'Tis the Season for Love: A Charity Box Set

by Maggie Dallen

  “Being here with me...what?” Wariness crept into her eyes and he hated it.

  He hated even more that she had her reasons not to trust him.

  She shifted, wrapping her arms around herself to stay warm. “It’s made you nostalgic?”

  No. This wasn’t just nostalgia. And yet, she was giving him an out. A way to save face. He swallowed, his chest tightening. “Something like that.”

  Was he crazy or was that disappointment in her eyes. Her gaze dropped before he could say for sure and she shifted away from him, nodding to her left. “The bakery is two blocks that way.”

  Crap. She was about to walk away. His one chance ruined because he’d frozen. He’d panicked.

  “Regina, wait.” He caught her arm and she stilled.

  They stood there like that for several heartbeats, their breathing loud and ragged in the silence that seemed to echo around them.

  This feeling inside him...it felt dangerously close to desperation. This was the first time they’d seen each other in years, and who knew how long it would be before this chance came again. More than that, she’d been so open with him. The anger of the past seemed to be in the past, and the old wounds now felt like healed scars. There, but no longer hurting.

  At least not for him, and he thought she might feel the same.

  She turned back when he didn’t loosen his grip. “What do you want, Tyler? A trip down memory lane? A kiss for old times’ sake?”

  Her cheeks pinkened a bit, belying the sarcastic tone.

  His chest ached at the mention of a kiss and when his gaze dropped, her lips parted. She was imagining it too.

  He watched her chest rise and fall as she struggled to breathe normally. He knew the feeling because he was struggling too.

  This was the way it had always been between them. The connection wasn’t just mental or emotional...it was physical. So real and undeniable it was like a rope lassoed around them and tugged them together whenever they were in the same room or standing like this—so close their breath mingled.

  “What do you want from me, Tyler?” The rare vulnerability in her voice was his undoing.

  What did he want? Everything. All of it. But he had no idea how to tell her that, not without first hashing out everything that had gone wrong before. And right now…? There wasn’t time and it wasn’t the place.

  He didn’t want to reopen old wounds but he couldn’t let this moment pass him by without letting her know how he felt.

  “Reggie, you know I’ve never been good with words.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise as he tugged her close but when his lips met hers, she met his kiss.

  Time stood still. Or maybe the clock turned back. Or maybe time just stopped meaning so much.

  For one blissful, sweet moment they weren’t dwelling in the past or thinking about the future. They were here, now. In the present. This kiss—it transcended time. It was perfection.

  Her lips were warm, her body soft in his arms. The taste of her, the scent, the feel of her body against his—it was at once so very familiar and so beautifully new.

  They were both older, wiser...different, but inherently the same.

  She still felt like his other half.

  And coming together like this after years of being apart... He groaned as he deepened the kiss and her answering moan told him she felt it too.

  The sweet relief of coming home.

  He pulled back when a car passed—a reminder that they weren’t in private. Her short gasps for air looked like bursts of smoke in the frigid air and her eyes widened in shock. “W-what was that?”

  She backed away as she asked and he let her go.

  Unwillingly, but he did it.

  It was a lot to take in...even for him, and he’d known he was going to ask her for a second chance.

  She looked around quickly as if seeing if anyone was watching and then she smoothed her hair back into a low bun like he’d seen her do a million times before.

  People used to call her stuck up because of her preppy, put-together look and her stoic, stern expression.

  He’d always known better. Instead, he’d always teased that she was the sexy librarian type, and that comment never failed to make her roll her eyes.

  He wanted to do that now—tease her, make her laugh, make her groan with exasperation. He wanted to do anything, really, to ease this tension that came back with a force.

  “Was that…” She licked her lips and darted her gaze around warily again. “Was that just...memory lane?”

  He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I hope not.”

  She blinked like she didn’t understand.

  Nerves nearly got the best of him. He’d never lacked in the confidence department when it came to women. Except when it came to this particular woman...everything was different.

  She saw right through him. Always had and always would. It was useless to pretend, futile to prevaricate…

  “I want another chance,” he said.

  She blinked a few more times. “What?”

  He forced a smile that he didn’t quite feel. He wasn’t sure he’d imagined this scene would go down when he’d realized last night what he needed to do. But this sure didn’t feel like a great start.

  “Another chance?” Her brows drew together in confusion, like he was speaking a foreign language or something.

  “Another chance,” he repeated. “Is that...could you...I mean, would you…” He trailed off when he realized he had no idea how to finish that sentence.

  His voice also trailed off because…

  She was walking away.

  Chapter 6

  Regina ran. Well, she walked quickly, but she knew what she was doing—she was running for her life.

  That was what she did.

  Panic coursed through her as her mind went haywire trying to make sense of that kiss and those words and...him. Just him.

  Tyler and his sudden presence in her life posing one big ball of confusion in her brain.

  Even as her feet trudged through the snow and she rounded the corner to the bakery, she cursed herself for doing it.

  Running. She was so tired of running.

  But knowing that, thinking that...it didn’t change her feet’s movement.

  She heard Tyler behind her, hurrying to keep up. “Reggie, I’m sorry, I—”

  “Don’t. Please.” Her voice was harsher than she’d intended as they paused in front of the bakery’s door. Whether it was because of his use of her childhood nickname or the fact that he’d apologized at all… Her voice held a note of anger.

  Bitterness.

  Resentment.

  All the feelings she’d thought she’d dealt with. And she had, just...not with him.

  “You can’t just show up in my life and say you want a second chance,” she said as she fidgeted with the key in the lock. Angela had warned her it might be sticky.

  When it opened, she stumbled inside and for a moment she stood still in the silence of the typically busy bakery. She’d never been in here when it was closed before, but with Angela spending the holidays with her husband Griff’s family in the city, the small but popular shop was closed for a few days.

  She found herself tiptoeing through the darkened store as if she were breaking and entering, but truth be told, this silence was what her head needed.

  “Reggie, please—”

  She froze. His voice came from the doorway and it spoiled her sudden newfound peace. She frowned at the boxes one of the managers had left clearly labeled for her.

  To be fair, it wasn’t the cookies’ fault that her mood had soured, but the boxes still bore the brunt of her scowl.

  “Please just talk to me,” he said.

  “There’s nothing to say.” Her voice sounded colder than she’d ever heard it, but the words...they were a lie. Such a lie.

  There was too much to say, that was the problem.

  The silence that was peaceful just moments ago now felt like a prison. She heard
him breathing behind her. She heard his footsteps as he slowly approached. His hands were on her shoulders and his voice was so close to her ear she could feel his warm breath. “I never stopped caring about you, Reg. I never will.”

  Her heart stopped beating. It was these words she’d dreamt of hearing.

  Well, when she wasn’t dreaming of revenge.

  But once her anger had faded, she’d harbored this very fantasy. That Tyler would come back. That he’d want her back. During the darkest days of her marriage she fantasized about what-ifs, never for a second thinking it would actually happen.

  Never planning what she would really do if it did happen.

  When her heart started beating again, it leapt forward with a thud and started racing away at a gallop. She moved forward.

  Yup, she was running again.

  Crap.

  She forced herself to stop when she reached the doorway leading to the bakery’s kitchen. She spun around to find Tyler right behind her. So close. So close she thought he might try and kiss her again and she…

  She had no idea if that was a good thing or not.

  She didn’t know if she wanted him to or not.

  No, that wasn’t true. The blood that was rushing to her head, the way her whole body was trembling with eager anticipation…

  She wanted him to.

  She just didn’t know if she should want him to.

  She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the view of his ridiculously handsome face, his stupidly sexy lips, his annoyingly understanding eyes.

  He knew her confusion, and he got it. That’s what his gaze was saying to her, and it only made her more confused. She forced herself to open her eyes. To try and use her brain for once.

  In every other aspect of her life, reason and logic reigned supreme. But she’d never in her life been able to be reasonable about Tyler. Her heart always spoke first, her body second, and her mind came in a very distant third.

  “You want a second chance,” she said.

  He nodded. “I do.” One brow arched. “Is that so crazy?”

  Was it crazy? “Yes,” she said. “Yes, it’s totally crazy.”

  In true Tyler form, his lips curved up in a grin like she’d just said something funny.

  She felt her own lips twitching too. Oh sweet mercy, what was happening to her? One minute she was kissing him, the next she was running, and now she had the crazy urge to laugh at the insanity of it all.

  Only Tyler made her feel so crazy. Only Tyler had ever made her heart pound like this. Only Tyler had ever made her want to laugh and scream and cry and kiss him all at the same time.

  Only Tyler.

  For better or for worse.

  He was watching her. Waiting for her. She licked her lips and took a deep breath. Honesty, that had always been her policy. “I don’t know what to say.”

  He nodded slowly, his gaze clouding but a smile still softening his features. “Fair enough. I know I popped up out of nowhere. I know I don’t deserve anything from you. I know…” He trailed off with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. “I know I never apologized.”

  She blinked, steeling herself against an age-old hurt. “You don’t have to.”

  “I do.” He shifted closer, all earnest sincerity as he cupped her face in his hands so she was forced to meet his gaze. “I am sorry. I should have said that years ago. I’m sorry for breaking off our engagement the way I did, with such a terrible explanation. The truth was, I was confused and I felt like things were moving so quickly. Like my future was laid out before me before I’d even figured out what I wanted for my life. It wasn’t that I didn’t want you—”

  She nodded, the movement making his hands drop. “I know.”

  She did know that….part of her had known that even then. She’d just been too hurt to see it. He’d been young and confused and had just wanted to take some time to figure himself out.

  Now, all these years later, she saw the reasoning and understood it. “You were probably right.”

  He blinked down at her. “How much did that kill you to say?”

  She let out a huff of laughter. “Just a little. I’m getting better at admitting when I was wrong. It comes with the territory when you’ve made as many mistakes as I have.”

  His eyes were soft with sympathy and affection and…

  Turning her head, she inhaled quickly trying to catch her breath.

  Love.

  She’d seen love in his eyes and it had slammed into her like a force of nature.

  “I’ve made mistakes, too,” he said. “So many. But the biggest one, the one I’ll never stop regretting was walking away from you. I should never have let go of what we had. I’m so sorry and I—”

  “Stop. Please.” She forced a smile to soften the words. “If you start apologizing, then I’ll have to too. I’m not blameless in all this…” She gestured between them as if she could point to their history together. “I know that.”

  Surprise was written all over his face and she nearly rolled her eyes. “I’m not quite as stubborn and narrow-minded as I once was,” she said with a little laugh.

  He shook his head. “You weren’t—”

  “I was.” Her voice was firm because she’d given this a lot of thought over the years. “I didn’t give you a chance to explain after our breakup. I rushed into another relationship for all the wrong reasons. I didn’t listen to you before the wedding and…” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for my part in all this.” She opened her eyes. “But I’m done living in the past, Tyler.”

  His eyes were dark with emotions, his expression more serious than she’d ever seen it. “Does that mean you’re done with me?”

  Yes.

  No!

  Both words hovered on her tongue as her mind and heart went to war. A roaring sound filled her ears and a panicky sensation made her mouth dry and her stomach knot. Was she done with him? Was that what she was saying?

  For the past two years she’d been telling herself that she would only look forward, no going back.

  And Tyler?

  He was her past.

  “I-I—”

  “It’ll just take one second,” a female voice called out.

  Regina’s stammering was cut off by a noisy intrusion at the front door.

  Her friend Ellie came in with a noisy baby on her hip and her husband right behind her. “But why would the door be open? Maybe I should call—” The pretty blonde stopped short in the doorway at the sight of Regina and Tyler.

  “Oh!” Her face lit up with a smile. “Regina, it’s you. I was wondering why the bakery was open with Angela out of town.”

  Ian smiled at his wife affectionately. “She thought maybe there was a break-in and made me stop the car.” He grinned at Regina. “I tried to tell her we haven’t had a break-in in Friar Hollow since...ever.”

  Regina laughed, relief coursing through her at her reprieve.

  “Tyler, right?” Ellie said, stepping forward with an outstretched hand as her baby tugged at her long locks. “I think we met at Callie’s once—”

  “That’s right,” he said, the charming smile he was known for once more in place. “Good to see you again. And you, Ian.”

  “I didn’t know you were coming here for the holidays,” Ellie said.

  “It was a last minute decision. My mother is in town, too.”

  Ellie’s gaze was darting back and forth between Tyler and Regina as he spoke and Regina held her breath.

  Ellie was one of Leah’s friends and part of her new circle of lovely, well-meaning, but sometimes a little too curious friends. They’d been asking her about her history with Tyler ever since Regina admitted to Callie that she did, in fact, know the handsome Hollywood producer who was Cole’s friend and co-worker.

  The most they knew was that there was some history there, that Regina didn’t wish to be invited to dinner on the nights when Tyler was in town, and that she’d heard about Friar Hollow through him.

&nbs
p; That was it. But it was enough for them to know that there was much more to the story and Regina could practically see all the questions forming in Ellie’s eyes right now.

  Questions she definitely did not want to answer. Especially not right now when she couldn’t answer one very important question.

  Ellie either read her mind or had enough social grace to know that now was not the time to pry because she gave them both a friendly grin and kept her mouth shut.

  It was Ian who unintentionally made things awkward when he joined his wife, took the baby out of her arms, and started to laugh. “Hey, check it out, you two. You’re under the mistletoe.”

  Chapter 7

  Tyler wasn’t sure whether to laugh or groan at the sight of the green plant hanging overhead.

  “Good grief,” he heard Regina mutter before she walked away from the awkward spot.

  That made him laugh, and the tenseness of the moment was officially broken as they grabbed the boxes of cookies and pastries and followed Ellie and Ian out of the bakery, locking up behind them.

  He wasn’t sure whether he ought to be grateful or irate at the interruption but he decided it was likely for the best. He’d seen the confusion in Regina. The panic at being put on the spot.

  A horrible sinking sensation was starting to nag at him at the realization that...she might have been on the verge of saying no to a second chance once and for all.

  He eyed her as she drove them home so they could pick up their mothers and head to the party.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have put her on the spot like that.

  But even as he thought it, he was keenly aware that this might very well be his last chance. It wasn’t like they ran in the same circles or even lived in the same town anymore. They wouldn’t be running into one another any time soon, and this unexpected Christmas together felt like...well, it felt like fate.

  He laughed at the thought as he helped his mother into the car and climbed in after her. Fate. That was something he wasn’t even certain he believed in.

  They arrived to find the holiday party well underway. He and Regina were greeted warmly by Callie, Cole, and both of their families. Their mothers were treated like visiting royalty before being ushered off to meet just about everyone from this small town.