The Rock Star's Christmas Reunion: contemporary holiday romance (A Charisma series novel, The Connollys Book 1) Read Online Free

minutes.”
    “I’ll grab a coat and meet you at the front door.”
    “Cool. I’ll just pull one last load out of my van.”
    A couple of minutes later, he had on an old barn coat that he’d taken out of storage, and an old knit hat with the name of a liquor brand on it tugged over his forehead. Yakima zipped up her wool trench coat as she walked toward him, the hint of a natural strut evident.
    Yes, she could have modeled if she’d been just a little taller.
    He took her arm as he ushered her out the front door. “We’d better not walk down the east road if you only have ten minutes.”
    “Okay, we’ll just go west. There’s even sidewalks on the next block.”
    “It is strange that they didn’t bother with them where the bigger houses are.”
    “Different builders, probably, and the houses are older. Maybe the regulations changed, too.”
    He let his fingers slide down to hers and laced them together. Her glance at him was surprised but he just grinned at her. “We both forgot our gloves. One hand in the pocket, one shared.”
    “You have two pockets.”
    The corner of his mouth lifted. “That one has a hole in it.”
    “That coat is awfully old. Didn’t you used to have one just like it?”
    “It’s the same one. We toured so much that I just threw all my possessions into storage, maybe a year after I left here, and they were gathering dust ever since. I had it all shipped north when I bought this place. I’ve got quite a lot of boxes piled up in that big shed in the back.”
    “You must have been through some of it.”
    “Yeah,” he joked. “The one marked ‘winter clothes.’”
    He watched her lift her face to the wan sun rays, the light touching her high cheekbones with gold. “You have the most beautiful skin.”
    Her cheeks went from gold to dusty red. “What a thing to say to your caterer.”
    He squeezed her hand as the edge of the sidewalk came into view. A ribbon of cracked ice clung to the side where a huge tree shaded that part of the street. They stepped up, skirting the slippery spot. “Not just a caterer. A friend, I hope.”
    As they turned right into a cul-de-sac, a dog growled. He saw a gray-black mastiff that weighed more than Yakima.
    “He’s off leash,” Yakima said, stopping still and tugging him back. “Let’s go back.”
    He heard the tremble in her voice. “No, look, he’s tied to a rope.”
    She followed his finger with her eyes. “Oh. Why is he growling at us?”
    “He’s protecting the property. I’ve met him before. His name is Earl.” He moved forward and when Yakima didn’t come with him, he let her hand go, then held his up to the dog. “Hi Earl, how you doing?”
    The dog sniffed his hand and barked. Bax smiled and rubbed behind the dog’s ears. The animal’s warmth heated his stiff fingers. “Good boy.”
    He went back to Yakima. “See? You just have to introduce yourself. I can’t remember the owner’s name, but he seemed like a nice guy. Moved here after I left town. They take a walk past my house twice a day.”
    Yakima had her arms folded over her chest. He couldn’t decide if she was cold or upset. “Okay. Well, we should go back.”
    Bax was about to ask a question but felt something move in his jeans. His phone, vibrating. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared at it. While he managed to keep from swearing aloud in front of Yakima, he wasn’t happy to see who the text message was from. “Yeah, I know you have a lot to do, and I have to deal with this.”
    They walked back up the street side by side, but Bax was too distracted to joke Yakima out of whatever cloud had settled over her. When they walked up his driveway, though, he realized her lips had gone pale. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, catching the scent of flowery, fragrant oil she must use on her sexy hair. “Cold?”
    “Yes.”
    “We’d better get inside.” He squeezed her, then let her go to dig for his keys. Finding the chain