Kissing Under The Mistletoe: The Sullivans (Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

in
the back of her head, she’d been careful not to let anyone take
advantage of her innocence, either personally or professionally. At
twenty-one, she’d truly believed she was in love with her first
lover and that he felt the same about her. Too late, she’d realized
he was simply in love with her glossy image. He was always gone
before the morning light brought bed head and morning breath. Then,
when she’d been hit with an awful flu and he wouldn’t come anywhere
near her, she’d had to finally accept the truth that he only
appreciated her when she was the “perfect” version of Mary
Ferrer.
    She’d been more careful with her next
boyfriend, and the one after that. She’d made certain they had
plenty of occasions to see the real her. And yet, as each
relationship progressed and then eventually fizzled, she couldn’t
help but feel that they had all expected so much more from her than
from other women. She wondered if she would ever be able to live up
to the idealized image men had of her from all her magazine and
newspaper photos.
    But it was her last relationship that had
taught her the most. Romain Bollinger owned the finest watch
company in the world. She had been hired to promote his important
new line of Swiss watches, and though she’d always been careful not
to mix business with pleasure, he was persistent—and
charming—enough that she became his lover, as well. However, when
the ad men decided the next phase of advertising for the
ultra-important brand would be better served in the future by a
woman ten years Mary’s junior, Romain agreed with them by replacing
Mary not only in his ads…but in his bed, as well.
    That’s when she learned that he had wanted
her not for herself, but for her value to his company, both in his
campaign and on his arm at parties. When her value disappeared, so
did any pretense of affection. She’d been determined to finish out
her contract, and that final week of photo shoots with Romain
hovering over her harshly critiquing every pose and expression had
been excruciating.
    As she’d walked out of Romain’s Geneva
penthouse for the very last time after finding him in bed with her
young replacement, she’d sworn that she would never give up her
freedom for anything but true love.
    Now thirty-two, and still nowhere close to
finding true love, Mary was all but certain her “freedom” would
last forever.
    But as the stranger’s eyes remained locked on
hers while she held his gaze so that Gerry could get the shot he
wanted, a shiver went through her that had nothing to do with the
cool December air rushing over her skin.
    Mistaking the reason for her shiver, Gerry
called out to one of the crew to turn up the portable heaters on
set.
    For the next couple of hours, she continued
to pose. Strangers came and went all around Union Square, but the
beautiful stranger remained exactly where he was. Perhaps she
should have been wary from his interest, but he didn’t look
alarming in any way.
    He simply looked like a man who was
interested in a woman.
    Maybe, she thought as
Gerry finished shooting his final roll of film and the gorgeous
stranger walked toward her, today wouldn’t be an
end, but the beginning of something new and amazing.

Chapter Three
     
    As the sun set behind the buildings in Union
Square, the temperature immediately dropped by several degrees.
Normally, once they called a wrap, Mary would have rushed back to
her dressing room trailer to warm up with a cup of tea but, despite
her shivers, she headed toward the man to meet him as he walked
directly toward her.
    Instead of simply holding out his hand and
introducing himself, he took off his jacket and draped it over her
shoulders. If another man had done this, it would have felt
presumptuous, but Mary sensed that he was genuinely concerned for
her having been out in the cold for so many hours.
    His jacket, so big that it swamped her slim
frame, smelled like clean, warm male. She wanted to burrow deeper
into it,