Page 235 of Santa Daddies

Christmas bells. She just realized that she was hiding behind being Little to avoid talking to him.

That wasn’t good enough.

So she slid her thumb from her mouth. “I’ll go to the cabin.”

“You will?” His face lit up and she felt bad about the next part.

“But only because I don’t want to spend Christmas here.” She gestured around. “I deserve to have a Christmas that I’ve dreamed of for . . . years.”

“You haven’t had very good Christmases recently?”

“George didn’t like Christmas. He used to tell me it was a waste of time and money. I wasn’t allowed a tree. Or to watch Christmas movies or play carols. I couldn’t decorate. Not for any holiday. I really want to decorate for all of the holidays.”

“You couldn’t even watch a movie?”

“I used to watch them sneakily when he was at work,” she confessed.

“Good for you, baby.”

Those words surprised her. Especially when he’d told her how much he hated Christmas.

“What would he have done if he’d caught you watching them?” he asked in a dark voice.

She couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking.

“Probably lectured me on how I was rotting my brain. Or that it was a waste of time. Then he’d likely have assigned me more to do during the day as I obviously had too much free time on my hands.”

“Assigned you more things to do?” he repeated. “What the hell does that mean?”

She winced. “I was a stay-at-home wife. I didn’t really want to be, if I was honest. It’s what George liked.”

“Was it always about what George liked?” he asked.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she nodded. “Yes, it was always all about George.”

“Did he abuse you?” His voice was dark and low. Dangerous.

Her thumb went back into her mouth without thought.

“Right. You’re not ready to tell me. Because you don’t trust me. Because I’ve done nothing to earn that trust.”

She winced because all that was true, but it still made her feel bad.

“It’s all right, baby. Not your fault. One day you’ll trust me with everything. Including more information about fucking George.”

Would she?

She wasn’t so sure.

“Can I drive you up there? I’ll get Joey to bring your car up.”

Alice slid her thumb from her mouth. “I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

Relief filled his face which was odd. Was he relieved that he didn’t have to take her?

“You aren’t a nuisance. Never that. I’m going to call Joey while you pack up your stuff.”

She’d barely unpacked so that wouldn’t take long. But she nodded. She could do that. In fact, she kind of liked being given a task because she felt so lost. Having a job to do grounded her.