Lovers by Christmas: Read Online Free PDF

next to him to the second he walked in the lobby, he’d talked himself into thinking he’d found something—someone—amazing last night. He’d turn this one-night stand inside out, break all his rules, and ask to see her again, immediately. Tomorrow. This weekend.
    Since he had nothing but condiments and leftovers in his fridge, he’d run to the bagel shop down the street. In his mind, they’d start out with some breakfast, maybe take a shower together, and then they would really begin. He’d never felt like this before. Light on his feet, happy, optimistic, all that good stuff. Finally, he’d found it in something else other than work.
    But when he found his apartment door unlocked, those feelings imploded. Even before walking in and checking the bedroom, he knew she’d left.
    He set the bag and coffee to-go container on his nightstand, staring at the rumbled sheets and empty bed. Where had he messed up? Stalking to his window, he opened the sliding glass door and gripped the railing, gazing out to the city.
    She was out there somewhere, fleeing from him.
    “Shit.” He hung his head. The best thing to happen to him in years was gone.
    Oh well, right? She was just a one-nighter. There could be any number of reasons why she left, one of them being that no matter how passionately she’d come undone in his arms last night, she didn’t feel what he did. While the draw to her was strong and undeniable, it didn’t mean it went both ways. That it was just good sex for her.
    His heart sank.
    Regardless of the reason, she was gone for a reason.
    He cursed again. They hadn’t used protection the last time either. He’d been so blind with need, thinking with his dick instead of his head, he’d plunged inside her, seeking that mindless pleasure between her sweet thighs without one thought to the consequences.
    And what if he’d gotten her pregnant?
    He scrubbed a hand down his face. That wouldn’t be the way he’d want to become a father at all. But he’d accept the responsibility 100%. One day she could come knocking on his door with the news, and they’d have to figure it out.
    Surprisingly, he wasn’t that scared at the prospect.
    Then again, maybe because he didn’t know for sure he’d gotten her pregnant kept any real concern at bay.
    Regardless, he prayed he’d see her again somehow, some way.

CHAPTER SIX
    Thea walked in The Dame & Dapper two Fridays after her tryst with the mysterious Kenner, scanning the room as the door softly closed behind her. If she hadn’t been tossing and turning with regret every night for not waiting for Kenner that morning, she might’ve not had the courage to come in here again. She knew where he lived, yes, but showing up on his doorstep—especially if he really didn’t want her to—seemed stalkerish, presumptuous, and unfair. The lounge, however, was fair ground.
    Allowing her eyes to adjust to the near pitch-blackness, her stomach in her knees, she made slow steps toward the bar, trying not peer at every man in the room, but she knew if he was there, he'd come to her. The booth where Kenner had sat that night was empty. She ordered a cocktail even though she didn’t really feel like drinking.
    The lounge was busier this time. With no seats open at the bar, she ventured toward the corner section that allowed a near full view of the entire bar, stage, and tables. Finding a high-top with no seat, she set her drink down, and waited.
    And now that she was there, she hoped against hope he would show up again, even though he’d told her he only came “rarely.”
    An hour later, after watching the door, and tired of looking like a desperate woman in the corner, she was about to walk out when she recognized the same bartender that’d served them.
    Abandoning her high-top table and untouched drink, she walked to the bar and smiled at the man in the vest and long-sleeved shirt. “Aren’t you a friend of Kenner’s?” she asked with a friendly smile and tilt of her