Page 69 of So This Is Christmas

She wasn’t sure what exactly he was asking. His command of English was as good as hers, so surely he understood what he’d read. “Exactly what it sounds like. To survive in this world, you have to be adaptable. You have to keep moving.”

He looked up, and their gazes met in the mirror. “But doesn’t that grow tiresome, moving all the time?”

“Not really. Not when the alternative is stagnation. I like to be on to the next thing.”

“But what happens to the first thing?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re on to the next thing, what happens to the thing you left behind?” He turned, and even though he’d been looking at her in the mirror, his direct, unmediated attention felt more intense. She had no idea how to answer him, but she didn’t have to. He changed the subject. “I suspect Lucille will be in touch with the king regarding Noar’s offer, and it’s probably better if he hears from you on the topic first. Would you like me to arrange a time for you to speak with him tomorrow?”

“I would appreciate that, but I would also appreciate if you’d join me.” She paused, wondering if she should say more. “I feel like we’re in this together now, don’t you? And honestly, I could use the reinforcement.”

He smiled at her in a way that seemed almost... fond? “I would be glad to accompany you.”

After he left, she stared at the ceiling for a while thinking about how inconvenient it was that she wanted to jump his bones.

After leaving Cara, Matteo headed downstairs and into one of the pub’s single-occupancy restrooms. He locked the door behind him and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Perhaps signs of insanity? His face was a bit flushed, but other than that he looked the same as he always did.

Inside him, though, was a riotous commotion. And he knew why.

He had been trying to tell himself that his inexplicably good mood of late was because there was hope on the Morneau front. If Noar had been sabotaging Morneau, perhaps there wouldn’t have to be any layoffs, at least not in the short term. At the very least, they would have to untangle Noar’s impact on Morneau’s fortunes and Cara would have to restart the whole modernization exercise.

Which was an enormous relief.

Still.

That wasn’t the cause of the riotous commotion. He leaned closer and studied his reflection. He looked...happy.

He sighed. He couldn’t deny it anymore, even though it didn’t make any sense. He could understand being attracted to Cara when they were in their swimsuits. There was a certain logic there. After all, he was only human, as much as some people sometimes seemed to believe otherwise.

But when they were fully clothed? She was wearing one of her warrior suits today, and though it flattered her, it wasn’t exactly the stuff of fantasies.

He wouldn’t have thought, anyway.

Perhaps it had been the context—the bed. What hadpossessedhim to lie down on it next to her?

He shook his head. It didn’t matter what the source of this inconvenient attraction was; what mattered was whether he was going to do anything about it.

Normally, the answer would be a decisiveno. There were so many reasons why not. She was here to work. He didn’t have the time. It would complicate matters enormously.

And on theyesside of the ledger? Only his own inexplicable, maddening want—and a gut sense that he wasn’t alone in feeling this way.

Whatever had possessed him to kick off his shoes and lie on her bed had also possessed her. She’d been talking about her real estate ambitions, and suddenly there had been something there between them. It had felt as if a weather system had blown in and settled over them like a storm over a mountain valley. He had almost kissed her again, for god’s sake.

And the rub was that he was fairly certain that if he had, she would have kissed him back.

And if she had, would that have been the worst thing? Oddly, the stakes didn’t seem that high. She wasn’t here that much longer. Before he knew it, she would be “on to the next thing.” Was he crazy to think that a brief affair with Cara the handful of days she had left in Eldovia might be just the thing?

Well, yes, he was.

But was he going to suggest exactly that anyway?

Unclear.

Well, he wasn’t going to solve anything now. Kai was waitingfor him at the cabin. He splashed cold water on his face. When he passed by the bar on his way out, Imogen was alone at it, a rare occurrence.

He paused. Perhaps that was providential.

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