Christmas Encounter with a Prince by Katrina Cudmore

Author:Katrina Cudmore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-07-13T14:00:20+00:00

* * *

Snuggled into the corner of the sofa, Alice tried to focus on her book but her gaze kept shifting over to study Luis. For their dinner earlier he had changed into grey trousers and a white shirt, leaving the top two buttons undone. Head bowed, he was reading the book she had gifted him but how much he was taking in she wasn’t sure, given that he was constantly checking his phone.

Was he waiting for someone to call or message him? A woman perhaps? She closed her eyes, dread forming in the pit of her stomach. She had spent most of the summer before she had started secondary school alone and isolated, having been dumped from her friendship group because they were going to a different school to her. One evening she had heard beeping and located its source to an unfamiliar phone she had found in her dad’s jacket pocket. Confused, she had brought it into the kitchen, asking him if he had bought a new phone and why there were so many messages from one of her mum’s close friends.

Her mum had cried. Her dad had yelled. And Alice had soaked up the way her dad had twisted the blame onto her, telling her that it was she who was responsible for her mum’s devastation.

The lies people told. The games they played. And the self-destruct buttons they so easily pressed. And here she was, a perfect case in point. Instead of coming to her senses and counting her blessings that she hadn’t slept with Luis earlier she was actually even more attracted to him than ever. Not only was she constantly reliving in her head the feel of his mouth on her breast, the magic of his fingers, the waves of bliss that had whipped through her body, but hearing him talk so sensitively about lovemaking, hearing the passion and sincerity in his voice, the way his gaze darkened when he had said that he had never desired anyone more than her, had her completely spellbound. And this afternoon, as she had watched him so effortlessly freestyle snowboard, the way he so patiently lifted her up time and time again after her disastrous attempts to stand upright, never mind actually snowboard, he had got even further under her skin.

She shifted in her seat and pressed a hand on her burning cheeks. And groaned as her glute muscles screamed in protest.

‘Are you ok?’ Luis asked.

She nodded but grimaced as she attempted to manoeuvre herself into a comfortable position and admitted, ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to walk tomorrow. They might have to carry me onto the plane.’

He smiled but didn’t say anything. Wood crackled in the fireplace. Tomorrow they would be saying goodbye. It was for the best. She had to get back to work, and Luis to Monrosa.

His phone pinged. She jumped at the sudden noise. He grabbed hold of the phone and smiled as he hit play on the video message he had been sent, a chorus of voices wishing him a happy Christmas from the Bahamas.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.