A Christmas Duet : Two Contemporary Tales of Holiday Romance

by Amy Lamont

  I offered her a big, sunny smile. Wish I’d had money to bet on that one.

  Maggie showed me where to stow my coat and bag and then linked her arm through mine. “You didn’t have to do that,” she whispered. “It was my fault you had trouble finding the place.”

  I shrugged. “No big deal. All’s well that ends well.” I wrinkled my nose and took in the sexy Santa getup she wore, identical to mine. “Though I don’t think that goes for these outfits.”

  “I think they’re cute.” Maggie paused and stuck out a leg encased in a black fishnet stocking and a patent leather high heel shoe just like the ones I wore.

  I shook my head and tugged her arm to get her moving again. Of course Maggie liked these outfits. Her taste tended to run to old-school Brooklyn—short skirts, high heels, and big hair. One of the many reasons I loved her.

  “Come on. I’m losing out on tips with every passing second.” And I needed every last one of them. The countdown was on. Heaven only knew how much time I had left to save up for the down payment for my dream house.

  And that’s the only reason Maggie had been able to convince me to haul my cookies into Manhattan in full-on slutty Santa gear. I was so close, I was afraid to even think about it much for fear of jinxing myself.

  “Fine.” Maggie pulled me through a throng of elegantly dressed people toward the side of the room. “But this conversation isn’t over. You’re always trying to save everyone else. You’re not in charge of taking care of the world, Lils. You can lean on your friends every once in a while. Let us feel useful for a change.”

  I smiled at her and pressed a kiss on her cheek, leaving a bright red lipstick outline that made me bite back a laugh. She was so sweet trying to make it sound like I had a gaggle of friends waiting to do my bidding. The truth was my group of friends could be counted on one hand. One finger, in fact. And she was the person currently pulling me through the incredible penthouse apartment of someone who obviously had oodles more money than me.

  My jaw might have dropped as we pushed our way through the crowd. The penthouse was not what I expected. I figured the billionaire media mogul who constantly graced the covers of business magazines and society pages, not to mention hosting this very shindig, would live in a designer nightmare of leather, glass, and lots of black and white.

  But the reality was something very different and I stopped in my tracks for a second to take it all in. Despite the room full of people in designer duds, the apartment was not a showplace. It was very obviously a home. From the cozily arranged seating area complete with fuzzy Christmas throws to the antique angel on top of the tree, this place screamed home and hearth and family.

  A sharp pang of longing shot through me so strong it would have knocked me to my knees if Maggie hadn’t continued to yank me along.

  “Come on. This way.” She steered me to the back of the room.

  We arrived at the bar set up in a corner of the room. A line of impatient people waited for drinks, and a young woman with a panicked expression on her face as she fumbled to get ice into a glass stood behind it.

  “Please tell me you’re the bartender,” the girl demanded.

  “The one and only.” I rubbed the lipstick off Maggie’s cheek and winked at her before sliding behind the bar. “I take it you’re not here to serve drinks?”

  “Technically, yes. I’m supposed to be circulating with trays of champagne and the signature cocktails. Mixing drinks? Not so much.”

  “Gotcha.” I did a quick stock of the inventory under and behind the bar. “I think I can handle things from here.”

  “Oh, thank God.” She scurried away faster than I could say, “Winter Wonderland.”

  I turned to the people crowded around the bar, now staring at me with unconcealed irritation. Lovely. I gritted my teeth into some semblance of a smile. At least they’d keep me busy enough to push all thoughts of comfy homes and loving families from my mind.

  “Whose up for some Christmas spirit?” I held up a bottle of rum and a container of eggnog and got down to work.

  Will

  “Will, you made it.” Jared walked over and clapped me on the back. “You been here long?”

  “Nah. A couple of minutes.”

  I looked around the posh penthouse apartment. All the guests were dressed to the nines and standing in small clumps, chatting quietly while uniformed servers circulated with trays of fancy looking finger foods and Christmas music played quietly in the background.

  I turned and raised an eyebrow at Jared. “This gives a totally different meaning to the phrase partying like a rock star.”

  Jared grinned. “Yeah, we’ve got nothing on Nate.” He referred to Nate Wilder, resident billionaire and host to tonight’s soiree. Nate’s woman, Emma, was best friends with Jared’s girlfriend, Paige. Which is how I ended up with an invite.

  Looking around the large living area, my gaze caught on Jade, another of Paige’s besties. Seeing her reminded me of my reluctance to attend tonight. How had I gotten talked into coming?

  Jade had caught my eye at another party. Only nothing as fancy as this one. That one had been all about beach, bikinis and beer. We’d spent a good portion of the day flirting outrageously, but she ended up flat leaving me for another guy.

  As if my thoughts had conjured him, the guy she’d ended up with that night strolled up to her. She tilted her head back invitingly when he made it to her, and he obliged by laying a lingering kiss on her lips.

  “I guess Jade and her guy are still together.” I couldn’t help my sour tone. Not that I’d been looking for more than a night or two of fun at the time. But I hadn’t been shot down like that in a long time. My ego took a minor blow.

  Jared laughed. “You need to get over it, man. Those two are like Paige and I. Meant to be.”

  I shook my head. Hearing my best friend, the guy I’d seen talk a girl out of her panties in two seconds flat, casually mentioning things like destiny in reference to a woman made my head spin. Even after all these months I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the idea he’d settled down.

  But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore. After all, the reason we were spending the month in New York with no touring or time in the recording studio scheduled until after the New Year was so Jared could spend time with his girl.

  “Yeah, I definitely wasn’t looking for my soulmate when I tried to hook up with Jade,” I admitted dryly.

  Jared patted me on the back again. “Pretty sure I know what you were looking for, Will.” He shook his head before he went on. “But head’s up. One of these days you’ll understand. You’ll look up and see a woman and it’ll be like a shot to the chest. You’ll be a goner, too.”

  I held back a snort. I couldn’t imagine giving up my freedom the way Jared had. I mean, Paige was great and as long as Jared was happy, I was happy for him. But settling down was not for me. At least not anytime soon. Right now nothing sounded more perfect than the life I was leading—playing our music, traveling the world, experiencing something new around every corner.

  I didn’t share all that with Jared. “Thanks for the head’s up, man. I’ll be sure to be on the lookout so I can dodge that bullet.”

  “Don’t say you haven’t been warned.” He tipped his chin toward the far corner of the room. “Why don’t you hit the bar and grab some food and then come over and say hello to Jade and Logan. Her husband.”

  “Holy shit. No kidding? They’re married already?”

  Jared shrugged and repeated his earlier words, “He’s a goner. She’s it for him and vice versa. Why wait?”

  I shook my head, feeling better about being at the party and facing Jade again. If she was looking for that kind of relationship, she was much better off with Logan. Getting thrown over for him might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. I was so not ready to go down that road. Or aisle, as the case may be.

  “I’ll catch up with you after I grab a drink,” I said, now much more in a party mood than I’d been w
hen I walked through the door.

  Jared gave me a chin lift and then made a beeline for his woman. I shook my head and, I swear, behind the Christmas music, clinking glasses, and laughter and talking, I heard the sound of a whip cracking.

  Totally dodged a bullet.

  I wended my way through the crowded apartment in the direction Jared had pointed. I scanned the room as I went, and noticed a few sets of feminine eyes had landed on me.

  I grinned. This might not be my typical party, but looked like the game was the same. Might as well enjoy myself.

  As soon as I had that thought, the crowd in front of me parted and I had a clear path to the bar in the corner. I raised my eyes as I moved forward and…

  Holy shit. I stopped dead as my gaze caught on the woman tending bar. Her dark hair fell in curls from underneath a Santa hat. Her wide smile didn’t quite reach her bright blue eyes as she handed the guy across from her a drink.

  The skintight red velvet dress with its poofy white trim showcased her pale skin and ample cleavage in a way that made my mouth go dry and my dick go hard.

  And all I could think was Jared was wrong. It wasn’t like a shot to the chest. It was more like a poleax to the gut, stealing my breath and making me want to throw a few punches at the guys surrounding her. The world screeched to a standstill around me.

  Fuck me. Destiny must be laughing her ass off right about now.

  Chapter 2

  Will

  As fast as it stopped, the world started spinning on its axis again. I shook my head and forced myself to put one foot in front of the other, relieved as denial started to take root in my thoughts.

  Too much story time with Uncle Jared. His words along with being surrounded by all the happy couples must have given me momentary brain damage.

  I really should have gone to the Bahamas for the holidays with my other bandmates instead of sticking it out in the city with Jared. What had I been thinking?

  But even as I argued with myself over what just happened, I found myself pulled unerringly toward the bar. No matter how much I wanted to kid myself, the idea of a cocktail wasn’t the major attraction.

  The bartender seemed to have caught up with the crowd that had surrounded her. As I stepped up, she handed off a drink to the lone guy standing there with a big smile.

  Damn. That smile was even more devastating up close. I could feel my cock reacting, too, something that hadn’t happened to me without my permission since before I turned sixteen.

  “What can I get for you?” Miss Destiny turned to me with an impersonal smile.

  But the second she laid eyes on me, her expression changed. Her smile faltered, her blue eyes widened, and her lips parted.

  I didn’t know which was more captivating, the wide-eyed stare or the soft, full lips. When the lips parted farther so the tip of her tongue could slip out and moisten them, I had my winner.

  “You’re…you’re Will Canter.”

  Her stuttering brought me back to reality in an instant. Shit. For the first time since our first single hit number one on the billboard charts, I had regrets about being a rock star. For some reason, I didn’t want this girl to be just another groupie. And I wanted it with a vengeance that shocked me.

  “I guess it’s too late for a disguise, huh?” I rubbed a hand along the back of my neck.

  She shook her head a little, the movement more like a reaction to her own thoughts than in response to my question. And as I watched, her expression changed. It was like a curtain coming down. The fake smile stole over her mouth. It definitely never hit her eyes. She straightened a bit and tilted her head to the side, sending the pompom on the end of her Santa hat bouncing.

  “Definitely too late,” she said. “I mean, after that night we spent together, it would take more than a fake mustache and glasses to keep me from recognizing you.”

  “Umm…what?”

  “Oh, come on, Will. You’re not going to tell me you don’t remember me.” Her breathy voice did nothing to make my dick soften, but her words flummoxed me. No way on God’s green earth I’d have forgotten this woman if I’d had her.

  “The kids are going to be disappointed. They were hoping they’d get to spend Christmas with you this year.”

  “The kids?” I parroted.

  She batted her lashes at me. “You can’t tell me you totally forgot that time we got married in Vegas and then adopted those refugee orphans from the Internet?”

  Her teasing tone finally sank in and I felt the tension leave my shoulders, appreciating the fact I wasn’t about to get treated to a round of squealing fangirl devotion. I decided to play along. “That was you?”

  “Of course, it was me.” She shook her head and pressed her lips together and faked a sad look. “I do have some bad news, though.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  She gave me a solemn look. “Rufus, the beagle we adopted, went up to the big farm in the sky.”

  “Not Rufus!”

  She nodded. “Afraid so.”

  “That’s a shame. I hope Fred and Ginger weren’t too upset.”

  “Fred and Ginger?”

  “Our children, honey. Surely you remember their names.”

  She sent me a wicked grin. “Of course. I have after all been raising them on my own all these years.” She picked up a glass. “Perhaps you’d like to make a toast to poor Rufus. What was it you always drank? Whiskey, neat?”

  “Ah, yes, a toast. But it must be one of your other husbands you’re thinking of. I’ve always been a Jack and Coke kind of guy.”

  “Right.” She flashed me a grin and went to work making my drink.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was gorgeous and funny, but let’s face it. My day job was rock star. Women weren’t exactly hard to come by, even gorgeous and funny ones. Why had this one had such a major effect on me?

  As I watched her mixing my drink, I made the decision to believe I’d imagined it. It was the Christmas music and Jared’s words and hearing Jade married the guy she’d thrown me over for. All of it was playing with my head.

  But even as I half convinced myself I’d imagined it, the music changed. She paused with the soda nozzle in her hand, hovering over the glass full of ice. Her eyes dropped closed and I could see her chest move up and down as she pulled in a deep breath.

  It only lasted a heartbeat before she opened her eyes again. But the change it wrought was startling. The wide, fake grin was gone. Instead, a small, soft smile curved her lips. Her eyes looked like a light had been turned on inside her. How she managed to hide that glow while she teased me a second ago, I couldn’t fathom. Because she shone so bright in that moment, I almost couldn’t breath just looking at her.

  The glow remained while she finished my drink. She placed it on a cocktail napkin in front of me with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. This song always gets to me.”

  I made an effort to hear the music and the strains of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” hit my ears. I listened closely until the final note rang out and the music moved on to the next song, keeping my eyes locked on her face. Beautiful.

  She shook her head and in a second, the softness was gone. The teasing smile from a few minutes ago was back. She tipped her head toward my drink as a couple approached the bar.

  “It was good seeing you again, husband. Let me know when you’re ready for a refill.” She gave me a wink before turning to the newcomers, dismissing me.

  “I’ll be back, wife,” I said quietly, probably too quiet for her to hear.

  And I would. Because Jared got it right.

  I was a goner.

  Lily

  “Oh, my God, Lily.” Maggie whisper-screeched at me, making a beeline for the bar the minute I served drinks to the last of the latest wave of party-goers. “Was that Will Canter over here before?”

  All I could manage was a nod. Because I knew she was having a groupie girl moment over the fact I’d served a drink to the guitarist of Sliding Violet. And yes, he was Will Canter, rock god a
nd sexiest man alive two years running. But my reaction to him had zero to do with his rock star status.

  I’d met Jared Sloane, lead singer of Sliding Violet, earlier. And while I might have fangirled for a second or two before I got it together and mixed him a drink, that was nothing compared to my reaction to Will Canter.

  My response to Will came purely from a visceral level. I swear I felt his presence even before I looked up and recognized him.

  And yes, a woman would have to be dead not to notice Will Canter was hot. His overlong brown hair, chocolate eyes, and broad shoulders were just the beginning.

  In his jeans and button-down shirt, he looked casually confident in a room filled with people dressed far more formally. And the way he filled out that shirt made me long to slide the buttons open to discover what I’d bet was a six-pack underneath.

  I sighed and shook off my silliness, concentrating instead on the pain in my feet from standing on these stupid heels all night and my friend looking at me expectantly from the other side of the bar.

  “How’s your night going?” I asked.

  She quietly squeed and moved closer. Her feet were probably fine. The girl could run a marathon in those heels and then spend a night out dancing without so much as a blister.

  “I can’t believe this place.” She leaned in closer. “I mean, we’ve done some swank parties before, but holy moly. This is deluxe. Have you seen some of the dresses these women are wearing? I’d kill for that little green number she’s got on.” Maggie discreetly tipped her chin toward a woman several yards away from us.

  “Oh, yeah.” I had noticed that dress as soon as she stepped up to the bar earlier. It was spectacular. The ruffled hemline ended several inches above her knees and the sleeves had discreet slits that showed small peeks of her shoulders as she moved. And the price tag for it would probably cover the cost of outfitting my dream house with new hardwood floors.

  After taking the opportunity to covet the gorgeous dress, I allowed my gaze to wander the room, drinking in every detail of the plush rugs and gleaming floors to the simple and elegant window treatments.