The living room gets streamers, fairy lights, and snow globes. The bare shelves warm up instantly. I flick the lights on and admire the transformation.
Where next?
I wander through the house, poking my head in spare bedrooms, the downstairs bathroom, then…
Whoa.
I stop in my tracks.
This is beautiful.
A library. A full, breathtaking library. Tall ceiling. Skylight. Floor-to-ceiling shelves bursting with books.
On the desk sits a copy of Moby-Dick, stuffed with enough sticky notes to make the spine bulge.
I set the hamper down and walk across the room.
Does someone else live here?
I cannot imagine Damian—all muscle and scowl—sitting here with a book, annotating like a college professor.
I pick up the novel?—
Someone clears their throat behind me.
Startled, I spin, the book slipping from my fingers.
It’s Damian.
Standing far too close.
And someone of his size shouldn’t be able to move that quietly.
CHAPTER 3
DAMIAN
The truth is, I like the way she looks when she’s flustered. With her coat off, I can see the flush creeping up her neck… and down her ridiculous Christmas sweater. The thing has a giant tree stitched across the front, complete with fuzzy little baubles that bounce every time she shifts her weight.
She kneels and picks upMoby Dick, looks up at me.
Fuck.
On her knees like that—lip caught between her teeth, hair spilling in messy waves around her face—something low and dangerous stirs in my blood.
She rises, with a slight tremor in her movements, and blows a loose hair from her face.
“You’re very sneaky for such a big guy.”
Yeah. Occupational hazard. But I’m not about to explain that.
“I thought you were decorating, not snooping.”
She shakes her head, smiling like she’s enjoying this way too much. “Are you determined to be in a bad mood all the time?”
When I don’t answer, her grin grows.“I think I’ll call you Scrooge. Perfect fit. Broody. Focused. Grumpy.”
“Scrooge wasn’t grumpy,” I mutter. “He had a purpose, Celine, a goal he could pursue single-mindedly. There’s nothing better for a man to have, nothing better to keep him sane.”
