Cinderella's Christmas Affair by Katherine Garbera Read Free Book Online

my job used to be the most important thing in my life.”
    “Well, my job still is. And I’m not going to give it up for some guy,” CJ said, standing up and walking toward the bank of glass windows that provided a clear view of Lake Michigan.
    Tad set his coffee cup down and walked up behind her. Placing his hands on her shoulders he tugged her back against his chest. Damn but this woman felt right in his arms. “I’m not just any guy.”
    She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “No, you’re not.”
    He cupped her face in his hand. “Is that the problem then?”
    “There is no problem. I’m just not the marrying kind.”
    “Why not marry Tad?” Rae-Anne asked.
    CJ pulled away from him. Tad had forgotten the older woman’s presence. He wished he and CJ were by themselves in her apartment. They communicated more honestly when he was touching her than at any other time. He was sure once he had her alone and in his arms, he could convince her to marry him.
    “He’s a pain in the butt,” CJ said.
    “Perhaps he just knows what he wants,” Rae-Anne said.
    Having the older woman as an ally was definitely going to be an advantage. But then maybe Rae-Anne had regrets that she couldn’t go back and change. “Thanks, Rae-Anne.”
    “Why are you on his side?”
    “I just don’t want to see you end up like me.”
    “Is that a sin?”
    “Some people think so,” Rae-Anne said.
    Rae-Anne’s phone rang and she answered it. After a terse conversation, Rae-Anne disconnected the phone. “Some people just don’t know when to leave well enough alone. Do you need anymore help from me?”
    “No. Thanks for bringing by my files and for your help with the tree. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon with the rest of the staff for the tree decorating party.”
    Rae-Anne left and an awkward silence fell between them.
    “What have you got against marriage?” Tad asked, propping one hip against the armchair. CJ’s apartment was tastefully decorated in a feminine way. Lots of light colors and baskets for magazines. But he felt comfortable here. Something he’d never felt in any other place except his parents’ home.
    “I’m not willing to give up everything for a man.” She was staring down into her coffee cup.
    “That sounds bitter,” Tad said.
    She shrugged and finally glanced up at him. “Not bitter—realistic.”
    He left his perch on the chair and sat down next to her. Leaning back, he placed his arm along the top of the loveseat over her shoulders. She started and jerked away from him. Sloshing coffee onto her hands.
    She put the cup on the table and wiped her hands on a napkin but didn’t relax. Just sat there tensely waiting for him to pounce. Gee, that made him feel good. What had he done to make her believe he was the enemy?
    “In the kitchen you asked me about love. Anyone who believes in love can’t be totally against marriage.”
    She started gathering items on the coffee table as if cleaning up the cookies and coffee cups were the most important thing in the world.
    “Aren’t you going to answer me?” he asked.
    She glanced over her shoulder at him and he regretted pushing her. He knew one of his greatest faults was impatience.
    “I’ll admit I want to find someone to love me—not just an image that I represent.”
    “Cathy Jane, you’ve always been in your own playing field.”
    “Don’t say things like that. You don’t mean them,” she said.
    But he did. And convincing her of it would take considerable effort. But then everything worth keeping in his life had taken hard work. Why should CJ be any different?
    He thought about his best friend, Pierce, who’d lost the woman he loved when he’d lost the use of his legs. His friend’s devastation in the aftermath of losing Karen had confirmed to Tad that he never wanted to feel that way. He’d learned that it didn’t pay to let a woman close. Tad had vowed to never let himself be affected so deeply by any woman.
    But even that