Page 26 of The Lie That Stole Christmas

“I think,” he said with a sigh, “that you’re really good at pretending it is.”

Her shoulders tensed, her gaze flickered.

“I came back here because I thought my grandfather was dead, not to… reopen old wounds.”

“Too late.”

The words hung there as his hands balled into fists at his side.The desire to grab her, pull her mouth to his grew stronger the longer she stared at him.

She shook her head, chest rising and falling as she pinned him in place with eyes that haunted his dreams.

“We can’t keep doing this,” she said.

“Doing what?”

“This.”She gestured between them.“Fighting, circling each other like—”

“Like we don’t want to tear each other’s clothes off?”

A flush crept up her neck, spreading into the apples of her cheeks, but she didn’t deny it.

“That’s the problem.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“A big problem.”Her attention flickered down toward the erection that wouldn’t settle.

He tucked her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek.“Maybe we should do something about it.”

Her teeth slid over her bottom lip before it pouted out.Her gray eyes shimmered with an unexpected sheen.A half-hearted smile quirked her lips.“I can’t.Not when I just got used to living without you.”

Just?“It’s been eight years,” he said unable to ignore the timeline.

“Most days it feels like yesterday.Pain like that… losing someone who was so much a part of you…” Her voice cracked, and she looked away as if she hated that he heard it.

His chest tightened at all the time they’d lost, at all the pain she suffered because he couldn’t be the man she needed.But even though he didn’t chase after her, one thing was true.

“You didn’t lose me.My heart has always been yours.”

“What good is a heart if it’s not attached to a body?”

The reality of it slammed into him.“It’s worthless,” he admitted.

“Exactly.So while I appreciate the sentiment, it doesn’t fix all those nights I waited for you to show on my doorstep.”She let out a soft laugh.“You never fully understand loneliness until you wait for someone who never comes.”

“I had nothing to offer you.”

“You were enough.You couldn’t see past this house.There’s a whole world outside the walls of Winterridge.We could have seen it together.”

“With what money?I didn’t have a trust fund to pull from, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to move in with you and live off yours.”

She shook her head, frustration flashing across her face.“I didn’t care about money, Carter.I cared about you.About us.”

“Yeah, well, I did care,” he shot back, his old defensiveness surfacing before he could stop it.“I wasn’t about to follow you into some life where I didn’t belong.”

“You belongedwith me.”

A harsh breath expelled from his lips as he dragged a hand through his hair.“It’s not that simple.”