting for her to make one wrong move. Well, she didn’t much like cheese.

      She pasted on a smile. “Naturally, but I’ll be kept pretty busy. My mother loves to put on a bash at Christmas,” she chatted on nervously, until all at once she saw a hint of bleakness in his eyes that clutched at her heart. She spoke before she could stop herself. “What about you, Brant? Any plans for Christmas?”

      “So you remembered my name, eh?” Then he straightened in his chair. “A friend has invited me around for Christmas dinner, but I’m not sure I’ll go yet. I’ve got too much work.”

      “What about your brother?” she said, curious to see his reaction again.

      “What about him?” he snapped, his eyes turning colder than winter.

      She swallowed. “I just thought—”

      “Look, I don’t want anything to do with my brother and that’s the way I like it.”

      She took a step back. “Oh.”

      Tension filled the air and hung there for a few seconds before Brant appeared to make himself relax. Then he leaned over and took something out of the drawer in his desk. “I have a Christmas present for you.”

      Her heart jumped in her throat. “A … a present?”

      He held out the small package toward her. “I gave Evelyn one, too. Can’t let the best two PAs in town not know they’re appreciated.”

      His tone held something biting, though she knew it was intended for her, not Evelyn. But she accepted the gift anyway. Phillip had given Evelyn a present, so what was wrong in Brant giving her one?

      Then she met his eyes and she knew that everything was wrong about this. This wasn’t because of her work. It was because he wanted her. This was a man wanting his woman and telling her in the only way he could.

      Her hands shook as she undid the wrapping paper and lifted the lid on the small box inscribed with the top jeweler’s name in Australia. She gasped when she saw the small medallion nestled on a velvet bed amongst the gold chain.

      “It’s not a diamond necklace,” he said with cutting emphasis, “but it should keep you safe on your journey home.”

      “It’s a St. Christopher medallion,” she murmured, pushing his cynicism aside, touched by the charming gift. “Thank you. It’s lovely. I’ll make sure I put it on before I leave.”

      “Let me,” he rasped.

      Her breath hitched. Could she bear to have him touch her, no matter how briefly? Oh, how she wanted this. Was this one little thing too much to ask?

      “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice shaky.

      He came around the desk and took the present out of her hands. “Turn around.”

      She did, and for a long moment everything in the room went quiet. Her heart skipped a beat. She could feel him standing there looking at her, his warm breath flowing over the nape of her neck, making her light-headed. If she leaned back, his arms would snake around her and then … Oh, for heaven’s sake, Kia, get a grip on yourself, she scolded inwardly.

      The package rustled and then the gold chain came around her neck. The medallion lovingly touched the base of her throat, cooling her skin.

      He placed his hands on her shoulders and slowly turned her around to face him.

      “Merry Christmas, Kia,” he said hoarsely, moving in to kiss her.

      She lifted her lips. She had to. An avalanche could be coming their way and she’d still wait for that kiss.

      His lips touched hers briefly. So brief that it should have been a chaste kiss. But every pore of her skin felt him there, acknowledged him, cried out for more.

      He moved back and their eyes locked. Her throat seemed to close at the intense desire written in his eyes and the struggle within him not to take her.

      He stepped back with a low sound in his throat that seemed to wrench from deep inside him. It broke the spell of the moment.

      She drew in a shaky breath. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Brant.”

      A muscle knotted in his jaw as he walked back around to the other side of the desk. “I hope you get everything you want.”

      If ever there was a time for not getting what she wished for, it was now. When she wanted him.

      She spun around and hurried toward the door, needing to get out of there.

      “Have a good holiday, Kia … even without your fiancé.”

      Kia stopped to glance at him and saw the look in his eyes was harder than ever. She tensed. They were right back where they’d started. And that was fine with her.

      “I intend to,” she said coolly and left the room.

      Kia normally loved being with her family at Christmas. Neighbors dropped by for a Christmas drink in the morning, and her sister, Melanie, came around for lunch with her husband and young son. The weather usually proved to be hot at this time of year, so a variety of seafood and salads was the order of the day, followed by an English-style trifle that her mother made to perfection. A treat her stepfather loved. All very normal and comforting. Usually.

      So why did she feel as though something was missing this year? It was a nagging thought inside her that remained there throughout the day and began again when she woke on Boxing Day. She felt restless. As if she should be some place else but didn’t know where.

      It wasn’t until a barbecue lunch in the backyard, where she was playing peekaboo with her six-month-old nephew, that she looked up and her heart dropped to her feet. The laughter died on her lips. And suddenly she knew what had been missing. Brant. He stood near the corner of the house, watching her, his eyes piercing the distance between them. Her family faded from her mind.

      “Who’s that?” she heard her mother say, and all at once Kia realized he was there. He wasn’t a figment of her imagination. And here she was dressed in denim jeans and a stretch knit top, far from the businesslike persona she kept for the office and even for Phillip.

      She handed Dominic to her sister and jumped up. “It’s okay, Mum. It’s one of my bosses. I’ll be right back.”

      She raced toward him, her hand going to her throat as something occurred to her. Something must be wrong. Terribly wrong.

      “Phillip?” she croaked as she got closer.

      Irritation flickered across his face, then disappeared. “Relax. He’s okay, as far as I know.”

      She moistened her lips. “Then what are you doing here?” It had to be something important if he’d flown from the north of the continent to the south, over three thousand kilometers.

      “The Anderson project needs redoing. Phillip must have been having a bad day СКАЧАТЬ