Page 37 of Baby It's Cold Outside

“Yes,” she said, wanting to think of a clever comeback, but completely unable to think of anything that wouldn’t put her at risk of bursting into tears.

And then he dragged his hands back out of his pockets, cradled her face in cold palms, and kissed her.

His lips felt chilly on hers but the heat still shot up her torso and all the memories came flooding back. She knew the tears weren’t far behind, so she covered his hands and drew them away from her face to break the kiss. “Go, Ryder, you don’t want to miss it.”

He stared at her for the longest time, brushed a finger down her cheek, then nodded and jumped into the cab. The taillights had flickered down the street and disappeared around the corner out of sight before she turned to trudge back up Fifth toward her empty apartment.

She managed to get all the way home before she burst into harsh, racking sobs, the sense of loss engulfing her.

Chapter Ten

Boxing Day was hard work, but by December 27, Kate had clawed back enough self-control to haul herself into Sinclair’s and go through the motions.

The day was the longest of her entire life, and she spent most of it wishing she and Ryder hadn’t covered pretty much every single department in the store on their nighttime raid, because it meant everywhere she turned there were memories of him. Not only that, but when she went to offer to pay Gerry Garcia for the pilfering they’d done, he informed her with a gentle smile that Mr. Ryder Sinclair had already covered it. So much for Ryder being a veteran of Santa’s Naughty List. The big faker.

But the worst moment of all came when Lachlan Sinclair, a man whom she’d only spoken to twice before, greeted her while passing through the upper floors with a coterie of his minions in tow and made some caustic remake about her gett

ing stuck overnight with his son.

Having been tongue-tied with awe the two other times she’d met her boss, this time she almost choked on the urge to tell him what a failure she thought he was as both a father and a human being. As it was, once the encounter was over, she realized she would have to look for another job. All the joy was sucked out of working for the heritage department store now, knowing what she did about the man who owned it.

When she got home that evening, her feet ached, her head ached, and her heart wasn’t a whole lot better. Then she opened the fridge door and saw the gourmet turkey dinner for one still sitting in her fridge, and tears welled.

“Oh for Pete’s sake, get over yourself,” she muttered to no one.

Ryder had his own life. He had a daughter and a challenging, demanding career, and all her abject loneliness proved was that it was about time she started making a life for herself, too.

She dashed the moisture away with an impatient hand, picked the dinner up, and slung it into the kitchen’s bin.

The ringing of the phone was a welcome distraction from contemplating the two eggs and one stick of rather wimpy-looking celery that were now her only dinner options. Not that she felt particularly hungry.

One step at a time, Kate.

She picked up the handset and ignored the twinge of heartache at the realization that she had no clue who it might be, because no one called her at home unless it was work-related. And the store had closed two hours ago.

“Hello, Kate Braithwaite.”

“Katherine, it’s Ryder.”

Oh no. The shock of hearing his voice had her hand trembling on the handset.

“Ryder, hello. How are you?” Why was he calling her? She couldn’t cope with having to part with him all over again.

“I’m all right, I guess,” he said. “Can you talk?”

No! Not without dissolving into a puddle.

“Yes, of course,” she heard herself say, and realized she must have masochistic tendencies she’d never been aware of before, because she couldn’t make herself hang up the phone with him on the other end of the line.

“Okay, great,” he replied. Then there was a long pause.

“Um, hello, Ryder? Are you still there?’”

“Yeah, I’m here, it’s just so good to hear your voice. I’ve missed you.”

Please kill me now.

“Me too,” she said, because it was the truth. “How did Gully like her present?” she offered when he went silent again.

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