Romancing the Holidays Bundle 2009

by Susan Wiggs et al

  Rushing to the local supermarket when she had finally managed to escape—conscious of the fact that the larger shops would be closed for the following three days—and having to fight her way through frantic last-minute shoppers for the few fresh provisions she would need to see her through that time had been the final straw for Olivia in what had already been a disastrous day.

  She just wanted to close her apartment door on the rest of the world, pour herself a glass of chilled white wine, put her feet up on the sofa as she drank it—and hope that she could somehow avoid even knowing it was Christmas!

  The first, second, and even the third of those needs was soon satisfied. But the knock on her door, even as she sat back on the sofa with a contented sigh, seemed to imply that the fourth one wasn’t going to be quite so easy…

  Especially when she opened the door to find Ethan Sherbourne standing outside, with baby Andrea reclining in a baby buggy, deep blue eyes wide open as she looked about her curiously.

  Olivia’s gaze rose slowly from the baby to centre questioningly on Ethan Sherbourne.

  He smiled. ‘I went shopping for a few things today that I thought I might need,’ he explained.

  Olivia was curious as to how he had done that with baby Andrea in tow, but determinedly didn’t ask the question. She did not want to know any more about this situation than she needed to. Did not want to become involved!

  ‘You look tired.’ Ethan looked down at her concernedly. ‘Had a tough day?’

  Olivia gave a startled blink, feeling the sudden rush of unwanted tears as they stung her eyes. It had just been so long since anyone had asked her how her day had been, let alone noticed how tired she looked…!

  She swallowed hard, pushing the momentary weakness to the back of her mind. ‘Probably not as tough as yours,’ she allowed dryly, standing firmly in the doorway. She did not intend inviting him—or Andrea!—inside.

  In the time she had lived in this apartment building Olivia could probably count on one hand the amount of times she had actually seen or spoken to Ethan Sherbourne. Even then it had only usually been as the two of them had passed, either going in or out of the lift. In the last twenty-four hours she had seen him almost as many times as in the whole of the previous year—and spoken to him far too much for her liking!

  Ethan shrugged now. ‘It really wasn’t that bad. Andrea is still at that stage where she sleeps more than she’s awake.’

  He didn’t exactly look frazzled, Olivia had to admit—in fact, he looked in better condition than she did!

  Once again she wondered what the man actually did for a living. He obviously hadn’t been at work today if he had been shopping and looking after Andrea all day.

  ‘What can I do for you?’ Olivia prompted sharply.

  Ethan was wearing a jacket over his silk shirt and tailored trousers—looked, in fact, as if he was on his way out…

  ‘It isn’t for me,’ he answered smoothly. ‘It’s for Andrea. You see—’

  ‘The answer is no,’ Olivia cut in, before he could even finish what he wanted to say. He was dressed to go out, damn him! ‘Most definitely no,’ she repeated firmly. ‘I’ve only just got in, and I haven’t even had a chance to eat dinner yet. I was going to take a long, leisurely bath before—’

  ‘Settling down for the evening,’ Ethan pounced with a triumphant grin, pushing the buggy inside her apartment and running one of the wheels over Olivia’s toes in the process. ‘There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t still take that long, leisurely bath—Andrea is far too young to look and tell!’ he pronounced suggestively. ‘She’s just been bathed, fed and changed too, so—’

  ‘Is it me?’ Olivia followed him through to her sitting room, completely exasperated with his railroading behaviour. ‘Or have I just told you that I’m busy?’

  ‘I have to go out, Olivia,’ Ethan interrupted, his teasing tone of a few seconds ago completely gone. ‘And I can’t take Andrea with me.’ He answered what he had guessed—correctly—was going to be her next question.

  ‘Why can’t you?’ She glared at him. But from the way he was dressed she already knew the answer to that; the particular member of the harem he was meeting this evening wouldn’t understand about baby Andrea!

  His gaze shifted slightly, no longer quite meeting hers. ‘I would really rather not say.’

  Olivia’s eyes widened incredulously. ‘You would really rather not—? Now, you just listen here, Ethan Sherbourne—’

  ‘I would love to, Olivia—but I’m already late for my appointment.’ He handed her the bag he had slung over his shoulder before bending to kiss her lightly on the cheek. ‘I promise not to be late,’ he told her on a teasing note.

  ‘Ethan—’ Olivia gasped—only to discover she was already talking to herself. Ethan had closed the apartment door softly behind him as he left.

  Leaving her alone with baby Andrea for goodness knew how long. Olivia gave absolutely no credence to Ethan’s claim that he wouldn’t be late.

  She just couldn’t believe he had done this to her!

  Or that he had kissed her…!

  She raised a hand to touch her cheek, surprised to see that her hand was shaking slightly. And her cheek felt as if it were burning.

  Dennis Carter had tried to kiss her fully on the lips earlier, tried to grab hold of her behind a filing cabinet, and all she had felt was revulsion. Ethan Sherbourne merely kissed her on the cheek and she was quivering like a schoolgirl.

  Which just went to prove she was more in need of that leisurely bath and quiet dinner than she had realised. Ethan Sherbourne had gone out to spend the evening with one of his legion of women-friends, literally leaving Olivia holding the baby, and she was standing here in a daze because the damn man had had the nerve to kiss her on the cheek.

  Too much cheap wine at the office party. That had to be the answer.

  A slight whimper from Andrea brought Olivia back to a complete awareness of her predicament. Whether either of them liked it or not, it seemed they were stuck with each other—at least for several hours.

  Olivia went down on her haunches beside the buggy. ‘I’m not at all happy about being abandoned by Ethan in this way myself,’ she assured the baby wryly. ‘But learn from this experience, poppet.’

  She reached out and gently touched one of Andrea’s tiny hands. Her baby fingers immediately clenched about one of Olivia’s own. ‘We’re both left sitting at home while your daddy goes out.’ She tried to get up, suddenly finding herself unable to move as Andrea continued to hang on to her finger. ‘That’s it, poppet.’ She smiled. ‘We women have to stick together, don’t we? How about we go into the kitchen now, to prepare me some dinner?’

  She gently released her finger before straightening to wheel the buggy through to the adjoining room.

  She found herself chattering away to the baby as she moved about the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast bar to eat her food rather than going through to the dining room as she usually did because Andrea seemed absolutely fascinated by the array of shining pots and pans suspended from the rack in the middle of the kitchen ceiling.

  She really was the most adorable baby, Olivia decided as she watched Andrea yawn tiredly before falling back into a contented sleep.

  Whatever trauma had occurred in Andrea’s life in the last twenty-four hours—her mother’s desperate flight, then being cared for by the inexperienced Ethan Sherbourne, and now being left with yet another complete stranger—Andrea remained impervious to it all, completely unaware anything was wrong in her young life. Or that she wasn’t completely loved and cared for.

  Not so Olivia, whose heart ached for this helpless little being as she wondered what on earth the future would hold for her.

  Andrea, like all babies, deserved to be loved by her mother and her father—to be brought up and loved in as stable a homelife as possible. Even if—as in this case—her parents chose not to live together. Somehow Olivia couldn’t see this being so for Andrea.

  Once aga
in Olivia felt the tears falling hotly down her cheeks. Tears that she hadn’t cried for so long. Tears she hadn’t allowed herself to cry.

  Damn Ethan Sherbourne for involving her in the mess he had made of his life! And double damn him for just leaving the baby here with her like this!

  When he returned—from the arms of whatever woman he was spending the evening with!—she was going to tell him exactly what she thought of him.

  Exactly!

  ‘How’s it going?’ Mrs Heavenly enquired interestedly as Faith stood before her.

  Faith sighed. ‘Slowly.’

  ‘Tomorrow is Christmas Day,’ the elderly angel reminded her gently.

  Faith was well aware what day tomorrow was. And she had been doing everything she could to try and bring about a miracle for Olivia. But it was rather difficult when Olivia herself—despite having asked for help—was so adamantly against finding happiness.

  Look at the way she had behaved with that lovely Dennis Carter at the office party earlier. The poor man was completely besotted with her, had apparently been inviting her out to dinner with him for months, and today he had finally plucked up the courage to kiss her—and look what had happened.

  From the angry gleam in Olivia’s eyes following that attempted kiss, what would have happened if Faith hadn’t chosen to knock some files onto the floor and thus divert Olivia’s attention was that Olivia would actually have slapped the poor man. And goodness knew, as Dennis was effectively one of Olivia’s bosses, what the repercussions of that might have been!

  Faith gave another sigh. ‘Olivia is—a little difficult,’ she said, with understatement.

  Mrs Heavenly gave a sympathetic smile. ‘No one said this job was easy!’

  ‘No,’ Faith agreed slowly.

  ‘What are they all doing now?’ The cherubic face looked up at her enquiringly.

  ‘Ethan has gone out. I have no idea where,’ Faith reported. ‘Olivia has fed Andrea, and the two of them are now fast asleep.’

  ‘I see.’ Mrs Heavenly looked serious. ‘How do Olivia and Ethan seem together now?’

  Faith pulled a face. ‘It’s a little difficult to tell—Olivia is either furiously angry with him or else she’s in tears.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t—’

  ‘In tears?’ Mrs Heavenly echoed softly. ‘Olivia has cried again since we saw her yesterday?’

  ‘Buckets,’ Faith confirmed reluctantly, totally astounded when Mrs Heavenly gave her one of her beaming smiles. ‘What—?’

  ‘Whatever you’re doing, Faith, it seems to be working.’ The elderly angel nodded her satisfaction. ‘But I would get back down there now, if I were you,’ she advised quickly. ‘Ethan is standing outside Olivia’s apartment about to knock on her door.’

  ‘The mood she was in before she fell asleep in the chair, she’s likely to have an axe in her hands when she answers that knock!’ Faith opined, before quickly making her descent.

  Hopefully she would be in time to prevent Olivia from actually using that axe!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘AND just where do you think you have been till almost midnight?’ Olivia demanded to know as she opened the door to face Ethan Sherbourne, having glanced at the clock to check the time before answering his knock.

  Ethan raised dark brows before glancing down at the gold watch on his wrist. ‘Eleven-thirty-one is hardly midnight,’ he returned calmly.

  ‘It’s hardly early, either—’ She broke off her tirade as Ethan grinned at her unconcernedly, darkly frowning her irritation at his reaction. ‘And just what is so funny?’ she snapped, not in the best of moods anyway, after being woken from her dreamless sleep.

  ‘It’s just that I haven’t had someone tell me off for being late home for more years than I care to think about.’ His grin turned to a throaty chuckle. ‘It’s rather nice,’ he added wistfully.

  ‘Nice!’ Olivia echoed incredulously. ‘What on earth could possible by “nice” about being shouted at because you’re late home?’ Really, the man was even more exasperating than she had previously realised.

  Ethan smiled ruefully. ‘That someone cares enough to mention the fact, I suppose.’

  Olivia drew in a sharp breath. ‘It isn’t a question of caring, Ethan,’ she assured him. ‘I am merely bringing it to your attention because it’s well past time you took Andrea home for the night!’

  ‘Where is she, by the way?’ Ethan glanced past Olivia into her quiet and seemingly deserted apartment.

  ‘After the speed with which you left earlier, I’m surprised you care,’ she scorned.

  His smile instantly faded, dark eyes suddenly intense as he looked at her. ‘Believe me, Olivia, I care.’

  The softness of his tone, the conviction behind his words, was enough to make her blush uncomfortably; after all, the situation behind Andrea’s birth was still all guesswork on her part. ‘Andrea is fast asleep in my bedroom,’ she assured him quietly, holding the door open wider for him to enter. ‘I’ll take you through—’

  ‘Leave it for a moment,’ Ethan rasped before dropping down into one of her armchairs, suddenly looking very tired. ‘This has been a very fraught evening,’ he said heavily.

  The word good instantly sprang into Olivia’s mind. If he chose to go out with one of his women instead of facing up to his responsibility towards Andrea, then he deserved—

  ‘I’ve seen Shelley this evening, Olivia,’ Ethan continued wearily. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to tell you about it.’

  Olivia was absolutely stunned to learn she had completely misunderstood the reason for his disappearance this evening. Not only that, she was also taken aback that he actually wanted to talk to her about it.

  But did she want to know? Did she want to become any more embroiled in this situation than she already was? The answer to both those questions was a resounding no! And yet…

  ‘Would it be too much to ask if I could have a cup of coffee while we talk?’ Ethan looked up at her gratefully.

  The last thing Olivia wanted to do was make him a cup of coffee, and thus delay his departure from her apartment any further. But one glance at the strain so evident beside his eyes and mouth and she relented enough to go out into the kitchen and make them both coffee.

  Whatever Ethan and Shelley had had to say to each other this evening, it obviously hadn’t resulted in Shelley coming back with him to collect Andrea. Which was a little ominous, to say the least.

  ‘Thanks.’ Ethan took the mug of coffee from her as she held it out to him a few minutes later. ‘I am sorry about my hurried departure earlier,’ he apologised. ‘But I had learnt from a mutual friend where I could find Shelley, and I wanted to get there before she realised I was on my way and had a chance to disappear.’

  Olivia sat down in the armchair facing his, quietly sipping her own coffee as she waited for him to continue; after all, he was the one who wanted to talk.

  Ethan breathed deeply after sipping the reviving coffee. ‘This is good coffee,’ he said approvingly.

  Which made Olivia realise it had been some time since she had made coffee for anyone but herself…Strange, but in the time she had lived in this apartment she couldn’t remember ever inviting anyone back here—not even a female friend. She hadn’t known until this moment just how reclusive she had become…

  ‘I’m just delaying things, aren’t I?’ Ethan acknowledged, completely misunderstanding the reason for Olivia’s sudden silence.

  ‘You really don’t have to tell me anything,’ she assured him softly.

  ‘Oh, but I do,’ he asserted firmly. ‘I’ve inadvertently involved you in this tangle; the least I owe you is an explanation. You see—’ He broke off as the sound of Andrea’s crying from the bedroom suddenly filled the air. ‘I think I need to have a word with that young lady about her sense of timing,’ he said affectionately, putting his empty coffee mug down on the table before standing up. ‘I’ll go,’ he assured Olivia as she would have stood up too. ‘After all, you’ve stood the
evening shift!’

  Olivia sank back down into her armchair, watching him as he strode over to her bedroom door and quietly let himself in, speaking soothingly to Andrea as he did so. In truth, after Ethan’s innocently spoken words, she couldn’t have stood up now if she had wanted to!

  She was glad of the respite of his absence; he could have no idea of how his casual comment had evoked painful memories—memories that had been forcing themselves back into her conscious thoughts more and more the last couple of days. No, Ethan could have no idea—and Olivia intended making sure it stayed that way!

  Although she couldn’t say she was altogether sure she was happy with his presence in the intimacy of her bedroom—no matter how innocent his reason for being there. It was so obviously a completely feminine room, with its lace and satin décor in creams and golds, and only the presence of a double bed gave evidence that she hadn’t always slept alone…

  ‘Is she hungry again, do you think?’ Ethan asked concernedly as he returned with the still crying Andrea in his arms.

  ‘She could be,’ Olivia agreed, standing up. ‘I’ll go and warm one of the bottles you left earlier.’

  In fact, Olivia had been amazed by his organisation when she’d opened Andrea’s bag earlier. There was everything in there, including several made-up bottles of formula, that she could possibly need to look after the baby for several hours.

  Curiously, Ethan Sherbourne was proving more and more just how inexperienced he wasn’t when it came to caring for a young baby…

  ‘This is cosy, isn’t it?’ Ethan remarked several minutes later, with the baby lying in his arms sucking contentedly on her bottle as he once again sat in the armchair opposite Olivia’s.

  It wasn’t quite the description Olivia would have used; overly familiar was what sprang to her mind. In fact, explanation or not, she couldn’t wait for Ethan to leave now—and take the baby Andrea with him!

  ‘It’s rather late,’ she replied tersely, deliberately not answering his own comment. After all, there was no reason why he couldn’t go back to his own apartment and feed Andrea there. And leave her in peace.