House of Trent 01.5 - His for Christmas Read Online Free PDF

tugged at him again, but he concentrated on her, wanting to know what had happened to hone these new sharp edges within her that hadn’t been there when they were children.
    “Do you remember what you told Fletcher Henry and George MacBride?”
    “Fletcher Henry and George MacBride,” he repeated, his tone musing. Onetime friends and neighbors. “I haven’t seen those two in a long time.”
    Even now, the thought of Fletcher and George put a sour feeling in his gut. Their friendship had ended that night for a reason.
    She shrugged. “George lives near Cheltham House, so I see him and his family on occasion. He’s married and has fathered two children. I don’t know what happened to Fletcher.”
    “I encountered him in France a few years ago,” Evan said. “I believe he resides in India now.”
    She nodded, looking down, her shoulders tense.
    His gaze sharpened on her. “What did I tell them?”
    “Don’t you remember?” she pressed.
    Hell. It was years ago. Still, he remembered what had happened like it was yesterday. But Amelia hadn’t been present. He’d made sure to protect her from all that.
    “Did you overhear something?” he asked her, frowning.
    She raised her gaze to the door, looking at it as if she wanted to bolt out of the room, as if she were imprisoned here and that door was her only means of escape. He threaded his fingers with hers and gripped her hand in both of his.
    “You were out in the garden,” she said softly. “I’d followed you out, hoping to catch you alone—” She broke off suddenly, then turned her gaze to him, and he saw the old Amelia, that raw, hopeful shyness that had always brought him such pleasure.
    “I wished to say my good-byes to you…in private,” she whispered. “I thought…well, I wanted to give you a good-bye kiss.”
    The color deepened on her flushed cheeks, and it was so sweet, considering all they had just done, that she’d be flustered by her youthful desire to kiss him good-bye.
    He squeezed her hand and leaned down to brush a soft kiss over her cheek. “Like that?”
    She chewed on her lower lip. “No.” There was a rough edge to her voice. “I thought…I thought I’d kiss your lips. I’d…I’d been thinking of your lips all summer. Of how they’d feel against my own. I’d never been kissed before and I wanted…wanted you to be the first.”
    He gazed at her in wonder. “I wanted the same thing. I spent that summer trying to dream up ways to get you alone so I could taste you.”
    Her eyes widened at that, but then she shook her head as if in disbelief, and she looked away from him again. “I found you in the gardens, but you weren’t alone. You were with George and Fletcher…and you were talking. About me.”
    His heart sank. George was such a bastard, and then Fletch…“Which part of the conversation did you hear?”
    “You were telling them that…” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. They shone brightly in the dimming light of the room. She took a long, deep breath before continuing in a shaking voice, “That you couldn’t bear to look at me. That I was a fat, lazy cow who didn’t deserve their attentions.”
    Evan shot to his feet and looked down at her, aghast. “Jesus, Pudge… Amelia . No!” And then something sick twisted in his gut. “That was Fletch. He said that.”
    She gazed down at her lap. “Yes…he said it first, but then you repeated what he said, and you…you agreed with him.”
    Evan closed his eyes. She was right.
    “I’d thought…I thought you liked me. I thought we were friends.”
    Oh, God. “We were.”
    She shook her head. “When I heard you say those things about me, I felt…” She didn’t seem to be able to finish, and her eyelashes fluttered rapidly as if she was trying to clear away tears.
    Just like that, his gut tied into knots so tight he could hardly breathe. He sank down onto his knees before her, his heels touching the door. “You don’t understand what