Lander glanced over at Aurelia and saw her face pale and a sheen of sweat break out on her upper lip. Her wide eyes conveyed the shock that she must be feeling at the news. He put his hand on her shoulder in a soothing gesture. She looked at him, her eyes focusing on him at once. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. Her eyes were still wide and she stared down at her hands. “This could ruin the company. I have no idea what to do. I have to get back there.”
Her parents jumped up and both began to talk at the same time.
“There’s no way you did this,” her father stated.
“Don’t you background check everyone?” her mother asked.
This was followed by Lander’s parents putting in their two cents and asking questions as well. Aurelia just stood there looking at her hands and shaking her head. He couldn’t bear to see her like that. “Aurelia, do you know what they are talking about?”
Aurelia looked up when he spoke and nodded ever so slightly. “Yes, I do.”
Everyone in the room went silent as they stared at her. Disbelief was written across their faces.
She took a deep breath and spoke with a confidence that Lander immediately appreciated. He would not hold himself together as well as she did, should his company be threatened with a disaster this big.
“That man, Nathaniel, I don’t know him, but I do know Theresa Scrow,” she said. “I’m assuming that was his wife. She came to me in the beginning—a famous fashion designer, if you hadn’t heard of her. And she told me that she had divorced her husband already. I set her up with a very sweet man who also had a good amount of money to his name. They were only my third match. I didn’t even have an office at that point. I was working out of the nearby Starbucks. Honestly, that was a turning point for my company. I was able to take on a large number of clients after that just because of how well the matches were going.” She took a deep breath and sat on a chair.
Lander knelt down next to her and took her hand in his. A jolt of electricity seemed to pass through his body when he touched her. He wondered briefly if she felt it too. She looked into his eyes and he saw a deep sadness there. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt anyone, Aurie. You never would. And we don’t know how much information he actually has. How good is your security system?”
Aurelia looked a bit happier as she spoke about her work. “It’s state of the art. We have even run it through some ethical hackers who tried multiple ways to break in to assess the security for the system. Honestly, it’s better than the system they use for the IRS database, and you know how good that one is.”
Her mother moved closer and rested her hand on Aurelia’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, if it’s that good, then he probably didn’t get anything. You don’t need to worry, I’m sure. Why don’t you just go on up to bed and rest. Tomorrow will look much better than today, I assure you.”
Aurelia stood, but shook her head. “No, I have to go back. I’ll book a midnight flight straight back to New York. I need to do some damage control. Even if he didn’t get anything, I’m going to have some very concerned celebrities and political figures calling. They’ll be worried that their private information has leaked. They need to know that discretion is my company’s top priority and it will be maintained at all costs.”
She stormed out of the room and ran upstairs. Lander was left with both sets of parents talking about the incident.
“At least she got to spend Christmas Day with us last year,” her father remarked.
Aurelia’s mom sounded sad and tired. “That job of hers sure does keep her busy, doesn’t it. Oh well. We could always go skiing in Colorado.”
Lander’s mom nodded. “Yeah, let’s head up to the lodge tomorrow.”
Lander looked up at the mention of leaving.
“Oh Lander, so sorry. We can wait till you are ready to head back to New York, of course.” His father, always the gentleman, had noticed that everyone seemed to forget Lander was there.
He cleared his throat. “Actually, I should head back anyway. Lots of work to do, you know.”
His parents seemed pacified and returned to their conversation. Lander sat on a chair, thinking of any possible way to make this situation right. If only Aurelia could stay.
Throwing the things she had brought back in her suitcase, Aurelia waited for her personal assistant to finalize her travel plans. She would probably be traveling on a personal jet one of her clients had available for her use. Even though she could probably buy her own plane, she hated the fact that people did that. What a waste of money. Although right now, it would have helped. Things like this didn’t usually happen to her, so she had never needed to get back to New York in such a hurry.
This probably wouldn’t have happened had she just stayed. She would have been able to intervene before this broke national news and saved her company a lot of headache, not to mention all the cleanup she would have to do with her previous clients. Her assistant had been answering phones nonstop since the press release and couldn’t provide any answers.
“Valerie, how much longer?” Aurelia snapped. She wasn’t trying to be rude, but her nerves were frayed.
“I’m finalizing details now. You can probably head out to the airport. But I’m getting some looks from your team and they passed me a note. Can I read it to you, before you go?”
Aurie tapped her foot on the floor in impatience and grabbed the phone, switching from speakerphone to the handset. “Go ahead.”
Valerie sounded deflated and hesitant but read the list that had been given to her. “They want to know if they should hold a press conference or wait till you get back?”
“Wait till I get back. I shouldn’t be long and until I assess the damage there isn’t much we can tell the press at this point.” Her team should already know this. She shouldn’t have trusted them to take care of the company while she was gone. This was the last time she took a vacation.
“Okay the other thing that they want to know is what to say to the high profile clients calling in. We’ve had some pretty terrible feedback.” She could hear a quiver in Valerie’s voice and she softened a bit as she realized how difficult this was on her assistant.
“It will be okay. Just tell them we are assessing the situation and as soon as we know anything we will get back to them. I have to go now though. I’ll be back soon and we can go from there.”
They both hung up and Aurelia grabbed her suitcase and ran down the stairs. She almost collided with Lander at the bottom.
“Lander, I have to head out. So sorry we didn’t get to finish that date.” She gulped, remembering the look he had on his face just before he’d been going to kiss her.
His eyebrows went up in surprise. “You found a plane that fast?”
Aurelia nodded grimly. She would have loved to stay, but her company needed her and there was no way she would be able to make it out here again for a long time. She started to walk towards the living room to say goodbye to her parents, but Lander grabbed her arm. She turned around to look at him and his serious eyes caught hers.
“What about us? You had to have felt something there too.” He had not seemed this vulnerable before.
She didn’t want to crush him, but she knew what her priorities were. “Lander, I felt something as well.” His eyes lit up and that only made it more difficult to be honest. “But I don’t have time for a relationship right now. I don’t know that I ever will. My company needs me and when I’m not there, it falls apart. You have to understand. You run a company as well, and you told me yourself you’re as busy as I am. I just don’t think this would work out.”
She could tell she had devastated him. His eyes fell for a moment and his hand dropped from her shoulder. He collected himself, squared his shoulders and looked at her. It felt as though he were looking through her. “I completely understand. I wish you the best, Aurie. Be safe. And let’s not wait ten years again before we see each other, please.”
He leaned in and put his arms around her waist, pulling
her into a hug. It wasn’t the same kind of hug they shared in high school. This one felt tender and infinitely more important. Her stomach warmed and she felt like she were floating—then it was over. He kissed her cheek gently and let her go.
She immediately felt an ache deep in her heart that longed for his arms back around her waist but shoved the feeling aside and tried to focus. She needed to get to the airport. Grabbing her suitcase again she walked past Lander, kissed her parents’ cheeks and left. The car that Valerie called her was already waiting for her in the driveway.
A single tear slid down Aurelia’s cheek as the car drove away from the house she grew up in. Swiping at it impatiently, she pulled out her laptop. She didn’t have time to dwell on what could be. She had to get to work.
Chapter 5
The damage to her company wasn’t irreparable, but it was certainly challenging her patience and customer service skills. Aurelia James sat in her large corner office, the giant glass windows overlooking a stunning New York skyline. She had been working nonstop for almost forty-eight hours straight, and in the last few weeks had put in more than 100 hours in the office per week.
She looked down at the stack of papers in front of her—the last of her clients that needed to be called and soothed. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing on a meditation practice she had learned in a stress seminar. Just as she tried to clear her head however, Lander’s handsome face popped back into her mind’s eye. She could almost feel his arms around her waist and the tickle of his breath on her ear while he whispered to her.
She shook her head. She didn’t have time for daydreaming and certainly didn’t have time to daydream about a man she probably wouldn’t see for another few years at least. The door to her office opened slowly. It had to be Valerie. She was the only person in the building that would walk into her office without knocking.
“Ms. James, you really need a break. I’m pretty sure you were here last night, and from the timestamps on the emails you copied me on I can see that you weren’t sleeping.” Her voice sounded stern but friendly. A fine line that Valerie was always able to walk.
Aurelia pinched the bridge of her nose, willing her intense headache to ease up. “Val, you know I have to get this stuff done. I’m the only one they will listen to.”
Valerie’s heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she walked over to Aurelia’s desk and sat in the chair opposite her boss. She crossed her legs and leaned forward, her dark brown eyes highlighted by a light blue eyeshadow swiped across her lids. Aurelia was always jealous of the woman’s beautiful brown curly hair. “Aurelia James, I will call your mother if I have to. You need to get your butt in bed and get some sleep. These clients can wait till tomorrow, but if you don’t get some sleep and a decent meal you are going to end up in bed for far longer than you need to be.”
Aurelia sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She noticed that her mouth was dry as a cotton ball and she was sure that the odor she smelled was probably coming from her. Valerie was right, of course. She needed to get some sleep.
“Alright,” she conceded. She stood to leave, grabbing her laptop to take with her.
Valerie stuck her hand out for the machine. “Leave it, you need to be disconnected for a few hours.”
She had that look on her face that Aurelia knew all too well. There was no talking her out of the decision. She would have to leave the laptop. Scolding herself for hiring a PA that didn’t take any flack, she had thought the strong will of this woman would help her get things done. While it usually helped, there were other times that Aurelia found herself wanting to shout at Valerie and send her packing. Okay, maybe not send her packing, but maybe just pick on her a bit or something.
Aurelia’s thoughts trailed off and she realized that Valerie was still waiting for her to give her the laptop. She put it down on the desk and childishly stuck her tongue out at her assistant. In true Valerie fashion, she returned the gesture and laughed out loud.
“Thanks, Valerie. You keep me from killing myself.”
Valerie nodded with a smile on her face. “That’s why you hired me, Ms. James.”
Aurelia walked out the door, rode the elevator to the ground floor and took the car that had been called for her. Now she couldn’t wait to fall on her bed at home and sleep for a few hours. The thought was only interrupted on her way home by the same daydream she had at her desk. Lander Perry looking at her with a solemn expression on his face. She could see him push back the hair that had fallen in her eyes, then tilt her chin up for an exquisite kiss.
Why couldn’t she get this man out of her mind?
Lander was starting to get frustrated. “I’ve got to find a way to get her to see me, but her personal assistant just keeps shutting me down. She always says she is busy. I don’t even think she knows I’m calling.”
Craig wore his usual gray suit and blue tie. He had smile lines around his eyes and the overall appearance of a giant bear. His dark hair was streaked with gray, and most people found him very approachable. “Maybe you need to find a way around her assistant then.”
“I’ve tried everything short of just showing up in her office. You know they won’t let me past security if I tried that.” He was running out of ideas and hope. He really wanted to see her and talk to her about the evening they spent under the stars. Truth be told what he really wanted to do was finish that kiss.
“I don’t understand why you’ve put so much effort into this. What do you see in this girl that you haven’t seen in a million others? I thought you were done with dating and love forever.”
Lander was sure Craig had something up his sleeve. He had that look of mischievousness on his face.
He thought about it for a minute. What made Aurelia different? Everything. She was the entire package. “This might be crazy. I know we don’t really know each other anymore, but it was like when I saw her again I was back in high school and I could see everything going differently. What if I had the guts to kiss her when we were in high school? Would we have dated and married? I could be in such a different place right now.”
“So you regret the past?” Craig had a serious expression.
Lander was thrown off for a minute. “No, no. That’s not it at all. It was like when I was with her I realized everything I was missing and I saw it all in her. Maybe that doesn’t make any sense. And she might break my heart. I know that is a possibility. She might even just flat out turn me down. But I don’t really care.” He usually didn’t talk so much about how he felt, but Craig had the habit of asking good questions and getting him to think. It was one of the reasons that he enjoyed spending time with Craig. Not only did he listen, but he confided in Lander as well. They had a good partnership built on a solid friendship.
“I haven’t heard you talk like that in a long time,” Craig noted. He walked over and sat in the chair in the corner of the office near the window that Lander was looking out. From this vantage point, Lander had realized he could see the building that housed Aurelia’s company. They had been so close to each other for so many years and yet hadn’t ever stumbled across each other’s paths.
He sat down on the other oversized armchair and laid his head back, taking a deep steadying breath. He didn’t like not being in control of something like this.
Craig cleared his throat. “I may have an idea on how you can talk to Aurelia.”
Lander sat up and looked at him expectantly. “How?”
“My wife won’t like it, but it might work.”
Chapter 6
“Valerie?” Aurelia hated to bother Valerie right now, knowing she was working on the schedule for next month.
“Yes, Ms. James?”
“What is this file on my desk? I’ve never seen this name before.” She thumbed through the file while she spoke.
“Just a minute please,” Valerie answered.
A few seconds later she appeared in the door and walked over to Aurelia’s desk. “Remember how you told the team to double s
creen everyone? We were just using that one security firm, but now we have contracted with two? Well this guy is a new client that signed up for a match and the first time we ran his name through our system everything was fine, but the second one red-flagged him.”
Aurie was confused. What would a handsome billionaire be flagged for? His profile looked well put together, he had passed their initial screenings and his bio was well written. “What was he flagged for? Surely he doesn’t have an arrest record?”
“No, but he is married. For the last five years as a matter of fact. I only brought it to your attention because the team thought he might be an undercover reporter or secret shopper type. They thought it best if you dealt with it.” She raised her eyebrows and then walked out of the room.
Aurelia sat reading through his report. He seemed like such a nice guy. What would make him want to cheat on his wife? Or were they right? This guy might be too good to be true. It was odd that he was able to get through all the screening, however, if he was faking it all. They interviewed with three different people before their files landed on Aurelia’s desk. One was a licensed psychologist that specialized in personalities and had an intense intuition for people who were faking or putting on a front.
She picked up the phone and dialed the number in his file. “Hello, Craig? I would love to schedule a meeting with you. This week? Yeah, I’m sure I can fit you in. Let’s meet up tomorrow. My personal assistant can bring in some lunch. Oh, at your work? Alright, I’ll see you there.”
She hung up the phone and stared at the file again. She would break this guy so hard that nobody else would ever try it again. She got her lawyer on the phone next. Best to give him a heads up.
Aurelia fidgeted with the clasp on her bag and crossed and uncrossed her legs. She sighed and looked at her watch in anticipation. While she was great at speaking to large groups of employees, and letting people go when needed, she had never been much for confrontation.
Love, Snow and Mistletoe: Four Sweet Christmas Romance Novellas Page 21