Christmas with the Boss by Annie Seaton Read Free Book Online Page A

“Dominic?”
    “Yes?” He gave his head a gentle shake. She had a terrible effect on
him; his thoughts were all over the place.
    “Merry Christmas.”
    “Oh. I forgot. And to you too.” A chuckle accompanied his words.
“How about when I come over I’ll bring a couple of beers and we can sit on your
porch and watch the storm after we dig out a board for you?” He’d had no
intention of saying that and his words surprised him. At least if he was there,
he could keep her safe. Not that he thought she could really come to any harm.
After all what could—
    “Storm?” Jilly frowned at him and lifted her eyes to the clear blue
sky.
    “Guaranteed to be a storm later.” Dominic lifted his head and
sniffed the pure air. “Can’t you smell it?”
    Jilly’s pretty laugh trilled around him. “No, I can’t, but I’ll take
your word for it. And yes, it would be nice to have some company.”
    Despite her laugh, he was surprised to see a tear drop from the tip
of her long eyelashes. He reached out and used the pad of his thumb to wipe it
from her cheek.
    “You okay?”
    She let out an unladylike sniff and wiped her hand over her eyes.
“Sorry. First Christmas without my dad. I thought I’d be okay, but I guess I’m
not.”
    “Nothing to be sorry about. It’s tough, isn’t it? What about your
mum?”
    Jilly shook her head mutely.
    He stared over her head to the ocean and let her gather herself
together.
    “I lost both my parents in the same year. It’s hard. Times like
Christmas and birthdays really bring it home.”
    “Come on over later. When you’re ready.” A small smile tilted her
lips. “I’ll try not to be rude to you this afternoon.’
    Dominic picked up his board, and hitched it beneath his arm. He was
reluctant to go back to the cottage; he was enjoying her company. “Okay, sounds
like a plan; I’ll see you later.” As he turned away, Dominic allowed himself
one lingering glance at the lush curves in the white bikini.
    Yep, she’s drop dead gorgeous.
    Maybe his office rule could take a break too.

Chapter S even
     
    Jilly didn’t spend much longer on the beach before the sun got too
hot. With her fair skin, she’d end up looking like a lobster. It took a while
to get immersed in her book; the sight of Dominic walking away from her with
the board beneath his arm, his strong muscles flexing, had set her heart in a
little pitter patter, and it was hard to concentrate. Then she opened her
Kindle and tried to focus on one of the romances she had downloaded. For a
couple of hours she buried herself in an imaginary world, not giving any
thought to Dominic or the sorting out of Dad’s stuff that waited for her back
in Sydney.
    Eventually, the heat of the sun—not to mention the steamy scenes in
the romance—got too much and she packed up her bag and towel. The erotic
romance about a holiday fling had her thoughts heading in an inappropriate
direction.
     A holiday fling? Maybe that’s what I need?
    Uh, uh. She shook her head. Not with her
boss. Although it was becoming harder to reconcile the Dominic of the
surf with Mr Smythe-Phillips of the office. Maybe it would help if he put a
shirt on. Too much naked chest for her comfort.
    But what a gorgeous naked chest.
    Jilly grinned as she headed back to the beach house. She paused as
she opened the gate to the path that led to the front door. Someone had mowed
the grass and cleaned up the garden while she’d been at the beach. The cottage
looked prettier with smooth, green lawn surrounding it; more like the photo in
the email. The edges had been trimmed and the long grass outside the fence was
neatly clipped too. She closed the gate behind her and took two steps before
she stopped dead and looked around slowly, her mouth dropping open.
    Her car was gone. Jilly spun on her heel and looked back to the
road; no sign of it. She climbed the steps slowly and walked along the verandah
to the door and her heart lodged in her throat. The door was wide open