2,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: December Drake
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
Charlie is home from college for the holidays, and some things never change. Too much eggnog, too much family, and way too much time seated across the dinner table from the one person she hates.
Victor Stone. Her dad’s sinfully hot business partner. She’s been locked in a war of insults with him for years, as they both try to get in the last word.
But something is different, this year. The way he’s looking at Charlie is different, and the tension is hot enough to combust. When he finally confronts her, it doesn’t take much for that heat to consume them.
And if Victor gets his way, she’ll be carrying more than her luggage back to college after the holidays.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
Ähnliche
Bred for the Holidays
December Drake
Copyright © 2024 December Drake
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
Contents
“There’s only two rules for our family gatherings.”
Charlie raised her voice to be heard over the rising clamor out in the dining room as she pulled dinner plates from the kitchen cabinet.
“One, always serve the spiked punch and eggnog in the real mugs. Kids get disposable cups only.”
Pamela, her cousin’s new wife, paused in arranging cookies on a tray. “Was there a mix-up?”
Charlie nodded. “Once. Absolute chaos.”
“And vomit,” her cousin Buster muttered. He hefted a stack of plates into his arms. “So much vomit.”
“Oh, my,” Pamela whispered.
“You don’t have to worry about that this year, though,” Charlie told her. “All the kids are on a holiday cruise with Uncle Paul and Aunt Janice. No plastic cups necessary.”
Charlie was just glad to finally be twenty-one. Buster was still twenty, but their family had no problem casually looking the other way during holidays, as long as he handled himself well.
Besides, they were all still in shock that Buster had found a woman willing to marry him. Apparently, he’d dragged Pamela to the courthouse to make it official the very next day after she’d agreed.
Very smart of him.
Every year, sometime shortly before Christmas, Charlie’s family all crammed into Uncle Bill’s home for a long weekend. Uncle Bill was the only one with enough beds for everyone.
It was impossible to get them all together on the holidays themselves, due to conflicting plans. Instead, they’d work out a neutral three-day period when most of the family could drive out to Bill’s old brick home.
Even without kids, it was a full house. The combined conversations, shouts, and laughter coming from the dining room was already a dull roar.
“The second rule is that Aunt Lisa is cut off after three drinks. She can’t handle her booze, and she’s a drunk crier. It gets ugly.”
Pamela nodded quickly. “Noted.”
“You forgot about the third rule,” Buster added when he returned to collect the mugs Charlie had gathered on the counter. “Never, ever sit Charlie here next to Victor. They fight like cats and dogs.”
Charlie rolled her eyes as Buster grinned, then shoved past him to grab the crystal bowl of spiked eggnog and carry it out to the dining room.
She attended college now in the next state, and only came home on breaks. Too bad her father’s business partner, Victor Stone, had a standing invite to their holiday gatherings. She could thank her stepmom for that.
Her dad had remarried three years ago. Samantha was everything Charlie could have hoped for in a mother, if a bit on the young side. She was sweet, patient, and an amazing cook.
