Christmas Romance Volume 2

by Sharon Kleve

  Jeremy spun, a sorrowful expression moving across his face as he began to face the camera angling at him as it tried to fit in Gwen’s distraught face too.

  “As you can see, I’ve caught Ms. Lancaster in the act of betraying me. What else can I do but call the engagement off.” Jeremy’s left hand touched the skin beneath one eye as though wiping away a tear. “The beautiful Melissa was kind enough to assist my discovery of Ms. Lancaster’s infidelity. Of course, I could never marry a woman cruel enough to play my heart in such a brazen fashion and in public.”

  The camera angle changed until Gwen’s crestfallen face was the only thing in focus. Her eyes filled with tears and her cheeks, already scarlet, burned more in response to Jeremy’s accusation. She knew she looked guilty but she couldn’t explain without exposing Jeremy’s secret to the world and she just couldn’t do that. He knew that once she’d given her word, she would never go back on it.

  “Mr. Winters has got it all wrong.” Gwen heard Denning’s deep voice as he talked over the sound of Jeremy’s wicked lies. “This is all a silly mistake. I am Ms. Lancaster’s personal bodyguard, employed by her agent, Mrs. Devereaux. It is part of my job to accompany Ms. Lancaster everywhere she goes. Unfortunately, Mr. Winters, being out of the country, was unaware of this and his jealousy has jumped to ridiculous conclusions.”

  “You would say that!” Jeremy spun into Denning’s direction, not realizing Rob had moved closer and as Jeremy turned, his nose became in line with Rob’s firm chest.

  “I said it because it’s true.” Rob stared down at the shorter man, his dark gaze filled with a promise of violence if this situation continued.

  “Ms. Lancaster…” the camera pushed past a stunned Jeremy to follow Gwen and the stranger down the aisle. “Do you want Jeremy to give you another chance? Do you still love him?”

  “I can’t….” Gwen blubbered, looking guiltier than ever. “I haven’t… Mr. Denning and I, we …”

  “We are late,” Rob shoved the camera out of her face with a strong hand and warning glance to the camera man.

  “Are you the new man in her life?” the newshound tried a different angle as the camera man stepped back a few paces before he focused on Rob’s face.

  “I am Ms. Lancaster’s bodyguard, employed to keep her safe. Are you threatening my employer’s well-being?” Rob lunged towards the reporter who had enough sense of his own well-being to step back while rapidly shaking his head. “Your questions are aimed at the wrong people. Shouldn’t you be asking why an obviously gay man is hanging around with a woman with false breasts who gets paid to take her clothes off in public?” He grabbed Gwen’s arm, and steered her away from the crowd which had assembled as the news team gathered their thoughts at the possibility of a better story for the late night news.

  “Melissa’s a stripper?” Gwen gasped once they reached the safety of the limo. Rob guided her back through the throng of admirers and fans without missing a step. Once or twice she’d thought he might have picked her up in his arms when the crowd had seemed impenetrable but no one seemed willing to tangle with the determined man, and in no time, they were sitting in the car, speeding away from the theatre.

  “I have no idea.” Rob leaned in to whisper to the driver before he turned back to answer Gwen’s question.

  “But you said…”

  “I don’t know if Melissa is paid to get her gear off in public, but it got those guys off our backs, didn’t it?”

  Gwen would have laughed but she was stunned by the change in the formerly gentle Jeremy. She knew he had a spiteful side to his nature, but usually he was witty with it and never trained it on her. Surely the arrival of Denning hadn’t been enough to cause this change of character? Although the unexpected appearance of the dreadful Melissa could explain some of the terrible misunderstanding.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as she noticed they weren’t heading toward her house.

  “My place.” Rob stared out of the window, not wanting to see the refusal in her eyes. “I want you to feel safe.”

  “Again?” Gwen asked, although the prospect of spending a little time in his warm home wasn’t unappealing. She felt safe there, and in his company. What would she do when he left on Monday?

  “I think Doro wants to meet you, do you mind? She feels terrible about the misunderstanding and she made you a cake to apologize. She wanted to bring it over this afternoon but I explained that you were busy.” Rob waited for the knockback but her silence caused his head to turn.

  “She wants to meet me?” Gwen seemed a little surprised that anyone would want to meet her and that they had gone to the trouble to bake a cake.

  “She’s a very good cook and we’ll be in her part of the house. You won’t have to be alone with me.”

  “Well, we’re halfway there already and it would be rude to refuse, wouldn’t it?”

  “Very rude,” Rob agreed, his head nodding solemnly.

  “I like cake,” Gwen admitted, although that was a little white lie. She loved cake. It was her most favorite food in the world, although she rationed herself knowing she’d be the size of a house if she allowed herself the amount of cake she craved.

  “I believe it’s a coffee cake,” Rob teased, watching the range of emotions dancing across Gwen’s face. Who knew the ice queen could become so animated over cake?

  “I love coffee cake, it’s my fave, but it’s getting late...” She left the question in the air. Was ten o’clock too late to be calling on a woman she didn’t know?

  “Doro’s a bit of a night owl. She rarely goes to bed before midnight. It’s all those years running the restaurant; she couldn’t change now if she tried.” Rob shifted in the seat as the limo pulled up outside his house.

  “I’ll wait here,” the driver said as he opened the door. “I’ve got my newspaper to read and you’re paid up until midnight.”

  “Thanks,” Rob said, as he followed Gwen out of the car. Having an escape vehicle in case she needed it would make her feel more at ease.

  “Why don’t you ask her?” The driver leaned in close as Rob passed. “You make a lovely couple if you don’t mind me saying, and she’s obviously totally smitten with you. It’s the way she looks at you.”

  “It’s not that sort of relationship.” Rob tried to explain, his eyes straying to Gwen’s curious face as she stopped to wonder why Rob wasn’t right behind her. It was his house, was she meant to ring the bell? “She’s my boss.”

  “Lucky man. If I had a boss who looked that good…” the driver’s words faded into a hearty chuckle as Rob caught up with Gwen.

  “What was he saying?” Gwen asked as Rob opened the thick wooden door.

  “He thought we made a good couple,” Rob explained before he led the way into the house which was lit up as though they were expected. “She doesn’t know we’re coming for sure because I didn’t know how long we’d be at the theatre.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Gwen paused at his side as he placed his keys on the ornate wooden table by the front door.

  “Roberto, is that you? Did you bring her?” Doro’s warm voice filtered down the passageway followed by the sound of soft slippers on a wooden floor.

  “Yes, darling, it’s us,” he called back, taking hold of Gwen’s arm to guide her down the passage. “She doesn’t know about the condoms. I told her I’d removed them before you saw them.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.” Gwen couldn’t help but smile. This man was a constant surprise and she liked the caring side he demonstrated. She was eager to meet the woman who drew such warmth from his voice.

  Chapter Ten

  Gwen stepped into a pretty sitting room with two large brown leather sofas and a scuffed wooden coffee table set in front of them. A short woman with dark dancing eyes and a mass of white hair pulled into a bun at th
e back of her head waited inside, a quick smile on her lips for Rob before settling her gaze on Gwen.

  “Oh, you’re a pretty thing,” Doro gushed in a rich, accented voice, as she took Gwen by the hand and led her to one of the sofas. “Isn’t she a pretty thing, Roberto?”

  “Yes darling, she’s very pretty.” Rob followed the two women into the room, before he gathered his aunt into his embrace and kissed her on the cheek. “Now, you behave,” he teased in a low voice to Doro’s knowing look. He never could hide his feelings from this astute woman.

  “You must go make our guest some of your wonderful coffee and bring my cake…it’s in the refrigerator.” Doro’s hand on his chest pushed him away toward the kitchen before she turned back to smile at Gwen. “Come, sit and tell me all about you.”

  Gwen glanced at Rob’s disappearing back before she followed the smaller woman to one of the sofas.

  “I’ve read some of your books,” Doro leaned in close to whisper. “They are a little rude. Don’t tell my nephew, he’ll think me very wicked.”

  Gwen laughed unexpectedly. She hadn’t expected to find a fan in Denning’s aunt.

  “Oh, he’ll think you very wicked,” she whispered back. “Did you like them?”

  “I liked the pirate one the best,” Doro confessed. “Was he based on my Roberto?”

  “No, I didn’t know him then, but I can see the resemblance now you mention it.” Gwen smiled, feeling as much at ease with this woman as she did with Denning. What was it about these people?

  “He likes you, I can always tell.” Doro grinned wickedly. “He’s never brought a lady friend home before.”

  “I’m not his girlfriend,” Gwen said as though saddened by the thought. It was a nice thought, he was definitely partner material.

  “Oh, he likes you,” Doro repeated. “And I can see you like him. I could see it your eyes as you watched him go into the kitchen. Why don’t you tell him?”

  “Yes, I like him but not in that way. I barely know him. He works for me.” Gwen tried to think of every excuse for why she and Denning were together, but the more she said, the less she believed it.

  “I know about that other one, the one with the false boobies.” Doro held her hands out in front of her chest and jiggled them a little. “She wasn’t right for my bambino.”

  “Melissa? You’ve met her?”

  “I saw them from a distance one evening on my way home from my friend’s house. Roberto didn’t see me and I never told him, but she wasn’t what I wanted for him. He is a son to me and I long to see him marry a good woman and become a father.”

  “Yes, I think he’ll make a wonderful father.” Why was she agreeing? She barely knew the man.

  “He will make wonderful children.” Doro leaned forward to take Gwen’s hands in hers. “My Roberto is a good man. He will look after you.”

  “Doro, are you matchmaking again?” Rob set a tray of cups and slices of a rich coffee cake on rose patterned plates on the table in front of them. “My apologies, she’s always doing it.”

  “I am not,” Doro protested with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “You tried to palm me off with Francesca’s niece twice, and in front of her fiancé,” Rob laughed. “And then there was that woman you’d met on the bus and said she’d be perfect for me.”

  “She was a lovely woman,” Doro giggled like a young girl, her shoulders shaking. Gwen couldn’t stop herself joining in. Did Rob know what a treasure he had in this woman? From his mock angry stare, she could read the love he held for this woman and her chest filled with longing. This is what family should be like.

  “She was perfect for you. You just have no taste.” A man laughed from the doorway. Gwen turned to watch him and a young woman enter the room, their eyes lit with the possibility of a joke on Roberto. Both were dark-headed like Denning; they had to be family.

  “She was thirty years older than me,” Rob drew the young woman into his embrace as he held out a hand to the young man who’d spoken.

  “Like I said, perfect. You’re such an old man.”

  “Gwen, this is Bonnie and her smart aleck brother, Romeo.” Rob led the younger woman to the chair next to Gwen.

  “This is Gwen?” Bonnie grinned quite naughtily. “Well. This is a first.”

  “Roberto’s got himself a girlfriend and a pretty one too.” Romeo flashed the same smile as his sister.

  “Thank you, but I’m not his girlfriend,” Gwen protested but no one listened.

  “Gwen is my boss,” Rob corrected them but they didn’t listen to him either.

  “Where is it then?” Romeo peered around the edge of the sofa, his dark eyes lit with mischief.

  “Where is what?” Gwen asked, noting the look of exasperation on Rob’s face.

  “He’s looking for your guide dog,” he explained, with a resigned smile as everyone else burst into laughter. Yes, Gwen decided this is what family should be and she sighed a little at the thought of what she’d missed when her parents died.

  “There is no guide dog,” Gwen said soberly, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “I have a white stick.”

  “Oooh, I like her,” Romeo laughed loud and true. He held his hand up and Gwen met it in a high five.

  “You’re meant to be on my side,” Rob growled although his smile hadn’t faded.

  “I don’t have to be on your side; I’m not your girlfriend,” Gwen retorted, enjoying herself thoroughly until a loud rumble and a crazy flash of black fur pinned her up against the back of the leather sofa. A wet tongue and a madly waggling tail informed her of Sasha’s arrival. Two large paws sat on her shoulders as the huge dark dog made her presence known.

  “No, Sasha, get down!” Rob moved forward, his hands reaching for the dog’s collar. “Romeo, what have I told you? She’s not allowed in here.”

  “Aaaaw, she’s lovely,” Gwen giggled underneath the mass of black fur. She’d always wanted a dog, but her lifestyle didn’t allow for one. She grabbed hold of the dog’s long black fur and hugged her tightly, thoroughly enjoying the dog’s manic attention.

  “Gwen… your dress,” Rob warned but Gwen didn’t listen. Yes, this was definitely what she wanted from a loving family life.

  “It’s my dress,” Gwen snapped but her temper didn’t last long as she held onto the excited dog.

  “She’s just a puppy,” Rob pulled the dog backwards and grimaced at the mucky paw prints all over Gwen’s pretty pink gown. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

  “She’s just a puppy?” Gwen laughed, brushing her mussed up hair from her face, her cheeks flushed and bright. “You mean she’s going to get bigger?”

  “By the amount she eats, she’s going to be an elephant,” Romeo laughed as he sat on the arm of his sister’s chair.

  “She’s not very good at listening to instructions yet,” Bonnie said, her pretty face full of a smile. “But it’s fun watching Rob trying to deal with her.”

  “He expects everyone to obey him immediately—especially females,” Romeo continued, his eyes on Roberto who manhandled the dog out of the room.

  “Unfortunately, Sasha doesn’t know she’s meant to obey him. It’s hilarious. Rob gets all grouchy and loud and the dog still runs rings around him,” Bonnie said, joining in on her brother’s humor. “Oh, look at your lovely dress. It’s ruined.”

  Gwen peered down, noticing the muddy stains for the first time, but she didn’t care. It was only a dress and she had enough money for more.

  “I’ll buy you another one,” Rob stood in the doorway, his eyes meeting hers, his expression solemn.

  “I told you, it’s just a dress,” she reminded in a cold tone since she’d never needed any man to buy her anything.

  “Let my Roberto buy you a pretty dress,” Doro interrupted Rob’s next words.

 
“No, it’s fine,” Gwen stood, suddenly feeling awkward under their gazes. It was time to go. “It’s been lovely meeting you all but I have to be up early in the morning.”

  “But you haven’t tried my cake...” Doro said but stopped as she read the distress in Gwen’s blue eyes. Rob followed Gwen to the door as Doro approached her.

  “My Roberto is a good man,” she whispered, gathering Gwen into her arms. “Tell him what frightens you so much and he will make it go away.”

  “What frightens me?” Gwen gasped. Was she that obvious? “There’s nothing frightening me. I’m fine.” She glanced quickly at Rob’s face, but his attention was on his two cousins, and thankfully, he hadn’t heard his aunt’s words.

  “Come back soon,” Bonnie called out as Gwen made her way to the front door and the car that waited outside.

  “I’m sorry about the dog. Romeo was meant to leave her in the garden,” Rob apologized once they were seated back in the limo.

  “Stop apologizing, I said it was just a bloody dress. I have others.”

  “It’s a lovely dress. You look beautiful in it.”

  The tone of his voice made Gwen turn to look into his face. He was sincere; she could see that by the light of the streetlights as they travelled down the road.

  “I have lots of lovely dresses,” she told him, noting the warmth which crossed his face but feeling a little uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “I’ve always wanted a dog.” Why did she tell him that?

  “Romeo brought her home a few months ago. He’d won her in a card game. Doro took to her straight away, and I didn’t have the heart to take her away again, but she’s a handful and they all spoil her. She needs discipline.”

  Gwen laughed, remembering Bonnie’s words. Had she met the one female who put the arrogant Mr. Denning in his place?

  “She was great,” Gwen enthused.

  “I thought she’d make a good guard dog when I’m away. She sleeps on a chair in Doro’s room. Although she’d lick any intruders to death, I feel better knowing she’s there.” Rob’s chuckle was soft and warm, and something deep within Gwen melted. She liked his deep voice, enjoyed his sense of humor and envied him his family. How could one man she barely knew conjured up so many conflicting emotions with her? She would have to think more on it when she was alone.