BooksBarbecue
Back First Comes Love
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

I laugh. “That makes two of us, but we gotta do what we gotta do… Anything on your letter to Santa?”

“Nothing you can put under wrapping paper…” he says, with that Broadway spark in his eyes.

“Know the feeling,” I agree. My biggest Christmas wish has nothing to do with material things, either. And anyway, we’re all supposed to be good at Christmas, so I can’t really wish for my sister’s life to crumble to pieces… But I could wish to feel less freaking alone all the time, or to forget Paul, or to fall in love with someone who loves me back for a change… Yeah, those would all be much better wishes…

“Are you okay?” Diego asks.

“Yeah, why?”

“You sort of went all glassy-eyed.”

“Sorry.” I massage my temples. “I’m just exhausted. What do you say we call it a night so we can start early on the shopping tomorrow morning?

Diego grimaces. “Ho ho ho,” he chants in a deep voice nothing like his own.

“I never understood how you actors do that.”

“Do what?”

“Change your voice on command.”

“It’s all diaphragm, throat, and nose work.” With every word he changes his voice—throaty, nasal, husky—making me laugh. “And many hours of practice.”

“That’s amazing.”

“All right, boss,” he says, back to his normal tone. He gets up and offers me a hand. “Let’s go to bed.”

I take his hand and he lifts me up, and for a second we end up standing really close to each other. So close I can smell his clean soap scent… simple, but intoxicating. And I haven’t had sex in too long to stand this close to the sexiest man I’ve ever met. And even if I don’t like him that way, well… I’m still made of flesh…

“Okay, then,” I say, sounding like an awkward teenager and trying hard not to blush. “Good night.”

I move past him and go hide in my room. I barely hear his soft, “Night,” reply before I shut the door and lock myself in.

***

I blink my eyes open to the sound of a blow dryer running.

What time is it?

A quick peek at my watch tells me it’s already ten. So much for an early start. Sometimes I wish I could be one of those early risers, people who wake up at five a.m. on autopilot to go for a run. Someone like Blair. My roommate is so healthily annoying. But put me in a cozy bed and I could sleep in until noon every day. I don’t know why I didn’t set an alarm last night. Easy, because my phone has a weekly alarm programmed to let me sleep on the weekends.