LITMIR.BIZ

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look beautiful under the stars,” Kai said.

      He was wearing a suit, and it fit him well, making him all the more handsome, like some billionaire playboy with his too-long locks and penetrating blue eyes.

      “Thank you.” I tucked a tendril of hair back. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” A sudden wave of shyness hit me. Hadn’t I wished I had time to tell him how I felt, the inkling I had that there was a spark between us we hadn’t acted on? I froze, unsure of my footing. Was there any point further complicating my life? Kai was leaving, and maybe that spark would fizzle out when we parted for good, because this was goodbye…

      Kai watched me for a beat. “I’ll miss this place.”

      A lone star streaked across the sky, stardust following in its wake. I took it as a sign: Kai wouldn’t come back, so this was my chance. It was time to take a risk!

      Standing on tiptoes, I acted before I could overthink it and quashed his farewells with a kiss. It was almost instantaneous – heat exploded through me as Kai leaned in, deepening the kiss, making me dizzy. After an age, he pulled away, but his hands slung low on my hips. All I could do was stare into his eyes, struck mute by desire. I’d never been kissed quite like that before.

      “Cl-li-oh!” A voice emanated from the front hall, slowly reaching me as I came out of my daze.

      I looked back at Kai, but I couldn’t read his expression.

      “Clio,” he said, his voice soft. “I have an early start tomorrow so I… I’d better head in.”

      “Sure, go for it.” I tried to sound blasé. So much remained unsaid, but what could I say now that someone was here? Would he just wake up and drive out of Cedarwood like nothing happened?

      I took a step back from Kai. The moment to say anything had slipped away and my worry about what that kiss – that kiss – had meant settled in. “Cl-li-oh!” I turned toward the voice just in time to see Amory burst through the ballroom doors.

      “Amory! What are you doing here?” My surprise rang out in the cool, autumnal air, but I glanced back over my shoulder to see Kai disappear through the back door.

      “I couldn’t let you throw your first party alone, could I?” Amory said as she strode across the floor in her six-inch heels and tight wrap dress, looking every inch the polished Manhattanite. “But where is everyone? It’s only just after midnight!”

      I laughed. “We’re in Evergreen, not New York!” I gave her a huge hug, shocked she would come all this way just for me. But of course she would. She was Amory; it was just her style to arrive ‘fashionably late’. And to interrupt…

      I tried to compose myself so she wouldn’t see my inner turmoil. Should I have told Kai I had feelings for him? But what exactly were they? They were too indistinct to act on. Surely he knew after the kiss?

      “Seriously, Clio, where is everyone?” Amory said, spinning around on her heels as my head reeled with a jumble of emotions.

      “No, really, Amory. Everyone went home. Parties in this neck of the woods tend to finish before the witching hour – all that fresh mountain air, you know. And tomorrow…” I took a deep breath. “…Most of the team are leaving, now the lodge is finished.”

      “Well, darling,” she said, linking our arms and steering me down the steps to the lush gardens, the flowers a riot of color under the moonlight, “I’m here to stay.”

      I was giddy with the knowledge Amory wasn’t leaving right away, but I knew there was another reason behind her sudden arrival. I could see it in the set of her jaw, the tenseness in her shoulders. Not wanting to ruin the moment, I decided to wait. She’d tell me when she was ready. Now wasn’t the time to start pushing her over her secrets, especially when I had one of my own.

      Stars twinkled in the inky night as we stared out at the place I called home, and I knew with a startling certainty that Kai would be gone when I woke up. But the thrill of that one kiss definitely wouldn’t fade from my memory any time soon!

       Chapter Sixteen

      Blustery winds lashed at the windows, rattling the shutters, and a draught raced up the staircase in an eerie woo. December had well and truly arrived, bringing with it icy winds, sheeting rain and the urge to snuggle by the fire. But there was no time for that, with only a few days until our bridal expo, and Christmas to plan too.

      “Tell me this place isn’t haunted, Clio,” a wide-eyed Amory said, clutching a loop of silver tinsel to her chest like a safety blanket.

      “With the ghosts of boyfriends past?” I teased, warming my hands by the fire. It crackled and popped, a comforting soundtrack to frosty nights with us holed up in the lodge, working away in one room or another. While the main renovations had been done, there was always something else that needed some attention. From polishing paint-smudged, fingerprinted balustrades, to excavating the debris from a musty, unused cupboard we’d missed the first time around.

      She grinned. “You wish.”

      “No, I do not wish. Men complicate everything!”

      The creaks and moans of the lodge didn’t bother me any more. I was used to the grand old dame making her presence felt in the whispers of wind, and shivers of brocade curtains. And if the ghosts made their presence felt, then who was I to judge? I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, but sometimes I awoke with a start, and had the feeling I wasn’t alone, which was all sorts of crazy. I put it down to fatigue and erratic, dream-filled sleep.

      “Speaking of men…” Amory said, falling into a plush, wingback chair we’d rescued from the basement and rejuvenated. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was thinking back to a few weeks ago – the night I arrived actually – and I could be mistaken, but did I interrupt you and Kai? I wasn’t paying attention at the time, but I’m sure you two were in each other’s arms like… lovers.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously and it was all I could do to keep my expression neutral.

      Damn it! I had tried very hard to forget all about Kai and the spontaneous kiss under the moonlight. He had left before I was up the next morning, and I hadn’t heard a peep from him since. He’d probably forgotten all about me and Cedarwood by now, and thus there’d been no point confiding in Amory about our brief clinch. Without him here, the work days had lost some of their shine – for me anyway.

      “In his arms?” I said doubtfully, as if she was silly to suggest such a thing. “God, no. We had been discussing the… the cleanup. Probably why he hotfooted out so early the next day.” I lifted a shoulder as if it was nothing, but the mention of Kai and that kiss still had the ability to make me woozy. What could I say? It had been a long time since I’d been plagued with thoughts of a man in the romantic sense – it jolted me, these long-dormant feelings.

      Not fooled, Amory narrowed her eyes and said breezily, “Oh, my mistake, this postcard must be for someone else then…” With a playful smile she waved the postcard in front of me.

      With a shriek I snatched it from her, and held it to my chest. “Did you read it?”

      She faux-gasped, “I would never do that!”

      “You liar!” I laughed, and lobbed a cushion at her.

      Even if Amory had read the postcard, which I had no doubt she had, I wanted to read it alone and savor it. I peeked at the festive picture on the front of a snow-covered park with a line saying: Wish you were here. Of course, I instantly read too much into it…

      “Well, aren’t you going to read it?”

      “Later,” I said. “It’s probably just a polite reminder asking for his last invoice to be paid.” Which I really needed to do. Was I subconsciously holding out so he’d call me? No, no, no. I was just time poor, that was all.

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