#MFRWhooks Blog Hop - An Excerpt from CHRISTMAS AT SOLACE LAKE - The Dinner Party

This month I'm celebrating Christmas in July with excerpts from CHRISTMAS AT SOLACE LAKE. In this excerpt, Drew invites his sister Carrie and her new boyfriend Ryan for dinner, allegedly to get to know Ryan. But Drew has concerns. Carrie is only eighteen and Ryan is ten years older. She's talking about not going back to school because she wants to be with Ryan. Ryan is in a wheelchair after being injured while serving in the military, and Drew believes she's much too young to get so deeply involved with him. But when he voices his concerns at dinner, he manages to insult them both and drive his sister away. Celeste comforts Drew, and then comfort changes to something else:

Excerpt:

Celeste returned to the dining room and sat beside him. “Carrie was very upset and I can’t blame her. You basically told her the only reason Ryan would want to spend time with her was because of Ethan’s money.”

“That’s not what I meant. You know that’s not what I meant.” He exploded out of his chair, knocking it to the floor. “Damn it, I only want to protect her.”

“I know you do,” she said quietly. “But all you’re succeeding in doing is pushing her away.”

Drew groaned and threw back his head. She was right. How had it gone so wrong so quickly? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“It’s all right. I understand.”

“You’re being too nice. The least you could do is tell me what a jerk I am.”

She grinned. “Okay. You’re a jerk. Feel better now?”

“Yeah. Much.” Drew picked up his chair and slid it under the table. “Carrie’s never going to forgive me. And Ryan, I’m sure he hates me.”

Celeste got to her feet to face him. “Maybe with time, and a sincere apology, they’ll get over it.”

“Maybe.”

He’d insulted Ryan’s integrity, his honor. And he’d basically told Carrie she wasn’t worth being with unless the promise of their uncle’s money was dangled in front of a potential boyfriend.

He’d completely mishandled the situation. He should have been more subtle. He should have pointed out gradually to Carrie that her relationship with Ryan was a mistake, that the reality of living with Ryan’s disability was more than she could handle.

Instead, he was abrupt and rude and had driven her directly into Ryan’s arms. For that, he was very sorry.

“But it has to be a sincere apology, from your heart,” she said. “Can you honestly say you believe Ryan is with Carrie because he cares about her and has her best interests at heart?”

When he hesitated, Celeste shook her head. “That’s what I thought. You have no control over what they feel for each other. The heart wants what the heart wants. The more you fight against it, the stronger the feelings get.”

Her dark eyes brimmed with emotion as she looked up at him. And suddenly it didn’t matter that she’d been married before and had a child. Or that she was nine years older. Nothing mattered but Celeste.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

He pulled her against him, his mouth descending swiftly on hers. At first he read her surprise, but then she relaxed against him on a sigh and gave herself over to the kiss.

Drew lost control. He ravaged her mouth, his tongue sweeping hers over and over, the sweet taste of icing intoxicating him. She responded just as wildly, with thrusts of her own. Her hands wound around his neck, her questing fingers diving through his hair. But when he pulled her more tightly against him, and let her feel the evidence of his arousal, she pulled away.

The shock on her face told him he’d made a terrible mistake.

Blurb:

Widow Celeste Bishop has made a comfortable life for herself and her nine-year-old daughter in the three years she's worked, and lived, at Solace Lake Lodge. But this Christmas, Celeste is unsettled by a series of thefts that has staff suspecting one another. Then Drew Barnes arrives and totally upends her comfort, making her feel things she never thought she’d feel again.

An emergency brings Drew to Solace Lake Lodge. He’s sure that’s the only reason his uncle asked him to fill in as bookkeeper. No one in his family has believed in him since his mistake got him fired from his previous job.

As Drew gets to know Celeste, the pieces of his life tumble into place. He doesn’t care that she’s nine years older. But while he's falling in love, she's pulling away. She’s afraid to risk loving and losing again.

As Christmas approaches, the thefts increase. Drew is determined to stop the thief and redeem himself in his family’s eyes—and his own. But can he convince Celeste they deserve the gift of a happily-ever-after this Christmas?

Buy Link:

https://books2read.com/ChristmasAtSolaceLake

Check out other authors and excerpts in the blog hop!