by Box Set
None of that mattered to Rider one bit right now. What he really needed to know was why Trish came over. Was it to forgive him or to tell him goodbye? “Did you want to take your coat off?”
She looked up, staring at him with her baby blues and making his heart fall for her all over again, no matter how much he tried to hold back his feelings.
“I miss you, Rider.”
“You do?”
“More than I thought possible.” She rushed to him, tears streaming down her face.
He wrapped her in his arms, kissing her hair. His heart swelled with emotion, elated to have her where she belonged once again—in his arms. “I miss you too.”
“Can you forgive me?” she asked.
“Forgive you?” He pulled back to look into her eyes. “Why would you need my forgiveness?”
“I let you wait two whole weeks before admitting that I love you so, so much.”
“Oh, Trish.” He stroked her cheek tenderly to wipe away her tears, mindful of what that monster had done to her face as he leaned in to capture her lips with his.
The kiss went on and on, and it was everything Rider had ever hoped for. When they came up for air, he said, “I love you too, and I don’t think there’s anything left to forgive between us. Our hearts know what our brains took time to figure out.”
She nodded. “We’re meant for each other.”
“Exactly.”
She smiled, and it lit up her entire face, making her even more beautiful than Rider already thought she was. “Feel like going to a tree trimming party tonight, Trench Coat?”
“There’s nothing more I want to do than spend the holiday with you.”
“Just the holiday?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “That’s not going to be enough. Prepare yourself, love, ‘cause you’re stuck with me for life.”
He kissed her again. “Every day with you will be like a holiday.”
She giggled. “Just no more cruises.”
“No more cruises,” he agreed as she leaned in for yet another kiss.
Author’s Note
One of the first exercises I did in a writing class was a spider graph to plan a novel about a murder on a cruise ship. Although I never wrote the story, the idea stayed in the back of mind all these years, waiting for a project. It changed a lot since then and hardly resembles what I had mapped out, but that’s what makes writing so fun for me. I never know what is going to happen until I write it!
Laws have changed, and the United States has passed legislation to make sure cruise passengers are safer since my original idea. I definitely took some artistic license with my fake cruise ship, as I highly doubt any cruises would have security this outdated and lax. My kids went on a cruise with their granddad to Alaska last year and had a ball! Still, I had a wonderful time writing Rider and Trish’s story.
I hope you enjoyed reading it! As always, I would love it if you left an honest review saying what you thought. A few words are fine as it doesn’t need to be anything long, but reviews are what help keep us authors going and help obtain new readers so we can continue writing stories for you to enjoy.
Have a wonderful holiday season and thanks again for reading!
~ Chantel October 10, 2016
Website: http://www.chantelrhondeau.com
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Loving Lucy Excerpt
Did you miss Lucy and Blake’s story last year? Read on for an excerpt
Her sexy hips swayed side to side as she danced around the room. Blake Carmichael swallowed hard, curling his hands into fists beneath the table. It sucked that so many men’s eyes were on Lucy Brier’s fantastic body. Her skimpy Christmas-themed outfit would have been more suited for a stripper than the law firm’s receptionist, but when Lucy flipped back her long, curly brown hair and batted her beautiful brown eyes, no man had any complaints.
“You’re going to crack your teeth if you don’t relax your jaw, Blake. She’s not worth that.”
Turning toward his coworker and long-time friend, Blake gave a curt nod and rolled his shoulders in a conscious effort to relax tense muscles. “I hate company parties.”
Sherry Anderson laughed and patted his shoulder. “Poor baby. And unlike my husband, you have to be here or risk the wrath of Baker and Lutz Law’s partners. After all, what would they do without their head accountant here to tally up how much this ridiculous party costs?”
Glancing around the conference room, Blake could only nod in agreement. The tacky red, green, and gold decorations were only tolerable because he loved Christmas more than any other holiday. Then again, the company had the party nearly a month before Christmas, making the décor even more over the top. Blake supposed they had to do it early though. The senior partners took extended vacations over the holiday, gone most of December. They wouldn’t want to be stuck in Sayle, Washington just for a company party.
Still, Blake tried to look for positive things in life, and he could do that here too. “There’s one good thing about being stuck here.” His eyes shifted back to Lucy’s sexy dance as though magnetized to her shapely body.
“You found something good?” Sherry asked. “Do tell.”
Blake grunted out a laugh, knowing he couldn’t admit to Sherry that seeing Lucy was worth any amount of suffering. “The open bar, of course. Want more eggnog?”
“I knew there was a reason I kept you on as my work husband. Bring me two.”
Grinning, Blake rose from the table and crossed the packed room toward the bar. The line stretched throughout the tables where the law firm’s employees chatted with dates, coworkers, and friends. All of them seemed happy, and Blake wished he could join into their upbeat mood. He was a great pretender, smiling and offering a kind word whenever someone spoke to him. The truth was, he wished he could be anywhere else—even with the open bar and Lucy’s sexy dance.
In fact, being home with Aaron sounded good. He hated leaving his almost six-year-old son with the nanny more often than he absolutely had to. Work already took up so much time—it seemed pointless to spend hours at a party he didn’t want to attend, just because his bosses expected it of him.
Finally reaching the front of the bar line, Blake ordered three eggnogs and wrapped his large hands around the small crystal glasses. As he turned carefully around, a sultry voice spoke behind him. He’d know that voice anywhere.
“You don’t mind if I cut in, do you?” Lucy asked the next man in line. “I’m so thirsty from all that dancing.” She giggled in that flirtatious way she had.
“By all means,” the man replied. “You look great out there. Are they paying you to be the entertainment?”
Lucy’s rich chuckle sent a shiver of pure desire coursing through Blake’s veins.
“Unfortunately, they only pay my receptionist wages,” she said. “Besides, I don’t think the women are too happy about my dancing.”
Turning around fully to face her, Blake got up his courage to speak. “You look great, as usual, but maybe you should quit for the night.” He raised an eyebrow as he got a good view deep into her cleavage. “Or at least put more clothes on.”
“I’ve caught you enjoying the show.” She grinned, not at all chastised. “Something tells me you don’t really want me to stop. Must not be much to look at in the records room you’re usually stuck in. Don’t you work in accounting?”
Gulping, Blake nodded, surprised she knew who he was. In the three years they had worked together, this was the first time Blake dared to speak to the beautiful woman he dreamed about so often.
“Ma’am,” the bartender interrupted, “I need you to either order something or get out of the way.”
Lucy’s gorgeous brown eyes unlocked from Blake’s and she flipped curly tresses over her shoulder. “A lemonade, please.”
Within moments she was
off and flirting with the bartender, having forgotten all about Blake and his mud-colored hair, black glasses, and indistinguishable eyes that varied from light brown to green. Not that Blake expected anything different. He was shocked she had recognized him at all.
Making his way back to Sherry, he set the eggnog on the table and reclaimed his seat.
“I saw that!” Sherry exclaimed. “You talked to her. I never thought you’d have the balls for that.”
Blake snorted. “I have plenty of balls. Then again, I told her to stop dancing or to put more clothes on. I’m pretty sure that isn’t the way to let a girl know you’d love to date her.”
Sherry giggled and then knocked back half a glass of eggnog. “You really are hopeless, Blake. I know you’ve been off your game since the divorce, but that was over four years ago. You need to get back in the saddle.”
“The saddle, huh? Is there a horse you have in mind?”
“Well, duh.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s Lucy you want. Stop being such a wimp. Go get her.”
Blake knew Sherry was on her fifth serving of eggnog, and maybe the heavy dose of bourbon made her less inhibited, but she’d never been so liberal in telling him how much he sucked before.
He took a small sip of the creamy liquid, watching across the room as Lucy sat on men’s laps and asked what they wanted for Christmas. “You think I’m too big of a pansy to speak to her?”
“She’s worked here three years, Blake. Just how long have you wanted her?”
“Three years.” He chuckled, acknowledging Sherry’s point. “She’s a bit wild though. I need a mother for Aaron, not some woman who’s going to do that kind of stuff.” Nodding his head across the room, he drew Sherry’s attention to Lucy’s latest antics.
“She just needs the right man to tame her. I heard she was engaged before coming to work here and had a nasty breakup. She’s sowing her oats.” Sherry took another large drink, licking foam from her upper lip. “Something you should do too. There’s plenty of time to find Aaron a mother, but you won’t ever find one if you don’t get back on the dating scene.”
“I could have Lucy if I really wanted her,” Blake boasted, starting to feel the effects of his eggnog as well. No wonder Sherry no longer watched her tongue. The bourbon made him feel as though anything was possible.
“Oh, really?” Sherry raised an eyebrow. “Want to put your money where your mouth is?”
Suddenly, his alcohol-induced bulletproof feeling came to a halt. Sherry must have had something planned when she first started taunting him. It was the way she operated. “What do you mean?”
“A friendly wager,” Sherry replied. “Scott and I have tickets to the Super Bowl in February.”
“Yes, I remember... You remind me all the time.”
Sherry pointed across at Lucy. “Get her to sleep with you before New Year’s, and I’ll give you the tickets.”
As much as Blake liked football, he knew there had to be a catch. “What do you want if I fail?”
“If I win the bet, I want that week-long timeshare you have down in Florida for May. I need a romantic getaway on the beach with my husband, and this might be the only way to get it.”
“The Seahawks have a good chance of going to the Super Bowl if they keep going like they are.” Blake drummed his fingers on the table as he kept his eyes on Lucy, relieved that she had finally stopped sitting on laps and gone back to dancing. As much as he hated other men staring at her, he hated them possibly feeling her up even more. “Don’t you think I’ll be motivated to win those tickets? I doubt Scott will be happy if you lose them.”
“You’re never going to sleep with Lucy, so I have nothing to worry about. I want that timeshare.”
The New Year’s deadline gave him a little more than a month to win Lucy’s heart. Even though Sherry stipulated he had to sleep with her, hopefully, that would come naturally once he showed Lucy how a real man treated a lady. Blake twisted in his seat and stuck his hand out. “Make sure you pay up when I win. It’s a bet.”
Sherry grinned and shook his hand to seal the deal. “I can’t wait to visit Florida.”
To read on, download Loving Lucy today!
Afterword
Thank you for reading Christmas is for Lovers. We hope you’ve enjoyed our collection of hot and heartwarming stories. We wish you a very merry Christmas, good times, and fun with your family and loved ones.
Please check out other Christmas boxed sets brought to you by the Christmas is for Lovers authors.
Spicy Christmas Kisses - 11 romances to deliver joy and warmth for the holidays.
Christmas Pets & Kisses 2 - 12 sweet romances with fur and feather babies.
Love, Christmas - 20 holiday love romances inspired by your favorite Christmas carols.
Romancing Christmas 2 - 7 unique romances from sweet to spicy—a Christmas collection to delight you.
Have a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!
