A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) (49)

“She’s certainly colorful, isn’t she? Very bohemian.”

“Alexis is one of the kindest human beings on the planet.”

“I wasn’t suggesting otherwise.” Her mother’s lips thinned as she snapped a napkin onto her lap. “Really, Gretchen. You always read the worst into everything I say and do.”

Of course. It was Gretchen’s misunderstanding that was the real problem. Her overreactions. Her dramatics.

Can’t you just ignore him?

Not now, Gretchen. We’re busy.

He’s just teasing you. Don’t be so sensitive.

She’d heard it all. Any excuse to ignore the truth about Evan because facing it would create a scandal. And Lord knew, there was nothing worse than that.

Her mother was right about one thing, though. Colton did need to know what he was getting into if he was seriously going to consider the endorsement. He needed to see the whole ugly truth. So when the interminably long lunch finally ended and she returned to the office, Gretchen texted him.

    Tomorrow night. Seven p.m. It’s my turn for a surprise.





A Cold Winter’s Night





Simon Rye had met more than his fair share of stubborn people in his life.

As director of the historical commission for one of Michigan’s ritziest zip codes, he’d done battle with everyone from greedy homebuilders to cranky widows. But Chelsea Vanderboek was quickly rising to claim the number one spot on his list of People He’d Like to Throttle.

Not just because she’d sent his truck careening into a deep ditch during a snowstorm. And not even just because she was intent on selling one of the region’s most prized historic properties.

But at this moment, it was mainly because he’d made her some goddamned hot chocolate and she was eyeing it as if he’d poisoned it.

“What is this?” She squinted at the steaming mug.

“Cocoa.”

“Where did you find it?”

“If you don’t want it, just say so. I just thought you could use something to thaw that ice block around your heart.”

“I’d thaw a lot quicker if I knew how we were going to get out of here.” She took the cup anyway and settled back into the chair where she’d been sitting and stewing for an hour. She took a sip and gave him a side-eye. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He took the chair on the other side of the fireplace. The heat from the fire was just enough to keep them from seeing their breath.

“Why are you so determined to sell this place?”

“Because there’s no one left in my family to run it.”

“You could run it.”

The noise that emerged from her was half snort and 100 percent Are you joking?

“I’m serious,” he said, curling his hands around his mug, hoping some of the warmth from the hot cocoa would defrost the room. “A place like this is a gift. How can you just throw it away?”

“It’s not a gift. It’s a curse.”

He studied her face in the firelight. Gone was the hard-edged annoyance from before, replaced by a softer and far more devastating emotion. Loneliness.

Sadness oozed off her like melting snow.

“What happened?”

She looked over quickly. “What?”

“What made you hate this place so much?”

“Nothing.”

“No one hates a house the way you hate this one without a reason. And that reason is usually not the house itself but what happened inside it.”

She stiffened. “Have you heard anything yet?”

He’d left a message with every person he could think of to pull their cars out. The answer had been the same every time. It wasn’t going to happen for a while. “Sorry. I don’t think we’re getting out tonight.”

A howl of wind seeped through the peeling weather stripping around the windows. If he wasn’t mistaken, she tensed as if afraid. “What are we going to do?”

“The only thing we can do. Settle in and try not to kill each other.”

“Settle in? What the hell does that mean?”

Simon kicked his legs out in front of the chair and settled his mug on his stomach. “It means get cozy and accept reality that we’re going to be here for a while.”

“I can’t—I can’t stay here.”

He rolled his head to look at her. Her fingers gripped her mug so hard that it trembled, and her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.

“Chelsea.”

Her head whipped in his direction. “What?”

“You okay?”

The mug shook in her hand again. Jesus, was she afraid of him? Is that what was going on? She was afraid of being stuck in the house alone with a man she didn’t know? It would make sense, but still, Simon sensed something else was going on.

“Would you feel more comfortable if I stayed in a separate part of the house?”

“No,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “You don’t have to go anywhere else.”

Simon set his cup down and stood up. She watched him approach her chair and held his gaze as he crouched in front of her. “I promise you’re safe, Chelsea. I’m not going anywhere if you don’t want me to.”