Status Updates From A Cadence Creek Christmas (...

She was insistent on coming in but now that she was here, trying to get anything out of her was about like working with a pigheaded colt who refused to be bridled. Trying on the patience. Once he got the bit in her mouth she'd be just fine, he realized.

Oh, sick. Stop.

You don't have to apologize to him! You don't have to FUCKING APOLOGIZE to him!!!!

Why is he being SUCH AN ASSHOLE for no reason!?!?! Absolutely no reason. WTF.

And he turns out to have part-ownership of the diner. Boss-message delivered.

"You're leaving anyway, Rhys. I'd appreciate it if you weren't patronizing."

I'd also appreciate that.

But what hope did they have? He would never be happy living in a city like Vancouver, and she could tell by the way he spoke and how he'd acted since they'd met that he wanted to stay close to his mother to look after her. She realized now that his desire to hold a steady job rather than being the boss was all about taking care of his family. What she'd seen as complacency was actually selfless and noble.

Her smile grew. Had she really ever thought him plain and unremarkable? There was a humor in the way he set his mouth, the way his eyes glowed that set him apart, wasn't there?

Alward is flirting with the idea of a plain hero here.

Off-page sex

He had to stop thinking of her like some nervous, inexperienced filly, afraid of her own shadow. Taylor Shepard was the most self-assured, confident woman he'd ever met. She knew her own mind.

Yes! She's not a horse! Thank you!

So we learn he ran off because
a.)At first it was knowing that he was on the verge of losing control and pushing his advantage, which he made a practice of never doing. Taylor wasn't as ready as she thought she was. It was in the sweetness of her kiss , the tentative way she touched him, the vulnerable look in her eyes. And just like the horses he worked with, he knew she had to be sure. She needed to come to him.

He kisses her and then leaves. She's hurt.

"We're adults," he stated. "We're both wondering. It doesn't have to go any deeper than that."

I HATE when men say this. "We're adults." "We're both adults." "We're both adults here." When trying to badger you into having sex with them. It's so disgusting.

"I was overly sensitive this morning, and I said something I shouldn't have. It's not up to me to judge your life choices. Everyone makes their own decisions for their own reasons and their own happiness. I don't like it when people do it to me, and I shouldn't have done it to you."

Good apology by her.

Punching a clock made for a lot less stress in the end. Taylor had no right to judge him for it.

There is NOTHING wrong with being a worker and not a boss. It's completely valid to not want to be the boss. You are not an inferior person for not being the boss in a company. What a fucked-up message to send to people. I know people like this. UGH. Being a worker is fine.

He was gone before she had a chance to do anything. To take back the snippy words. She'd judged him, when she knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of such judgment.

She can be an asshole too. Great. A book about two assholes.

"Yeah. Exactly like that. Look, you're a novelty, Taylor. An adventure. A safe one, because in a week's time you're going to be gone."

OK. Is this... a compliment?

Puts eggnog in her coffee instead of cream.

"What do you care, anyway? You seemed to enjoy having Amy Wilson plastered all over you."

..."Amy Wilson is the last woman on earth I want to be with!"

Silence rang around them, and then, almost as one, they realized someone had heard the entire outburst. Amy stood not ten feet away, her creamy skin stained crimson in embarrassment as humiliated tears shone in her eyes.

Way to go, assholes.

"You're no better at lying now than you were when we were kids. Dad always said the poker face gene passed you by." Callum grinned, but he couldn't possibly know how much his words stung. Another criticism. She never measured up. She was always one step behind her brothers as far as her dad was concerned. One of these days she was going to show her father her accounts and watch his eyebrows go up. Those "frivolous

"You..." Fear crowded her breath. She was getting in way too deep. "You don't even like me. You criticize everything."

"You're not the only one who enjoys a challenge," he replied, his thumb making circles against her tailbone. "You know as well as I do all that baiting was just foreplay."

You think being an asshole is FOREPLAY?!

Maybe his face would never be in a magazine, but there was an intensity to it, a magnetism, that she couldn't deny.

She keeps kind of implying he's the plainest of all the groomsmen, but when she describes him he always sounds very hot. ??? Fail?

He frowned. He shouldn't care. Shouldn't bother him that she was wound tighter than a spring or that she was so deliberate in each choice and move. Except he knew now. He knew there was a vulnerable side.

"This wasn't such a good idea."

"Because I'm a small-town hick, right?"

She frowned, brought up short. Did he really think she was such a snob?

He's very insecure and weak. I can't believe she kissed him. Ugh. I would want to stay as far away from him and his assholishness as possible.

Kissing, but I'm not happy about it.

He's such a food-pusher. I've noticed a lot of these heroes of Alward's are food pushers.

Rhys watched as Taylor's eyes shone. Maybe he'd misjudged her. Maybe she'd just been stressed, because the snooty perfectionist he expected to see wasn't in attendance just now.

Or, perhaps she understood she was in a sticky place and was making the best of it. He suspected that faking it was in her repertoire of talents.

Why are you SUCH a dick?! WHY. WHY.

She didn't like being handled.

Girl, I agree. Tell him to fuck off.

"Thank you, Clara," she said, but when Clara had gone she turned on Rhys. "Don't ever answer for me again."

"You were being rude."

Gosh, this guy IS SUCH AN ASSHOLE. Is she going to END UP with this asshole?!?!!?!

"This isn't Vancouver, or Toronto, or New York or L.A." Rhys spoke firmly. "This isn't a big-city event with a bunch of rich snobs. It's just Cadence Creek. Maybe it's not good enough for you but it's good enough for Callum and Avery and maybe you should consider that instead of only thinking about yourself."

Wow, what a dick. :(