page6 (1/2)
Holly explained ‘Would it be all right if I put up et another opportunity for a year,’ she pointed out ‘Christmas is special to me’
Vito was still frowning ‘Not to me,’ he admitted flatly, for he had only badChristmases he had endured as a child
Flushing, Holly closed the box and pushed it over to the wall out of the way ‘That’s not a proble me stay here’
Dio er because her fondness for the sentie Of course she wanted to put up her Christ a Santa hat was likely to want a tree on display as well! He handed her a glass of wine, trying not to feel responsible for having doused her chirpy flow of chatter
‘I’ upstairs for a shower,’ Vito told her, because even though he had worn the boots, his suit trousers were daht down here on your own?’
‘Of course… This isin a crashed car,’ Holly assured hiI could borrow? I only have pyjamas and a dress with me My fosterwoolly’
Vito had not a clue as in his luggage because he hadn’t packed his own case since he was a teenager at boarding school ‘I’ll see what I’ve got’
Through the glass barrier of the stairs, Holly watched his long, powerful legs disappear froh her tense body She heaved a sigh So, no Christmas tree What possible objection could anyone have to a Christ for the festive season? Re in
Pixie’s car by the side of the road, she settled down on the shaggy rug by the hearth and si in the fire
Vito thought about Holly while he took a shower It was aher sexy little body he went hard as a rock, his body reacting with a randy enthusiasm that astonished him For months, of course, his libido had very hteen-hour days he orking This year the bank’s revenues would, he reminded hi what he had been raised to do and he was doing it extremely well, so why did he feel so empty, so joyless? Vito asked himself in exasperation
Intellectually he understood that there was more to life than the pursuit of profit but realistically he was and always had been a workaholic An i by the fire assailed him Holly with her wonderful curves and her weird tree in a box She was unusual, not reinality was a huge draw He had no idea what she was likely to say next She wasn’t wearing make-up She didn’t fuss with her appearance She said exactly what she thought and felt—she had no filter Towelling off, he tried to stop thinking about Holly Obviously she turned hi about it
Why the hell not? The words sounded in the back of his brain That battered old car, everything about her spelled out theany kind of a rimly Yet the instant he had seen Holly he had wanted her, wanted her with an intensity he hadn’t felt around a woer It was the situation He could relax with a woman who had neither a clue who he was nor any idea of the sleazy scandal currently clinging to his name And ouldn’t he want her? After all, he was very probably sex-starved, he told himself impatiently as he tossed out the contents of one of his suitcases and then opened a second before finding a sweater he deemed suitable
Holly watched Vito walk down the stairs with the fluid, silent grace of a panther He had looked aner jeans and a long-sleeved red cotton tee he was drop-dead gorgeous and, with those high cheekbones and that full ory She blinked and stared, feeling the colour rise in her cheeks, her self-consciousness taking over, for she had literally never ever been in the radius of such a very handso into a
‘Here… You can roll up the sleeves’ Vito tossed the sweater into her lap ‘If you want to freshen up, there’s a shower room just before you enter the kitchen’
Holly scrarabbed her rucksack to take his advice A little alone tiood idea When she saw herself in the mirror in the shower room she was affronted by the wind-tousled explosion of her hair and the a in the Santa outfit Stripping off, she went for a shower, exulting in the hot water and the fae had to be pretty corimace, which probably old-coloured watch and the fit of his suit had been perfection But then what did she know about such trappings or the likely cost of thes when the closest Holly had ever got to even dating an office worker was Ritchie, the cheating insurance salesman