Let It Snow... by Jennifer LaBrecque, Leslie Kelly Page B

what she wanted.
    First, though, he had to convince her to come with him. Which wouldn’t be a problem if she truly fell in love with him.
    The question was, would she? And did he have enough time for her to?
    His month of freedom was more than halfway over. He had to leave a few days at the end for the return, and had already decided he would have to depart New York City on Christmas Eve to make it home in time. Which meant he had less than two weeks to capture the love of the woman who’d win his.
    He’d possessed her body tonight—and the memory of what they’d shared would haunt his dreams and his fantasies for the rest of his life. Now he needed to lay siege to her heart.

6
    T HOUGH SHE WOULD NEVER regret the incredibly sensual interlude she’d shared with Philip, Claire couldn’t help wishing it hadn’t been a workday. Because the next morning, she was weary and dragging. She felt drugged. Maybe she’d OD’d on chocolate.
    “But oh, God, what a way to go,” she whispered as she put the finishing touches on some beautifully decorated sugared plums. She’d already been at work for two hours, finishing up the special orders she’d neglected the night before, and realized it was time to open the shop.
    After starting the industrial-size coffeepots, she lifted the chairs off the small tables and set them in place. Then she pulled open the blinds and went to unlock the door, flipping the sign from Closed to Open.
    Through the glass, she was surprised to see a small line of people waiting outside.
    “Please come in!”
    She stepped back and gestured for them to step in out of the blustery morning air. Claire had been in business for almost a month now, but this was the first time people had actually been waiting for her to open. She couldn’t contain a rush of pleasure and satisfaction at having come this far, this quickly.
    With a smile on her face, she served coffee and pastries—something she’d recently added to the menu to appeal to the breakfast crowd. Plus there were plenty of order pickups, orders placed, and on-the-spot treats purchased.
    It wasn’t until nearly eleven that she had a chance to sit down, feeling both exhausted and energized, somehow. And of course, that was the moment when her lover—well, her oral lover, anyway, since they hadn’t taken that oh-so-intimate final step—walked through the door.
    As always, Philip filled up the room. He had such presence, an almost regal air. His amazing body was always perfectly straight, his jaw tilted slightly as his beautiful bedroom eyes surveyed the room. The guy could part a crowd—she’d seen that last night—and could dominate a large space. Suddenly, the walls seemed much closer, the room more intimate, and the setting far more private than a shop that had been filled with people ten minutes ago.
    “Good morning, Claire,” he said, that throaty voice almost purring. “Did you sleep well?”
    Thinking of the night’s sleep she had—of the erotic dreams he’d inspired and the way she’d been shaken awake from one of them by a powerful orgasm—she felt color flood into her cheeks.
    “Oh. I see you did,” he said, a small smile playing on that sensuous mouth she had grown to adore.
    “Yes. And you?”
    “Not really,” he admitted.
    Her stomach lurched. Had she been the only one affected by the incredible intimacies they’d shared? “No?”
    “I could think only about the coming of morning, when the sundry store around the corner would open for business.”
    Not understanding, she tipped her head in confusion.
    Philip lifted his hand to show her the small plastic bag he was carrying. She peered at it, able to just make out the lettering on the small box within.
    “That’s... Oh,” she whispered, her legs suddenly wobbly as she realized he’d gone out first thing this morning to buy a box of condoms.
    “You approve?”
    She nodded vehemently. “I most definitely approve.”
    He appeared relieved. Good grief, had he