Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

was once again lost to the woman in his arms.

    Zach spent the night in her bed. After the incredible sex they’d had in the kitchen, she’d been too sated and lethargic to even remember that she’d wanted fast, raucous sex—and nothing else.
    The next morning, when she woke early and gazed at his handsome, sleeping face in the bed beside her, she realized she’d gotten a whole lot more than she’d been looking for.
    She could love this man. She really could. Memories of their past crept into her psyche—moments like those of yesterday when he’d helped her and her grandparents. Who couldn’t love him?
    Stupid. He’s already proved he’s not the stay-around kind.
    And now that he’d gotten what he’d been after before, he surely wouldn’t be sleeping in her bed for long.
    She had to let him go. Correction—she had to make him go. Now, before she got in any deeper.
    Holly cleared her throat. “Zach, it is 7 a.m.”
    He didn’t even open his eyes, but smiled lazily. With his lightly stubbled cheeks, his tousled hair, that incredible bare chest, he looked sexier than any man had the right to be.
    “Good. Time for more,” he replied, his voice throaty.
    Oh, she wished. But she couldn’t back down now, not when she’d made the decision to end things before they went any further.
    “No.” She swallowed hard as his eyes slowly opened. Though it was difficult, she managed to continue despite that warm, sultry green-eyed stare. “I have to get back to work….” To reality.
    Though her heart ached, she added, “I want you to leave.”

Chapter Seventeen
    Needing to meet the deadline for the robbery story update, a little confused by Holly’s mood and not having any of his stuff with him, Zach hadn’t argued when Holly had asked him to leave the other morning. He’d noticed she was quiet, withdrawn. Maybe wondering if they’d made a mistake.
    Making love to her—twice—that night had been no mistake. In fact, it had been perfect.
    Suspecting she needed time to process, Zach had kissed her and promised to see her soon.
    So far it hadn’t happened.
    In the three days since he’d slipped out of her bed, dressed and quietly left the house before Holly’s grandparents got up, he hadn’t heard a word from her. She hadn’t returned his calls, hadn’t indicated she was interested in seeing him again. A less secure guy might be feeling used.
    Of course, there were worse things that could happen to a guy than being used for great sex by a beautiful woman. But he knew that wasn’t what had happened.
    Holly might have wanted to use him. In fact, he’d bet her demand to have sex now, immediately, here against the refrigerator had been about her trying to convince herself that what they had was just physical. She’d wanted him but didn’t think she could trust him not to hurt her again. Remembering all the awful crap she’d seen her mother and father do to one another, he didn’t entirely blame her for not trusting her heart.
    He needed to convince her to give him a chance to prove her wrong.
    Which was why on Friday he left work early and drove the one hour back to Wheaton. He got to the inn at around five-thirty. The day was crisp and cold, darkness descending quickly here in the country, far from the city’s lights. There was no snow yet, but the forecasters said there might be a few flakes by Christmas. For the first time in years, Zach looked forward to the holiday because he hoped he’d have someone to share it with.
    Smiling at the possibility, he parked in the empty lot outside the inn. The quiet feel of the place said they were still suffering from the slump that had driven Holly to such desperate measures this week. Hiding a body to ensure a positive story from the travel show had been pretty extreme. He only hoped it paid off.
    It wasn’t until he was almost at the porch that he noticed the place wasn’t entirely deserted. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, seeing someone creeping in the shadows along the side of the house near the kitchen door.
    It could only be one person.
    His heart thudding, Zach knew it had to be the murderous jewel thief he’d thought was long gone.
    But Fred Kipling wasn’t gone. He was here. Now. Breaking into Holly Cavanaugh’s home.

    When Holly first felt the gun stuck into her ribs, her first thought was of her grandparents. God, please don’t let them come downstairs.
    Her second was of Zach. Why, oh why had she been