An Unexpected Christmas by Lori Jennings Read Free Book Online

counteract the sadder times.' She stopped and I
turned to look at her, to her smile slowly creep across her face and brighten
her eyes.
    'Is it bad that I didn't even
think of that?' She let out a little laugh. 'I just focused on the bad and
didn't even consider the good parts of the relationship.' She shook her head
and looked away mumbling something.
    I moved my head to catch her eye.
'What was that?'
    She looked right at me and
repeated, 'I said, ‘maybe that's why.’'
    ''Why’ what?' I was intrigued. She intrigued me and I wanted to know what she was thinking.
    'Why I have never really been in
love,' she said, and shrugged like it was no big deal.
    Her expression was serious and
she held my gaze for a moment before continuing to walk along the sand. I had
to take a second to register what she had just said. How was it possible that
someone who was twenty-seven? Twenty-eight? Could never have fallen in love? I
jogged to catch up to her and then at her side I fell into step. I wanted to
ask, to probe the subject further, but she had pushed her hands deep into her
pockets and if I had learnt one thing from my many years of acting it was to
read body language. She didn't want to talk about it just yet but I knew I
could get the information out of her; I just had to approach it in the right
way.
    'We should probably head back,' I
said gently, and when she looked up I could see the relief in her eyes. She
nodded and watched me as I pulled my hands out of my pocket and with my fingers
to my mouth let out a high pitched whistle. Toby and Milly came charging down
the beach at the sound and I gestured for April to head back.
    We didn't speak for a minute and
I just enjoyed the sounds around me. The crashing of the waves and the seagulls,
the occasional bark from one of the dogs and the sound of April’s coat moving
beside me. God, she intrigued me. She seemed shy one moment and then the next
she tells me something so personal. I wanted to know everything and the feeling
of attraction towards her seemed to be growing with every second; there was a
part of me that wanted to pull her towards me and pull away the band that was
keeping her hair up so I could sink my fingers in to her light brown hair and
kiss her deeply. Oh man, I had read way too many romantic scripts recently.
    ‘So,’ I pushed my hands back into
my pockets and glanced back over to her, 'What is your opinion on films? Do you
stick with your reading preference or is your taste a little broader?'
    There was a smile back on her
face that I was glad to see. 'I like a whole load of different films. Umm,
action, adventure, chick flicks, I really like the John Hughes 80's films. I'm
not a huge fan of horror but I can sit through anything that had a decent
enough plot.' I wanted to know if she had seen the 'Danger' movies I had been
in but I thought I may come across as pretentious. I just wanted her to like
them; I wanted to know her opinion on my work. It was such a huge part of my
life and I wanted her to be comfortable and even a little enthusiastic about
it. I noticed a little colour fill her cheeks and she looked up at me. 'I also
liked a couple of movies you were in. Umm, 'Danger: The Beginning' was
brilliant, I saw it three times in the cinema and 'Unpredictable' just broke my
heart when Judith died.' I grinned down at her; it was like she had read my
mind and I felt a little relief that she hadn't hated some of my work. I
wouldn't blame her if she did; she was allowed to have an opinion.      
    'The next one, 'Saving Time' is
pretty action packed; I think you will like it, at least I hope you do.' I
always got a bit nervous when I had a film coming out. The premiers and parties
were fun but it didn't stop the feeling of dread entering my body until the
reviews were in.
    'I'm sure I will,’ she said; her
smile lit her face as it reached her green eyes. ‘I'm quite looking forward to
it actually, I saw the trailer the other day and it looks really