Unwrapped Hearts

by Linzi Basset

  Please enjoy this heartwarming story of finding love in the festive season.

  Warm regards,

  Isabel James

  Chapter One

  “What do you mean there’ll be no Christmas party this year?” Kayla Silver pinned down Jade Palmer with a piercing sky-blue stare. They were partners in an interior decorating firm, Decadence Galore, in Harbor Springs, Michigan. A business she was immensely proud of and for which she’d worked her ass off to make successful.

  “There’s simply no money, Kayla.”

  “Bullshit! I know the first quarter of the year was slow, but we’ve been very busy ever since. The majority of the jobs we did were with big corporate companies.”

  Jade sighed and leaned back in her chair. She rubbed her forehead; a sign of annoyance Kayla had gotten to know very well over the eight years since they’d started the company.

  “Granted, but you have to remember that the higher interest rates are dampening consumer spending. All our big projects are coming to an end now.”

  “What about the proposal we made to the Crown Plaza Hotel and Casino Group? That wouldn’t only put us on the map internationally, it would guarantee a constant income for five years. I thought you said it was a done deal?”

  Kayla began to pace the stylish office they shared. The operating warehouse they owned was across the street from the harbor. For once, she didn’t indulge in her daily ritual of daydreaming about being on one of the luxurious yachts anchored a short distance from shore. That, in itself, exacerbated her agitation. Her mind swirled as she mentally calculated the profits of the projects they’d finalized for the year. Even with the slow start, there was no way they could be in any financial straits, especially as the prior years had been phenomenally profitable.

  “It’s not. Steele Blake is stalling. I’ve been trying to set up another meeting, but his PA keeps offering excuses.”

  “For three months? You had the first meeting with him four months ago.”

  The more anxious Kayla became the more pronounced her intellectualization of the whole process. She might not be interested in spending hours discussing financial trial balances or studying every minute detail of their expenses, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have her thumb on it. Like always, she rationalized and viewed every problem from different viewpoints. It was the reason she was the one who managed the projects, the upfront person to ensure everything ran smoothly. She sought the agreement of everyone around her, as if she could force a positive outcome by her sheer brilliance of thought.

  “The reality is that we have no contracts lined up for the new year and with the strong dollar that continues to drag, it impacts hugely on the fabrics we import. We simply can’t afford to spend unnecessary money.”

  Kayla listened with rising concern. Jade didn’t sound her normal self, almost like she was hedging, trying to justify her reasoning, overly so, which was wrong and completely flawed. She spun around and stared at Jade who sat paging through her notebook. She was a planner and took notes on every little detail, whereas Kayla stored everything in neat compartments in her mind. Something was seriously wrong.

  Initially, they’d started off as a home and small business design service but over the years they grew into a full corporate service business and home design company. They offered design, architectural services, structural engineering, civil engineering, construction management, and general contracting and procurement to provide their clients with a seamless design to construction process. They built a reputable reputation in the industry and had a strong competitive edge in the hotel and restaurant business, having designed thirty hotels and over forty restaurants over the previous eight years. They offered timeless, one-of-a-kind designs and start-to-finish service to assist clients attain the home or business space of their dreams. There were no way things could’ve gone ass-up overnight.

  “What aren’t you telling me, Jade? No projects for the new year? Am I living in an alternate universe? There were over fifteen projects lined up for the first four months of the year, signed contracts I personally picked up.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “True Star Airlines, Anchor Finance House, and the new office block for Dragon Paper Industries to name but a few big corporations. We even discussed appointing more staff to accommodate the additional work, or did you conveniently forget about that too?” Kayla’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to tell me all of them suddenly canceled.”

  Jade looked startled. She chewed on her bottom lip as she stared out to the deep blue water of the harbor, marred by the sleek white designs of yachts and boats in the distance.

  Kayla stopped in front of her desk and leaned on her fists. “Jade, you know me. I never question your decisions because it has always been for the good of the business and our employees. But …” She hesitated as she searched Jade’s face, finding it odd that she couldn’t meet her eyes. “We had an operating profit last year of over four million and started the year with a liquidity of close to twenty million dollars. Yes, I know most of that we pour annually into fixed investments to grow our equity and ensure we remain stable during dragging times as well as for future development. For that matter, we currently have a cash flow of just under two million in the bank. Yes, the year kicked off slow but we didn’t have a loss once. You better tell me what the fuck is going on!”

  “What do you know? You never involve yourself with the finance side of the company.” Jade slapped shut her notebook and jumped up.

  “That doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on. For heaven’s sake, Jade, I do the quotes. I know the profit margins we make to the exact dollar on every single project. I know what we were supposed to achieve this year. No, I don’t feel spending an entire day going through the financials every month is worth wasting my time because I trust you. It also doesn’t mean I don’t look at it on my own time, Jade. I know exactly what's going on.” Kayla’s eyes narrowed as Jade turned pale. “As I did last month and at that point—”

  “Fuck! You … why don’t you just … ugh!” Jade released a cry of anger, grabbed her handbag and before Kayla could say a word, she stormed out.

  “What the flying fuck just happened?” Kayla asked no one in particular.

  Dread became an invisible demon sitting heavy on her shoulders as everything around her faded in the background and the only thing she could hear was the sharpening of its claws.

  “What the hell is going on, Jade?” She muttered and skimped around her desk to power up her laptop. The financials for the current month were only due next week but their accountant kept everything up to date daily. Unless money had been stolen from their account, there was no way they could be on the breadline. “Not by a long shot.”

  “Kayla, the crew is ready to leave.”

  She looked up and smiled briefly at the gray-haired man leaning against the door. His long hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail. Dave Pollock was as colorful as his past, about which he always had funny stories to tell. He was a brilliant stylist—of hotel rooms specifically.

  “Chop-chop, girly, we don’t want to keep the customer waiting,” he prodded as she tapped her fingers on the desk, waiting for the folder to open.

  Kayla sighed and switched off the computer. It was their room reveal day and with a client as important as Sable Rose, owner of The Rose Petal Hotel, and sibling of one of the richest men in Michigan, they couldn’t afford to slip up. If she signed off on their designs, it would definitely clinch the deal for Decadence Galore of the other two family-owned hotels that Sable planned to redecorate in the near future.

  “Let’s go. Hopefully, this will bring a little light to an increasingly fucked up day.” Investigating their finances will have to wait until later. She got up and followed Dave to the underground parking garage.

  Dave glanced at her with a disapproving look. “I’m no prude, girlie, but you’re cursing an awful lot lately.”

  “You sound just like my Dad,” she grumbled as she got behind the steeri
ng wheel of her very dependable GMC truck.

  “Seeing as he’s no longer here, bless his soul, to reprimand you, someone has to do it. Might as well be me.”

  Kayla snorted and carefully pulled into the street from the underground parking area. She was well liked by the staff as she worked just as hard alongside them on the majority of their major products. She was strict but not unreasonable. Dave had been the first employee they’d appointed when the company’s growth skyrocketed in the second year of operation, forcing them to expand to where they were today, employing one-hundred-and-thirty people. She trusted him implicitly; as did Jade, and over the years, he’d become the father neither of them had anymore.

  “Have you observed a change in Jade?” she asked quietly, her eyes on the road.

  “I was wondering when you’d notice.”

  She glanced at him in surprise. “Are you telling me she’s been acting up around everyone?”

  “I’m not surprised that you haven’t realized it. You’ve hardly been at the office the past month, overseeing all the current projects.”

  Kayla frowned. More proof that they couldn’t be under financial strain. The money for the six projects Dave referred to were all due to come in over the next three weeks.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “For that matter, neither has she.”

  “What? Jade not in the office? I find that hard to believe. She eats, drinks, and sleeps DG.” Kayla couldn’t shake the feeling of doom that now shrouded her in a darkening cloud.

  “Strange but true. She mostly arrives early in the morning but by eleven she’s gone. There have been days that she didn’t come in at all and when she did, it looked like she hadn’t slept for days.”

  “That was the first thing I noticed this morning,” Kayla mused, “the dark circles under her eyes and how tired she looked. I thought she was coming down with the flu.”

  “I asked her a couple of days ago if there was a problem and offered to help if needed. She lost it. Bit my head off, told me to mind my own business and chased me out of the office.”

  Kayla glanced at him in shock. They both respected Dave, not only because he was inching toward sixty-five but because he’d taken them under his wing. If not for the contacts he’d brought with him when he joined the company, they never would have achieved as much success as quickly as they did.

  “That’s not like her at all. Something is seriously wrong and I better figure out what it is, soon.”

  Kayla and Jade had been friends for the past fifteen years, ever since she’d transferred to Kayla’s school at the beginning of their final year of high school. They had the same interests, went to college together, and became besties. Jade’s attitude was completely foreign and the fact that it obviously had something to do with DG, was exceedingly worrisome.

  For the next two hours, she forced the concern to the back of her mind and concentrated on the task at hand. The unveiling of the different types of rooms went smoothly and Sable Rose was so impressed, she immediately gave the go ahead for DG to complete the interior decorating of the entire hotel.

  “No time like the present to get all the measurements done,” Dave said as they walked through the lobby of the hotel. “I’m going to get the team started immediately otherwise there's no chance we’ll be done by Christmas.”

  “Yes, the timeline is very tight. Shout if you need help. I need to find Jade, but I’ll be back later.”

  “No need. Go sort it out. I’ll be fine.”

  Kayla compulsively hugged him. She smiled at his obvious surprise. She wasn't a hugger or a toucher, for that matter. In fact, she had become known as the Ice Princess in social circles. She always scoffed at it, unconcerned. People either took her as she came or walked away.

  “You’ve been a lifesaver over the years, Dave. I don’t say this often enough but we couldn’t have come this far if not for you.”

  “You did mighty fine on your own, Kayla. All I did was to enhance the foundation you’d already laid by the time I arrived.”

  Kayla waved him goodbye and briskly walked toward the truck that she’d parked in the open parking area in front of the hotel. Her footsteps slowed as she noticed the tall man leaning against the side of the vehicle, his sharp eyes watching her approach. She didn’t need to be told who the gorgeous hunk was. Everyone in Michigan knew him—hell, everyone in the U.S. did.

  Steele Blake, entrepreneur, owner of the hugely famous International Crown Plaza Hotel and Casino Group and of course, billionaire gigolo extraordinaire—the reason Kayla never liked him … well, it was the one she preferred to use, if only to keep her mind from wandering to a night she had been unable to forget for the past two years.

  “Is there a purpose to you guarding my truck, sir?” she snapped as she reached him.

  She did her utmost not to be caught gawking like she always did when he was in the vicinity. He had the kind of looks that made women stop and stare, with distinct cheekbones and an angular jaw. If not for the fact that he was right there in front of her, she’d be adamant that the perfect jaw had been photoshopped. His full lips were way too inviting surrounded by a neat, bristled beard. His natural suntanned skin gave him a devil may care handsomeness, complete with brown ruffled hair, as if he’d just run his hands through it.

  Kayla had to look up to meet his eyes.

  Holy freaking moly!

  For an instant, she forgot to breathe as she became lost in his gray eyes. No, not gray, that would be an injustice. Molten silver, yes, that was it—solid, bright, the exact lustrous color of polished metal. He blinked and they filled with swirls of glittering onyx and tinges of blue around the edges. They weren't monochrome or boring. They were what poems were written about, beautiful, and at the moment, they pierced right through her defenses into her soul.

  Good lord, he seduced you by just looking at you! No wonder he has so many women chasing after him.

  “We need to talk, Ms. Silver.” He spoke in a deep timbre that thrilled through her mind.

  She frowned. Apart from that very secret tryst at a masked ball in Los Angeles at one of his hotels two years ago, Steele Blake, had in all the years she’d known him, never paid any attention to her, not really … hot looks didn’t count in her books. In fact, Kayla was relatively sure he never bothered to find out who she was. So, how the deuce did he know who she was now … and for that matter, that this was her truck?!

  “Far be it for me to be the sane one here.” She pointed between them. “I don’t know you and I sure as hell don’t know how you even know my name, so …” Her hands landed on her shapely hips as she stared him down. “Please remove your big ass body from my truck, so I can leave.”

  He straightened with an amused smile quirking his lips.

  “Feisty little snip, aren’t you?’ His lips flattened and his eyes turned cold. “Pretending you don’t know me? Really?” She could almost feel the chill of an Arctic blast engulf her in that frozen stare. His chin lifted and he glared at her down the aristocratic line of his nose.

  “I’m Steele Blake and I’m the owner of—”

  “I know who you are. I don’t require your entire accolade.”

  “I thought you said you don’t know me.”

  “Knowing who you are and knowing you are two entirely different concepts, Mr. Blake. Once again, move out of my way.”

  “Not before you sign the transfer documents of Decadence Galore, Ms. Silver.”

  Kayla stared at him like he’d suddenly grown two heads.

  “Now I know you’re completely demented. I’m leaving.” She took a step forward and tried to shove him out of the way. He didn’t budge. She glowered at him. “Decadence Galore isn’t for sale. It never was and never will be, so git the fuck out of my sight.”

  “And uncouth, I see,” he graveled at her use of the course expletive.

  “Look, Steele Blake, I don’t need you to lecture me. Let me make this as clear as I can. Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”

  He picked up a lar
ge brown envelope from the roof of the truck and took a silver Mont Blanc ballpoint pen from his pocket.

  “Sign the contract and I’ll be gone.”

  She crossed her arms. “You truly are demented. I’m not signing anything and besides, I have a partner and—”

  “She already signed.”

  “You’re lying. She’d never do something like that.”

  “Whether you like it or not, I am going to be the new owner of Decadence Galore. Do us both a favor and sign. It doesn’t need to be painful.”

  “No, you’re not! I suggest you wake up and realize you’re dreaming.” Kayla had to dig deep to not let the hysteria that started deep within her soul overwhelm her.

  “She never told you, did she? Damn it. I should’ve known.” He cursed under his breath. “Ms. Silver, this may come as a shock to you but your partner bartered Decadence Galore as collateral to cover her debt.”

  Kayla went cold. Her ears began to sing and suddenly the bright sunshine day turned dark and gloomy.

  “What debt?”

  “Gambling debt at Crown Plaza Casino.”

  Chapter Two

  “Jade, how could you?” Kayla’s raw voice rang desolately through the interior of the truck. She found herself parked next to Round Lake without knowing how she got there. The moment Steele Blake’s words had sunk in, she’d yanked open the door and took off, driving around aimlessly.

  She didn’t have to question the authenticity of his claim. Jade had always struggled with gambling. Even in college, it had been a challenge to keep her away from the Casino. Kayla believed she’d won the battle when they’d started DG. It had been one of Kayla’s conditions before she’d committed to partnering with her. Jade had joined Gamblers Anonymous and she had never wavered in the past eight years, not once.

  “I suppose the meetings at the hotel with the lure of the casino right there in her face was too much for her to resist.” Her voice sounded raw in her ears. She tended to talk out loud when she worked through a problem.