Chapter 121

Six-and-a-Half Days to Christmas...

Finally. Criminy, finally.

After what felt like an eternity of wrapping up loose ends for his life in California, waiting to close on the purchase of the former Freemont Mansion, and a couple of months of renovations on the inn once he'd moved back to Redwood, Preston Masterson blessedly had Marie in sight. Under his roof. Within touching distance.

Not that he'd dare. Such matters were delicate, even if the woman before him was the farthest thing from fragile as they came. He had a plan, a charted course in mind, but she hadn't made the groundwork easy. In fact, the only two encounters with her since his return had been stiff. Formal. Painful, almost.

And then she'd ignored him. Hard as she could.