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It's official - for Juliette Connolly Christmas is a bust and she's definitely not in the spirit of Christmas. She's been dumped by her boyfriend and replaced by a younger model. Then a clause in her contract means she and a mysterious colleague have to work over Christmas. But there's much more to Andrew Campbell than meets the eye. Especially when it turns out he's the Scottish Laird of the haunted house they're filming in.
And it seems like there's magic in the air in the remote snow-filled setting. The local village contains a cast of Christmas characters and even though the boiler in the drafty house is broken the temperature is definitely rising.
Maybe Andrew and Juliette are about to be sprinkled with a little Christmas fairy dust?
Christmas Around the World series
Book 1: Christmas at Waratah Bay by Marion Lennox
Book 2: A Yorkshire Christmas by Kate Hewitt
Book 3: Christmas with the Laird by Scarlet Wilson
Book 4: Christmas in Venice by Joanne Walsh
Excerpt:
Lorenzo cut through Ashlynne’s
reverie by handing her back the phone. She took it and promised her
mother she’d call again tomorrow, Christmas Day, and speak to
everyone.
“Bye!” she said for the fifth time,
before replacing the handset firmly in its cradle, and noticed
Lorenzo leaning against the door observing her. “Mum’s hoping
that you can join me in calling them again tomorrow. Sorry!” she
grimaced. “My brothers will be there with their wives and kids, and
my sister and her boyfriend as well. There’s going to be quite a
houseful and they’ll all want a word.”
“I don’t mind, cara. They’ve
always been very accepting of me. They’re nice people.” He
paused and she saw a shadow flit across his features. “Not having
had much of a family has made me envious of those who do.”
She gave him a rueful smile as she
walked towards him, arms folded. “I know.” She stopped when she
reached him, sighed and looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry
that what happened with us meant that you didn’t get to see my
folks anymore.”
He straightened at her muttered
apology. “At least I escaped having to chomp my way an annual
helping of Christmas pudding.”
She looked up at him, wanting to match
his humorous reply with a retort of her own. But as their eyes met,
something in his expression kept her silent. He was searching her
face now, as if he was looking for something more than just a mocking
reply, his gaze intense and smoldering. Her mouth went dry and her
pulse quickened, as her antennae picked strong signals from him that
she knew only too well. Her arms dropped by her sides and she ripped
her eyes away from his, then took a step forward. She had to get out
of here before—
But she had no time to move any
further. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms, stopping
her from leaving the room. She didn’t resist. It was as if her
brain and body were controlled remotely by some unseen force that
pushed her to him. She relaxed into him, breathing in the faint
scent of him—soap and something muskily male.
“We didn’t spend enough Christmases
together, did we?” he whispered into her hair.
“No,” she replied, laying her cheek
against his chest, hearing the steady beat of his heart and feeling
the comforting rub of the wool of his sweater against her cheek.
“I’m sorry. I want to make that up
to you.”
They stood for a while, not saying
anything. Then she raised her head.
“Lorenzo?”
“When you came to my room last
night…you hadn’t had too much to drink, had you?”
“No, cara.” He met her enquiring
gaze, looking amused. “You already asked me that,” he said.
“I know. I just wanted to know why
you stayed…lay down next to me.”
He pulled her to him again, so that she
was pressed close to his chest once more and could feel his body’s
warmth. “Perhaps I needed a friend.” There was a pause and she
closed her eyes, nestling into him. “Perhaps you needed a friend.”
Her heart’s beat and her breathing
quickened as the flames of longing she’d tried so hard to deny
caught alight.
His lips caressed the top of her
forehead as his hand snaked around her waist and held her tighter.
“Did you still need me, tesoro?”
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