Holiday Fling

Monica McHenry needs a break from real life. So what if it happens to be the third week of December, and she's used to big Christmas celebrations with family and friends? She needs time away from everyone, including her family, her best friend, and most importantly, the dark memories and the horrible feelings of guilt that have plagued her since last July. A week in a remote, winter cabin sounds like the perfect escape. She's looking forward to some solitude, to some silence, and yes, to the lack of holiday cheer. How could she possibly be excited for Christmas after the way her world shattered in July? The cabin is everything she'd hoped for. She's all but snowed in, and she has nothing but time on her hands to fight and hopefully defeat her emotional demons. Except the pesky, hot neighbor won't leave her alone. Creed Jackson isn't happy that a woman is holed up alone in a remote cabin, especially Monica, who's on the road to a physical recovery after a tragic accident. From the moment she arrives, Creed is in the shadows doing things to help her out: plowing the long, unpaved driveway, delivering her an (unwanted) Christmas tree, and then having the nerve to share his family decorations with her. Though Monica wants to hide everything, including her true identity, from Creed, she finds that she likes his company. Sure, he's easy on the eyes, but he's also easy to talk to, and his observations about her life and the darkness she's running from actually make sense. With July in her rearview mirror, Monica knows the last thing she needs is instalove. But maybe a holiday fling wouldn't hurt anything, right? At least not until it's time to say goodbye and go back to the real world.