Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

a bombshell: she had been seeing the Italian lawyer handling the sale, and she was sorry, but she and Red had been drifting apart in the last little while, and the best thing was to accept it and get on with their lives.

Red remembered blinking at her and thinking: Drifting apart? Yes, she had been spending more time at work, but he had continued to spend time with Marco…

As the weeks went by, Red’s initial shock and surprise—even sadness and occasional anger at Sofia’s betrayal—had eventually begun to subside. The hardest part was missing Marco. He soon realized that the only genuine love that had existed in the relationship had been that between him and the boy. His sadness over Marco had lingered, but he had realized that he had no choice but to accept the situation and get on with his life.

And he had vowed he would never again get involved with a woman with a child or children.

Not that he didn’t want kids one day. And he wanted to experience a close bond with them, something he hadn’t had with his own parents.

They had been affectionate and loving when they were home, but as a couple whose award-winning architectural firm had been commissioned to do projects around the world, they had enjoyed extensive traveling and had often left Red in the care of his full-time nanny. They had missed special occasions and milestones in his life, and although his nanny had to be credited with trying to make the events memorable for him, Red had felt the absence of his parents. As he grew older, he became better at masking his hurt and disappointment by pretending to be cheerful and happy-go-lucky.

Red had been popular with the girls in high school—they had liked his easygoing personality and humor—but that facade had threatened to crumble when a date eventually invited him over for dinner. Meeting her parents and witnessing the interactions of a “normal” family would make him a little edgy and he would shift uncomfortably at their probing questions about his family. Despite the impressive meal and their congenial banter, Red would leave with an unsettled feeling in his stomach…and not long afterward, he’d break up with the girl.

Red hadn’t realized the true source of his discontent at first. As he continued to date, he’d experience similar feelings of discomfort, followed by a lingering malaise, followed a short time later by him breaking up with the girl. He had always been the one to initiate the breakup. By the end of his final year of high school, the girl who had been his prom date hadn’t accepted his excuse for breaking up—the fact that he was studying architecture out of town and it would be too hard for him to keep up with a relationship. “You just want to keep stringing girls along.” Sherry had hurled the accusation at him. “You’re obviously not the kind to want a serious relationship with anyone, from the look of your track record. Well, go, then!” She had leaped out of his Mustang convertible and slammed the door. “Have a happy life. Alone!”

Red had watched her for a moment, a burning feeling of frustration and anger rising into his throat. He stepped hard on the gas and screeched away.

As he drove back to his parents’ house—he couldn’t call it a home—he had forced himself to take deep breaths in and out. He had parked, strode through the empty house—his parents were in the South of France—and stretched out on his bed to think about what Sherry had said about his track record. There had been a pattern. A string of dates…that hadn’t lasted.

And it had finally hit him. He had broken off with every date before he could become entrenched in her domestic life. Red had wanted to be a part of his own family, not anyone else’s.

Spending time with them had emphasized the emptiness in his own familial situation even more.

And he hadn’t liked the feeling in his gut…

Red had immersed himself in his studies at the University of Toronto. Despite the invitations and hints from female classmates, he had stayed clear of relationships. Other than group get-togethers on a Friday night, he had focused on his academic goals.

When he had graduated summa cum laude, his parents had been on the opposite side of the world. Red had paused on the stage during the convocation ceremony, putting on a smile for the commissioned photographer, but his happiness at his achievement had been diminished by their absence. As families had rejoined afterward to take photos and enjoy the reception after the ceremony, Red had instead made his way past his friends and colleagues who were hugging their relatives and quickly returned his robe before driving in his midnight-blue Porsche back to his penthouse condo, both graduation gifts from his parents.

Red had placed his diploma in his desk drawer, opened the sliding doors to his spacious patio and stared at the city lights. Despite all the material comforts he had enjoyed in his youth and the luxury grad gifts, he had felt there was something missing in his life emotionally. He had gone to bed shortly after, telling himself that the position he would be assuming in a couple of weeks’ time in his parents’ firm would keep him busy, with little time to think about anything else.

Red had focused entirely on the business these past eight years, and his parents had bestowed upon him the role of president when they retired. He had proven his competency, they had told him, and they had every confidence in his ability to continue the Brannigan legacy.

And he had. He was on top of all his firm’s ventures. It was just so ironic that when he had finally thought he could seriously commit to a relationship, Sofia had been the one to break it off.

Now, a year since the breakup, Red was excited about his new investment in Parry Sound and the possibilities for the future. He