Kissing Under the Mistletoe Read Online Free PDF Page B

up short she dropped her head back with a dramatic sigh and mumbled something about dirty language and being a lady.
    “What are you looking for?”
    “A quarter,” she huffed, and Gabe swore she stomped her left foot.
    He reached into his pocket and offered her one, but she just stared at it, her shoulders slumping. When she looked up at him, her expression was one of defeat.
    “Do you have any idea what your stupid game has done to my life?”
    Gabe looked around the ballroom and found everyone staring back. He saw her throat working hard, her eyes blinking rapidly, and—shit!—she was about to cry. He hated when women cried. Especially ones who he was certain were too tough to cry. And especially if he was the a-hole who was the cause of those tears.
    “Regan, I swear I had no idea that you were the marketing VP Jordan hired. She told me ChiChi had found the perfect person for Ryo, showed me the mock-ups, and I signed off.”
    He’d been so blown away by the proposal that he hadn’t even asked questions. It should have struck him as odd that there wasn’t a name on any of the mock-ups, but it wasn’t his company—wasn’t his call. ChiChi had declared that
this
was the person she’d chosen to take Ryo to market; Gabe signing off was a mere technicality.
    It was also a necessity. Ryo was heading into its first harvest, and they needed a marketing strategy—fast. But
he
needed his managing director back. Jordan had been on loan to ChiChi for nearly five months, three months longer thanthe agreed-upon time. Her only goal now was to get Ryo staffed and operating smoothly so that she could get back to what she was paid to do—making his life easier.
    “You expect me to believe that out of all of the people who work in the wine and marketing space, I was selected purely on the basis of my talent?” Regan asked.
    “And you expect me to believe that you coming to my hometown had nothing to do with screwing with my sister?”
    “I had no idea you even lived here. And your people called me, Gabe. Not the other way around. I researched Ryo Wines after my recruiter contacted me with the offer. It was a startup winery, owned and operated by women, and in no way could I tell that it was connected to your family. I would have never accepted the job had I known.” Either she deserved an award or she really was as confused as Gabe, because he almost—almost—believed her. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? I’m still out of a job, and Abigail is once again protected.”
    “Yes, you’re fired. And believe me when I say that Abigail will
always
be protected.”
    “Lucky her.” The words were spoken so softly Gabe barely heard them. But he couldn’t miss the look in her eye. It wasn’t anger or envy. It was almost admiration, underscored with longing.
    They continued to silently face off as a crowd gathered. It looked as though ChiChi had invited the entire Napa Valley who were now witnessing what appeared to be Gabe making an innocent woman cry.
    Regan must have felt the weight of the stares because she straightened her shoulders and, with the best screw-you flick of the hair he’d ever seen, glided toward the back exit,the fabric of her dress hugging that heart-shaped ass with every step. She rounded the bar and disappeared into the hall, leaving Gabe to wonder what had just happened.
    She was the one who should be apologizing. So why was he feeling like he’d just told a preschooler that Santa is a lie? That woman was the most confusing person he’d ever met. Whenever he was around her he felt off balance. Which was the only reason he could think of why, after he started chasing her down like some stalker, he found himself apologizing. To her!
    “Regan, I’m sorry. There was no master plan to mess with you. It was just dumb luck. We’ve used the same staffing firm before, and there wasn’t any information connecting Ryo to the DeLuca name because ChiChi wanted this to be her and Abby’s thing.” She