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with glee. “At least you got a trip to Vegas and got laid. That won’t happen again for a long time.”
    Zoe’s face paled, her breath hitched. For a
    moment, Alex thought she might faint, but she held her head high. A martial light sparked in her
    fantastic eyes. She clutched the sheet to her chest, marched over to Tommy, and did something he
    thought her incapable of. She curled her fingers into a fist and let Tommy have it—hard in the eye.
    Tommy’s yelp of pain and cursing heated the air.
    Tears of laughter poured down Alex’s cheeks.
    “You fucking deserved that, Tommy. I have an
    excuse. I can’t remember shit.” He wiped at his face.
    “If I did, I wouldn’t have married Zoe, not for all the money in the world.” He pulled in a deep breath and tried to stop laughing. “Sorry, Zoe, I didn’t mean it like that—it’s just I need you at the office, not in my bed.”
    It was more than that… She trespassed lines a
    wife shouldn’t. She knew too much about him. They were too close. All things he wouldn’t admit in front 16
    A Perfect Bride for Christmas

    of Tommy in a hundred years. Not that Tommy
    would understand anyway. But Zoe might…
    If they’d been alone.
    It would’ve been kinder to kill her. He saw the hurt, the humiliation cloud her eyes, and regretted his thoughtless words once they were out of his mouth. Alex sobered, the laughter died. “Come on, Zoe. The joke’s over. Let’s go back to normal.”
    “Yes, you’re right. It’s over.” With that, she
    punched him in the nose with everything she had.
    Pain exploded behind his eyes. The bone in his nose made a sickening crunch, and blood spurted—Alex yanked his towel off, stuffing it under his broken nose to staunch the flow.
    “You know, guys, this is better than any floor
    show.”
    Clutching the sheet tight, Zoe gathered up her
    clothes from the floor and snatched her purse from the dresser top. “I’m through with assholes. I’ve worked hard, sweated bullets, and pulled your butt out of the fire more times than you realize.” She twisted the ring off her finger and flung it at him.
    “You don’t care about me or my feelings.”
    A sharp sting blasted his right eye as the ring bounced off his face and onto the floor. “Ow, that hurt,” he yowled from behind the bloody towel
    “Go ahead, get the annulment. I won’t fight it, but do me a favor.” Her gaze slid over Alex. “Don’t contact me, ever again. I loved you Alex, and neither of you have any respect for me. So screw you,
    Tommy Dunne. And especially you, Alex.”
    She marched out of the room wearing a sheet,
    tears in her eyes, and her head held high.
    “No, wait, Zoe— stop. ” Alex ran out the room, bare-assed with a bloody towel in his hand. She got into the elevator and stabbed at the button. The doors slid shut but not before his heart clenched tight in his chest at the hurt in Zoe’s eyes.
    17
    Dyann Love Barr

    He’d screwed up big-time. The only person who
    could fix it rode down seven floors to the lobby and out of his life, forever. Alex ran to the elevator and beat on the door.
    “I do want you.” He gave the door one last
    thump with his fist. “I mean it. Come back.” With a groan, he turned and slid down to the floor. The cold metal of the elevator door froze his back, the rasp of the carpet on his bare butt felt like a hair shirt.
    “Here.” Tommy threw a hotel bathrobe at him.
    “They’re used to naked people in Vegas but not in the hotel hallways.
    “Fuck you, “Alex growled as he stood, looked
    both ways, and slipped on the robe.
    Tommy gingerly touched his fast blooming
    shiner. “You dodged a bullet, pal.”
    “No, I hurt someone very dear to me.” Alex
    trudged back to his room.
    “It’s for the best.”
    Alex felt hollow inside as he thought back to the anguish in Zoe’s eyes. “Maybe she’s the one who dodged the bullet.”
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    A Perfect Bride for Christmas

Chapter Three
    December 2010, Kansas City, Missouri
    The