“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” sounded a cold voice directly behind her.
Good heavens—she’d forgotten all about Bruce, let alone her manners.
“Of course. Please—come in.”
Eric crossed the threshold, bringing the freezing air off Lake Michigan inside with him. The temperature outside wasn’t that different from Frijia’s. She shut the door.
“Bruce Hancock, please meet His Royal Highness, Prince Eric.”
The two men shook hands.
“I saw you on television with Sonia and Kristin. She tells me you’re the one responsible for her niece being able to see again.”
Eric took his time responding. “Before Sonia went to sleep, she asked me to say my prayers first. Heaven did the rest.”
Kristin could hardly breathe. She had the grace to feel sorry for Bruce whose Adam’s apple bobbed several times.
The Prince turned to her. “If I’m interrupting something important, I’ll come back at a better time.”
“No—” she cried, revealing the state of her chaotic emotions. “Bruce was just leaving.” She opened the door so he’d be forced to go.
He eyed both of them for a moment. The regret in his eyes saddened her for his sake, but she was glad this was the end of a relationship doomed for failure. Better now than after they’d said their vows.
When he disappeared up the outside stairs, she closed the door and turned to Eric.
“I—I can’t believe you flew here on Christmas.” Her voice throbbed with too much emotion.
“This is a special day for me. Maren had a Christmas baby. He looks like Stein.”
“How wonderful! Did you tell Sonia?”
There was a gleam in his eye. “I even let her know they’ve decided to name him Eric.”
“That must have thrilled you.”
He nodded. “Of course mother’s ecstatic and totally preoccupied with her newest grandchild. Knute took his family skiing after they opened presents. Everyone had a place to go and something to do. It gave me the excuse I was looking for to come after you.”
Come after her?
She felt her heart skitter all over the place.
“From what I learned from Sonia in the limo that night, you and Bruce must have been planning marriage.”
“We were, but I broke our engagement before leaving for Frijia.”
He studied her with a grave expression. “Now that she has recovered her sight, is it possible you two will be getting back together again?”
“No,” she replied without hesitation.
“You’re sure?”
“Very. Not every man can embrace another man’s child. Bruce came over here tonight to tell me he’s willing to work at it. But that’s not enough. From the beginning Sonia has sensed he hasn’t been able to accept her.
“I told him he should look for a woman who doesn’t have a child. I’m afraid I come with a niece who needs me and my father desperately.”
“I met Professor Remmen. He’s a terrific person. You didn’t tell me he’s a mathematician.”
“Actually he’s the chairman of the department at the university.”
“That’s an honor for a man who’s obviously brilliant.”
“Sonia takes after him.”
“So I gather. However, she resembles her grandmother. He showed me pictures of her and your sister, Marthe. Beauty runs in the Remmen family.”
“Thank you.”
“You are beautiful, you know.”
Kristin didn’t want him to say things like that. It would only deepen the pain when he left again. She rubbed her arms.
“Why did you really come here, Eric?”
He stood there with his legs slightly apart. “I found that I missed you and Sonia, so I decided to get on a plane.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s the reason?”
“The only one. Have you missed me?”
“W—what kind of a question is that?”
“Why are you so flustered? Sonia acted happy to see me. How about you? Do you wish I hadn’t come?”
“The truth?” she cried in anguish.
“Of course.”
“It would have been better if you hadn’t.”
After a pause, “At least that’s honest. My apologies for intru—”
“No—” she broke in on him. “You don’t understand—”
“Then help me.”
“Sonia wasn’t the only one you enchanted, but we’re home now, and the fantasy has to stop.”
“I enchanted you?”
“You know you did,” her voice trembled. “But it would be pointless to spend any more time with you because—because there’s no future in it.”
“What if there were?”
A gasp escaped her lips. “Now you’re sounding like Sonia, but I can’t afford to dream impossible dreams. You’d better go.”
He remained where he was. “Kristin—long before my father passed away, we had an understanding that when I felt the time was right, I could marry any woman of my own choosing.”
The blood pounded in her ears. “Any?”
“Yes. Now I’m going to ask that question again. Have you missed me as much as I’ve missed you over the last forty-eight hours?”
“Till I’ve wanted to die.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” On a groan, he pulled her into his arms. Their mouths and bodies met in a frenzy of need. Before she knew how it had happened, they were on the couch and Kristin found herself clinging to him.
“I can’t believe I’m holding you in my arms,” she whispered against lips that roamed her flushed face and neck with increasing urgency. “You’ve changed my whole life, Eric.”
“That’s how I felt when I walked in the back room of the Chocolate Barn and saw this beautiful blond woman in red, kneeling next to a little girl who was crying her heart out. Mine melted on the spot when you looked at me with those incredible blue eyes.
“I’d marry you tonight if I could have my own way, but you’ve just come out of an engagement and need time. Would you and Sonia be willing to move to Frijia for a few months so we could really get to know each other?
“Knute is making arrangements for you to be an exchange teacher in Brobak at an elementary school where Sonia could attend. There’s a house for rent close by. We’d be able to spend every possible moment together.
“I need you and Sonia in my life, darling. I’m a better person for being with you. If you can’t see yourself leaving the States right now because of your father, then I’ll come here because my life will never be the same witho—”
“We’ll come!” Kristin declared against his lips. “Maybe it’s too soon to say I love you, but I have to say it. I love you. It’s an all-consuming love I feel in my heart.” She clutched him tighter. “Oh darling—what if dad hadn’t entered Sonia in that contest?”
“Don’t think about the what-ifs. There are too many of them. Right now all I want to do is kiss us both senseless. Do I have your permission?”
Kristin threw her arms around his neck and drew him down to her, leaving him in no doubt that his wish was her desire.
Three months later…
“I now pronounce you, Prince Eric, and you, Kristin Remmen, man and wife. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
To Kristin’s shock, the priest suddenly produced a small golden tiara. He motioned for Sonia to come to the altar. She left her grandpa’s side to approach the priest who set it amongst her shiny brown curls. It was a perfect fit.
“From this day forth, King Knute has declared you’ll be known as Princess Sonia.”
Kristin had an idea Eric had asked his brother if he would make a law so Sonia could be a princess.
Their gazes locked. He was too wonderful. Kristin loved him too much and tried to tell him with her eyes before he gave her a kiss unlike any other.
It was the possessive kiss of a husband. One full of passion and the promise of the wedding
night to come.
Sonia’s giggle of pure joy finally caused him to relinquish Kristin’s mouth. He grasped their daughter’s hand. She looked like an adorable angel in a white tulle gown that floated when she walked.
“Daddy?” she whispered loud enough for all the guests assembled in the palace chapel to hear. “Am I a real princess now?”
Eric, resplendent once more in his ceremonial suit, smiled down at her. “Yes, you are.”
“Can I keep my crown on my dresser?”
“If you’d like.”
“Does it mean I can marry a prince someday?”
Quiet laughter whispered through the congregation.
“If you want to, but it won’t be for a long, long time.”
“How come?”
Oh no.
Kristin moaned loud enough to capture her new husband’s attention. He was loving this, but the altar of the chapel was hardly the place for a running conversation with Sonia.
“Because I want to enjoy my daughter for a lot of years first.”
She looked up at both of them. “Mommy? Will you and Daddy give me a little brother?”
Kristin’s face went crimson. “Sonia—”
Eric chuckled before flashing her a wolfish glance. “We’ll do our best, won’t we, Your Highness? Now…shall we go meet our guests, elskling?”
“Yes. The boys and Thor have been waiting and waiting for me.”
The Millionaire’s Christmas Wish
By Lucy Gordon
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
IT WAS the most glorious Christmas tree in the world: eight feet high, brilliant with baubles, tinsel and flickering lights, with a dazzling star shining from the top.
Around the base brightly coloured parcels, decorated with shiny bows, crowded together, spilling lavishly over the floor.
The whole thing presented a picture of generous abundance. It was a family tree, meant to stand in a home, surrounded by happy children eagerly tearing the wrapping from the parcels, revealing longed for gifts.
Instead, it stood in the corner of Alex Mead’s huge office. The presents were fake. Any child removing the pretty wrapping paper would have found only empty boxes.
But no child would do so. The whole confection had been designed and carried out by Alex’s secretary, Katherine, and as far as he was concerned she had wasted her time.
She entered now with some letters in one hand and a newspaper in the other, and he noticed that she couldn’t resist glancing proudly at the tree as she passed.
‘Sentimentalist,’ he said, giving her the brilliant grin that won him goodwill at every first meeting. Often the goodwill was short-lived. It didn’t take long for rivals and associates to discover the predator who lived beneath the charm.
‘Well, it looks nice,’ she said defensively. ‘Honestly, Alex, don’t you have any Christmas spirit?’
‘Sure I do. Look at your bonus.’
‘I have and it was a lovely surprise.’
‘You earned it, Kath. You did almost as much as I did to build this firm up.’
He was a generous man where money was concerned. Not only her bonus but that of several other vital employees had been more than expected. Alex knew how to keep good staff working difficult hours.
‘Some of them want to come in and thank you,’ she said now.
‘Tell them there’s no need. Say you said it for them, and I said all the right things—Happy Christmas, have a nice time—you’ll know how to make it sound good.’
‘Why do you have to try to sound like Scrooge?’
‘Because I am Scrooge,’ he said cheerfully.
‘Liar,’ she said, with the privilege of long friendship. ‘Scrooge would never have let his employees go a day early, the way you’re doing. Most firms keep everyone there until noon, Christmas Eve.’
‘Yes, and what’s the result? Nobody does any work on Christmas Eve morning. Half of them are hung over and they’re all watching the clock. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.’
She laid the newspaper, open at the financial page, on his desk. ‘Did you see this?’
It was the best Christmas gift an entrepreneur could have had. There was a page of laudatory text about Mead Consolidated and its meteoric rise, its impact on the market, its brilliant prospects.
Backing this up was an eye-catching photograph of Alex, his grin at its most engaging, telling the world that here was a man of charisma and confidence who could steer his way skilfully through waters infested by sharks. You would have to look very closely to see that he was one of them.
The picture was cut off halfway down his chest, so it didn’t show the long-limbed body that was just a little underweight. He was thin because he forgot to eat, relying on nervous energy for nourishment, just as he relied on nervous force to make an impact.
It was Alex’s proud boast that he had no nerves. The truth, as Kath knew, was that he lived on them. It was one of the reasons why he looked older than his thirty-seven years, why his smile was so swift and unpredictable, and why his temper was beginning to be the same.
When she’d come to work for him his dark eyes had sparkled with ambition and confidence and his complexion had had a healthy glow. The glow was gone now, and there were too often shadows under his eyes. But he was still a handsome man, only partly through his looks. The rest was a mysterious talisman, an inner light for which there were no words.
She had been on business trips with him and seen the female heads turn, the eyes sparkle with interest. To his credit he had never collected, although whether that was out of love for his wife or because he couldn’t spare the time from business, Kath had never quite decided.
“‘Here’s the one to watch,’” she read from the newspaper. “‘By this time next year Mead Consolidated will threaten to dominate the market.” Well, you might try to look pleased. It’s so brilliant you might have written it yourself.’
He laughed. ‘How do you know I didn’t?’
‘Now you mention it, you probably did. You’re conceited enough for anything.’
‘So conceited that if I’d written it I wouldn’t have stopped at “threatened” to dominate. That’s not good enough for me. I have to be at the top, and I’m going to get there.’
‘Alex, you only started eleven years ago, practically working from a garden shed. Give yourself time.’
‘I don’t need time. I need Craddock’s contract, the biggest that’s ever come my way.’
‘Well, you’ve got it.’
‘Not until he’s signed it. Dammit, why did he have to get this tomfool idea about going to the Caribbean?’
George Craddock, the man whose signature he was determined to get by hook or by crook, had been all set to sign when he’d been struck by the notion of a gathering on the tiny Caribbean island that he owned. He’d called Alex about it that very afternoon.
‘And a big contract signing party to end it,’ Alex groaned now. ‘It’s a pointless exercise because the deal’s already set up.’
‘So why the party?’ Kath asked.
‘Because he’s old, foolish and lonely and has nobody to spend Christmas with him. So I have to forget my plans and catch a plane tonight.’
‘Weren’t you supposed to be seeing your family over Christmas?’
‘Part of it. I was going to arrive tomorrow and stay until the next day. Now I’ll have to call Corinne and explain that I’ve been called away. I just hope I can make her understand.’
Tact prevented Kath from saying, Sure, she understands so well that she’s divorcing you.
‘You should have told Craddock to get stuffed,’ she told him robustly now.
‘No way! You know how hard I’ve fought for this contract, and I’m not going to see it slip through my finge
rs now.’
Seeing disapproval on her face he said, defensively, ‘Kath, there’ll be other Christmases.’
‘I’m not so sure. Children grow up so fast, and suddenly there aren’t other Christmases.’
‘Now you’re being sentimental,’ he said gruffly.
That silenced her. ‘Sentimental’ was Alex’s strongest term of disapproval.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m not in the best of moods. Go home, Kath. Have a nice Christmas.’
‘And be in early on the first day,’ she said in a reciting tone.
‘I never need to tell you that.’
When she’d gone he sat down tiredly and stared at the phone. What he had to do could not be put off any longer. If you had to break a promise it was best to do it quickly and cleanly.
He hoped there wouldn’t be any trouble with Corinne. She was used to the demands of his job, and the fact that it often took him away from his family. The only time she’d ever fought him about it was at Christmas.
And it would have to be Christmas now, wouldn’t it? he thought, exasperated. Just when he’d wanted to put a good face on things and show that he wasn’t a neglectful father, as she’d accused him!
He’d planned to join her and the children tomorrow, just for one day, because that was all he could spare. But he would have arrived, overflowing with presents, and they would have been impressed whether they liked it or not. They would have had to be. He would have seen to that.
So the sooner he called, the better. Dial the number, say, I’m afraid there’s been a change of plan—
He reached for the phone.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
IT WAS the most glorious Christmas tree in the world: eight feet high, brilliant with baubles, tinsel and flickering lights, with a dazzling star shining from the top.
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