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‘And the other one per cent?’
‘Has a crush on a Christmas tree.’
Laughter burst out of her, free and unrestrained. She was alive, and in the arms of a sexy stranger, who—thank god—was not James Hunter-Savage.
The sound of the second gong for dinner sounded.
She sighed. ‘I really should get back.’
‘Can we have a drink together after the meal?’
Excitement rippled through her, and she nodded.
‘I want to get to know you,’ he continued. ‘But I also need to talk to you about some things.’
Excitement veered off track into nervous-land. ‘What things?’
‘Business-related stuff.’
She froze in his arms. Had he followed her into the hall? Waited for her to tumble before making his move? Don’t be ridiculous!
He lowered her feet carefully to the ground. ‘Let me help get you free of all this first. Don’t move and I’ll untangle you.’
Standing stock still, her eyes squeezed shut, Estelle allowed him to unwind the decorations from her arms. As soon as they were free, she shuffled the loops from her waist, down and off her legs, then tugged the hem of her dress back to her knees.
The man stayed behind her, lifting the final strands over her head.
With the decorations gone and her shoes still in a corridor, Estelle felt naked. She could feel the heat of him behind her, her own heart hammering inside her chest. She’d gone from fear to excitement to dread.
‘Estelle?’ His voice was low.
She slowly turned and opened her eyes. They confirmed what her gut already knew.
James Hunter-Savage.
Hurt, anger and confusion fought for her attention. She’d been vulnerable with him. She’d let her guard down. And what had he given her in return?
‘You lied to me,’ she whispered.
He shook his head, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
‘You lied to me!’ she shouted.
‘No! Estelle, I didn’t.’
He reached his hand towards her and she recoiled.
‘Don’t touch me.’
Shaking, she bent to lift the pile of lights and foliage, but it was too much and half of it dropped back to the floor.
‘Let me help,’ he said behind her.
‘No.’ She ran the bundle to a side door, opened it, and threw the decorations inside.
‘Please, can we talk?’
Returning for the rest of the pile, she carried as much as she could, kicking the rest in front of her.
