The Magic of Christmas

by Alyssa J. Montgomery

  Parents had written to her and told her they held her up as a role model to their children who were having enormous academic difficulty.

  Those letters had been the most precious outcome of her new career—more important even than being able to pour all her emotions out on the keyboard, and more important than the very lucrative contracts for both live and recorded performances that she’d signed under Sadie’s guidance.

  Although Grace had always fantasised about entertaining people with her music, she’d never dreamt she’d be seen as an inspiration—never imagined she’d be asked to be an ambassador for the adult literacy program.

  Everything in her life was going well and she was riding high on her wave of success. There was only one thing missing, or rather one person. Not a day passed when she didn’t think of him and how much she’d come to love him in such a very short period of time. Not a day passed when she didn’t miss him and wish he was by her side to share in her excitement and it didn’t matter how many other men she dated. Not one of them made her heart race the way Jack had. Not a night passed when she didn’t fall asleep wishing she could’ve made love with him and could fall asleep held securely and lovingly in his arms.

  He’d given her everything but he denied himself so much and while she felt empty, her heart ached even more for him because he’d closed himself off to love and truly believed he wasn’t worthy of it.

  Amadeo and Vanessa had been at her first concert and brought a huge bouquet of flowers backstage after the event. She was pleased they’d come—pleased there was no awkwardness between her and them after what Imogene had done. They’d looked strained and told her they visited Imogene every day in the psychiatric institution to which she’d been admitted. Recently Grace had contacted them again and they’d told her that so far there’d been no progress, but the doctors were still hopeful for a positive outcome.

  Grace bowed once more and gathered some of the roses that’d been thrown at her feet, then she exited the stage for the final time and made her way to her dressing room as the stage lights dimmed and the curtains began to close.

  Now she’d be alone in her dressing room, alone catching a taxi back to her home and alone in her bed with a book. She’d give up all the applause and the accolades if she could be with Jack.

  ‘Excuse me, Miss Robertson.’

  Grace turned around to the backstage lady who arrived at her dressing room door before she’d even had time to take off her shoes and boil the kettle for a much needed cup of tea. ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘You have a visitor and Miss McGovern said to bring him through.’

  As if the mere thought of him conjured him up, Jack appeared at Grace’s dressing room door carrying a massive bunch of red roses.

  ‘Congratulations on another hugely successful recital, Grace,’ he said without preamble. ‘These are for you.’

  Jack.

  Gorgeous Jack.

  Her gaze ran hungrily over his face, absorbing every one of his facial features. Still handsome, but the angles of his face were more pronounced. He’d lost weight. There were tiny flecks of grey at his temples but he didn’t look ill—just slightly older.

  When she finally recovered from the shock of seeing him she said guardedly, ‘They’re lovely, thank you.’

  He extended the bouquet to her and as she took them from him he told her, ‘I watched your latest television interview and I saw you’re not happy.’

  She tilted her head. He’d watched her interview where she’d told him publicly that she still loved him and would marry him tomorrow and all he could say was that she wasn’t happy?

  What about you, Jack? Are you happy?

  ‘What’s not to be happy about, Jack? I’m doing really well as you predicted and I’m leading a very interesting lifestyle. Sadie’s kept every one of her promises to me. Dan’s doing brilliantly at Oxford and the cleaning business is still running along exceptionally well under your manager’s guidance. Why wouldn’t I be happy?’

  ‘Maybe you’re unhappy for the same reason I’m unhappy.’

  ‘You’re unhappy?’ Now he had her attention.

  ‘Very unhappy, Grace.’ He took the bouquet out of her hands and placed it down on her dressing table before he took her hands in his. ‘I miss you desperately. I didn’t avoid any pain by sending you away. I’ve been in pain every day since.’

  Yes, Yes! Her heart sang that he’d finally understood, but her mind urged caution.

  ‘What’s changed in the last ten months, Jack?’

  His smile was self-mocking. ‘For starters, I read your book.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Then I spoke to Amadeo.’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Then I went to counselling sessions.’

  ‘I’m so glad.’

  ‘I realised what I’m going through now is the pain of loss. It plagues me every single day because you’re not with me, but I didn’t lose you, Grace. I was an idiot. I drove you away.’

  ‘I’ve been here all the time waiting for you to come.’

  ‘That’s what happens when you send the Christmas magic away. Next time you have to be the one to go and find it.’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘It’s an unlikely story but I’ll tell you about it sometime,’ he told her with a wink. ‘In the meantime …’ He knelt on one knee in front of her. ‘Will you marry me, Grace Robertson?’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Seriously.’

  ‘Yes!’

  Jack sprung to his feet and she flung herself into his arms. ‘You don’t want to think about it for a minute?’

  ‘I as good as proposed to you on national television last night, Jack.’

  ‘I noticed.’

  ‘Thank God you got the message!’

  ‘I was working my way back to you but I needed to know I was in a good spot—that I’d taken enough steps to truly heal my past so that I could offer you my whole self, and my whole heart, for the future.’

  She claimed his lips with her own. When she came up for air she told him breathlessly, ‘You can be pretty obtuse at times for a super intelligent man.’ Her hands couldn’t stop reacquainting themselves with his powerful, muscular body and loved the liberty of being able to pull his shirt out of his trousers and touch his flesh again.

  ‘I love you, Grace.’

  ‘Don’t ever stop telling me!’

  God how she’d missed him—how she’d missed this unstoppable pull of chemical attraction between them.

  ‘We belong together,’ she asserted.

  In between scorching kisses he asked, ‘Is this where you tell me, “I told you so”?’

  ‘No. This is where we lock the dressing room door and I thank God you finally came to your senses!’

  Later that night, Grace lay in Jack’s arms in his bedroom in Belgravia. Her head was pillowed against his chest, loving the sound of his strong heartbeat under her cheek.

  ‘Every time I picked up a newspaper and saw you with another guy, I bled.’

  ‘Good.’

  He looked at her in astonishment. ‘You’re glad I was hurting?’

  ‘The men I dated were all gorgeous but the very reason I dated them was in the hope you’d be jealous and realise you didn’t want to lose me.’

  ‘It was all designed to make me jealous?’

  ‘Well, mostly,’ she said with a teasing smile. ‘I have to admit they were fun and interesting as well as gorgeous, and I’d be less than honest if I said I didn’t enjoy the attention, but they weren’t you.’

  ‘I guess it serves me right, but the thought of you in bed with those other guys tore me in two. I won’t think of it. It knots my stomach and you’re back now where you belong. That’s all that counts.’

  ‘I didn’t go to bed with any of them, Jack.’ She shrugged. ‘There weren’t even any kisses. How could I have been with them when my heart was still with you?’

  The relief on his features made him look younger than his years. ‘I’ve had
no other lovers since you, Grace. Hell! I haven’t even been out with another woman.’

  She knew. She’d been following him with as much interest as he’d followed her. ‘I was so glad when any photo of you that appeared in newspapers made it clear you’d attended fundraising galas and high society parties alone.’

  ‘I may have been alone all this time but you weren’t, my darling. I was at every orchestral rehearsal you had and every one of your public performances.’

  She trailed a finger over his chest. ‘I could sense you there. It kept me living in hope that if you turned up there was still hope for us.’

  ‘I couldn’t resist the chance to see you.’ His hand caught an errant strand of hair and he wrapped it through his fingers. ‘I wanted to be there, to see the reaction of the audience to your music and I revelled in the adoration they had for you.’

  ‘When Sadie told me two hundred seats had sold for my very first concert at Wigmore Hall, I wondered whether you’d bought every ticket.’ She laughed. ‘I half expected to walk out onto the stage and find you were the only person in the audience.’

  Jack laughed too. ‘The thought never entered my head. I had every confidence you’d do well.’

  ‘I didn’t dare look into the hall when I first took the stage. It was only after I finished my first piece and heard the applause that I knew I was playing to an audience larger than one. But then, I wondered whether you might’ve purchased all the tickets and paid for people off the street to walk in!’

  ‘Only you could be so humble about your own talent.’

  ‘Will you come to Vienna with me? I’m playing at The Musikverein with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in January.’

  ‘I’ve already booked my ticket.’ He ran one hand through her hair in a loving gesture. ‘Do you really think I’d miss a single performance, my love?’

  ‘I hope not because I realise the highs can only be high if you’re there to share them with me.’

  They made love again and later, when she was snuggled back against him he said, ‘It’s almost Christmas, Grace.’

  ‘It’s just eight weeks away.’ She hadn’t been looking forward to it.

  ‘I thought maybe we should invite a small number of people here this year.’

  She sat up to look at him. ‘Really? For Christmas?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you ready for that?’

  ‘I’d better be, because I’m hoping this Christmas will be the happiest day of my life.’

  She tilted her head at him in question and waited for him to continue.

  ‘You’ve agreed to marry me, my darling. I’d like to put all my bad memories of Christmas behind me once and for all and make each year a double celebration. Will you marry me this Christmas day, Grace?’

  ‘Yes! That’d be perfect.’ She was so proud of him and his determination to forge ahead and make something good out of what had been so bad for him. ‘We’re going to make lots of happy Christmas memories together, Jack, and no matter what happens in life, we’ll be there for each other. Neither of us has to face any problems alone.’

  ‘I know, sweetheart.’ He kissed her head and told her with a wink, ‘The magic of Christmas has finally found me and now I’m going to make sure it’s here to stay.’

  Thanks for reading The Magic of Christmas. I hope you enjoyed it.

  If you liked this book, you might like to read my Royal Affairs Series—The Defiant Princess, The Irredeemable Prince, The Formidable King and The Irresistible Royal and my Billionaires and Babies Series—Seduced by the Enemy, Seduced by the Stranger and Seduced by the Billionaire.

  Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.

  Share your reading experience on:

  Facebook

  Instagram

  romance.com.au

  Bestselling Titles by Escape Publishing …

  Discover another great read from Escape Publishing …

  The Christmas Witch

  Carla Caruso

  Misfiring spells. A gorgeous new boss. Looks like this Christmas will be magic …

  The festive season isn’t Mina Rosso’s favourite time of year. It reminds her that as a descendant of La Befana—Italy’s Christmas witch—she’s cursed to forever be unlucky in love … Her plan this Christmastime is to lie low, keeping her secret identity under wraps as usual, and do what comes naturally: spread goodwill.

  Unfortunately, the arrival of her boss’s son, Jadon Eder, puts a spanner in the works. Fresh from working in Milan, Jadon’s full of big-city arrogance and plans to overhaul the antique shop Mina loves. Pity he’s also sinfully attractive. Despite her best intentions—and even though he’s human, a no-no in the witchy world—Mina finds herself falling for him.

  Then she finds out some bad news. Some of the spells she’s sold online have backfired … horribly. While she’s critical of the dark witches in her neighbourhood, is she really the good witch she thinks she is?

  A fresh, funny story of love and the chaos and joy Christmas can bring from the ever-popular Carla Caruso.

  Find it here.

  His Christmas Feast

  Nora James

  One gourmet party. Four potential couples. The taste of love?

  After his girlfriend runs off with another man, French chef Christophe Duval swears to stay away from women. That all changes when his sexy neighbour Emily Brighton turns up at the lavish Christmas party he throws at his country home in Marandowie. The trouble is, Emily is the queen of mixed signals and Christophe is along for a rollercoaster ride like no other. Will he ever understand her? Will he ever tame her? Or will the fence they set out to build between their two properties keep them apart for good?

  Find it here.

  ISBN: 9781489295019

  Title: The Magic of Christmas

  Copyright © 2019 by ALYSSA J. MONTGOMERY

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 13/201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  Published by

  Escape

  An imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Limited (ABN 47 001 180 918), a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited (ABN 36 009 913 517)

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth St

  SYDNEY NSW 2000

  AUSTRALIA

  ® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and are used under license to the Publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.

  romance.com.au/escapepublishing/