Christmas Kisses with Her Boss

by Nina Milne

  Could the man have had some sort of amnesia attack?

  ‘Drop the charm, Hugh,’ she said. ‘I’ve come here to give you fair warning.’

  ‘Of what?’

  ‘If this is another scam I won’t stand by and let it happen. I will not let you do it to Portia.’

  A roll of his deep brown eyes. ‘And what exactly do you think you can do to stop me? Wait.’ He raised his hand. ‘I can answer that for you. There is nothing you can do. Portia believes in me, and as far as she is concerned you are a gold-digging vixen. And that’s the way it’s going to stay. In fact...’ A casual shrug accompanied his words. ‘It may get a bit heated for you in the press again. We’ll be giving interviews, and Portia does feel very strongly about you.’

  ‘That’s a joke, right?’ Her imagination went into boggled mode. ‘You want me to take the flak again?’

  ‘Yes.’ Hugh smiled—a smile that would reduce half the population to its knees but left her utterly unmoved. ‘That’s not a problem, is it?’

  ‘What if I say it is?’

  Goodbye to the smile and any pretence of charm. ‘Then you’ll leave me no choice. I’ll take you for everything you have. You’ll lose your job like a shot. You may think Ethan Caversham will protect you, but how long do you think he will do that if I really go to war? Threaten to get one of my friends to sue him?’

  ‘Sue him for what?’ Disbelief and a smidge of fear touched her.

  ‘For improper safety procedures—I could rig an accident, no sweat.’ Tipping his hands in the air, he switched the smile back on. ‘I don’t want to do it, Rube. I don’t... But I need this marriage to happen. Those Forsythe sisters have got a bit suspicious...my agent is on my back again. Yada-yada.’

  ‘In other words you’ve reverted to type,’ Ruby interjected.

  ‘Whatever. Point is, Portia is my salvation.’

  Ruby stared at him, and suddenly so much seemed clear to her. ‘Ethan will never cower before your so-called might. And neither will I. Not any more. So I suggest you tell Portia the truth. Because if you don’t, I will. And if you lie about me one more time in the papers then I will call you on it. I will give an interview of my own and then if you want to retaliate you go for it. Bring it on.’

  A burst of adrenalin shot through her system. Ethan was right—the only way to deal with a bully was to stand up to him.

  Hugh’s eyes narrowed. ‘I could drag you through the mud.’

  ‘Go right ahead. But I will not let you do this to Portia. Or to me. I want you to tell her the truth and I want you to issue a statement saying that we have sorted our differences and you were mistaken about my gold-digging tendencies.’

  He deflated before her eyes, sank onto a chair. ‘You don’t understand. I’m scared I’ll lose my career...’

  ‘Then fight for it. Clean up your act. Change. But do it for real and fight clean.’

  Even as she spoke the words it occurred to her that she had hardly put her own money where her lips were. With Ethan she’d accepted rejection as if it were only to be expected. She hadn’t put up so much as a vestige of fight—had let him write off her love as false.

  Was that the person she’d become? Sure, years ago she’d lost the fight to keep her family together, but that did not mean she had to lose every fight. The truth was, it was easier, less painful, to expect and accept defeat. After all, the harder you fought the more you risked losing.

  A hard rock of determination formed inside her. ‘Your choice, Hugh. I’ve got to go.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll do it.’

  Ruby nodded, already en route to the door. Her thoughts swirled as she figured out how long it would take her to get back to Cornwall. Should she call first? Text? Email?

  The elevator felt claustrophobic, stupidly slow, and she jogged from foot to foot as impatience seized her.

  Finally the doors opened and she stepped outside—and there was Ethan.

  * * *

  Thank goodness. Ethan’s heart thumped against his ribcage as Ruby erupted from the elevator—he’d already paced a layer off the marble floor of the lobby.

  Ruby skidded to a stop and stared at him as if he could be some sort of hologram. ‘Ethan?’

  ‘In the flesh.’

  ‘But...what are you doing here?’

  ‘We need to talk. How did it go with Hugh?’

  ‘Good. All sorted. He’ll tell Portia the truth and issue an apology to me.’

  ‘That’s fabulous, Ruby.’

  ‘Is that why you came here? To check I could cope with Hugh?’ Wariness tinged her expression now as she tugged at an errant strand of hair.

  ‘Nope. Were you planning on coming back to Caversham Castle?’

  ‘No. But...’

  Ethan held a hand up, not sure he could bear to hear any more. Fear strummed him. She had believed the sheer baloney he had spouted earlier. Somehow he had to convince her to give him another chance.

  ‘Not here. We need to talk properly.’

  She nodded. ‘There are loads of cafés round here. Or...’

  ‘It’s okay. I have it covered. Come on.’

  Within seconds of leaving the lobby Rafael’s loaned car glided to a halt in front of them. The chauffeur climbed out and opened the car door for Ruby, who slid inside with a puzzled look.

  ‘Why didn’t you drive your own car?’ she asked.

  ‘Actually, Rafael lent me his helicopter, as well as Robert and this car, to meet me on arrival.’

  ‘You flew here from Cornwall?’ Her eyes widened and a half-laugh dropped from her lips. ‘Why?’

  Ethan shrugged. ‘Impulse. I needed to see you. To apologise and...’

  Her eyes narrowed. ‘Apologise for what?’

  Here goes.

  Time to put himself on the line. Along with some emotional honesty. ‘For my reactions. I panicked. Just like I did ten years ago. I’ve been alone a long time; the only person who has ever got close has been you. Ten years ago I ran. I told myself I did it for you, because I could see that you had developed a misguided crush on me, but in reality I panicked.’

  ‘And this time?’ The question was soft, almost tentative.

  Clenching his hands round his knees, he hauled in breath. ‘This time I don’t want to run, and I don’t want you to run. For ten years I have avoided emotion, locked it down because I associated emotion with bad choices, rejection and tragedy. I decided to channel my anger and use it to create momentum—to build Caversham into something bigger and bigger, to allow me to do good via charitable efforts.’

  ‘And you succeeded—you turned your life around.’

  A twist of her body and she faced him now, her face illuminated in the dusky light of the limo’s interior, her cinnamon scent whirling in his head.

  ‘You should be proud of that.’

  ‘I am. But the whole time I have been scared of emotion, scared of rocking the boat, because I thought my whole new life would tumble down. These past few weeks you have shown me that doesn’t have to happen. With you I have run the gamut of emotions—each day I have felt more and more. Caring, desire, happiness, sympathy, a need to give and take comfort. You’ve unlocked something inside me. You’ve helped me remember Tanya as she deserves to be remembered—not just with bitterness and guilt, but with the memory of all the good she did in my life. You’ve let me look down the dark tunnels of the past and realise that along with the darkness there was also light. And there’s something else you did too...’

  ‘What?’

  Her voice caught and fear and anticipation rollicked through him.

  ‘You taught me how to love. I love you, Ruby.’

  For a heartbeat her expression registered no more than shock, and the fear escalated. What if she had changed her mind—realised that loving him was
foolhardy? Then he would change her mind if it took him his whole life to do it. Then her expression morphed into a smile that touched and warmed him as she launched herself across the limo seat and into his arms.

  ‘I love you too. So very, very much. And I swear to you it is nothing to do with a need to heal you. Because I don’t need to do that—I love you exactly as you are. You’re kind and generous and caring and stubborn and demanding and deep and complicated, and I love you for all those traits. You don’t need to change for me.’

  She nestled onto his lap, her hands cupping his jaw, and he felt a thrill of happiness. This woman loved him, and he knew he was the luckiest man in the universe.

  ‘That realisation has been an epiphany for me. You see, all my life I have associated love with need. I wanted to be needed. My parents didn’t love me enough to change their lifestyles for me, so I equated someone loving me with them being willing to change for me. Because that would give me self-worth. You’ve taught me how to have self-worth all by myself. You’ve shown me how to be brave, to stand up for what is right, and you’ve taught me to risk again—to risk rejection, to risk pain, because sometimes that is the right thing to do. So you don’t have to change to prove your love or mine. I love you.’

  ‘And I love you.’

  He could quite cheerfully have continued in this conversational vein all day. His heart gave a happy jump and his whole body fizzed with a joy he could barely believe.

  The limo glided to a stop and he dropped a kiss on her lips. ‘Now that is sorted you need to come with me.’

  ‘Where to?’

  ‘Wait and see.’

  * * *

  The door opened and Ruby scrambled off Ethan’s lap, sneaking a quick glance at the impassive face of the chauffeur and figuring he’d probably seen worse as Rafael Martinez’s driver.

  She looked around in an attempt to work out where they were. Not that it mattered—all that mattered was Ethan’s proximity and the sheer sense of wonder that doused her. Ethan loved her. The urge to cartwheel, to grab passers-by and tell them of her sheer happy feelings nigh overwhelmed her.

  Instead she looked round and took in a tree-lined canal, with moored narrowboats of all colours bobbing up and down on the water. Cream Georgian architecture abounded, and the whole area felt like a quirky peaceful oasis in the midst of London’s sprawl.

  A quick tour of her mental knowledge told her they were in Little Venice.

  ‘Come on,’ Ethan said.

  His grin was so boyish, so relaxed, that her heart threatened to burst.

  ‘Close your eyes.’

  Ruby scrunched her eyes shut and wrapped her fingers round Ethan’s capable hand, anticipation unfurling as he guided her along the pathway.

  ‘Okay. You can look.’

  A small gasp escaped her lips as she surveyed the boat—gaudy, cheerful, bright red. It looked as though it had a personality all its own.

  ‘Ta-dah!’ Ethan beamed at her. ‘Welcome to the Oasis. Fifty-eight feet long, six foot ten inches wide, she’ll be able to take us all over England’s canals.’

  The grin dropped from his face, to be replaced by a serious expression, his blue-grey eyes full of passion and determination. ‘It’s symbolic. I want you on board my boat, Ruby, and I don’t care how much it rocks or rolls or even if it capsizes, as long as we are on it together.’

  The words caused a prickle of tears and he looked at her, consternation written all over his face.

  ‘Hey, don’t cry!’

  ‘I can’t help it. That is so beautiful and...’ She gulped. ‘I can’t believe you bought a boat!’

  ‘Come and see.’

  Ruby followed him inside and felt an instant sense of home. The interior had a clean, homey, compact feel, with the space used to incredible effect. The kitchen area gleamed with pine, and as she explored she gave a small gurgle of delight at the dexterity of the storage space. Already she could picture rustling up meals as they chugged along England’s canalways.

  Walking further in, she saw the tiny but functional bathroom and shower room. ‘There’s even a dining area!’

  ‘Well, meals are an important consideration. And look—when we don’t need the table it can be folded away and we convert it into a lounge. Plus there are two cabins—a double room and a twin. Tight fit, but...’

  Ruby stilled. ‘Why the twin bedroom?’ she asked.

  ‘Because one day I hope that we will have children. Adopted or birth or a mixture of both.’

  His words caused her to freeze, unsure whether to believe him or not, and needing him to understand that she truly loved him for himself. Only him. That he was way more than enough.

  ‘You don’t have to say that. I meant what I said. You are who I want. I want my future to be with you—to wake up every day wrapped in your arms.’

  ‘I get that, Ruby, but you have changed me. You’ve opened my heart. And I have enough love in there for you and for children. Of course I’m scared—scared I’ll mess it up, terrified I’ll let them down—but I also know I will strive every day to be the best parent I can. Because you were right earlier. I don’t blame my mum for what she did, but I could never do that to my child. I would never give up and I would never stop loving them. I’ll be there for them, Ruby. I swear I will.’

  ‘There is no doubt in my mind, or in my heart.’

  Of course he was scared—after his childhood how could he not be? But she knew that Ethan would be a wonderful dad, and she wanted to whoop with joy that he too wanted a family.

  ‘I know you will be a wonderful dad, and I so want us to be a family. I’ve decided to try to trace Tom, Edie and Philippa as well. Make some new memories.’

  The idea still scary, but with Ethan by her side, there to catch her if she fell, as she would be there for him, it seemed less daunting.

  ‘I’ll support you one hundred per cent. In this and everything, Ruby. Now and for ever.’

  His smile was so full of love her breath hitched in her throat.

  He gestured towards a corner of the lounge area. ‘And right now why don’t you have a look in your stocking?’

  ‘Huh?’ Following the trail of his hand, her eyes alighted on a small Christmas tree, still in its pot, decorated with silver strands of tinsel and red, purple and gold decorations. Pinned next to it was a bulging striped stocking, with a candy cane poking out of the top.

  ‘I know it’s not Christmas anymore. But I figured there was still some Christmas magic left in the air,’ he said.

  There were those tears of joy. Again. ‘How on earth did you manage to do all this?’

  A grin and the wicked wiggle of his eyebrows banished her tears in favour of a chuckle.

  ‘Consider me all-powerful. Actually, it wasn’t too hard. The helicopter only took an hour or so... Rafael’s driver picked me up at Battersea... A few stops on the way and then straight here to Little Venice, where the ex-owner of Oasis waited. I cleaned the place, set up the tree, and then I went back to the hotel to wait for you.’ Eagerness lit his expression as he shifted from foot to foot. ‘Come on—open it.’

  Unhooking the stocking, Ruby sank onto the cushioned sofa and dived her hand inside. Pulled out a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a gorgeous bath bomb that exuded lavender and chamomile, a pair of fluffy woolly socks... And then, nestled in the toe, her questing fingers found a box.

  Heart pounding, mouth parched, she tugged it out and opened it. Inside was a ring—a glorious cluster of sapphires and diamonds.

  ‘Sapphires to match the sparkle of your eyes,’ Ethan said. ‘Diamonds because diamonds are for ever. Will you marry me, Ruby?’

  ‘Yes.’ The assent dropped from her lips and happiness blanketed her as he slid the ring onto her finger. ‘It’s so beautiful.’

  ‘Not as beautiful as you. Now, l
ook up.’

  There above them was a sprig of mistletoe, and as Ethan’s lips covered hers she knew that her happiness was complete. They would sail their boat together over the horizon, into a life that would hold ups and downs, rain and sunshine. But she knew with all her heart that their love would ride every swell, weather every storm and bask in each ray of happiness.

  EPILOGUE

  The Caversham Castle Ball

  RUBY FELT AS if she were walking, floating, dancing on air as she greeted each and every guest at the ball. Time seemed spun with the shining threads of pure happiness as she rested her gaze on Ethan, listened to his speech—his words powerful, emotive and drenched with compassionate belief in his cause.

  ‘He’s a good man.’

  Ruby turned to see Cora Brookes by her side.

  ‘He is.’

  Instinctively she looked down at her left hand, even though she and Ethan had decided to keep their engagement under wraps until the end of the ball. Ruby had insisted that the ball was about fundraising—she didn’t want to dilute the impact in any way.

  They watched as Ethan introduced Rafael and the tall, dark-haired man took the podium; his aristocratic lips upturned in a captivating smile—within minutes he had them riveted by his words as the bids climbed to outrageous heights.

  Cora gazed at him. ‘He has the charm of the devil,’ she murmured under her breath.

  ‘He’s putting it to a good cause.’

  ‘Men like Rafael Martinez only have one cause—their own.’ A strand of bitterness tinged Cora’s tone. ‘I’m surprised he and Ethan are so close.’

  Ruby frowned. ‘Ethan sees the good in everyone, and he is a great believer in second chances. Plus, you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers. Trust me on that. Unless, of course, you know Rafael?’

  Cora hesitated. ‘No,’ she said finally. ‘I don’t.’ A perfunctory smile and then she gestured towards the door. ‘I’ll go and check the champagne is ready for midnight.’

  Ruby turned as Ethan headed towards her.

  ‘All okay, sweetheart?’ he asked. ‘Why the frown?’

  ‘I was just wondering why Cora doesn’t like Rafael...’