Same Time, Next Christmas. Christine Rimmer

Читать онлайн книгу.

Same Time, Next Christmas - Christine  Rimmer


Скачать книгу

      She groaned. “The next guy? Like there’ve been a hundred of them?”

      He sat very still. She could practically see the wheels turning inside his big head. “Wait. I think that came out wrong.”

      “No, it didn’t. Not at all. I’m just messing with you.”

      “You’re probably thinking I’m a jerk just like Stan.” He looked so worried about that. She wanted to grab him and hug him and tell him everything was fine—and that was at least the second time tonight she’d considered putting her hands on him for other than purely medical reasons.

      It had to stop.

      “No,” she said. “I honestly don’t think you’re a jerk—and look, Matthias, I’ve been meaning to ask you...”

      Matthias felt like a jerk, whether or not Sabra considered him one. He’d been having a great time with her, like they’d known each other forever.

      Until he went and put his foot in it. As a rule, he was careful around women. He wasn’t ready for anything serious, so he watched himself, made sure he didn’t give off the wrong signals.

      But Sabra. Well, already she was kind of getting under his skin. There was so damn much to admire about her—and she was fun. And hot.

      But they’d agreed that the man/woman thing wasn’t happening. He was friend-zoned and he could live with that. Anything more, well...

      It would be too easy to fall for her. And he didn’t want to fall for anyone. Not yet. Maybe never. The last year or so, he’d finally started to feel like his life was back on track. True, getting something going with a woman could turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.

      But it might send him spinning off the rails.

      He just wasn’t ready to find out which.

      “Do you maybe have some sweats I could wear?” she asked. “Something soft to sleep in would be great...”

      She was going to bed now? It wasn’t much past nine.

      No doubt about it. He’d definitely screwed up.

      “Uh, sure,” he said, and tried not to let his disappointment show. “Take anything you want from whatever’s upstairs.”

      “I was thinking I might even have a bath, if that’s all right with you?”

      “Now?”

      “Well, I mean, no time like the present, right?”

      “Absolutely. Go ahead.”

      She got up. “Can I get you anything before I—”

      “No. Really. I’m good.”

      She took off up the stairs. Not five minutes later, she came running back down with an armful of his clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.

      He sat there and stared at the tree and tried not to imagine what she was doing behind that shut door. Really, he must be getting better fast—he had the erection to prove it.

       Friend-zoned, you idiot. And that’s how you want it.

      He needed to take his mind off his exceptionally clear mental image of Sabra, naked in the tub, her almost-black hair piled up on her head, random strands curling in the steam rising from the water, clinging to the silky skin of her neck as she raised one of those gorgeous long legs of hers and braced her foot on the side of the tub.

      Lazily, humming a holiday tune under her breath, she would begin to work up a lather. Soap bubbles would dribble slowly along her inner thigh...

      Matt swore, a graphic string of bad words.

      And then he grabbed his cane and shot to his feet, only swaying a little as his bad leg took his weight—yeah, he’d promised her he would stay on the sofa unless he had a good reason to get up.

      Well, clearing his mind of certain way-too-tempting images was a good enough reason for him.

      He limped over to the bookcase. She’d set the box of books he’d brought from home right there in the corner on the floor.

      Might as well shelve them. He got to work, his leg complaining a little when he bent down to grab the next volume. But it wasn’t that painful and it kept his mind from wandering to places it had no business going.

      He was three-quarters of the way through the box when the bathroom door opened.

      “Matthias. What the— You promised you’d stay off your feet.”

      Yep. He could already smell the steaminess from across the room—soap and wet and heat and woman.

      “Matthias?”

      Slowly, so as not to make a fool of himself lurching on his bad leg and proving how right she was that he shouldn’t be on his feet, he turned to her.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QQLaHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0i aHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1w PSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bWxuczpkYz0iaHR0cDovL3B1cmwub3Jn L2RjL2VsZW1lbnRzLzEuMS8iIHhtcE1NOk9yaWdpbmFsRG9jdW1lbnRJRD0idXVpZDo2NGEyY2I2 Zi0zMjg4LWE2NGQtYWI1OS0zNzU5N2UzYzQzMDIiIHhtcE1NOkRvY3VtZW50SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6 Rjg1RUJBQkQ4RDlEMTFFODk2ODk5NzlFOEZBQzgxREQiIHhtcE1NOkluc3RhbmNlSUQ9InhtcC5p aWQ6Rjg1RUJBQkM4RDlEMTFFODk2ODk5NzlFOEZBQzgxREQiIHhtcDpDcmVhdG9yVG9vbD0iQWRv YmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNS4xIE1hY2ludG9zaCI+IDx4bXBNTTpEZXJpdmVkRnJvbSBzdFJlZjpp bnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOjI5RDFGN0FGMTkyNzY4MTE4NzFGOTgwOEZCODVDMTFBIiBzdFJl Zjpkb2N1bWVudElEPSJ1dWlkOjY0YTJjYjZmLTMyODgtYTY0ZC1hYjU5LTM3NTk3ZTNjNDMwMiIv PiA8ZGM6dGl0bGU+IDxyZGY6QWx0PiA8cmRmOmxpIHhtbDpsYW5nPSJ4LWRlZmF1bHQiPlRydWVM b3ZlX0RFQ19TaW5nbGVzLmluZGQ8L3JkZjpsaT4gPC9yZGY6QWx0PiA8L2RjOnRpdGxlPiA8L3Jk ZjpEZXNjcmlwdGlvbj4gPC9yZGY6UkRGPiA8L3g6eG1wbWV0YT4gPD94cGFja2V0IGVuZD0iciI/ Pv/tAEhQaG90b3Nob3AgMy4wADhCSU0EBAAAAAAADxwBWgADGyVHHAIAAAIAAgA4QklNBCUAAAAA ABD84R+JyLfJeC80YjQHWHfr/+IMWElDQ19QUk9GSUxFAAEBAAAMSExpbm8CEAAAbW50clJHQiBY WVogB84AAgAJAAYAMQAAYWNzcE1TRlQAAAAASUVDIHNSR0IAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAPbWAAEAAAAA 0y1IUCAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARY3By dAAAAVAAAAAzZGVzYwAAAYQAAABsd3RwdAAAAfAAAAAUYmtwdAAAAgQAAAAUclhZWgAAAhgAAAAU Z1hZWgAAAiwAAAAUYlhZWgAAAkAAAAAUZG1uZAAAAlQAAABwZG1kZAAAAsQAAACIdnVlZAAAA0wA AACGdmlldwAAA9QAAAAkbHVtaQAAA/gAAAAUbWVhcwAABAwAAAAkdGVjaAAABDAAAAAMclRSQwAA BDwAAAgMZ1RSQwAABDwAAAgMYlRSQwAABDwAAAgMdGV4dAAAAABDb3B5cmlnaHQgKGMpIDE5OTgg SGV3bGV0dC1QYWNrYXJkIENvbXBhbnkAAGRlc2MAAAAAAAAAEnNSR0IgSUVDNjE5NjYtMi4xAAAA AAAAAAAAAAASc1JHQiBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFhZWiAAAAAAAADzUQABAAAAARbMWFlaIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AABYWVogAAAAAAAAb6IAADj1AAADkFhZWiAAAAAAAABimQA
Скачать книгу