You Had Me At Christmas: A Holiday Anthology(124)
He shook his head. “Kai. What did you think it meant, when I said I loved you? That love was just this bright, happy thing?”
She hesitated and shrugged a little, opening her hands. Kind of, yes. Wasn’t that what it was? Brightness and happiness? Or at least what it was supposed to be?
His hand curved around her face. “So did I, maybe,” he said quietly. “But when it wasn’t so bright or happy—that didn’t mean I wanted to let it go.”
Her eyes filled.
“Or let you go,” he said very softly.
The tears spilled over.
“Kai.”
“I just still don’t understand,” she whispered. “How you can love me even now. There’s a whole huge part of me that doesn’t believe you can ever love me, ever again. Not really. How could you?”
His thumb traced one of her tears away. “Because you didn’t know I could still love you, when you weren’t laughing, when you were ugly and desperate, when your life was hard?”
She shook her head, crying openly now. No, she hadn’t known that. She still didn’t understand it.
“Well.” He bent and kissed her, tasting the tears off her lips. “Now you do.”
The End
Copyright ? 2013, Laura Florand
Thank You
Thank you so much for reading Snow-Kissed! For more stories from me, check out my website: lauraflorand.com
And make sure to sign up for me email of new releases here: lauraflorand.com/newsletter
And for some more glimpses of Kai and Kurt, check out SunKissed, the story of Kurt’s mother:
SunKissed
They called her the Ice Queen.
Anne Winters. Self-made billionaire. Household name. Divorced single mom. Convicted felon. She didn’t let anyone or anything get to her. No one was allowed to breach the walls around her heart except for her own son. She had only one trusted friend: her vacation house neighbor. They’d been walking the beach together for twenty years. Not that this gave him access to her heart, of course…
They called him a man who got what he wanted.
Mack Corey. Self-made billionaire. Dominant world player. Widowed father of the bride. No felony convictions yet, although his daughters had come close. He’d transformed his family company into one of the top 500 by the age of thirty. He’d raised two daughters who dumped him for idiot arrogant French chocolatiers and went off to live in Paris. Hell, he even managed to tolerate his dad. But that Ice Queen act Anne Winters had going was really starting to get to him…
They’d been best friends for twenty years. Could they become lovers?
Could a frozen heart be kissed by the sun?
Available now!
Christmas Eve: A Love Story
by
M. O’Keefe
About the Book
(previously published in the Sweet Talk Anthology benefiting Diabetes research)
Growing up in the mountains of Wyoming Trina and Dean had been childhood friends until the bitter feud between their families drove them apart. When the magic of Christmas Eve tips the star-crossed lovers together year after year, will they be able to make sure this holiday is not their last?
About the Author
M. O’Keefe can remember the exact moment her love of romance began—in seventh grade, when Mrs. Nelson handed her a worn paperback copy of The Thorn Birds.
Writing as USA Today Bestselling author Molly O’Keefe, she has written thirty novels, won two RITA awards and three RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Her books have been on numerous “Best Of” lists including Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and NPR. She lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two kids.
Chapter One
December 24, 2001
8:05 PM
It was snowing. An icy, dry snow, and in the porch light the drifts on the steps in front of Trina Crawford looked like piles of diamonds.
Oh, if only…
Trina pulled her gloved hands into her pink coat and blew into the sleeves. The blast of heat from her breath was a quickly fading comfort. So was the thought of diamonds.
Nothing is going to help me. Nothing.
“Enjoying the view?”
The voice made her jump. It wasn’t her mom’s voice, which was the one she wanted to hear, but it was a really nice voice all the same.
“Dean?”
“In the freezing flesh.”
Dean McKenzie came out of the dark at the edge of the house, wearing his serious snow gear. He must have driven an ATV the back way over the creek that ran along the border between their families’ properties.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, though she didn’t really care why he was here. It was like taking a sip of water only to realize how totally thirsty you are.
Seeing Dean was like that. She was never lonely until he showed up.
“My mom said your mom left. I figured you might want some company.” That was pity on his face. He tried to hide it, because he was her friend and he knew she hated pity, but she could still see it.
“She’s coming back.” Trina had to say that. She had to believe it. Otherwise it was just her and her dad forever, and she couldn’t wrap her head around a future so crappy.