Page 32 of Miss Christmas

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Will had been a wrestler in college and had faced men with undefeated records and a hundred pounds over him with less trepidation than he had now, facing this group of ten gorgeous women dressed like a group of Sarah Lawrence grads and ready to hang on his every word. He walked to the head of the table in the small conference room as they all tracked him with their smiling faces. All except Scarlet. She didn’t even bother acting the part of a happy contestant. She had a studiously neutral expression, but it may well have been a snarl because he’d felt her hostility when he walked by her.

“Good morning, ladies. I don’t know what I could possibly do to improve your obviously exceptional appearance and poise. You’ve all been wonderful and I’m sure any one of you would represent Regal Stores beautifully and graciously.” Their smiles beamed brighter—if that was possible—and Scarlet rolled her eyes. He coughed to hide an almost-laugh. Her eye roll was a clear signal that he needed to up his game.

“But let me at least give you whatever guidance I can by telling you what not to do.”

There were nods and murmurs of approval.

“As representatives of Regal, you can’t get yourself fall-down drunk and loud enough to cause a scene. Sorry if you’ll need to postpone that bender you’d been planning.” That got laughs and he was encouraged, though he still felt silly. At least they were now all coconspirators in the silliness of it all. So he went on in the same vein, leaving some time for banal questions and his quips in response.

When Margo finally came to lead the group to their fashion show rehearsal, he thought he could escape, but Scarlet lingered. Margo gave her a conspiratorial nod, giving her permission to stay behind. Damn.

Since when had he become such a coward? He should clear the air with her. He owed her that much, even if she’d been the one to walk away from him that morning. After that night.

She closed the door then spun around in a mock dramatic fashion. But the anger and hurt that lit her face was no act. He walked toward her. He couldn’t help himself even if he half expected her to slap his face. Again.

“Scarlet—”

“Don’t say a thing unless it’s an apology, you—you two-timer.”

“What? You walked out on me. You said it was all over.”

“And you believed me?”

He’d only half believed her. The other half was him scrambling to salvage his future, to resume his sanity. “I agreed with you. That it would be best if we—”

“If we what? Pretend we feel nothing? I’m a good actress, but pretending away real feelings doesn’t do any good.”

“Real feelings or lust?” He said it, but knew it was parsing words. It was impossible for him to separate his lust from his yearning for her. He had no idea what that amounted to, if anything, in the realm of real feelings. But he knew it wasn’t nothing.

She lifted her hand and he grabbed her wrist, this time ready to stop her slap.

“I wasn’t going to slap you.”

He raised a brow.

“I wasn’t,” She insisted.

He let out a breath and let go of her wrist, but he kept his hand on her, sliding it up her arm, which was clad in tasteful, soft wool, until it reached her shoulder.

“I feel it too.” His words were quiet.

He felt the shudder under his hand as she leaned in, then he felt the heat of the soft cushion of her breasts against him and he fought like hell not to wrap her up in his arms so that he could feel everything, take in all of her. He breathed in her scent as seconds ticked by.

“I don’t want you, Will. You’re too much of a distraction. But when I saw you eying Emily and when she said you were having dinner—”

Alarm heated up in his chest and he pushed her back from him.

“I’m looking for a serious relationship. I’m not looking for an affair.”

Anger flared in her vivid violet eyes, stunning him.

“And you think I’m not good enough.”

“No, it’s not that. How can you say that? When you’re the one who said you weren’t looking for a relationship?”

Her chest heaved and her eyes glittered. “You didn’t even wait one day. I was right about you. Right not to trust you.”