“Cold?”
“A little.” Jilly was already scooting down, reaching for the afghan.
Will helped her, tucking it in around her. “Better?”
“Mmm-hmm.” She was thinking that she could feel his body’s warmth. Then he rolled away from her and stood.
“You’re leaving?” Jilly hoped she didn’t sound as forlorn as she felt.
“I was just going to get another blanket. But if you want to be left alone…” Will trailed off.
“I’d rather have company, actually.”
Pure self-indulgence, Bravo, Will was thinking as he got the spare afghan. She was fine. So what was he doing, lying on her bed with her, rambling on about himself? Just what she needed, after having the misfortune to be snowed in with him—a chance to hear his long, sad story: Nightmare Christmases I Have Known.
He should go, he thought, as he returned to the bed and stretched out next to her.
But he didn’t….
Scrooge and the Single Girl
Christine Rimmer
In loving memory of
the house my mother was born in, a house we filled with our family memories, the house we always called the Old House.
CHRISTINE RIMMER
came to her profession the long way around. Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, she’d been an actress, a salesclerk, a janitor, a model, a phone sales representative, a teacher, a waitress, a playwright and an office manager. She insists she never had a problem keeping a job—she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine is grateful not only for the joy she finds in writing, but for what waits when the day’s work is through: a man she loves, who loves her right back, and the privilege of watching their children grow and change day to day. She lives with her family in Oklahoma.
THE BRAVOS:
HEROES, HEROINES AND THEIR STORIES
THE NINE-MONTH MARRIAGE (SSE#1148)
—Cash Bravo and Abby Heller
MARRIAGE BY NECESSITY (SSE #1161)
—Nate Bravo and Megan Kane
PRACTICALLY MARRIED (SSE #1174)
—Zach Bravo and Tess DeMarley
MARRIED BY ACCIDENT (SSE #1250)
—Melinda Bravo and Cole Yuma
THE MILLIONAIRE SHE MARRIED (SSE #1322)
—Jenna Bravo and Mack McGarrity
THE M.D. SHE HAD TO MARRY (SSE #1345)
—Lacey Bravo and Logan Severance
THE MARRIAGE AGREEMENT (SSE #1412)
—Marsh Bravo and Tory Winningham
THE BRAVO BILLIONAIRE (single title)
—Jonas Bravo and Emma Hewitt
MARRIAGE: OVERBOARD
—Gwen Bravo McMillan and Rafe McMillan
(Weekly Serial at www.eHarlequin.com)
THE MARRIAGE CONSPIRACY (SSE #1423)
—Dekker (Smith) Bravo and Joleen Tilly
HIS EXECUTIVE SWEETHEART (SSE #1485)
—Aaron Bravo and Celia Tuttle
MERCURY RISING (SSE #1496)
—Cade Bravo and Jane Elliott
SCROOGE AND THE SINGLE GIRL (SSE #1509)
—Will Bravo and Jilly (Jillian) Diamond
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Chapter One
Jillian Diamond left Sacramento at a little after two on that cold, clear Sunday afternoon in late December. She was barely out of town before the sky began to darken.
In the foothills, a light snow was falling. The fluffy flakes blew down, swirling in the gray sky, melting the instant they hit the windshield.
Jilly cast a quick glance at the seat beside her. “Voilà, Missy. Snow.”
Miss Demeanor, a small calico cat with one mangled ear and an ordinarily pleasant disposition, glared at her mistress through the screened door of the carrier that held her prisoner. Missy did not enjoy traveling.
Jilly faced the road again and continued, as if Missy cared, “Snow is good, you know that. Snow is part of the plan.”
The plan was this: Take one creative, contented single woman, add Christmas in an idyllic setting, mix well and come up with…a column. Or maybe an article, something suitable for the slicks. Options, at this point, were wide open.
And no, this was not to be your usual desperate, club-hopping singleton’s Christmas, not your ho-hum lonely career girl wandering aimlessly in a coupled-up world, with humor. Not your predictable tale of meaningless sexual encounters with guys who have it all—except for a heart. That was only what Jilly’s editor at the Sacramento Press-Telegram had asked for in the first place.
Jilly had told him no way. “Listen, Frank. I don’t care if half the time it seems to me that that’s my life, exactly. It’s not going in the Press-Telegram for everyone I know—not to mention two hundred and fifty thousand strangers—to read about.” She’d shot back a counter-proposal: the happy single girl’s Christmas. That is, Jillian and her cat and a Christmas tree, perfectly content all on their own, in some quiet, scenic, isolated place.
Frank had had the bad taste to stifle a yawn. “On second thought, never mind.”
So fine. Jilly decided she would do it on spec and sell it next year.
Which was why she and Missy were all packed up in her 4Runner, heading toward a certain secluded old house high in the Sierras, on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.
And the weather was cooperating nicely. Because, of course, for Christmas with the contented single girl, there should be snow, and it should be drifting attractively down outside a big picture window.
Too bad Jilly got going on this project a little late, thus necessitating settling for a setting a tad less than ideal. Most likely, there wouldn’t be any picture windows in this particular house. But Jilly was okay with that. She’d have mountains and pine trees and lovely, sparkly white snow. For the rest, she’d make do. She fed a Christmas CD into the