Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
“She already said no.” James’s deep voice makes me look up. “We all heard her loud and clear.”
“I wasn’t talking to you James fucking Calloway.” Cameron jumps to his feet. “Who the hell invited you here anyway? I’m sure Taryn doesn’t want her boss and her most hated coworker ruining her off days.”
The room falls silent.
“I should’ve said something to you years ago,” James moves in front of me. “Memory issues or not, I could’ve at least told you when you reappeared in my life at Magnolia.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Cameron grits his teeth. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I love you, Taryn Stone,” James says, looking into my eyes, “and the only reason I came here to Colorado was because I knew you’d find a way to slip away for the holidays, and I wanted to prevent you from marrying this asshole.”
“If the marriage pact you made with him holds any weight, you did find someone, and he’s not giving you up without a fight.”
“That’s fine with me.” Cameron growls, pushing James’s shoulder. “Let’s take this outside, shall we?”
“No, right here is fine,” Georgia says. “It’s below zero degrees out there, and this is a much better view...”
“You’re fighting for someone who doesn’t want you.” James glares at him. “Just walk away, like you asked me to years ago.”
“I don’t hear Taryn saying a word about wanting you at all.” Cameron pushes up his sleeves. “By the way, is that your ex-fiancée with your brother over there?”
He looks at me. “Can you imagine how terrible of a person he must be if his girlfriend left him for his brother, babe? I need you to stop believing whatever delusions are going on in your mind and see what’s happening here.”
The redhead I sparred with earlier says something I can’t quite understand, but I can’t bear to let Cameron hold everyone’s attention hostage for much longer.
“I’m in love with James Calloway, Cameron.” I don’t want him to waste his time fighting for a prize he’ll never win. “I have been for years. I just didn’t realize it until—”
“Until you were texting me all this week about how you couldn’t wait to fuck me on the slopes?”
“I never said that.”
“You implied it.” A vein swells in his neck, and Georgia subtly motions for security.
“This entire week, we’ve been texting and calling each other about this moment and you wait until it’s everything I’ve dreamed of to ruin it?”
“We agreed that we would call it off if we fell for someone else…” I say. “I honestly didn’t realize how much James meant to me until we spent the past few days on the road.”
“Wait a minute, what?” His eyes widen. “James is the ‘just a coworker’ you drove here with?”
“Yes.”
“I see…” His face is as red as the ornaments above us, and his eyes are filled with rage. “So, you fucked him, and now you’re backtracking on your promise to me because you think that’ll benefit your career somehow.”
“No, Cameron. I’m just in love with him.”
“You’re a filthy deceiving slut,” he says, lifting his hand. “I’ll never forgive you for—”
A fist meets his jaw mid-sentence, and he falls to the ground in a heap.
“Oh my god!” “Whoa!” “He’s not getting up for a while…”
I grab James’s hand to prevent him from doing more damage, but I realize he isn’t the aggressor.
It’s his brother.
“Let me see.” One of my uncles stoops to check Cameron’s neck for a pulse. “He’s still breathing, but can someone call a doctor, please?”
“Get the police, too,” Georgia says. “We need to permanently trespass him from this estate.”
“I’ll leave,” Tucker says, holding up his hands in surrender. “No need to get the cops involved.”
“I’m not talking about you.” Georgia shakes her head as the crowd starts taking pictures. “Cameron.”
“Thank you,” James says to Tucker. “I was seconds away from doing the same thing.”
“Hell, I would’ve done it a lot sooner, but I gave him a slight holiday pass. If only he’d stopped talking sooner.”
Lauren moves toward us, avoiding eye contact.
“We should start making our way to the slopes, Tucker,” she says, her voice soft. “Our tickets say we need to be there within the hour. Merry Christmas to you both, and I hope your relationship lasts.”
“Wait.” James sighs, squeezing my hand. “I’m sorry, Lauren.”
“Huh?” She looks up at him. “What did you say?”
“I said that I’m sorry…” He pauses. “I should’ve never proposed to you back then, and I didn’t realize that I was treating you like a rebound.”
“Like your sixth rebound.” She corrects him. “We hadn’t even slept together, and you were just looking to make anyone make you move on from what you thought you’d missed out on by losing Taryn.”
“I know,” he says, looking at his brother. “I took how I felt about Cameron out on you. I’m sorry.”