HER SECRET 22

Cursing himself because his life was getting more complicated every minute and because he’d been remembering how good her lithe body had felt next to his without realizing the memory had him smiling like a damn fool, he headed for the ladder.

‘I was just admiring how good you look, getting one last eyeful before you fall off that ladder and kill yourself,’ he called up to her. ‘Don’t you have a lick of common sense?’

Each time he was around Sierra, his emotions heightened. Despite his expertise in blocking out disturbing feelings, when it came to her he always felt too much.

Reaching the ladder’s base and bracing it, he called up to her again. ‘Sierra, what the blazes are you doing up there?’

As she looked down, he saw the strand of multicolored lights in her hand, and he glanced briefly at the pile of boxes stacked on the front porch. At first he’d thought they contained trash, but now he noticed a plastic snowman peeping over the rim of one. Glory! Christmas decorations. More holida