Housekeeper Under the Mistletoe by Cara Colter

Author:Cara Colter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

JEFFERSON WAS AWARE of the surrender, not just in her but in himself. Had he actually been flirting with his housekeeper?

No, he told himself sternly, he had not. Being with her had coaxed his more playful side to the surface. Okay, he was more than surprised that he had a playful side, but he blamed the storm for cutting down his defenses, placing them in this predicament where they had to share a spoon.

And sharing that spoon had led to this. The complete collapse of defenses. They were going to share even deeper confidences.

“I’m not a housekeeper,” Angie confessed solemnly.

“Yeah, I kind of figured that part out.”

“I’m close, though, and qualified. I’m a high school home economics teacher in Calgary.”

Jefferson contemplated that. He could feel the truth of it—he thought of her making her lists and organizing his kitchen. He thought of her home breaking up, and her longing. He was not surprised that she had chosen a career where she would teach people how to make a home. And superimposed over this knowledge of her, he thought of the taste of ice cream, mingled with her taste, still sweet in his mouth.

“Or I was a teacher,” she said pensively. “I don’t know when I can go back there.” She shuddered.

Jefferson pulled the shared blanket more tightly over their shoulders, pulling her more tightly into him. “What happened?”

“First, I need you to understand why it happened.”

“Okay.”

“I met my fiancé in university.”

“Your fiancé?” Jefferson felt the shock of it. And the relief. All the electricity between them didn’t matter. She was taken! But his relief was short-lived.

“Not anymore,” she said sadly. “We broke off. That’s what made me so vulnerable when...well, I’ll get to that. Harry and I had been engaged since the second year of our studies. We graduated at the same time, and both got wonderful jobs. I secured my dream job teaching home economics in high school, he got on with one of the banks. I assumed it was time to take the next step, but every time I tried to set a date for the wedding, Harry would become evasive.”

He heard inside himself oh-oh but did not say it out loud.

“In fact,” she said, her lips pursed with remembered annoyance, “had I been paying more attention, I would have seen the whites of his eyes rolling in pure terror at the mere mention of spending a lifetime with me.”

“A lifetime with you doesn’t seem as if it should make eyes roll in terror.”

Her mouth popped open in surprise. She studied his face, as if she was looking for the lie. She smiled. He realized he was treading very dangerous ground, indeed.

“Finally, he worked up his nerve to tell me the truth. He had discovered his career in finance was a terrible mistake. He was bored.”

“God forbid we should ever be bored,” Jefferson said. He tried to keep his tone dry, but in fact, he felt angry.

“And unfulfilled. He had just discovered he didn’t want what other people wanted.

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