LITMIR.BIZ

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sweet moments they had shared on the drive home from the boat parade, when they had shared confidences and she had felt warm and safe.

      Instead, all she could think about was being in his arms again.

      “I can flip the bacon,” he said.

      “No need. It’s just about there.”

      He looked as if he wanted to argue but finally crossed to the coffeemaker and poured a cup then carried it over to the island where Maddie had finished her math homework and had pulled out crayons and a paper.

      “What are you drawing?”

      “It’s a feel-better card for Miz Sue.”

      “Wow. That’s really good. She’s going to love it. It’s a horse, right?”

      She nodded, her bottom lip firmly nestled between her teeth as she concentrated. It was a mannerism she had either inherited or picked up from Eliza. “Yep. It’s Cinnamon. See? There’s the white patch on her face.”

      He peered closer. “Oh, sure. It’s an exact likeness. Way to go, kiddo.”

      They shared a smile of perfect accord and something soft seemed to twist in Eliza’s heart.

      She quickly turned her attention back to crisping the bacon before setting it on paper towels to drain the grease. Breakfast, in her estimation, was the hardest meal of all to prepare because all the typical breakfast dishes only took a moment to cook and everything needed constant pouring, stirring or flipping.

      She was nevertheless quite pleased with the results as she plated golden pancakes, fluffy eggs and perfectly cooked bacon then set it down in front of him.

      “Thank you,” he said, that unreadable look in his eyes again.

      “You’re welcome.”

      She fixed a plate for Maddie and one for herself. While she would have liked to escape to her little sitting room to eat somewhere she could put a safe distance between them, she couldn’t come up with a good excuse to leave.

      “Did you see Sue’s ankle?” he asked when she finally sat across from him.

      “Only a glimpse. It looked nasty. Swollen and horribly bruised. I must confess, I felt a bit like a hypocrite urging her to go to the doctor after my own recent history of being on the other side of the situation and not wanting to see a medical professional, either. To my untrained eye, it looked worse than a sprain.”

      “Yeah, I suspected as much or she never would have agreed to see a doctor. Well, that will make for an interesting house party.”

      “I told Sue I’ll be her cook’s assistant. She can sit there on a stool and tell me what to do. I might not be a culinary genius but I’m sure I can do an adequate job with a little supervision.” She gestured to his plate with her fork. “I didn’t poison you, did I?”

      “It’s delicious. All of it. But I didn’t hire you to feed twenty people.”

      She swallowed a bite of pancakes, lush and delicious with the genuine gourmet maple syrup Sue stocked in the refrigerator. “I’m perfectly aware you invented a job for me to do, Aidan. We both know Sue could have handled everything on her own, with help from the girls she hired to take care of the laundry and housekeeping chores.”

      He opened his mouth but she didn’t give him a chance to reply. “I’m not stupid. I know you hired me out of guilt because you felt bad for the little mishap we had that first day and you could see I was in a tough situation.”

      “All right. Maybe initially,” he conceded. “But you have proved your worth a hundred times over. The house looks incredible—festive and warm and inviting. Everything is perfect, El, from the gourmet soap baskets to the little guidebooks you left in each of the bedrooms. I love her dearly but, let’s face it. Sue could never have pulled off all those welcoming little touches on her own.”

      His praise made her glow. “I’m really happy you like it,” she said.

      “You’ve done the impossible here. You’ve created a home I am proud to welcome my family to for Christmas. But you have enough to do without adding kitchen duties, too.”

      “I can handle the meal prep. Don’t worry.”

      “The minute Pop finds out something happened to Sue, he’s going to be in here taking over. He has a thing about feeding people. And if Pop’s in here, everybody else will follow. The issue isn’t going to be finding enough help for the meal prep, it likely will be finding enough counter space for all the cooks who will be in here spoiling the broth.”

      She couldn’t wait for his family to arrive and felt as if she already knew them all. Even before she actually met them, though, she already had the sneaking suspicion this would be one more thing about him she would miss when she left Snow Angel Cove.

       CHAPTER NINETEEN

      IN A RARE twist for him, Aidan couldn’t seem to concentrate, no matter how he tried.

      For the past thirty-six hours, he had been obsessed with a new project. He loved the completely natural buzz that sometimes bubbled through his veins when he knew he was on to something sure to be a hit—when he could sometimes spend twenty-plus hours straight at his computer, until his eyes blurred and his shoulders ached.

      That same excitement hummed through him about the project he was currently developing, but at the moment he couldn’t seem to focus on any of the three screens in front of him.

      Little wonder, he supposed. The largest jet of the Caine Tech corporate fleet was wheels up at the moment, on its way here carrying his family, and was due to touch down in less than an hour.

      After piddling around a little longer, he finally sighed, saved the encrypted file and shut down his network.

      He wasn’t precisely nervous. His family had visited him in California plenty of times—maybe not en masse like this, but he had hosted them in smaller groups without problem. Pop and Charlotte had flown out and spent a few days with him over his birthday weekend a few years ago. Dylan and Jamie had each crashed with him for a while between deployments.

      Hosting everyone at Christmas added an entirely new dimension, especially at a new house. He wanted everything to be perfectly memorable, which turned out to be a hell of a lot of pressure. Who knew?

      As he walked through the house, some of the stress eased. Everything would be great. How could it be otherwise? The house looked terrific, from the Christmas tree to the garlands to the glittery lights everywhere.

      Jazz Christmas carols played softly on the excellent stereo system, something Eliza must have programmed since he had completely forgotten about it.

      He meant what he said earlier. She had done wonders with Snow Angel Cove. It was cozy and warm, exactly as he wanted.

      Now that Sue was temporarily sidelined, Eliza had been forced to step up in the kitchen, too. He found her there, standing at the work island before a huge stainless-steel bowl filled with a puffy mound of dough.

      She wore a Christmas-patterned apron and was humming softly to the music. He watched her for a long moment, enjoying the graceful economy of her movements as she rolled bits of dough between her palms and transferred them to muffin cups, the way she nibbled on her bottom lip just as Maddie did, the little sprinkle of flour she left behind when she rubbed the back of her hand along her cheekbone.

      He had been so consumed with the project, he had only seen her briefly over the past few days. Each time he did, he was surprised all over again by the way the world suddenly seemed a brighter, happier, better place when he was with her.

      What would it be like to have her here all the time? Not here at Snow Angel Cove, specifically, but in his life, in his bed. In his heart.

      He didn’t think he made a sound as he watched her but

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