Christmas Present

by Lauren Wood

  I was ready for another day, no longer thinking about the what-ifs. It was a waste of time. I was happy with how life was going so why was I looking for something to be wrong? Life was good. I needed to remember that and not let Keenan and his antics changed that.

  Chapter 2

  Stacy

  “Thanks Ashlyn for setting up that interview. I didn’t think I was ever going to find something else this summer for work. I need to get some hours in and working for Keenan as his assistant will be perfect.”

  Ashlyn waved her niece off. “I told my sister that I would make it happen. Keenan is easy to work with and he does what I want him to.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about him before?”

  Ashlyn smiled at me like I didn’t have a clue. “Well because last time you asked, I wouldn’t have let you be alone with Keenan. He wasn’t a very good man around young girls like you.”

  I was a little shocked that she was saying this, after she got me a job working for him and traveling around with him alone.

  “What?”

  “Oh, he is nothing like he used to be. He got married and turned everything around, so now I wouldn’t worry about him. I wouldn’t have mentioned him if I thought there was anything to worry about. He is so in love with his wife that I doubt he will even look your way and you are gorgeous.”

  I smiled at her. She always had a way of making me feel better in pretty much any situation. “Thanks Auntie.”

  She grimaced at the title. “Remember, when we are in public just call me Ashlyn.”

  “Does it make you feel old?” I giggled because she wasn’t old at all. Her and my mom was just many years apart and that made her an aunt very young.

  “A little and I just don’t like the idea of being old enough to have a daughter your age. How old are you now?”

  “Twenty one.”

  “What I wouldn’t give to be your age again. I would have done so many things differently.”

  “Like what?” Her life was perfect and glamorous. I don’t know why she would want it to be any different than it was. I wish I had her life.

  “I would have taken more chances.”

  I found that hard to believe because from what I heard, Aunt Ashlyn had taken all kinds of risks in her life. She had a faraway look in her eyes that I wanted to ask her about, but it was time to go back in as the rain started again.

  “So when do you start?”

  “Tomorrow. Keenan has a weekend meeting/conference thing that he is going to in Jamaica. Can you believe that I get to go there and they are going to pay me?”

  “Sounds like a good deal. You will have a blast, just remember don’t have too much fun.”

  “Aunt Ashlyn, you know that I don’t drink.”

  “Still?” She had a look that told me that I should tell her I drink so she doesn’t think I am such a lost cause.

  “Yes still. Never did like it. Makes me feel weird, but I have drank a few times.”

  “I would have thought that in college you would have changed that.”

  “No, it got even worse in college. Everyone is drunk and it seems like it is just better to be sober to drive everyone around then to have fun. It never seems like that much fun to me. Guys in college are idiots.”

  Ashlyn just shook her head at me. “I wish I was as responsible as you are. Life would have been easier and I wouldn’t have gotten into near as much trouble as I did.”

  I went into the house with her and helped go through her closet. She was cleaning it out to donate a lot of it, but I found myself going home with a couple of bags full of clothes. I had a feeling that is why she asked me over for help. She wanted to see how the job interview went that she set up, but also to give me some clothes for work. They were a little racy for my taste, but I knew that she knew her stuff when it came to fashion. I was going to be surrounded by a while new caliber of people and I at least wanted to look like I belonged, even if I didn’t.

  ***

  “Good to see you here on time Stacy. We have a full day ahead of us and tardiness can really mess up the whole day. It has been a while since I have been to one of these meetings and I am going to need all the time I can get to do some research and get up to date on what is going on. I have been out of it for a while.” Keenan said.

  “Oh, did you have an illness?”

  “No, I got married and I stepped back from business for a while. An old friend of mine convinced me that I needed to get back on the horse before I forgot how to ride.”

  I just sort of nodded my head, not sure what to say. Keenan wasn’t at all what I had pictured in my head. He was so less strict and uptight about everything than I’d imagined. A man of his means, it was surprising that he hadn’t let it all go to his head. I was afraid that he was going to be snobby, but he seemed pretty down to earth. My aunt had always spoken highly of him. He was handsome, though not really my type, if I was into married men.

  “Well we are off then if you have everything. This is going to be a three day business trip, so are you sure that you have enough for all of those days?”

  I shrugged and told him that I had plenty. He looked at my small suitcase and didn’t seem to really believe me. I learned long ago to downsize and only bring what was needed. He actually had two suitcases brought out for him, but I didn’t make a mention of that. I didn’t think it would be conducive to a working relationship, so I just smiled to myself and got on the plane with my one carry on.

  We didn’t talk most of the short flight because he was serious about needing to read up on the latest numbers. He had been almost legendary the year before, even I knew that. So whatever marriage had done to him, had really thrown him off of his game. I hoped that he was able to get enough in before we got there because he seemed very worried.

  I had the time to read a book on my phone that I had downloaded just in case. I figured that the meetings were going to be incredibly boring. This was my line of work, stocks and bonds, but it was working experience and a little pocket money. I would much rather read a mystery novel, then here about what stocks were where. I knew there was a lot of money in it, but none of it really was that interesting to me.

  “What are you reading?”

  “The Ticking Bomb.”

  Keenan just looked at me and then smiled. “Is that a warning?”

  “No, just the title. Did you get enough of that stuff crammed into your head?” I pointed over at the mountains of paperwork that he had in front of him.

  “Not enough, but my head hurts. I didn’t realize how out of it I had become.”

  “Well we still have more time till we get there.”

  He waved it off and sat down next to me. All of the things that I had heard about him a few months ago ran through my head and I hoped that he wasn’t going to try and hit on me.

  “Let’s talk about you. I like to get to know the people that I work with. Your Ashlyn’s niece, right?”

  I nodded my head a little wary. “Yeah. She is the one that offered to talk to you. She said you would be a good line on my resume.’

  He chuckled. “Yeah that sounds like Ashlyn. I hope you will learn a thing or two as well. Are you getting into finances in school?”

  “No, I like the more creative side of business. I am getting more into marketing and advertising. My degree will just be a general MBA.”

  “Impressive for a woman so young.”

  “I have another year. That is why I can only work the summer.”

  “You won’t regret it. You will learn a lot that they won’t teach you in school.”

  We talked for a while longer and after a few minutes I didn’t worry about him anymore. He talked mainly about his wife and it was cute to see a man so in love with his wife. I knew that if I was ever going to get married, I wanted my husband to light up when he talked about me like that. Nothing else would do.

  ***

  The hotel was big and it took me a few minutes to navigate myself to the room that Keenan gave me a
key for. I figure that it would be a small one close to the ground floor, but it was actually up on the top floor and it was bigger than my apartment. I had never been in such a beautiful place before and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen next. I could really get used to a life like this and I certainly was going to enjoy this for a job the rest of the summer.

  Keenan told me that the only thing I had to do was take care of mid-meeting paperwork early the next morning, but I was free to do what I wished for the rest of the night. I was in Jamaica and it was beautiful outside. All I wanted to do was get in the water before the sun went down completely.

  I checked with Keenan by calling him to make sure that he didn’t want me to get him anything on his way out, but he assured me that he was fine. I hung up feeling like he didn’t need an assistant all that much, but maybe more for show and as a favor to Ashlyn. I was determined to make myself useful tomorrow, but tonight I was just going to get some swimming in and then maybe find something local to eat. The food on the plane was good of course, but I was looking to try some of the local flavors when I was done.

  The beach wasn’t far from the hotel, really only a few hundred feet. I had a balcony off of the living area in the suite and there was a beautiful view of the water from my room. It was warm and felt as good as I imagined as I dove in head first. The salt water felt slick against my skin and I bobbed up to look at the setting sun. Yeah, I could certainly get used to this kind of job or this life. I never really worried too much about money, always having enough to get by, but there was definite perks to living on the high side of things. It certainly had good views if nothing else.

  “Hey there sexy.”

  I heard the voice right before I seen the dark man behind me. He caught me off guard, his darker skin helping him to hide a little. It must have been hard to do because he was so large. I didn’t hear him come up at all and I figure that I must have been caught up in thinking about what was around me. I should have noticed a guy like that slipping into the water next to me.

  “Hello.” What else could you say to such a comment? He was too close for comfort and I swam a little closer to the shore.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Do I know you?”

  I knew I didn’t, but I guess I was trying to help him realize that he didn’t know me so he didn’t have any right to be so close. The handsome man with the dashing smile didn’t seem to take the hint.

  “No, I don’t think I would forget a face like that.”

  The whole time he was talking, I was going closer to the beach. He’s presence was intoxicating and even though the man was devastatingly attractive up close, I didn’t want to be alone with a man like him. Not here by myself.

  “Well I don’t think I know you either, so why don’t we keep it that way.”

  He acted like I had hit him, moving back to take a blow. “Does it have to be like that baby?”

  I shook my head as I walked out of the water, no longer feeling like a swim was going to work. Wine on the balcony was sounding a lot better all of a sudden. I never was one to drink, but I needed something to settle my nerves. The man’s closeness had really messed with my senses and I suddenly needed to regroup.

  “I definitely wouldn’t have forgotten an ass like that. Come back baby.”

  I ignored the inebriated man, hoping that I wouldn’t run into someone like him again.

  Chapter 3

  Chris

  “I am glad to see you Keenan. I had one hell of a night. You should have come out with us. When did you become such an old man?”

  Keenan was going to argue with me, but I wasn’t going to hear it. I knew that I was yanking his chain, but after he fizzled out on me and didn’t come out drinking because he got in late, I felt like I had to.

  “I am just as old as you are Chris. When are you going to settle down and get married? Have a family? Don’t you think that it’s time?”

  I was a little shocked to hear him say such things. “What the hell has gotten into you Keenan? It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.”

  “I am still the same me. Just different priorities is all.”

  “Well I wouldn’t give up the single life for anything. You should have seen this hot little black-haired chick I seen last night. That chick had an ass for days that jiggled in just the right way. I wanted to bury my face into it. If I was married, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

  Keenan just shook his head at me and told me that I was hopeless. Maybe I was, but I didn’t think it was that bad.

  “Come on Chris, when you meet the one you are supposed to be with, you won’t even look at those asses anymore.”

  I told him that we would just have to agree to disagree. There was no way that I was going to want to hear that nonsense. Everyone I had talked to lately was talking about ‘the one.’ She didn’t exist and I was getting sick of hearing about her. My perfect woman was as many as I could get my hands on.

  “Damn there she is right there.”

  I caught her eyes from across the hotel lobby and even though I was ridiculously drunk the night before, I would never forget her eyes. They looked almost purple in the light and in the day time they looked even more violet. Her black hair was down and she was wearing a number that I could have sworn I had seen before not too long ago. It fit her well, every curve encased perfectly and the ass that I remembered in the tight red bikini the night before was now on display and even more magnificent in the light. I hadn’t seen the large rack on the top of her because most of her body was covered in water before. Now all of her was out and I was even more convinced that this beautiful creature was the reason I was here in Jamaica.

  “Hello there again sexy.”

  The woman turned around and sighed at me. I wasn’t used to the kind of response and it really threw me off. Most women were eager to get my attention, but this woman seemed to be bothered by it. Had I lost my touch? Keenan had said something to me when I had started walking this way, something about wasting my time. I didn’t know what that meant, but I was eager to change the woman’s mind about me.

  “I think we met last night.”

  “Yeah I remember you.”

  “And I told you that I would remember you as well.”

  “I think you said you would remember my ass Sir. That’s what you said.”

  I looked down to the curved hip and wanted to look a little behind her. That ass was magnificent, but I doubted that she would be too happy hearing about it. I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling, a vibe that she wasn’t going to be okay with it at all.

  “I am sorry if I said it like that. I had a bit too much to drink last night. Can I take you out for coffee to make it up to you?”

  “Make what up to me?”

  “My bad behavior.”

  “No big deal. All of you guys are like that. I have to meet my boss and a client for breakfast anyways, but thank you.”

  I didn’t know if she was just putting me off nicely or not, but I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to convince her otherwise.

  “Well who is your boss? I am sure I can talk him into giving you some time off so that we can go out.”

  “No thanks. I see him now. You have a good day Sir.”

  She called me Sir again and walked away like she didn’t know who I was. Maybe she didn’t or maybe she didn’t care. That would be a first time scenario and I didn’t believe it to be the case. Was she just playing hard to get with me?

  “Keenan, I was looking for you upstairs.”

  “Hey Stacy. I called up to your room and you were already gone for the day. Where did you go so early this morning?”

  “Well I had to go to the gym downstairs because I was harassed last night at the beach. It doesn’t seem like the sort of place that a girl can get out by herself.”

  Keenan looked concerned and I started to feel that way. How did they know each other and was she about to tell him that I was the one harassing her? I wasn’t harassing her,
was I? I mean, I was drunk sure, but at the same time, I was never that sort of guy. I didn’t understand where she was getting that from.

  “So you and Stacy know each other Chris?”

  Keenan had a wry grin on his face and I had a feeling that he knew something that I didn’t. What was going on with this woman and who was she? My eyes asked him what was going on and who she was, but he just smiled and left me in suspense.

  Stacy realized that I was behind her and she whipped around and then groaned again. “Yeah, I have met him. That is the one I was just telling you about.”

  Keenan chuckled. “Stacy, I would like you to meet an old friend and colleague of mine. Chris, this is Stacy, my assistant and Ashlyn’s niece.”

  I stopped and took another look at her. I could now see the resemblance. “You know my Aunt?”

  Shaking my head, I told her that I did, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell her how well I knew her. “Yes I do. She is a lovely woman.”

  Stacy looked at me suspiciously and then it dawned on her. “Tell me this isn’t the client that we were supposed to meet.”

  Keenan didn’t seem upset that his assistant was talking to him like that. She really was like Ashlyn in that she said whatever came to her mind.

  “Sorry to say that I am. I talked Keenan into coming out here. I had no idea he was going to bring such a beautiful assistant with him. I am jealous now that I am here by myself.”

  “You told me that you like to be alone.”

  I cut a look to Keenan. He obviously knew that I was trying to flirt with his assistant, but it was becoming clear very quickly that I wasn’t going to get anywhere fast. “Yes, I did say that, but a good assistant is priceless, isn’t it?”

  I was looking at Stacy when I said it, but she just ignored me. “Keenan, I got the reservation that you wanted for this evening.”

  “Thank you Stacy. Shall we go?” He was asking me more than her and I had to wonder if there was something going on between them. How was there not something going on with her? She was beautiful and it started to makes sense why he wasn’t looking around. It wasn’t his wife, but his hot little assistant that was keeping him content. I needed someone like her in my life.