If its all the same to you, Ill call it a night.
Not yet. Chase reached up and brushed her cheek with his thumb. Id give anything to know why you were crying.
Kate froze. The touch of his thumb on her cheek and the warmth of his hand surrounding hers sent a rush of heat all the way through her body and out to the very tips of her ears and toes.
She tugged at the hand held tight in his.
He refused to let go. Tell me what made you sad. Please. His rich baritone wrapped around her like a lush, sexy blanket, warming her in the chill night air.
Her gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips and a new fire burned from the inside. Chase Marsden was a good-looking man with full, sensuous lips that begged to be kissed.
Let me help you.
Im supposed to be here to help you, she whispered, feeling herself fall into the mans eyes.
Clandestine Christmas
Elle James
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Extract
Copyright
Chapter One
Chase sat back in his chair at the Lucky Lady Saloon in Fools Fortune, Colorado, letting the three-hundred-dollar-a-bottle whiskey and the lilting sound of Sadie Lovelys voice wash over him.
Today marked the anniversary of his obligation to his grandfathers will. In order to inherit all of what his grandfather left him, he had to agree to live at the Lucky Lady Ranch for two entire years without leaving for more than one month out of each year.
Finally, he was free to choose wherever he wanted to go, whatever he wanted to do and whomever he wanted to do it with.
But he wasnt really. In the past two weeks, hed gone from anticipating leaving the ranch to his overseer to promising to stay until things settled down with Sadie.
Fifteen years older than him, she was a friend from his former playboy life, really an acquaintance whod saved him from being mugged by thugs and drowning in a gutter when hed been too drunk and stupid to help himself.
Tough as nails, with a heart of gold, Sadie had held off the thugs with a .40-caliber pistol she kept strapped to her thigh beneath her evening dress. Shed dragged him into her home, sobered him up and asked for nothing in return.
Hed offered her his friendship, and even got to know her grandson, Jake, a cute little boy with curious green eyes. He wasnt sure what had happened to cause Jakes mother to crash her car, hadnt asked and Sadie hadnt volunteered the information. It was clear she was raising the boy to the best of her ability.
When shed come to him two weeks ago, scared and in need of his help, hed opened his doors to her, set her up with a job at one of the businesses hed inherited from his grandfather and helped her move her and her grandson into his big empty house on the Lucky Lady Ranch until she could get set up in a place of her own.
Sadie ended her song and descended from the stage to sit in the chair opposite Chase. In her late forties, she was still an attractive woman, with smooth curves and a sultry smile. Im glad you came.
Chase sat forward, the mild buzz from the alcohol clearing as he leaned forward. I came as soon as I got your message. I must say Im surprised you agreed to perform tonight.
She shrugged. I never know when a threat is real or just a threat. All I know is that I cant live my life like this. I have to work to support my grandson. Speaking of which. She bit her lip, the lines around her eyes more pronounced than usual. I want to make sure youre still good for my backup should anything happen to me where Jakes concerned.