Page 55 of Christmas at Sturcombe Bay (Sturcombe Bay Romances #3)

He was the most attractive man in the room, so far as she was concerned. Some might pick Lisa’s brother Paul, or maybe Tom Cullen or Liam Ellis, but for her there was no contest.

“Anyway, where have you been?” she asked.

“I took Tyler for a walk, and popped in to see Grandpa.”

“Ah. How is he?”

“Fine. He was just getting off to bed. Grumbling about Marcus being away, though Carol seems nice enough.”

“Marcus’ll be back in a few days. He deserves to have Christmas off.”

Alex laughed dryly. “Try telling that to my grandfather! Anyway, then we walked on up the hill.”

“Oh?”

“I noticed a for-sale sign when I drove past yesterday, so I thought I’d go up and take a look.”

Her brow furrowed in thought. “You mean the old Ellicot place?”

“Is that what it is? Big old house, set well back from the road. I couldn’t get inside, obviously, but I managed to look in through a couple of windows. The rooms look pretty big, and the garden at the back is huge. Tyler would love it.”

She glanced up at him in surprise. “You’re going to buy it?”

“I think I might. I’ll speak to the estate agent in the new year to arrange a viewing.” He smiled down at her again. “Will you come up with me to have a look?”

She laughed a little unsteadily. “You want me to give you sensible advice, after I landed you with Tyler?”

His eyes glinted with warm amusement. “Well, that turned out pretty well.”

“It did.” She had to smile at the thought. “Where is he now?”

“In Mike’s office. He’s okay in there. I can pop in from time to time to check on him.”

“With a bit of sausage roll?”

“Of course.”

“He’s not bothered by the noise of the party?” she asked.

“He’s better there than on his own in the flat. He doesn’t like being alone.”

She laughed softly. “Big baby.”

* * *

Another cheesy Christmas song began, and Alex laughed, shaking his head. “Oh no, not this one. This is really doing my head in. Let’s go outside.”

“It’s freezing out there,” she objected.

“The conservatory then.”

He kept his arm around her waist as they threaded their way through the dancers. She looked absolutely gorgeous tonight, her pixie blonde hair curling around her head, her blue eyes sparkling.

Her dress was a light greeny-blue, some kind of floaty fabric that swirled around her as she moved and flirted to just above her knees.

“I like your dress,” he murmured.

“Oh . . . !” Her eyes lit up. “Thank you. Jess picked it for me. We went into Exeter last week to go shopping.”

It struck him to the heart how much that simple compliment seemed to mean to her. He guessed that she had never owned a pretty dress like that before, much less received any compliments.

The small jewellery box he had picked up yesterday was burning a hole in his pocket. Was he moving too fast? But moving fast was what he did. And Jess had told him that she had almost run away a few weeks ago — Lisa had persuaded her to stay. He didn’t want to risk that happening again.

* * *

“Phew!”

Shelley huffed out a breath. It was cooler in the conservatory after the heat of the ballroom, where everyone was jumping around and singing along raucously to the music. She’d noticed that even the two golf ladies were on their feet, joining in.

Alex drew her round into the shelter of a flourishing Areca palm, sliding his arms around her and drawing her close.

“About the house . . .”

She glanced up at him, a question in her eyes.

“The thing is, Tyler said that he won’t move in there unless you come too.”

She laughed at his nonsense. “He did?”

He nodded, pretending to be solemn. “He was most insistent about it. In fact, he said it would be most improper of me to just ask you to move in with us. He can be really quite prudish at times.”

“Oh . . . ?”

He glanced up, and she followed his gaze. Above their heads was a spray of mistletoe.

“So . . . I got you an early Christmas present.” He took something out of his pocket and put it into her hand. “Well, it’s not really a Christmas present.”

She hesitated. It was a jewellery box. A small one. The sort that often held earrings, or dainty little pendants on gold chains.

“Open it,” he urged softly.

Gulping down the constriction in her throat, she lifted the lid. A ring. A sapphire, surrounded by diamonds. It caught the light from the ballroom and flashed like fire.

“I love you, Shelley.” There was a warmth, a whole world of meaning in his voice. “Will you marry me?”

She had to close her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them, he was still there, still smiling at her, and that beautiful ring was still in her hand.

Happiness bubbled up into laughter. “Did Tyler tell you to ask me that?”

“Of course he did. What shall I tell him?”

“Uh . . .” She drew in a long, slow breath. “You’d better tell him I said yes.”

His smile could have melted the winter frost out in the garden as he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. His mouth came down to hers in a long, deep, tender kiss — a kiss under the mistletoe, for a lifetime of love.

* * *

Jess stood on the terrace, leaning on the cold stone balustrade as she watched the wind-whipped waves roll in and crash in fountains of spray against the rocks below.

The stars were glittering pinpricks of light, high and stark and cold in the ink-dark sky, and the moon gleamed like silver on the snow that still blanketed the garden.

It was freezing out here. Her breath was puffing out in clouds of white, and there were goosebumps all down her bare arms. But she didn’t care — the icy cold just suited her mood.

Christmas, and everyone was merry. Behind her the ballroom was full of happy people dancing to a seemingly endless string of jolly Christmas songs as the fairy lights on the tall Christmas tree winked silver and gold.

Maybe it was the Christmas spirit, or maybe there was something in the air, but everyone seemed to be falling in love. There had been two weddings in the summer, then Cassie and Liam’s wedding just last week.

Now Alex and Shelley were in the conservatory, under the mistletoe, locked together as if they’d been covered in superglue. Even Mike and Kate were canoodling like a pair of teenagers. She had to admit that it was lovely to see them finding happiness together at last, though.

But for herself, the ice had crept into her heart. Oh, it was her own stupid fault. She should never have let herself fall in love with Paul Channing.

Hadn’t she learned her lesson with Glenn? Some men just weren’t cut out for commitment, and if you expected it from them then you were doomed to disappointment.

A soft footfall came from behind her. She stiffened — she didn’t need to turn her head to know who it was.

“It’s cold out here.”

She shrugged her slim shoulders in a gesture of casual dismissal. “I don’t mind.”

“Cold doesn’t bother you anyway?”

“You’ve been watching Frozen too many times,” she retorted on a note of sardonic humour.

His laugh was low, husky, and she felt him gently put his jacket around her shoulders. “Here.”

He was standing so close that it was a struggle to breathe. She felt as if her lungs were clamped in a vice. The memory of last night was so vivid it felt as if he was touching her.

And now . . . Oh, she ached for that touch. Ached to feel the slow, sensuous stroke of his hand over her skin, to feel his breath warm against her cheek, his hot mouth on hers.

“Why did you leave like that?” He spoke quietly but insistently. “I woke up this morning and you were gone.”

She forced a note of casual mockery into her voice. “I bet that was a first for you.”

“Just tell me why.” Now there was a thread of tension creeping in. “Don’t I deserve that, at least?”

“I just . . . It just seemed like the best thing to do.”

“Why? Did you regret sleeping with me?”

“Yes . . . No . . . I don’t know.” She turned her head away. “Don’t ask difficult questions.”

He laughed without humour. “It doesn’t seem that difficult to me. A simple yes or no would do.”

“Simple?”

“Okay.” She heard him drag in a heavy breath. “Just tell me one thing. Was it because of Glenn?”

She spun back to him, startled. “Glenn? Why would it have anything to do with him?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t think of any other reason. It couldn’t have been about that girl the other night because you know what happened there.” He shook his head. “Please, just tell me why.”

“Why should there be a why? It was just . . .” She could feel herself crumbling. “Oh dammit, I just wanted to be with you, to make love with you — even if it was only for one night. I’ve wanted that from the beginning, from the first time we met. I’m leaving after Christmas . . .”

He frowned sharply. “Why?”

“Because . . . It would be too easy to stay. But I won’t be just another in your long string of girlfriends.”

He shook his head, lifting his hands to rest lightly on her shoulders. “You wouldn’t be. I don’t want anyone else but you. Ever. Just you.”

She stared up at him, not sure if she could believe him.

He laughed softly. “Cassie told me weeks ago that I’d met my match.”

“She did?”

“Lisa was a little more forthright about it. She said I’d be an idiot to let you go. She can be an interfering little madam, my sister, but she’s mostly right. When she told me where to find you, she gave me this.”

He plucked something out of the buttonhole of his jacket — she hadn’t noticed it when he had put it round her shoulders. A sprig of mistletoe.

“They say that if you kiss under the mistletoe on Christmas Eve, you’ll have a lifetime of love.”

“It isn’t Christmas Eve.”

He glanced at his watch. “It is now.”

* * *

“I thought you said your sister was off men?”

“I thought you said your brother changes his girlfriends as often as he changes his socks?”

“I don’t think he’ll be changing this one.”

“You could be right.”

Lisa frowned at her empty champagne glass. “I think we need a refill.”

Julia tipped her own glass upside down — there wasn’t a drop left. “You could be right.”

“Come on, then.”

The two of them linked arms and wove their slightly tipsy way back through the dancers, picking up fresh flutes of champagne from one of the waiters as they passed.