After the Christmas Party(94)

“Are you kidding me? I have seen the way that man looks at you. He is smitten.”

Which sounded good but also a little too good to be true. She kept expecting him to snap out of whatever spell he’d fallen under. Then where would she be? Lost.

“What are you wearing?”

Trinity shrugged. She hadn’t even thought about what she’d wear. What was wrong with her? She should have thought about it. Only she was so used to just wearing hospital scrubs that she didn’t give much thought to anything else.

Laughing, Karen shook her head. “Okay, so you’ve no clue what you’re wearing. How about gifts for Riley’s family?”

If her face had been hot moments before it was deathly cold now.

“I wish I knew. I’ve been searching for something from the moment I realized I was going to have to go to this dinner, but what do you buy for people you’ve never met?”

Karen paused a moment then shrugged. “Nothing big or fancy, just some token of appreciation that says thank you for including me and, no, I’m not a total loser that your son’s dragged home to meet you.”

“Maybe I am a total loser when it comes to Christmas, because I don’t have gifts for them and don’t know what to buy.”

Karen looked thoughtful then waggled her brows. “Anything at home you can re-gift?”

Re-gift? As in give away something that someone had given her once upon a time? That would be assuming that she’d received gifts over the years. She rarely had.

She winced and met her friend’s gaze. “What am I going to do? I’m running out of time. Tonight, after work, is the last chance I have.”

Shaking her head in mock sympathy, Karen laughed. “I guess you are going to join the throng of last-minute shoppers who are hitting the stores the minute they get off work tonight and pick something from whatever is left on the sales rack.”

Trinity closed her eyes.

Go shopping for Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve.

Oh, joy to the world.





CHAPTER TEN



RILEY HAD PLANNED to spend Christmas Eve with Trinity, but obviously she’d had other ideas because when he’d asked her to come over for dinner, she’d refused.

Something she hadn’t done for a while so she’d caught him off guard. He’d just assumed they’d spend Christmas Eve evening together and hadn’t even considered any other possibility.

He paced across his deck, staring out at the sea. The wind was up a bit and held a chill. The waves crashed noisily against the beach, the pounding sound matching his mood.

What if Trinity refused to go with him tomorrow? What if she refused to see him on Christmas Day, period?

What kind of glass-slipper-wielding Prince Charming could he be if she wouldn’t even let him have a go at her feet?

Besides which, he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to pull off everything he had planned. His sports utility vehicle was packed to the brim with what he’d planned to give her, but the reality was that he might have put a whole lot of effort into something he wouldn’t even be able to pull off. It wasn’t as if she even had a chimney for him to shoot down. Besides, breaking and entering with her asleep in her bedroom seemed a little too stalker-ish.

He closed his eyes, breathed in the salty scent of the sea.

Where was she? What was she doing?

Surely not mourning over the idiot who’d dumped her? Ever since he’d overheard her conversation he’d wanted to strangle the guy.

And to hold her tight and never let go.

At least he understood the walls she hid behind a bit better.

Raking his fingers through his hair, Riley sighed. He didn’t like feeling at a loose end. They’d only started spending time together two weeks ago. A single night away from her had him antsy?

Maybe Trinity was missing him as much as he was missing her. Only one way to find out.

He slid his hand into his pants pocket to call her. His phone started ringing before he could even press a single key.

The number on the screen had him letting out another sigh, this one full of relief and something akin to pleasure that she’d taken the initiative.

“Trinity.” No hello, just her name. “I need your help.”

His help? Panic hit him. Was she in trouble?

“Anything.” There were few things he wouldn’t do for this woman.

She told him what she needed and he burst into laughter.

“Okay, princess, I have everything you need. I’ll save your royal hind end.”

From the corner of her eye Trinity watched Riley trail a long curly ribbon across the floor, enticing Casper to pounce, which the cat quickly did, only to have Riley tug the string a little further away.

“She’ll never tire of that, you know,” she warned, liking it that he was a cat kind of man. That he hadn’t minded that she’d brought Casper with her. Chase had been more into dogs. She liked both. “She likes to play.”