Making Christmas Special Again--A must-read Christmas romance to curl up with! by Annie O'Neil

Author:Annie O'Neil
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-09-10T14:41:51+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

EVEN WITH HER entire body buzzing from the last twenty-four hours, Esme was not going to be kept from her morning cup of coffee. She was in the middle of frothing up some milk when Margaret walked into the staffroom with the daily schedule.

One look at Esme was all it took. ‘Ooh! I see why you blew me off last night.’

Esme’s plan to not tell anyone lasted about two seconds before she cracked. ‘It wasn’t strictly planned but...’ Her smile stretched from ear to ear.

‘Finally.’ Margaret accepted the proffered latte and took a big slurp before giving Esme’s arm a congratulatory pat. ‘I was going to have to reclassify you as a virgin if you hadn’t got some action soon.’

‘Crickey.’ Esme play-sulked because she was too happy to actually sulk. ‘I didn’t think I was that dire a case.’

Margaret rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, believe me, Ez. You were definitely on the brink of being sent to a nunnery.’ She shot a surreptitious look out the door towards the main reception area. ‘So what is he? Short term or long term?’

Her gut said long term. Her head told her otherwise. ‘Short terms. Obviously.’

‘Why obviously? He’s hot. And you look all loved up, so...if it works, why cut it short?’

‘Cut what short?’ Max appeared in the doorway. ‘Sorry, ladies. Was I interrupting something?’

‘No!’ they both shouted, then burst into giggles, which, of course, answered his question.

Esme choked out something about coffee, which Max accepted with a bemused grin. She busied herself making the coffee, praying he wasn’t noticing Margaret’s eyes ping-ponging between the pair of them as if she was expecting cartoon love hearts to blossom out of thin air and float round the staffroom. She wasn’t that loved up.

Max took the cup of coffee from her and when their fingers brushed, she blushed.

Okay. Maybe she had a crush on him. Big time. But that was normal when a girl had had such a lengthy hiatus from romance. A Christmas dalliance, she reminded herself when her eyes travelled across the room to the mistletoe hanging in the doorway.

Margaret took another big slurp of her coffee then asked, ‘Shall I run you through what I’m doing with Euan and Fenella today before I leave you two lovebirds to it?’

Max choked on his coffee. Esme’s cheeks flamed.

‘That would be lovely, Margaret.’ Esme had her public-school voice back on. ‘Please. Do tell us.’

With an unapologetic grin, Margaret launched into a detailed explanation of the trip they’d be taking to the shopping mall, where Euan in particular would have a chance to deal with the loud noises. They’d work with how the dog could help in stressful situations. ‘It’s getting so close to Christmas it’s going to be very busy.’

‘Six days,’ Esme said, a bit too aware of the countdown to Christmas.

Max gave a little involuntary shudder. ‘You sure you’re all right with the pair of them on their own? It might be a lot for Euan to take on board.’

‘He needs to get used

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