Ruby Red Christmas by Nicole Taylor Eby

Author:Nicole Taylor Eby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Holiday romance, Second Chance Romance over forty, hot single dad holiday romance, midlife romance for women, single parent romance books, vacation romance novel
Publisher: Sail Away Press
Published: 2021-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

When I get back to the cottage after my mad dash from Kay Kringle’s Cup O’Christmas Café, Kelsey, Charlotte, Jenna, Fae, and Marisol are waiting for me, just like I knew they would be. Christmas Cove is too small for me to get away with hanging out with Simon undetected. As I step out of my van, I can see them lined up at the window, like little kids watching for Santa.

Despite the emotional chaos raging inside my head, I can’t help but smile. These are my ladies. They are hoping for some juicy gossip, so I am going to disappoint them. But they are exactly what I need right now to deal with my confusion. I shouldn’t be reacting to Simon. Sure, he is hot as sin, and he could fulfil a long list of fantasies, but I am not anywhere near over the fact that Greg married Julia yesterday.

And I can’t be complicating things by letting myself think that what I am feeling for Simon is anything but a desperate need to not be alone. That is exactly how things started with Greg.

I clutch my shopping bags tighter, determined to stop this train of thought before it leaves me in another pool of self-pity. I have cried enough tears over Greg. Squaring my shoulders and raising my chin, I march towards the door.

Greg’s abandonment can only hurt me if I let it.

From the other side of the door, I hear them giggling and shushing each other. It must be taking a ridiculous amount of self-restraint for them not to burst through the door and tackle me on the front porch. I feel my shoulders relax as the sensor lights kick on, feeling at home in this rented place, because these ladies are more like family than friends.

Despite the hollow, aching sensation in the centre of my chest, a smile curves my lips as I open the door to find them all waiting with expectant looks.

“So?” Kelsey says, moving eagerly towards me with a big grin.

“So, what?” I take extra care setting down my shopping bags. As much as I need them right now, I am hesitant to tell them the truth. They have probably been coming up with all kinds of steamy scenarios that don’t include bolting like an idiot.

“Let her get inside, Kelsey,” Charlotte hisses under her breath, grabbing Kelsey’s arm and pulling her back.

Kelsey shakes her arm free. “Oh, like you aren’t dying to know what she was doing with Simon Ascot at the craft fair.”

“I’m going to need some wine before I’m anywhere near ready to tell you what I’ve been up to.” I kick my boots off, then bend to place them neatly by the door, playing for time.

Does it make me a terrible friend if I want to let them think I got up to something scandalous, instead of giving them the boring fact that I was too chicken? The truth is that instead of feeling languorous after an afternoon spent with a sexy man like I should be, I am a swirling sludge of anxiety.

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