Christmas Is Cancelled. Aurelia Rowl B.

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СКАЧАТЬ of your business. Now let go of me.’ The heat from his hands warmed her skin through her winter coat and muddled her brain. Tilly tugged her arms up to try to get free but Dean held on.

      ‘No.’

      ‘You can be such a bastard.’ She tried again, twisting and pulling at the same time but it didn’t get her anywhere. If anything his grip tightened. ‘Let go of me right now, or I swear I’ll scream my head off.’

      ‘No, you won’t.’

      ‘I will.’ She met his stare with defiance.

      ‘You seem to forget I know you far too well.’

      ‘Like hell you do. You don’t know me at all. Not any more. Maybe not even back then.’ Except he did, and the arrogant son of a bitch knew she’d been calling his bluff.

      Well, she’d show him.

      Tilly didn’t give a damn about her dignity or about causing a scene any more. Her need to wipe the smug look off Dean’s face outweighed all of that – not that she’d actually seen it, she didn’t dare look at him again, but it had to be there. What was one more humiliating memory to add to the collection?

      ***

      Dean waited, trying not to smirk. Tilly would never do it. No way. But then she took in a deep breath, opened her mouth, and tried to deafen him. Shocked into action, he swooped down and covered her mouth with his, absorbing the sound into himself to muffle it.

      The scream stopped with a squeak and Tilly’s knees gave way so he was the only thing keeping her upright. He tried not to notice how delicate she felt in his arms, small and petite; he could probably still wrap his hands around her waist. And he absolutely did not notice how soft and pliable her lips were under his, or how warm they were despite the cold air, or how perfectly they fitted against his.

      It wasn’t like he was kissing her – hell, no – this was nothing but damage limitation. Now he just had to convince the rest of him. In startling 4D clarity, he could imagine exactly what it would be like to kiss her and he wanted it badly. No, it went deeper than ‘want’: he needed to kiss her like he needed air to breathe.

      But he couldn’t… he’d made a promise.

      Dean pulled back abruptly and dropped his hands to his sides. The cold air hit his face and palms, chilling him to the bone. His breath deserted him in a rush but if he ever made a move on Phil’s little sister, things would get very complicated indeed so he ignored his racing pulse and the blood pumping through his veins. ‘Have you finished?’

      She nodded then swayed precariously.

      ‘Whoa.’ Instinctively, he grabbed hold of her again except his hands made a beeline for her waist. ‘You OK?’

      Tilly darted a glance up at his face before checking herself. ‘Thanks,’ she mumbled, talking to his torso. ‘So, er… Right. Yes. Well. It was… um… good to see you again –’ she squared her shoulders and pulled herself up the tallest she could go. ‘– but I’d best be off now.’ She took a step backwards but he matched her movements. She jinked to the opposite side to try to break free but Dean didn’t let go. He couldn’t let go, not wanting to let her get away.

      ‘Nice try.’

      Her shoulders sagged and her eyes closed. Long eyelashes feathered her cheeks, some clumped together with the makeup that hadn’t yet smudged itself all over her beautiful face. Tilly looked pale even without the stark contrast of the black against her fair skin. She gulped in a deep breath then exhaled slowly, deflating in his arms and drooping over until her forehead ended up propped against his chest.

      Even in high heels, she barely reached his chin, or rather high heel. Singular. An arrow of alarm pierced him. Had she been mugged? Or… or… He couldn’t even entertain the other option which sprang to mind.

      ‘What’s wrong?’ he whispered into her hair.

      ‘Everything.’ She spoke so softly he almost missed what she’d said but the pain in that one word wounded him, cutting deep into his soul. Whoever had done this to her would pay. He’d rip them to shreds with his own bare hands. Nobody treated his Tilly like this and got away with it.

       No.

      He took a deep breath to calm himself, determined to restrain the rage ripping through his veins. Violence was never the answer; he’d learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago but that wasn’t what made him stop wanting to shake her, to demand names and details. While he might not be an expert on women, especially emotionally overwrought ones, he was pretty sure she wasn’t looking for a bodyguard or some kind of enforcer. What she needed was a friend, and somehow she’d ended up with him.

      Dean unclenched his jaw, determined to keep his voice gentle. ‘Why don’t I take you home?’

      Tilly sobbed, little whimpers at first but soon turning into big heaving sobs. He tried to pull her close but she resisted, raising her hands and pressing them against his chest. ‘Your shirt, it’ll get ruined,’ she said, in between gulps of air. ‘I’ll get mascara all over it.’

      ‘So what?’ He let out a sigh and shifted his hand to cradle the back of her head, drawing her gently into his chest. ‘I don’t give a damn about my shirt. Surely you know me better than that?’

      Tilly stopped fighting and relaxed her arms. She buried her face into him and his shirt soon grew damp with the deluge of tears. Dean tightened his hold until he clutched her to him, his heart breaking a little bit more with each sob and shudder.

      Overcome with a savage need to shield her from the whole world, Dean ignored his better judgement and stooped down to retrieve her suitcase. ‘Come on.’ Keeping one arm looped around her waist, he led her to the taxi rank outside the station where a line of black cabs waited. ‘Let’s get you out of here…’

       Chapter Two

      Tilly sat huddled up to Dean on the back seat of the black cab with her suitcase stowed beside her feet. He’d tucked her under his arm so that her head lay against his chest. His warm and surprisingly rough free hand held hers, and the arm draped around her shoulder held onto her so tightly, she might as well have been sitting on his lap.

      Utterly electrifying, there wasn’t so much as an inch between them from shoulder down to hip and the more she tried to ignore the tingles, the stronger they got. She didn’t believe for a second that Dean could be as calm and unruffled as he appeared. His nostrils were flaring for a start, but she admired his attempt at control and emulated it so that she could finally stop snivelling all over him.

      ‘Where are we going?’ she asked, her nose so bunged up her voice came out sounding like the rail platform announcements she’d been subjected to.

      ‘We’re on our way to my house.’ Dean brushed the pad of his thumb across the back of her hand. ‘I didn’t think you’d want to go anywhere public but we can go somewhere else if you prefer?’ His gaze bored into her head, pulling her own gaze up to glance at him and see his face thrown into shadow by the orange streetlights.

      A flicker of apprehension marred his features and her fingers itched to smooth away the worry lines. No way would she be СКАЧАТЬ