Perfect Bride for Christmas, A

by Dyann Love Barr

  The side door of the garage opened. Zoe walked through. “Hi there.” She came in and shut the door behind her, the frigid air following close behind. “I think it’s getting colder out. This has to be the worst winter that I can remember.”

  The sight of her standing there made his mouth water. The short, wind-tousled hair flew in every direction, but it worked on her. Silky strands called to him, begging his fingers to comb through the unruly locks. The cold walk from the house put a rosy glow on her cheeks and nose. The lime green sweatshirt she wore beneath her black, puffy coat hurt his eyes, but the color brought out the green in hers. Well-worn jeans tucked into calf high black boots.

  Zoe was original, genuine Zoe. For a moment, he saw the Zoe he’d been friends with so many years ago. Alex patted the space beside him. “Sit down.”

  She nodded and sat next to him on the small bale. The close quarters brought them cheek to cheek, thigh to thigh. Alex felt her body heat. Their legs touched with each movement, reminding him of the way their legs intertwined, the feel of her beneath him. Neither said anything. They watched the children play with the kittens, but unspoken words, emotions, swirled thick.

  Alex inhaled the scent of peaches and winter cold. Geez, what kind of perv gets a hard-on while his kids played in the same room? His palms grew sweaty. He rubbed the knot on his nose.

  “I’m sorry about Sydney’s behavior today,” he whispered to Zoe.

  “Sydney wanted to come with me but Amelia 161

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  insisted she needed help in the kitchen.”

  Alex shook his head. “The only thing Sydney knows about kitchens is what her designer tells her.”

  She’s very—insecure.” Zoe looked straight ahead. “It’s not going to get any better as time goes on.” She turned to look him in the eye. “Why did you lie to me?”

  Alex felt her body tense. He knew she felt betrayed and understood her hurt.

  “I didn’t lie,” he said, “not in the way you mean.

  Sydney dumps me and then shows up on Mom’s doorstep. Seems she had a change of heart.” Alex turned his head to look at her. “I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Say, ‘Sydney, there isn’t going to be a wedding.’”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  Zoe shrugged. “It’s your life, but don’t forget, whatever you do affects the children. She’s got your whole life mapped out for you.”

  She held up her hand before he could speak and added, “Which is fine by me, but tell me, Alex, when did you hand your balls to that woman?”

  Alex scrubbed at his face with his hands and let out a sigh. “I’m sure she’ll settle down once we’re married.” Who was he trying to convince? The words sounded hollow to his own ears.

  He tried to keep his voice down so the children didn’t overhear. “Sydney’s right about one thing.

  Mom insists on having the reception here but it’s too much right now. Sydney said she made arrangements with the country club.” He cringed when he thought of the money Zoe would lose. “I’ll make sure this doesn’t hurt you financially.”

  “Amelia will have to sign the cancellation,” Zoe said with a shake of her head. “But don’t worry.

  James left us well off. The children have a million each in a trust, and I have more than enough to live 162

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas on without the catering business. I like to cook, and eat, so if I cook it for someone else—there you go, problem solved. Besides, I like to keep busy.”

  “Those three don’t?”

  “That’s why I have Cherri.” Zoe picked a piece of straw from the bale and twirled it between her fingers. He remembered the way her clever hands had touched him and envied the straw. “I met her at a group for people fighting addiction.”

  Alex shot her a hard look. “You’re addicted to drugs?”

  “No, nothing like that. Food. I’m addicted to food.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “No, it’s not.” She threw the straw onto concrete floor of the garage. “Not anymore than it’s crazy to be an alcoholic.”

  The breath stopped in his lungs. “You’re telling me that Cherri is an alcoholic?”

  “Yes, and before you go nuts, she’s been sober for over ten years. She used to run the group, but the funding fell through. Her personal life… Well, let’s just say I offered her a chance to get out of a very bad situation.”

  It felt safe to breathe again. “Good, good.” He reached out and took her hand, twining their finger together. “I need to see you, alone.”

  Zoe’s eyes grew large, the color uncertain. She stood and tried to pull her hand from his. “No, don’t, it’s not a good idea.”

  Alex held it tight, refusing to let go. “Sit down.

  We need to talk about the girls, along with other things without distractions.”

  She threw a look over at the girls and the kittens and sat back down. “What is there to talk about?”

  “Yesterday.”

  Zoe colored up. She shook her head, her whisper 163

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  low and tight. “I went a little crazy yesterday but I refuse to be labeled a whore by Sydney.”

  “If that’s true, then what am I? It’s not like you were the only one in that bed.”

  “A man-slut.” She picked up the drawstring at the bottom of her coat and twisted it around her finger until her fingertips turned purple.

  “What?” He didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended.

  “Face it, Alex, you’re a man-slut. Always have been.” She untwisted the drawstrings, leaving white lines where they’d cut off the circulation. Zoe threw him a sidelong glance, and a dimple popped out with her sad smile. “I’ve sent so many flowers on your behalf, that I should’ve taken out shares in the florist shop I used.” She gave slow tsk full of regret.

  “Would’ve made a killing.”

  “That was a long time ago. I still want to talk.”

  His chest tightened at the prospect of not seeing her again before the wedding. “Once I’ve got things ironed out with Sydney, I’ll know where to go, what to do about—everything.”

  Zoe let out a sigh of resignation. She got to her feet, her hands brushing the straw from her luscious backside.

  “Okay. Come by tomorrow morning, around eight-thirty. Cherri has a couple of days off. I’m dropping her off at the train station after I take the girls to preschool. She’s going back to St. Louis to catch up with some friends and do a little extra Christmas shopping. I don’t normally open the shop until ten.”

  “Great.” Alex moved off the bale. “I’ll be by at eight thirty sharp. Girls,” he called out, “Don’t you think we’ve played with the kittens long enough? It’s getting late. I don’t want your mother to drive home in the dark.”

  “They want to come home with us.” Macy 164

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas dangled a piece of twine she’d found on the floor in front of the black and white kitten. It batted at the string and clacked its jaws in wide-eyed wonder.

  “Can I take Walter home?” Mia begged as she cradled the kitten in her arms.

  The white kitten sized Alex up with large golden eyes. Alex swore the little imp smirked in triumph.

  “They’re a little young yet—it’s not time for them to leave their mother.”

  “Okay, but don’t let Gramma give Walter away, please.” Mia put Walter down by his mother, and he immediately worked her fur to find a teat.

  Alex looked over at Zoe, wondering what to do.

  This was one area where he’d let her handle the powder keg that could go off if they left Walter behind.

  “Kittens take a lot of work.” She took Mia’s hand and gave it a little pat. “You’d have to share Walter with your sisters.”

  The other two jumped up and down and begged for the kitten with a promise they would all take care of Walter.

  “Let’s see how well you do at taking care of your rooms and chor
es first.”

  All the way back to the house, he watched his children’s excited chatter at the prospect of getting one smug, grinning cat.

  Each step made it difficult to ignore Zoe’s mighty fine ass. The woman filled out a pair of jeans.

  She left him breathless and hard as stone.

  Alex jammed his hands into his jeans pockets in a futile attempt to hide his hard-on. He couldn’t walk into his mother’s house like this, not with Sydney lurking around. Life handed him a shit sandwich and asked, Do you want fries with that?

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  Chapter Seventeen

  Zoe hurried back from dropping the girls off at pre-school and glanced at the clock on the van’s radio. 8:15. Alex’s Hummer already sat in her drive.

  She saw him in the driver’s seat, talking on his cell phone, looking none too happy. He ended the call the second he realized she’d pulled in next to him.

  Alex got out of the Hummer and loped around the front of her van to open the door for her. “Sorry, I’m a little early.”

  Zoe got out of the van and sorted through her key ring for her house key.

  “Thanks for taking some time for me.”

  She’d promised herself she’d be rational, treat him with nothing more than a polite, professional interest—now she wanted to jump him in the driveway, snow and all. This morning, he’d dressed for work. The long black wool coat lifted in the cold winter breeze, the black and white plaid scarf added a touch of dash to his very proper business attire. A small bit of lint from the scarf rested on his shoulder. She reached up to brush it away without thinking. It seemed so natural, the sort of thing she’d done a hundred times when she’d worked for him. “There, you can’t go to the office looking like a rag picker.”

  “A rag picker?” He smiled in bemusement.

  She waved her hand in front of her face and smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s a rather archaic term.” Zoe seated the key in the front door’s lock. “That’s what I get for reading too many historical romance novels.”

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  A Perfect Bride for Christmas Alex gave her a weird look, far away, as if he wanted to say something but stopped at the last minute. A second later, he had his attorney’s poker face on, very bland and unreadable.

  So that’s how he planned to play this. It worked for her. She couldn’t allow her schizophrenic hormones to run amok. She opened the door and put her purse on the small foyer table. “Would you like a cup of coffee? I put some on before I left, and I think I’ve got a couple of lemon-blueberry muffins.”

  Alex pulled off his gloves and stuffed them in his coat pocket. “Coffee would be good.” So polite, so formal until his eyes caught something. He smiled.

  “I think you have an escapee.” The dimple in his cheek hit her with the impact of a blowtorch on ice.

  Zoe went from cold, to hot, to wet in a heartbeat.

  Damn it, he did it again.

  She had to get her rocketing emotions under control. The man didn’t belong to her, never would.

  “What?” She looked in the direction he pointed.

  “Oh, that’s Macy’s Dora the Explorer doll. Macy thinks Dora will suffocate if she puts her away in the toy box.” Zoe picked it off the floor and sat it on an end table.

  The smile dimmed. Alex peeled off his coat and scarf and handed them to Zoe. He picked up the doll.

  “I want this.”

  “Want, what—a doll?” Zoe chuckled. “You’ll have to arm wrestle Macy for it.” She took his things to the hall closet, reached for a hanger, but couldn’t resist the temptation to bury her nose in his coat.

  For a second, she allowed herself the luxury of feeling soft cashmere against her cheek as she breathed in his scent. Citrus, spice and the sharp earthy smell of wool.

  “No.”

  Zoe came down to earth. She hung up the coat and closed the door. “Then tell me what you want.

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  That’s why you’re here.” She walked past Alex and watched him put the doll back on the table with gentle care. “Let’s go into the kitchen. I’ll get the coffee, and we can talk.”

  He followed her into the sparkling room, his eyes watching every move she made as she went about pouring the coffee and heating up the muffins.

  His intense scrutiny made her tense, so nervous that she dropped one of the muffins. Alex raced in to save the day, catching the muffin before it hit the floor.

  “Good save.” She put the muffin back on the saucer.

  “Product of living the King Brothers and Jesse Saurs. You either played good baseball, football, and hockey, or you were dead meat.” The coolness left him. Here was the Alex she knew, not the polite stranger who showed up on her doorstep. “I’m one hell of a catcher and not a half-bad goalie.”

  Zoe pulled out a chair and motioned at the opposite chair with the muffin-filled saucer. “You said in the living room that you wanted something.

  What?”

  Alex took off his suit jacket and placed it over the back of the chair. “I want what you have with the girls.” He sat, reached for his muffin. His long fingers tore it apart one small piece at a time—just like Mia.

  “If you mean twenty-four-seven, you know that’s not possible.”

  “I realize that. What I want is the family stuff—

  toys on the floor, mealtimes.” Alex smiled and popped a piece of the muffin in his mouth.

  “Although, I’m still recovering from our trip to McDonald’s.” His eyes grew round. “Wow, this is good.”

  “I make my own mix and sell it. It’s quite popular. Now back to the kids.”

  “Is there any way we can come to an 168

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas accommodation on visitation? I have to admit I’m scared shitless of the idea of raising three daughters, but I want to do this. I want them in my life.”

  Zoe got up and went to the small desk in one corner of the kitchen. Her hand trembled as she pulled the letter Tommy Dunne had couriered over earlier in the week, along with a DVD. She laid them in front of Alex and sat back down at the table.

  “This is the letter requesting the DNA samples.”

  Alex opened it up and pulled out the page along with the consent document. “You signed it.” He picked up the DVD. “Bennett Family Video. I don’t get it.”

  “Yes, I signed it.” She nodded, her heart in her throat as she tried to get the words out. “After you left, after we told the girls about you, I decided it was time to put this to rest. You can do whatever you need to change the name on their birth certificates. The DVD is something I put together for the girls when they got older. Baby pictures, videos, stuff like that. James really got into documenting every phase of their lives.”

  Zoe watched his throat work. He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze that said more than any words. “Thank you—for everything.”

  She put her hand over his, and for a second, they sat there as parents, united over their children.

  This bond could never be broken, never taken away from her. Alex would always be a part of their lives.

  “You can have the girls whenever you want, as long as we communicate, make any arrangements together.”

  “That’s good.” He cleared his throat and took a sip of coffee. “We’ll want to take it slow at first, get them used to my family. Mom is thrilled about having grandchildren.” He got up from the table to pace with excitement. “Sydney’s loft is no place for kids. I need to find a house with a yard, get a dog.”

  “Better make that a Walter.”

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  “Okay.” He turned to her. “I can learn to clean litter boxes.”

  “No, the girls will have to do that as part of their chores.”

  He stared at her in disbelief. “They have chores?

  They’re only four.”

  “Do you want to wait until they’re sixteen and tell them to clean their rooms?”
>
  He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a wry smile. “I guess not.”

  “Alex, we need to talk about Sydney. I’m serious when I say I don’t want her around the children. The woman needs help. Serious, professional help.”

  “No, Sydney’s just worked up about the wedding plans. She’s overwhelmed.” Alex’s eyes skittered away in a lie. Alex King could fool a judge and jury, but not Zoe. Not after the years she’d spent cleaning up his messes. “Sydney’s afraid I’ll cheat on her.” He took another bite, his eyes focused on muffin. “The irony is I’ve been faithful to her—except when she told me she didn’t want to marry me.”

  The fact he’d been faithful to Sydney didn’t surprise Zoe. Oh, the man loved women and held the title of a true chick magnet. Alex could walk into a party and have ten women glommed onto him before he made it to the cash bar. However, he remained faithful while in a committed relationship. Zoe had never known him to stray during his engagement to Bianca, flirt maybe, but never cheat.

  “It’s more than that, and you know it. You were just dumped and you turned to me.” She thumped her hand against her chest. “Me! You don’t think Sydney suspects something—well, you’re wrong. And I don’t want her taking out her suspicions on the girls. The only way I’ll allow her around my—our—

  children is under strict supervision.”

  “That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think? Sydney wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

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  “A fly, maybe not. But she’s got my kids sighted in her target. She sees them as a threat. She almost slapped Macy.”

  Alex frowned but nodded in agreement. “Sydney isn’t too keen on the idea of children, so this really threw her. We’ll work something out.” He picked up the envelope and video. “I don’t know what, but we’ll find a way.”

  “I hope so.” She let out a sigh. How could things get any more complicated?

  He stopped in front of her, his closeness bringing an onslaught of emotions. The flutter in her chest moved until it twisted her into a knot of need. The jittery feeling spread until her body ached. Without thinking, she moved closer until they were touching.