Read Online Christmas with the Boss by Annie Seaton - Free Book Online

uncurled her legs from beneath her bottom and stood before
disappearing into the kitchen. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
    The smile that crossed Dominic’s face when she put the plum pudding
and custard in the middle of the table made the wait in the supermarket car
park well worth it.
    Thanks, Ethel.
     “Merry Christmas to you too.”
    She sat back down and picked up her beer and watched as he traced
his fingers over a scratch in the middle of the table. She leaned forward; DSP
was scratched into the wood.
    “So you spent time here when you were growing up?” Jilly watched as
his fingers moved across to another scratch. “Family house, you said?”
    He looked up and held her eyes with his. “More than that. After my
parents died I grew up here at my grandparents’ house. The one up the road
where I’m staying. This one was Aunty Vi’s.” He jerked his head to the side.
“Lived there till I left for uni.”
    “You?” Jilly pointed to the other initials near his. “Sisters and
brothers?
    “No, just me and my cousins.” He picked up the oysters and peeled
back the lid. “Two of them lived here and the other cousins who lived in
Brisbane used to come and visit once a year. Christmas here was a busy and
noisy time.”
    “Where are they
all now?”
    “Mostly
scattered all over the world. And my grandparents passed on.”
    “I just lost my
Dad.” The words were out before she could think.
    “So that’s why
you took some time off?”
    She nodded
mutely as the grief resurfaced.
    “You should
have taken longer.” The kindness in his voice almost brought her undone and
Jilly swallowed and changed the subject.
     “It was what?
Three days?” His gaze was fixed on her and she dropped her lashes and ran her
finger around the rim of the bottle.
    “Yeah, it was long enough. It’s okay. But I might need the odd day
to sort out the estate when we go back.” Jilly sat back in her chair as he
arranged the oysters next to the crackers and then passed the plate to her.
“Thank you. And here I was thinking you were a city boy. Private school, old
boys’ network and all that.”
    He looked at her quizzically over his beer.
    “Shouldn’t make assumptions, should I?” She lifted her beer and
closed her eyes as the cool liquid slid down her throat.
    “What about you?”
    “Guilty,” she said. “Private school, uni and Dad’s old boys’ network
got me the job at the bank.”
    “Everything you thought I was,” he said with a quizzical look.
    She nodded guiltily.
    A comfortable silence settled between them and they sat back
watching the storm come in over the sea. Jilly glanced at Dominic as he tipped
his beer back and drank. He was wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut out. When
he lifted his beer to his mouth, the muscles in his upper arm moved and Jilly
couldn’t help staring.
      For someone who spends all day in the office he looks pretty
damn good.
    A shaft of raw desire ran through her and she forced herself to look
away, but not before she caught his gaze. Sweat dampened her brow and the
skinny tank top she’d changed into after her shower clung to her chest. She
looked down dismayed to see her nipples hard beneath the shirt. Lifting her
eyes, a hot wave ran through her; Dominic’s eyes were at the same spot. She
focused her attention on his lips. She’d never noticed how lush and kissable
they were. Jilly averted her eyes as she let out a shaky breath. For a moment,
she’d thought he was going to lean over and kiss her.
    And it wouldn’t have been unwelcome. Tension hovered in the air
until he reached over and put his hand on top of hers on the table.
    “Jilly…” The moment was broken as a sudden wind roared in from the
ocean, accompanied by a loud crack of thunder. The hammock chair began to rock
back and forth creaking loudly, and the shower door blew shut and the bolt slid
across. The tension dissipated in a moment. They looked at each other and
smiled.
    “See, these things happen.”