His Christmas Present by Serenity Woods Read Free Book Online Page B

curved.
“You were a rather naughty young man.”
    He grinned. “And
you loved me for it.”
    She hesitated, but
at that moment the waitress came over with the bill, so she leaned back as Dion
fished out his credit card and handed it over.
    Did he know just
how crazy she’d been about him at the time?

Chapter Eight
    All of a sudden depression
swept over her. It had all happened years ago, when she was still practically a
child and he was ninety-nine percent hormones. It didn’t mean anything now.
    The waitress
brought their coats over and he held hers so she could slip her arms through.
He put his on, and they walked up the stairs back into the Old Town Square.
    The mid-afternoon sun
shone through the clouds, and the square bustled with people. The snow had
stopped for a while, but the tops of all the stalls forming the Christmas
market were dusted with white.
    The huge tree in the
centre hadn’t yet been lit, but in front of the statue of John Hus a group of
men and women were singing carols, their joyous voices joining with the
ambience of the restaurant and somehow spiriting them back hundreds of years.
    “Are you okay?” Dion
indicated the people milling about in front of the stalls.
    In truth, she felt
okay with him beside her, but she knew he must have other things to do so. “I’m
fine. Thank you for a lovely lunch, Dion, I really enjoyed it.”
    “Me too.” He
looked across at the stalls, giving her a view of his profile, his strong jaw
shadowed with stubble.
    Was he trying to
think how to excuse himself? She slipped her hands in her pockets and gave him
a bright smile. “Well, I hope the takeover goes well.”
    “Mm.” His gaze
came back to her. “What are you up to now?”
    She shrugged and
glanced around. Did she have the courage to tackle the market? “I might do some
shopping for a while. It looks like there might be some nice bits and pieces to
take back as souvenirs.”
    He nodded. “Mind
if I join you?”
    She smiled. “You
don’t have to. I know you’re busy. I’ll be fine.”
    His eyebrows
lifted. “Are you under the impression I’m offering because I think you can’t
cope?”
    “Well, um…”
    “Megan, I’d like
to spend some more time with you. If that’s okay with you.”
    She pressed her
lips together. It would probably be easier if they said goodbye now. But
suddenly she didn’t want him to go. Finding him on the bridge had been the best
thing that had happened to her since parting with Cody, and she wanted to hang
onto that pleasurable feeling a while longer.
    “Please?” he
prompted, and to her surprise, he held out his hand.
    She smiled slowly.
“Okay.” And she slipped her hand into his.
    He squeezed it.
“Come on then. Let’s spend all our holiday money.”
    So for the next few
hours they wandered around the stalls that sold all kinds of handcrafted Czech
products, from wooden toys to Bohemian Crystal, jewellery to embroidery, scented
candles to hats, gloves and scarves.
    Dion bought her a
pair of gloves and made her put them on. So she bought him a red scarf, wound
it around his neck and tucked it into his coat. They bought bags of gifts for
their families, treats for themselves, tried a hot, sugary pastry called Trdelník ,
and cups of svařák hot wine to beat the cold.
    It started snowing
again, and when the Christmas tree lights came on at five o’clock, Megan
gasped. All the buildings around the square glowed golden with light, and the
Gothic-style St. Vitus Cathedral looked like something out of a Disney movie.
    They walked along
to Wenceslas Square, which was more like a boulevard really, the trees lining
the street hung with twinkling lights, and Dion asked a passer-by to take a
photo of them with his phone by the statue of good King Wenceslas. Then he
walked her to her hotel.
    Megan stopped
outside and tucked her hands in her pockets. “This is it.”
    “Looks nice,” he
said, observing the ornate frontage.
    “It’s lovely. A
great place to