Trouble With Christmas (9781455544066)

by Mason, Debbie

  “Last Valentine’s…” She trailed off, her cheeks flushed.

  “Was a mistake. I’m sorry if we confused you, Annie. I never meant for that to happen.”

  She twisted her hands in her comforter. “I’m sorry I hurt Maddie’s feelings.”

  His first reaction, because she’d obviously had a tough day, was to let her off the hook. But he’d raised his girls to be aware of other people’s feelings, and over the last couple of days, he’d let Annie get away with hurting Madison’s.

  “It’s not me you owe the apology to. Madison’s been nothing but good to you, and you’ve been pretty hard on her lately. Why don’t you give her a call tomorrow? I’m sure she’d like to hear from you.”

  She reached under her comforter and held up the phone he’d given her to use when she went out with friends. “Can I text her?”

  “Sure,” he said, as he went to leave.

  “Dad?”

  “Yeah,” he said slowly, wondering if she was going to ask him about his and Madison’s relationship. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say if she did.

  “I…” She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “You sure?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay then. Good night, Annie. See you in the morning.” He closed the door, relieved to have dodged the relationship bullet.

  Walking past Sheena’s room on the way to his, a familiar tension pulled in his chest. He debated whether or not to deal with her now and decided against it. Tomorrow morning would be soon enough.

  He opened his bedroom door. His jaw dropped. Sheena lay on his bed in a seductive pose wearing a red velvet bustier trimmed in white fur, a red lace G-string, and a pair of thigh-high black leather boots.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He grabbed his robe from the hook on the back of his door and tossed it at her.

  She sat up, narrowing her perfectly made-up eyes at him. “When did you become such a prude?”

  All he needed was for Annie to walk in on them. He closed the door and locked it.

  “I always loved this room, this bed.” She stroked the duvet cover, looking at him. “You.”

  “Cut it out.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re worried about your career, and you’re looking for something to hang on to. I’m sorry, Sheena, but I’m not interested.”

  She stabbed her arms into his white terry-cloth robe. “This is because of her, isn’t it?”

  “Yes and no.” He leaned against the door. “I told you I was involved with Madison. You know me better than to think—”

  “Big deal,” she interrupted him. “So you’re sleeping with her. A man has his needs, I understand that.”

  “Hold it right there. You’re talking about the woman I’m in love with.”

  “You’re in love with her? But I thought… Last February we—”

  “—were lonely,” he finished for her. “We had a good time together.” He walked to the bed and sat down. “But it was a mistake. Now, why don’t you tell me what this is really about?”

  Her brown eyes filled. “I don’t have anyone in my life, Gage. I’m thirty-four, and I’ve put all my energy into my career. Now it’s over.”

  She looked lost, and he put an arm around her. “Who says it’s over?”

  “My doctor.” She sniffed, leaning against him.

  “Did you get a second opinion?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I just—”

  “—panicked.” He lived with her long enough to know how she’d react to the news. “Tomorrow, you’ll go see my dad and Matt. Between the two of them, they’ll know someone to recommend you to.”

  “You always took such good care of me, Gage.” Before he realized what she was up to, she climbed onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “I’m serious, Sheena. I’m not interested.” He unwound her arms and nudged her off his lap. “You’re going to be fine,” he said, as he stood up.

  “You don’t understand. I’ve had time to think about what I’ve given up. My career won’t last forever. I want another chance with you and the girls. They need me.”

  “We’re done, Sheena. As for the girls, I don’t want you discussing your plans with them until you’re sure what they are.” He raked his hand through his hair. “We need to make other arrangements for when you visit. Having you stay here is confusing Lily and Annie.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’re kicking me out of my own home?”

  “It was never your home, Sheena. It was just one more compromise in a long list of them to get you to stay. Only you left before I finished the house.”

  “You’re angry and hurt. I get that, and I’m sorry. I have a lot to make up for. I know that.”

  He shook his head. There was no reasoning with her. “I doubt we’d find anywhere for you to stay at this late date, but next time you won’t be staying here.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a weight lifted off his shoulders. For the girls’ sakes, he’d put it off longer than he should have. He didn’t think Lily would be a problem, and he’d have time after the holidays to ease Annie into the idea. “I’m going to the station. When I get back, I don’t want to find you in my room.”

  “This is all Madison Lane’s fault. If it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t be kicking me out of my home. And don’t think I don’t know where you’re going.”

  “It stopped being your business what I do and who I do it with a long time ago. This is between you and me. Leave Madison out of it.”

  She muttered something under her breath.

  “What did you say?”

  “Nothing.”

  But he knew better, and just to be sure he didn’t fuel the fire, he said, “If the girls need me, I’ll be at the station.” Hopefully she believed him.

  * * *

  By the time Gage cleaned up some paperwork at the office and walked to his aunt’s—he’d left the Suburban at the station to avoid Nell’s nosy neighbors gossiping about his visit—it was close to midnight. He went to put in his key in the door, but the knob turned under his hand. Gage gave his head a frustrated shake. He couldn’t believe Madison had left the door unlocked.

  Christmas might be a small town with a low crime rate, but she needed to be more careful. A lot of people were unhappy the resort was being put to a vote. With Nell in the hospital, it was Madison who was the face of the campaign. And if the citizens of Christmas felt she was putting their opportunity for jobs at risk, they might do something stupid.

  “Madison,” he called out, doing a quick scan of the kitchen and upper hall as he toed off his boots. He glanced into the living room. She was asleep under the blinking red lights of the Christmas tree, its spindly limbs weighed down with thick mounds of fake snow and what looked to be Fruit Loops strung from its branches. His worried frustration gave way to a chest-tightening tenderness.

  She opened her eyes when he crouched beside her. “Hi,” she said with a sleepy smile.

  “Hi.” He kissed her warm, pliant mouth, then pulled back, licking his lips.“Peppermint?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Hailey brought peppermint schnapps. I like candy cane shooters better, but Brandi had to go home early.”

  “Hailey and Brandi were here?”

  She nodded. Wrapped in a red wool blanket, she sat up. “Holly, Sophia, Jill, Autumn, and Grace, too. They decided I needed some support with your ex home for the holidays.”

  “Did it help?” he asked as he came to his feet.

  With a tight grip on her blanket, she took the hand he held out to her. “It was fun. They had some suggestions for my presentation on Monday, and Hailey offered to give Sheena food poisoning. Jill said she’d shoot her, if I wanted her to.” She bit her lip.” I probably shouldn’t have told you that, but don’t worry, they were just kidding around.”

  “Good to know.” And he thought men were more prone to violence.

  She hadn’t let go of the blanket yet, and he frowned. He placed the palm of his hand
on her flushed cheek. “Are you coming down with something?”

  “No, it’s just…” She sighed. “Unlike Jill and Hailey, Sophia advocates the seduction route and brought me this.” She let go of the blanket. It puddled at her feet, revealing the exact same outfit Sheena had worn earlier, only…

  Trying hard not to laugh, he said, “I don’t think she meant for you to wear Nell’s Rudolph sweater with it, honey.”

  She looked down at herself and shrugged out of the sweater, letting it fall to the floor. “I was cold.”

  He practically swallowed his tongue. Compared to Madison, Sheena looked like a boy. His entranced gaze took in every delectable inch of her centerfold curves, traveling down her long, toned legs to… the fuzzy red slippers on her feet.

  He rubbed his hand along his jaw. “Aren’t you supposed to wear thigh-high leather boots with it?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “How’d you know?”

  Oh, no, he wasn’t that stupid. “Educated guess.”

  She snorted. “I don’t want to know.” Then waved her hand at a shoe box under the tree. “Men must design those things. They suck women into thinking they have to wear boots that’ll kill their feet, and break their damn necks if they’re not careful, just to get a man’s attention, to seduce him. Can you see a man doing that?” She tugged up the plunging fur-trimmed neckline. “Seriously, if we have to stuff ourselves into outfits like this just to—”

  “You don’t.” He drew her into his arms. “You could seduce me wearing a paper bag.”

  She sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Sorry,” she murmured against his neck. “Vivi joined our little party via Skype. I guess her man-hating rant rubbed off on me.”

  He leaned back to stroke her cheek. “Trust me, it’s you and only you I want.”

  “I do. I’m not going to let Vivi get to me again.”

  Taking her hand, he turned off the lights. “Good to hear. Come on, it’s time to go to bed. I’m beat.”

  At the bottom of the stairs, she turned to him with a frown. “You want to go to bed and… sleep?”

  “Yeah, aren’t you tired?” He fought back a grin.

  “Well, sort of, but I thought—”

  He tossed her over his shoulder, smacking her lightly on the butt as he headed up the stairs. “You should’ve worn the boots.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Madison wriggled backward beneath the covers, seeking the comforting weight that had been keeping her warm only a short time ago. Half-asleep, she reached behind her to pat the cold sheets and empty mattress.

  The bed dipped. “Looking for me?” Gage asked, his deep voice warm with amusement.

  “Um-hmm.” She rolled onto her back, the comforter sliding down as she reached for him.

  Stretching out beside her, his white teeth flashed in the still-dark room. “You make it tough to leave.” He swallowed her “Good” in a minty-flavored kiss.

  Fingers tangling in his damp hair, she deepened the kiss as he went to pull away. He groaned, resting his forehead against hers. “What am I going to do with you, Ms. Lane?”

  “I can think of a few things.” She drew him closer, bringing her mouth to his ear to tell him exactly what she wanted him to do. Something she’d never done before. She’d never been overly comfortable with her body and had been pretty inhibited in the bedroom. But after last night, her breasts no longer felt too large or her hips too round. He’d told her, not only with words, but with his every look, his every touch, that she was perfect, perfect for him.

  A smile curved his firm lips when she finished whispering her request in his ear. Moving his large hand over her body in a slow and deliberate caress, he murmured, “I think I can manage that.”

  He gave her a toe-curling kiss before nipping and kissing his way down her neck while his strong fingers stroked her body. Small bursts of sensation exploded under her skin as he moved lower, tormenting and teasing her with his touch along the way. She arched beneath his hand, feeling wild and wanton, and felt his lips curve against her stomach, the muscles clenching in response to the caress of his warm breath. Within minutes he had her writhing, an abandoned cry escaping her parted lips as he made good on his promise, fulfilling her every demand. He lifted his head, watching her as she shattered.

  It felt like she was having an out-of-body experience and it took her several minutes to recover. While she lay there in a dreamy state, he kissed his way back up her body. “Bet Mr. Rabbit never did that for you.”

  She wheezed out a laugh. “Mr. Rabbit is officially retired.” When she lifted her hand to stroke the impressive bulge in his jeans, his laugh turned into a groan. She tilted her head. “What about you?”

  He brought her hand to his mouth, brushing his lips over her knuckles. “Don’t worry about me. It’s cold out, and I have a thirty-minute walk to the station.”

  Frowning, she followed him off the bed. “Why? Did something happen to your truck?”

  “No.” Tucking his chambray shirt into his well-worn jeans, he walked to the small en suite bathroom. “I left it at the station last night. Didn’t want to give the neighbors anything to talk about.” He turned on the tap.

  Her blissful contentment washed away at his admission. Slowly she lifted the pink velour robe off the hook behind the bedroom door. She was tying the belt when Gage came out of the bathroom, drying his hands on a towel.

  “Madison?”

  She fiddled with the knot, avoiding his eyes. “Um-hmm.”

  He tossed the towel on the bed, walked over to put his hands on her shoulders, then ducked to look her in the eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” But a tinge of anger mixed with her disappointment. “I thought we were done sneaking around.”

  His hands slid from her arms and into his pockets. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but trust me, it’s for the best. It won’t be for much longer.”

  Did he honestly believe it was as hard on him as it was on her? He was a smart man, a caring man, so why did he not seem to understand how difficult this was for her?

  “Gage, I don’t think you understand how hard this is on me. My mother spent a lot of time sneaking around, being someone’s dirty little secret.”

  He went to interrupt her, and she raised her hand. “Let me finish. Admittedly my mother had reason to sneak around and feel ashamed, but I don’t, and I won’t be made to feel like I do.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. “That sounds like an ultimatum.”

  Her stomach knotted. “I guess it is.” Her drawl was as thick as if she’d left the Deep South only days ago and not ten years.

  His gaze softened. “I won’t lose you over this. We’re not sneaking around, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. Keeping our relationship quiet is more for your benefit than mine. I’m trying to protect you.”

  “From what?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck, glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Look, I really do have to get going. Lily’s up at the crack of dawn, and I wanna be home before then. Can we talk about this later?”

  Once again he’d chosen his family over her—at least that was how it felt. “Sure. I guess it would be awkward for your ex to catch you sneaking in after spending the night with your girlfriend. I would be considered a girlfriend, right? Not your mistress? You are legally divorced, aren’t you? Because the way your ex was acting, you wouldn’t know it.”

  His gaze narrowed and his jaw clenched. He was angry, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, and she was tired of being made to feel like she was. For God’s sake, he’d walked thirty minutes in the freezing cold just so the neighbors… Her gaze shot to his. “Wait a minute. You won’t feel awkward at all, will you? Because you lied to Sheena, and she thinks you’re at work.”

  “Are you finished?” he asked tightly.

  She’d disapproved of her mother’s choices. Never understood how Jenny Mae Lane had allowed herself to be taken advantage of like she did, but Madison wasn’t
feeling so superior now. Love really was blind. “Yeah, I am, and so are we.”

  He looked like she’d hauled off and socked him in the gut. Good, because that was exactly how she felt. She stormed from the room and down the stairs to the front hall. Unlocking the door, she opened it.

  She heard his heavy tread as he came after her, but she kept her eyes fixed on the snow-laden trees, determined not to cry. They looked like they’d been sprinkled with gold dust, sparkling under the yellow glow from the streetlamps. She welcomed the rush of cold air whipping the robe around her feet, rustling a copy of the Chronicle on the front porch. She picked up the paper, more to keep her mind off the man coming up behind her than anything else. Shaking off the snow, the front page headline caught her eye: Home for the Holidays or Home for Good? And below, a picture of the perfect family.

  She really was a fool. A hot tear slid down her face, splashing onto Gage and his wife’s locked lips.

  He swore behind her, took her by the arm and jerked her back, scanning the street before he slammed the door.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” She shook off his hand and went to open the door. “I want you to leave. Now.”

  He splayed his palms above her head, holding the door shut. “What I’m trying to do is keep your picture off the front page of the paper, and I’m not leaving until you hear me out.”

  “Like you kept yours off the front page? Guess you don’t mind a little PDA as long as it’s with your wife. Here.” She shoved the paper at his chest as she pushed by him. “I’m sure your family will want extra copies for their scrapbook.”

  “Oh no, you don’t. You’re going to listen to me if I have to tie you up and gag you to get you to.” He snagged her by the arm and locked the door.

  Hauling her into the living room, he sat her down on the couch. “Don’t move.” He tossed the paper on the coffee table then walked to the front window to survey the street before closing the drapes, flipping on a light on his way back to the couch.

  “Your guilty conscience has made you paranoid.” She closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay and curled up on the couch, tucking her cold feet beneath her. The couch sagged, and she felt the weight of his gaze upon her. “I’m tired. I don’t want to fight with you anymore.”