Kissing Under the Mistletoe - By Marina Adair Page 0,80

best. Even convinced herself during the day, but at night when Holly was asleep and Regan was left alone with her thoughts, she would try to figure out what had gone wrong. And how to fix it. Leaving her tired and miserable and without a clue as to what to do—other than cry.

She’d been reminding herself that this was why she didn’t date—not that they had even gone out on a date, as date usually implied a meal or some kind of public statement—when she walked inside Picker’s Produce, Meats and More to get something of the more variety. Specifically, Rocky Road.

She had just dumped the second gallon in her cart and was on her tiptoes reaching for a third when a really nice pair of arms stretched around her and grabbed the last carton from the back of the refrigerated case. When she turned, she found Gabe looking stressed and uncomfortable.

So she was shocked when he apologized for not calling and asked if maybe she could stay after the sewfest so they could talk. Which ruined her day even more, because it reminded her that the sewfest was still planned for his house.

Instead of shoving the ice cream down his pants and calling him a jerk—or shoving her hands down his pants when he pressed her up against the frozen peas and said he’d missed her—she had agreed to give him ten minutes and then proceeded to buy her ice cream like any sophisticated woman who dabbled in casual sex would do.

Too bad her heart wasn’t up for casual. Which was why sitting in his kitchen, watching him pad around barefoot with Holly tossed over his shoulder like a sack of flour and acting as if the last week hadn’t happened made her want to scream—at him for making her feel not enough, at herself for believing he was different. Which was why when he came in to grab a beer from the fridge she glared at him.

He glared back.

Jordan was right. This session was going to double as a bitchfest.

“Absolutely nothing,” Regan confirmed, after Gabe had taken a seat on the couch, far away from the women and right next to a sleeping Holly.

“Really? Because you both looked to be doing a whole lot of something when I saw you Monday,” Jordan said, hand-stitching the gold piping on the frog prince’s cape.

“Can you say it louder? I don’t think he heard you,” Regan whispered, glancing toward the front room.

“He was there,” Frankie mumbled around a bag of green glitter beads hanging from her teeth. She didn’t sew, but she was proving lethal with a glue gun. “It isn’t like she’s telling him something he doesn’t already know.”

“Oh, my God.” Regan slapped her hands over her mouth and looked at Frankie. Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper. “Do you know?”

“That you and Gabe had sex? Duh.”

“You were supposed to keep it a secret,” Regan snapped.

“We actually never had a conversation about keeping anything a secret. Maybe because we haven’t talked about it at all!” Jordan snapped back. “Every time I call I get your voice mail, and when I stop by work you’re busy. Some might even say you’re avoiding me.”

Which she was. But not because she didn’t want to talk about it. She did. She just didn’t want to put Jordan or Frankie in a position where they felt they had to choose sides. Because Regan would lose.

“I wasn’t sure what to say,” she admitted.

“Well, no one had to say anything to me.” Frankie’s tongue peeked out the side of her mouth as she put a dab of hot glue on the frog’s head and secured another plastic gem. “I figured it out. I mean, the look he shot you a second ago made the Kama Sutra look missionary.”

Really? She thought he’d looked mad. “Do you think anyone else knows?”

“How could they not?” Frankie snorted, confirming Regan’s biggest fear. St. Helena was a small town that loved to gossip. She’d spent her life being the subject of speculation. She didn’t want to go through that again. Didn’t want that for Holly.

“The way you guys are avoiding each other around town, it’s obvious you did the dirty and now you’re trying to play it cool,” Frankie added.

That was the problem. He was playing it cool. Regan, on the other hand, didn’t have a cool bone in her body. Not when it came to him.

“Hey,” Gabe said from directly behind her and Regan jumped. When she turned, her heart