A Billionaire for Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

right now, standing in front of him, beneath a strand of Christmas lights. “You look good.”
    Her cheeks flushed, and those blue eyes that he’d spent his late teenage years staring into fluttered up and met his.
    Again, heat swept through his body. Little electrical pulses danced across his skin. The warm scent of cinnamon and espresso jerked him back from losing himself in Shelly’s eyes.
    “I brought these for your Nonna.” He held out the red box decorated with candy-cane-striped ribbon and a sprig of holly.
    “Carmine’s.” Shelly took the box from him. Her rosy lips curved into a delicious smile. “I love Carmine’s.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Please tell me there are cannoli in here. As much as I love Nonna, the woman cannot make a cannoli.”
    Anthony lifted his brow and the corner of his mouth quirked up. “There are cannoli in that box.”
    Shelly closed her eyes and licked her lips.
    Every muscle in Anthony’s body tightened. Shelly had no idea the impact she had on him. Closed eyes. Her tongue on her lips. A look of near-euphoria on her face…a look he remembered from long long ago.
    “Shelly, let Anthony in, he’ll freeze!”
    Shelly’s eyes flashed open. Anthony stepped up and nearly filled the doorway. His body brushed by Shelly’s in the narrow entryway. He looked down at her, catching her gaze. There, in her eyes, he could see she too felt the heat that remained between them. Heat that sizzled like a live wire ready to burst into flame. She stepped away and toward the kitchen.
    No. He hardened his heart, set his jaw. No matter what he felt, this woman, this Shelly, wasn’t the love from his youth. He’d seen what she’d become in Texas, and while now she might look like the girl he’d once loved, he couldn’t forget the ghost with the dark, ringed eyes and a craving so great she’d even tried to steal from him.
    “Anthony, did you see my Shelly is back? And just in time for Christmas.” Mrs. Bello lifted her arms to take Anthony’s jacket. He shrugged it off into her hands, knowing better than to fight her.
    “I did.” He glanced at Shelly, and her blue eyes flicked down toward the floor.
    “So healthy, my girl.” Mrs. Bello turned with Anthony’s coat over her arm to grasp Shelly’s cheek with her fingers, giving it a loving pinch. “Carmine’s? Oh, Anthony, you brought us Carmine’s? Shelly loves that bakery. Go sit. I’ll get some plates. They have good cannoli.” She handed Anthony’s coat to Shelly and took the box. “Nothing like mine, of course, but good.” Mrs. Bello walked to the kitchen.
    Shelly lifted an eyebrow and flashed a smile toward Anthony as she hung his coat in the closet. It would be their secret from Mrs. Bello that her cannoli weren’t actually very good.
    “Sit.” Shelly nodded toward the living room couch. “I’ll help Nonna.”
    Anthony did as he was told. For the first time in a lot of years, he felt like a visitor in Mrs. Bello’s home, instead of a regular who stopped by at least once a week to make certain she was well and had everything she needed. He scrubbed his hands over his jaw. Was it him or Shelly’s presence that made him feel awkward in his own skin?
    Shelly. The discomfort was definitely caused by Shelly. Anthony did not welcome surprises, nor was he fond of change. His gaze skimmed the walls and passed over the multitude of pictures he’d seen so many times that he hardly noticed them. There were Shelly and Vincent as small children. Then each of them in cap and gown, graduating high school. Finally, Vincent in his Marine uniform and Shelly smiling under a sign reading Fordham University, starting her final year of college. After that there were no more pictures. An abrupt end to a visual story. For the Bello family, there hadn’t been any reason to take pictures after Vincent had died.
    “Here we are.” Mrs. Bello walked slowly into the room. Shelly patiently trailed her with a Christmas platter