A Curvy Christmas by Harmony Raines Page A

long means there is little that will shock me.”
    “I should have invited him around. I would have had an excuse not to tell you.”
    “I’m glad you didn’t. This is worrying you, so the sooner we get past it the better.”
    She blew the air out of her cheeks. “I think it will be a relief to be honest. I’ve never told anyone.”
    “Then share it with me, and then let it go.”
    “If only it was that easy.”
    “I will do my best to make it that easy.”
    He was such a good man, she thought, looking at him across the table from her. Probably too good for a woman like her.

Chapter Ten - Greg
    Intrigued by what she had to tell him, he also knew when to be patient. It was one of the character traits that had made him so successful at trading in the city. Know when to get in, and when to get out. He was an expert, and he would allow Robin all the time she needed. His only hope was that she would have the strength to speak to him about, what must be, a very traumatic episode in her life.
    Understandably, his imagination began to work over time. What could be so bad that she was frightened to tell him? Had she stolen something in her younger days? No, not big enough surely. His mind whirled, and then his instinct kicked in. Whatever it was, he doubted it was a thing she had done. Perhaps it was what someone had done to her.
    At that point he stopped himself. Don’t go making assumptions. They will only get you broke. That was what he had told himself at work, and it seemed a true analogy now. His imagination might leave him with a broken heart, to Greg, a thing much worse than a broken bank balance.
    They finished eating, the mood between them charged. They cleared the dishes, conversation light and superficial. He only hoped she would tell him soon.
    “OK. So lets look at what wine we have. Wow, the alcohol in this apartment is rather on the low side. I don’t suppose you want to go down to the store and grab some more. I think it might be a long night, and then there’s Christmas lunch tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind, I don’t have a turkey and all the trimmings.”
    “No problem. It beats the pizza I was planning on having.”
    “Pizza. At least you were going to cook, I was going to stick a frozen meal in the microwave while I cried over a movie.”
    “Do you want me to see what I can pick up?”
    “OK. Don’t worry though, I have some beef I could take out of the freezer.” She held the fridge open assessing what else they might need. “We can manage. I hate sending you out, I should have gone while you were sorting Carl out this morning.”
    “It’s no problem. I’ll be back in half an hour.” He shrugged his coat on, and kissed her on the cheek. “You are still going to be here when I get back?”
    She laughed. “Of course. I’ve made up my mind to tell you, and I am not going back on that.”
    “Good. I’ll see you soon.”
    He went out of the apartment once more feeling as though she couldn’t wait to get rid of him. Still, if she needed a few minutes to get herself together that was fine with him. The fresh air would do him good, and as he went out he smelled the crisp air.
    Snow. It was going to be a white Christmas after all. With any luck he would get snowed in with Robin, unable to leave her apartment until he had made love to her in every way he knew. He only hoped he could please her, that she wouldn’t grow bored of him.
    Best not think about sex, he thought, his pants starting to feel a little tight around the groin area. Instead he looked in all the different stores along the road. Windows full of Christmas toys, food, just about everything you could think of. Some shelves already bare as the traders started to wind down to the end of the festive season.
    Then an empty window. He paused, looking inside. It had a lot of square footage, and this was a good suburb in the city, unusual for a premises to be left empty like this. He presumed it was the time of year, and it would be