Abby's Christmas Spirit by Erin McCarthy Read Free Book Online

house again, but I’ve decided not to bother. Instead, I’m going to offer you a proposition.” One that would make her happy, and solve one of his problems. Then they could get down to the real business at hand—a little Christmas cheer minus both their clothes.
    He’d made a decision he wasn’t going back to Chicago until he’d tasted her skin. There would be no peace without at least one night of fantasies come to life. Emphasis on come.
    “Is this going to piss me off?”
    “No, of course not.” Darius leaned forward, wanting to feel more in the power position with her, wanting to feel more in control. She had a way of reducing him to confusion and insecurity, which was so foreign he had to then add bewildered to his feelings. “Unless you’re completely irrational, which I don’t know, maybe you are.”
    “No. I’m not as charming as you are, either.”
    “You’re a comedienne, obviously.” Darius ignored the fact that his legs were starting to burn from the squatting position. “I wanted to ask you if you wanted to rent the house from me. I’m not going to be able to sell it to you at the price you want, nor will I probably get what I want if I just list it. If you rent it, you get to be in the house you love, and I have an income being generated by it, plus a good steward of the property. It’s win-win for both of us.” He was pretty damn proud of the solution.
    Abby didn’t say anything for a minute. She just stood up and left the circle of candles she was burning and went to the empty fireplace. Fingering the carving details on the face of the mantle, she said, “My grandmother always hung these beautiful Victorian stockings from the fireplace. Everything in this parlor smelled like cinnamon and cloves at Christmas, and she decorated with natural elements, just like the Victorians did. Evergreen branches, pine cones, cranberries.”
    Darius stood up, no clue what to say in response. That sort of seemed off topic.
    She turned back to him. “I appreciate your offer, but I’m going to respectfully decline.”
    “What? Why?” He didn’t understand what she could possibly object to.
    “Because I don’t want to live in this house. Not alone.”
    If Darius were certain that glass held wine and not blood he would have downed it. The woman frustrated the hell out of him. “Then when do you want to buy it if you’re not going to live in it?”
    “I suppose I’ll rent it. But I don’t want to live here until I’m married or at least engaged. This is a family house.”
    Part of him responded to that. Hell, that’s why he had bought the house in the first place. But he clung to the logical, determined not to fall under her spell as he’d fallen under the impractical spell of this house. “Your sister lived here alone,” he pointed out.
    “Actually, Charlotte lived with her. But this is also the house where Bree and Ian fell in love. Where their family started.” She shrugged, a smile teasing at the corner of her mouth. “I’m sure you think it’s stupid, but I have this image of me here with the man of my dreams.”
    Man of my dreams…
    She was the woman of his dreams, quite literally. Darius remembered how he’d felt when he’d bought this house, fresh off a failed relationship, wanting to hope that someday, he would have the wife and kids. A loyal partner who loved him.
    “I’ve never thought of witches as particularly romantic,” he told her. “Yet that’s a very romantic view.”
    “It’s a positive energy, that’s all. I think we all seek that. None of us are truly meant to go through life alone.”
    The way she was looking at him, like she thought he was the sexiest and most interesting man she’d ever encountered, had him forgetting why he was even there. Forgetting why anything mattered other than kissing those plump delectable lips. “What spell were you casting?” he asked, hoping somehow it involved him.
    “For love. That’s why the candles are pink, and why