A Magical Christmas. Elizabeth Rolls

cares about her.” Elizabeth dusted the cookies with icing sugar. “I sometimes think being here is slowly killing him, but he offered to coach the high school team because he knew she didn’t want to walk into that school again. He wouldn’t have done that for anyone else. It’s the most romantic thing I ever heard.”

      Walter sighed. “That boy has been tearing after women since he hit puberty. I’ve never seen him show the slightest interest in Brenna that wasn’t to do with friendship.”

      “He didn’t object when Kayla suggested she move in with him.”

      “How could he? You were all squashing him like an ant under a log pile. Likely he’ll rebel, as he always does when you try and cage him.”

      “No one is trying to cage him, Walter.”

      “Maybe your plan will backfire. Maybe she’s not what he needs.”

      “I think she’s exactly what he needs, and hopefully he’ll discover that himself.” Calm, Elizabeth poured the tea.

      TYLER TOOK THE DOGS outside and waited, his breath clouding the freezing air.

      He wasn’t in any hurry to go back inside knowing that Brenna was curled up in his den. She and Jess had picked a movie, and between the two of them they’d sentenced him to an evening of romance and sugar he was unlikely to survive without the support of a bottle of whiskey.

      The choice didn’t surprise him.

      He already knew Brenna was romantic. It was a side of her that would have surprised some people given her tomboy ways, but not him.

      She believed in love and happy ever after, which was another reason he’d stayed the hell away from anything more than friendship with her.

      Unfortunately, that plan had become more complicated since Jess had put her in the room next to him.

      He breathed deeply and tried to banish what could only be described as inappropriate thoughts.

      Brenna had been in his house a million times, and not once had it felt awkward.

      Until tonight.

      Not for one moment did he think his daughter had made up the room next to his by accident. Nor did he think relatives from England were likely to show up anytime soon, but he hadn’t wanted to embarrass Brenna by telling his infuriating, interfering family what they could do with their plans, especially as she already seemed embarrassed enough.

      How was he supposed to sleep knowing she was on the other side of the wall?

      Did she sleep naked?

      From what he’d seen, there wasn’t much room in that suitcase for clothes.

      He heard the front door open, and Jess came out to join him.

      “Brenna is making hot chocolates. She does the whole thing, with whipped cream and marshmallows.”

      “We don’t have any marshmallows.”

      “She had them left over in her cupboard and packed them in her case.”

      Which left even less room for clothes.

      “Great.” He unzipped his coat to let the air cool his skin. “So if I wasn’t already going to die of a sugar overdose watching that movie you’ve both picked, I will now.”

      Jess stamped her feet to stay warm. “I like having another woman around the house. I hope she stays forever.”

      “You need to stop what you’re doing, Jess.”

      “What? What am I doing?”

      He preferred straight talking and saw no reason to change that approach with his daughter. “You need to stop trying to fix me up with Brenna.”

      “Are you suggesting—?” Her mouth fell open, and he enjoyed her exaggerated display of surprise and offense for a moment before shaking his head.

      “My advice? Don’t join the drama club. You’re not convincing. Stick to the ski team.”

      Her mouth closed. “I made a mistake with the rooms, that’s all.”

      “Yeah, right. I suppose I should be grateful you didn’t put her in mine. Now stop meddling, or I’ll have to find somewhere else for Brenna to stay because it isn’t fair to her.” And it wasn’t fair to him, either. He’d gone from never allowing himself to think about sex and Brenna at the same time, to not being able to separate them.

      Sweating under his jacket, Tyler hoped the movie they’d picked didn’t have any sex scenes.

      “Dad, can I ask you something?”

      “Sure.” Wrenched from a disturbing daydream that featured Brenna naked in the shower, he forced himself to pay attention.

      “Even if it’s something we’ve never talked about before?”

      Now she had all his attention. Was this going to be the sex question? After his conversation with Brenna, he’d made up his mind to buy a book on how to talk to teenagers about sex, but he hadn’t got around to it. He had no idea where to start. “You can ask me anything.” His voice came out as a croak, and he cleared his throat. “We made that deal when you came to live with me last winter. You’re still very young but we can talk about the details if you want to—” please don’t let her want to “—but the first thing to know is that it’s best if you’re in a relationship.”

      “What is?” Jess stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

      Why the hell hadn’t he bought that book? “All I’m saying is that it’s fine to talk about the mechanics, but it should mean something, that’s all.” He reasoned that as the expert on meaningless sex, that qualified him to talk about it.

      “What should?”

      “Sex.” His mouth was dry. “That is what you were asking me, isn’t it?”

      “No! Dad, that’s gross.” She turned scarlet and kicked the snow with the toe of her boot. “I don’t want to talk to you about sex! Ugh—this is so awkward.”

      “It isn’t awkward.” It was up there with the most awkward moment of his life. “You can ask me about that stuff. It’s important that you know the facts, not pick up a load of false information from your friends.”

      “I don’t want to talk about sex! I know everything already, okay?”

      “Everything?” Suddenly, he had a new worry. “How can you know everything? You’re thirteen years old.”

      “Nearly fourteen, and we’re taught all that at school and—” she lifted her hands to her face and then shook her head “—never mind! That wasn’t what I wanted to ask you!”

      Tyler felt as uncomfortable as she did. “Good. It doesn’t really matter anyway, because I’m not letting you out of the house until you’re forty.”

      “Chill, Dad. I’m more interested in skiing than boys.”

      That was good news, but not enough to make him chill.

      He was going to order the damn book right away so next time the subject came up, he’d be able to tackle it without feeling as if his tongue were knotted in three places. “So what did you want to ask me? Don’t turn into one of those women who expects a man to play guessing games. If there’s something on your mind then come right out and say it.”

      “I was going to ask if you missed it.”

      “Sex?”

      “No!” Jess gave a snort of laughter. “Dad, is sex all you think about?”

      Yes, since you’ve put Brenna in the room next to me. “Let’s start this conversation again,” he breathed. “Do I miss what?”

      “Skiing,”