On the First Night of Christmas.... Heidi Rice

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СКАЧАТЬ but forever cursed not to be believed.’

      Cassie trembled, the rough cadence of his voice sending little shivers of excitement over her skin. She gave a breathless laugh, her gaze darting back to his face. ‘If only it were that exciting.’

      His lips edged into a seductive smile. ‘It’s not exciting. Cassandra’s story is tragic.’

       Not from where I’m sitting.

      Cassie smiled despite the tension that crackled in the air. Was he trying to melt her into a puddle of lust? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part? ‘Cassie’s short for Cassidy.’

      His eyebrow rose a fraction. ‘Cassidy?’

      ‘As in David Cassidy,’ Cassie added, her grin spreading as his eyebrow arched upwards. ‘The seventies teen idol. Unfortunately my mum was a huge fan. And I’ve been suffering ever since.’

      How fitting that her mum had given her a name as unsexy as her knickers.

      ‘Mind you, it could have been worse,’ she continued, amused by his obvious surprise. ‘Thank God she wasn’t a Donny Osmond fan or I would have been saddled with Ossie.’

      His laugh rumbled out, low and rough and setting off the little shivers again. ‘I like Cassidy. It’s unusual. Which suits you.’

      She tipped her glass up in a toast. ‘Yup, that’s me, very unusual.’ If only. ‘Unlike you. Who’s so totally run of the mill,’ she added, unable to resist fluttering her eyelashes.

      Instead of looking appalled at her heavy-handed attempt at flirtation, he clinked his bottle against her glass. ‘You are unusual,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you believe me?’

      She took another hasty sip. The rich, heady wine flowed down her throat and wrapped around her chest like a winter quilt.

      She let her gaze wander over to the blue spruce expertly decorated with glass baubles and ribbon bows in the corner. Jace Ryan might be a lot more man than she felt capable of handling. But where was the harm in enjoying his company? At least for as long as it took to clean her coat.

      ‘How exactly am I unusual?’ she asked, knowing it wasn’t true, but happy to have him try to persuade her.

      He placed his beer bottle on the coffee table and stood up. Lifting her hand from her lap, he wrapped his long fingers around it and gave a soft tug to pull her off the sofa. ‘Stand up, so we can examine the evidence.’

      She did as she was told, the appreciative gleam as his gaze roamed over her shocking her into silence.

      ‘Your eyes are a really unusual colour. I noticed that as soon as you jumped into my car. Even though you were ruining the upholstery and calling me a jerk.’

      ‘I only called you a jerk because you were being a jerk,’ she pointed out in her defence.

      He placed his hands on her hips. ‘Stop ruining the mood.’

      ‘What mood?’ she asked, standing so close to him now, she could see the gold flecks in his irises.

      The buckle on his belt brushed against her tummy and the little shivers became shock waves, shuddering down to the place between her thighs.

      ‘The mood I’m trying to create’ he said, a lock of dark hair flopping over his brow. ‘So I can kiss you.’

      Her gaze dipped to his mouth, those sensual lips that had once devoured Jenny temptingly close. ‘You want to kiss me?’ she said on a ragged breath.

      He pressed his thumb to her bottom lip, the touch making it tingle. ‘I must be seriously losing my touch. Isn’t it obvious?’

      ‘But we’ve only just met,’ she whispered, not sure how to respond to his teasing. Did he seriously plan to kiss her? And why the heck was she arguing with him about it?

      He wrapped his hand round her waist, pulled her flush against him. ‘Not true,’ he remarked, his lips only centimetres from hers. ‘We’ve known each other since school.’

      ‘But you don’t remember me.’

      ‘Sure I do.’ His warm breath feathered against her cheek. ‘You’re the little voyeur on the stairwell.’

      She tensed and drew back. ‘You remember? But how?’

      ‘I told you, those eyes are very unusual.’ His lips curved, in that same offhand grin that had captivated her over a decade ago. And suddenly, she understood. This wasn’t a seduction. He was making fun of her.

      She placed her hands on his chest, stumbled back, the sweet, heady buzz of flirtation and arousal replaced by embarrassment. ‘I should go.’

      He caught her elbow as she stepped back. ‘Hey? What’s the rush all of a sudden?’

      ‘I just … I have to go,’ she mumbled, pulling her arm free.

      ‘Don’t be ridiculous—your coat isn’t back yet.’

      She tugged down the hem of her tunic, feeling hideously exposed.

      ‘I’ll wait downstairs, in the lobby.’ It would be mortifying in her bare feet, but what could be more mortifying than simpering all over a guy who was secretly laughing at her?

      She crossed the living room, holding her head up.

      ‘Hang on a minute. You’re being absurd. What exactly are you so upset about?’

      The frustrated words stopped her dead. She swung round.

      He stood by his walnut coffee table, looking like a poster boy for original sin and the humiliation coalesced in her stomach into a hot ball of resentment.

      ‘I know I’m absurd,’ she said, and watched his brow crease in a puzzled frown. ‘I had a massive crush on you. Which was my own stupid fault. I admit it.’ She walked back and poked him in the chest. ‘But that doesn’t give you the right to make fun of me. Now or then.’

      He grasped her finger, the green of his irises darkening to a stormy emerald. ‘I’m not making fun of you. And I didn’t then.’

      ‘Yes, you did.’ She tugged her finger free, not liking the way his touch had set off those silly shivers again. ‘I heard you and Jenny Kelty laughing at me.’ Not that it mattered now, but it was the principle of the thing. She had gone over that encounter a thousand times in her mind in the months that followed. And felt more and more mortified every time. Why had she stood there like a lemon? Why had she smiled at him? But she could see now, she hadn’t been the only one at fault. They shouldn’t have laughed at her.

      ‘Who the hell is Jenny Kelty?’ he asked.

      ‘Unbelievable,’ she said, exasperated. ‘Don’t you remember any of the girls you slept with back then either?’

      ‘It was a long time ago.’ He shoved his fingers through his hair, the movement jerky and a lot less relaxed than before. ‘And whatever her name was, I didn’t sleep with her. You put a stop to that.’

      ‘Well, СКАЧАТЬ