“No rush, I’d rather talk to you. These people are dull.”
I smile as I pace back and forth, so nervous that I can’t stand still.
“What are you doing for Christmas Day tomorrow?” he asks.
“My brother and sister are coming over, what about you?”
“Just at my parents’ house in the Hamptons. Tristan cooks.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, he fancies himself as a bit of a chef. He’s done it since he was about eighteen; the meals have thankfully gotten a lot better since then.”
I smile as I imagine the gorgeous Tristan Miles in an apron.
“Ten days until I see you,” he whispers.
What?
My heart somersaults in my chest. “I can’t wait,” I whisper back.
We fall silent again.
“Go back to your party.” I smile.
“I don’t want to.”
Oh . . . he’s just so . . .
“You’ve made my day,” I whisper. “Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Not soon enough.”
I close my eyes as excitement thrums through my body.
Is this really happening?
“Merry Christmas, Kate Landon,” he whispers in his deep, sexy voice.
I smile broadly. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Miles.”
We hang on the line for longer than we should, neither of us wanting to hang up.
Eventually the phone clicks as he ends the call and I throw it onto the bed and twirl on the spot in glee.
Holy fucking shit.
We sit around the Christmas table and eat in silence.
The food is delicious, the carols are on in the background.
But it’s hard—there are two people who should be here. Every year I hope this is the last bad one; every year I’m sadly disappointed.
It’s all I can do not to run up to my room and cry on my bed. I don’t want to do Christmas if it makes me feel this empty.
It just isn’t fair.
Elanor, my sister, and Brad, my brother, eat in silence too—I know we all share the same feelings on this one.
We are all so different. Elanor is classically beautiful, she’s sophisticated and smart and wears only designer clothes. She mixes with the elite crowd and has a swanky job in imports, always traveling the world with some new exotic boyfriend. My eyes roam over her: every man who has ever laid eyes on Elanor has fallen hopelessly in love with her.
My dad used to say that she was blessed by the gods. Even her birthmark is perfect, a small, pink love heart just below her ear high up on her neck. How is it possible that a birthmark is sexy?
Brad is more like me and appreciates the simple things in life. He’s a physiotherapist and has just opened his own practice here in London. He had a girlfriend for six years but they recently broke up. He said that they became best friends and the fire just fizzled out between them. I thought they were going to be together forever; the thought of fires fizzling out between two people so in love scares the crap out of me. If it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone.
“This is beautiful, Kate.” Brad gestures to his food. “It really is.”
“Thanks.” I try to make conversation. “The potato is Grandma’s recipe.”