A Maine Christmas...or Two by J.S. Scott and Cali MacKay Read Free Book Online Page A

million bucks just to spend Christmas with me, thereby saving my ass and maybe my job after another man just used me to get quick access to money.” Emily drew a deep breath and added, “I can’t figure out your motive and it’s driving me crazy. I’m just an ordinary woman. I’m not beautiful or the type of woman any man would lose his mind over. I’m not worth all this, so the things you’re doing make absolutely no sense.”
    Grady had tried to be patient, but as soon as she finished speaking, he completely lost it.

E mily was on her back on the couch, Grady pinning her body to the leather, before she even knew what had happened. Startled, she stared at the fierce expression on his face, looming right above hers, with trepidation. He’d switched positions so fast that her mind was still whirling.
    “It’s only money. And don’t ever say you aren’t worth it and that you aren’t beautiful,” he rumbled angrily. “I grew up with money, I’ve always had it, and now I have more than I’d need in a hundred lifetimes. I don’t give a shit about money. It doesn’t make people happy. Rich people can be pretty damn miserable. Maybe it would be worth it to me to actually experience a different kind of Christmas for a change. I think you’re worth every stupid thing I give you and a hell of a lot more.”
    She gaped at him, his words touching a place in her heart that made it ache with sadness. Because right at the moment, she realized that this man wasn’t happy, and probably never had been. The fact that he hated Christmas should have tipped her off, but she’d been too busy wondering why he was doing anything for her to realize that he was actually hurting. Somewhere deep inside, Grady Sinclair had wounds that weren’t visible, but were obviously painful. She’d been too caught up in the money to realize that there was so much more to his behavior than money. In fact, she believed him. The money really did mean nothing to him.
    “You don’t have to give me anything to spend Christmas with me, Grady. I want to be with you,” she answered, feeling the truth in her words. “You didn’t need to give so much to the Center, and I don’t need an expensive truck. I’m alone this year too,” she whispered quietly.
    “Not anymore,” he answered fiercely. “You have me.”
    Emily sighed and her body relaxed beneath his. She could have protested that they barely knew each other, that they had never had more than a spectacular kiss and a long phone conversation. But, the truth was, she had felt the connection between them from the very moment she’d looked up at him from her undignified position on his front porch. But she was a practical woman, and she was afraid that Grady Sinclair was heartbreak waiting to happen. “Did you really think I was a prostitute? Do you…um…do that a lot?”
    “No. But my older brother Evan seems to think not getting laid on a regular basis makes me irritable,” he replied, his eyes still boring into her, his expression intense.
    “Does it?” she asked curiously, wriggling a little to see if she could escape her prison, or at least get her arms loose.
    “Not any more irritable than I usually am. But it doesn’t stop him from trying occasionally.”
    Emily’s arms finally broke free from between their bodies, and she wrapped them around his neck, aching to try to relieve some of the turmoil she could see in his smoky eyes. “Where is all your family?”
    His eyes grew darker. “None of us particularly like the holidays. My father was a drunk, and the holidays weren’t a good time for my family. Evan is conveniently on business in another country where they don’t celebrate Christmas, and my other brothers are working, too. My sister is in Aspen with her latest loser boyfriend who none of us can talk her into dumping because all he wants is her money.”
    “Then I guess you’re stuck with me,” she told him lightly, stroking the silky strands of hair at the nape