Elle agreed with a nod of her head, not being able to find the words to express what had happened. She lingered a moment before leaning forward and resting her head on his chest with a smile. His fingers ran lazily up and down her spine as they sat quietly together in the courtyard trying to regain their breaths.
“I think the time has come to truly bare all.” He reached up to his mask at the same time a loud ringing broke the tranquility of the courtyard.
CHAPTER SIX
“Oh my gosh . . . what time is it?” Elle scrambled off his naked body and grabbed her purse.
“I don’t know. It’s probably a couple hours past midnight. How about breakfast after this party breaks up?” Elle was too busy fumbling for her phone to answer.
“Hello?” she spoke into the phone.
“Elle, are you all right? Did something happen?” she heard Finn asking.
“I’m fine, why? What time is it?” she asked, looking around for her clothes.
“It’s ten minutes until two. You're twenty minutes late and you’re going to miss your conference call with the Swiss bankers if you don’t get your butt out here right now.”
“Oh no, I’ll be there in just a second.” Elle hung up the phone and tossed it on the bench as she tugged on her dress. She reached behind to grab the zipper. “Can you get this?” She lifted her hair and turned her back to her naked dream. Reality had just called and shattered her fantasy.
“I guess that means no to breakfast?” he asked with good humor as he fastened the top of her dress.
She shoved her breasts back into place and slipped her feet back into her heels. “Sorry. The real world called and I’m needed.” She leaned down and took one last kiss. She hated to leave but if she didn’t run out and leave him right this instant, she was going to blow a huge deal. With regret, she turned and ran back into the gallery as fast as she could.
Elle raced down the corridor and over the dance floor. People stared at her, but she didn’t care. She pushed the heavy glass door open and rushed onto the sidewalk. She looked around wildly for Finn. She heard a sharp whistle and turned to see him half a block down the street. She picked up her dress and ran.
“Come on. It’s almost two. Haul ass, boss,” Finn yelled as he held the door open for her.
“Get the car started,” she shouted back between alternately gasping for air and cursing her high heels.
Finn nodded, jumped into the driver’s seat, and started the car just as she leaped into the backseat and slammed the door closed. Tires squealed, horns honked, and the big limo shot out into the street tossing her around on the seat.
“Looks like someone had a good night,” Finn teased from the front seat.
Elle flushed. Could he tell she’d just had the most mind-blowing sex ever with the man of her dreams? “What do you mean?” she tried to ask innocently.
Finn laughed as he took a corner so fast that it sent her sailing to the other side of the limo. “Only that your hair is a mess and your shoes are on the wrong feet.”
Elle looked down at her feet. This was so much more embarrassing than being caught with her bunny slippers on.
Drake sat stunned. The woman of his dreams had just disappeared into the night. He panicked and nearly chased after her until he remembered his nakedness. Damn, he didn’t even get her name. She had to be an on-call doctor the way she ran off. He had to find her before she left.
Drake shot to his feet and tugged on his pants. He slipped on his shoes, not even bothering with his socks. Instead he stuffed them into his pocket and went to work on his shirt. Getting it halfway buttoned was good enough, he thought, slinging on his jacket. He looked around to grab his bow tie and saw the small black phone sitting next to it on the bench. She’d left her phone.
He grabbed it and hurried through the thinning crowds as people made their way to their cars. Lines of limousines stretched down the street. But it was the one half a block away with the squealing tires that made his heart plummet. He’d lost her. He looked at the phone in his hand. It was the only lead to find the woman of his dreams.
* * *
Drake sat in his office and stared at the phone. He tried turning it on, but the battery was almost dead and it was password protected. Good thing he happened to have a lot of phones around. He went into the lab and found the right charger. He plugged it in and started trying to guess her password.
“Dammit.” The most common passwords didn’t work. He shouldn’t be surprised. There was nothing common about this woman. He found a USB cord and connected the phone to his computer. It was time to get serious. There was no way he was going to lose this woman. He would find her no matter how long it took.
Elle gave Finn a quick kiss on his cheek and wished him a merry Christmas before punching the elevator button in the secure parking garage below her building. She looked in her purse for her phone to check the time and froze. No phone. The elevator dinged and she hopped in, pressing the top floor.
She had to have left it in the courtyard. She’d have to call security and have them check. Crap. That phone had her life in it. At least her brother had talked her into putting a state-of-the-art security system in it. She knew no one would be able to hack it. She would go pick it up later.
The doors to the elevator opened and she hurried through the dark hallway maze to her office. She flipped on the lights and glanced at the clock. She had two minutes. She kicked off her shoes, untied her mask, and slipped out of her dress. She then grabbed some tissues to wash the makeup from around her eyes. She applied some light brown and beige eye shadow as her computer hooked up to the videoconference.
She pulled a cream-colored blouse out of the closet and slipped it on. Her computer started beeping, indicating an incoming videoconference call. She grabbed a blazer and buttoned it up. Her bare bottom sat down in the leather chair by the third ring. Elle tucked her hair back and pressed accept.
“Grüezi mitenand,” she said in Swiss German as the bank’s board of directors appeared. The men looking back at her, all said hello as well, and they got to work.
* * *
Elle smiled and said goodbye to the group of bankers all heading home for Christmas. The three-hour conference call had wiped her out. Further, she struggled for the first time in her life to pay attention. She’d be listening to someone and the image of looking down at her masked-man’s face as she sat naked upon him took over her mind.
She wished she could kick herself as she slipped on her panties and a pair of jeans. She'd left the only man she’d had crazy chemistry with sitting naked on a bench. One thing she knew for sure—he wasn’t out for her money. Add to that the fact that she instantly trusted him, and the feeling of being in his arms made her decide with surety that she couldn't settle for one-night stands. She wanted the rest of her life filled with nights like that. The sadness that wrapped her like a blanket tightened. She’d met the one and she’d never see him again.
With tears trickling down her face, she wrapped up the Swiss bank deal, made her way to her car, and drove forty-five minutes to her mother’s house.
Drake cursed and sat back in his chair. Who was this woman? She had top-of-the-line security on her phone that most people didn’t even know about. How did he know that? He’d invented the damn thing. The good news was he could hack it. The bad news, it was going to take a while and he didn’t have the time now. He was due at Children’s Hospital to hand out presents. His perfect woman’s identity had to wait a bit longer.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Elle slammed the reindeer cookie cutter down and viciously yanked the extra dough from around it. Her mother, brother, and sisters all stopped to stared at her.
“Whoa. Put the reindeer down gently and step away from Santa,” her brother said in mock seriousness.
“I thought it would get better after she took that long nap this morning, but she’s been this way all afternoon,” her mother told her siblings, as if Elle wasn’t standing right in the middle of them.
>
“What’s up, Elle? Did the business deal with the Swiss not go well?” Bree asked, sprinkling a cookie.
“It was fine. The papers are all signed and express-mailed to the government agencies. The deal closed without a hitch,” Elle told them as she stabbed the reindeer back into the dough.
“Did something happen at the dance then? Oh no,” Allegra cried, “please, tell me that horrid man from that financial service company didn’t find you. You know, the one we had thought about buying out?” Allegra turned to their mother. “He’s been sending her flowers at the office.”
“We have to remember how blessed we are. Although, I do wish you all had been of an age to be married before we became so blessed. I worry all the time about my babies being taken advantage of,” her mother said worriedly as she poured some more flour into the mixer.
“I wouldn’t mind being taken advantage of,” Reid joked as he wiggled his eyebrows.
“I especially mean you, young man," their mother said without looking up from the mixer.
Elle grinned. Her brother was thirty-five, but her mother still talked to him as if he were thirteen.
“I want grandbabies, but not by some woman who tricked you into it. I just wish you all could find the true love that your father and I shared. You need to slow down, stop working so much, and get out there to enjoy life. Take risks, fall in love, get married, and give me grandbabies.”
Elle and her sisters rolled their eyes while Reid looked distinctively pale at the idea of settling down. But, for as much as Elle laughed with her sisters, she had found what her mother wished for. She took a risk last night and had fallen in love. She stabbed the reindeer again. But she’d messed it all up. She didn’t find out who he was and now her happily-ever-after would never come true.
“Did you get a chance to meet Drake Charles last night? He’s such a wonderful man. So compassionate,” her mother told them.
“Drake and Margaret sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S—” Allegra began to sing before their mother, Margaret, hit her in the face with a well-aimed splash of flour.
“Oh, please,” her mother laughed as Allegra wiped the flour off.
“See. Mom has a crush on the elusive Mr. Charles,” Allegra teased.
“You’d have a crush, too, if you met him. He’s the type of man you should be looking for,” she informed her daughters.
“I’m not going to marry some old, reclusive man, Mom. Sorry,” Elle complained as she handed the reindeer to her brother who put it on a cookie sheet.
“He’s not a recluse. He leaves his house all the time. He owns that big building on the same street as your offices. You know the one, just two blocks down. He goes to work there every day. Once a week he stops by the hospital to read to the kids. And once a month he brings them a toy or a book. Just because he avoids extra attention doesn’t mean he’s a recluse,” her mom said passionately.
But it didn’t matter to Elle. Dating anyone right now put a bad taste in her mouth. There was only man she wanted in her life and kooky Drake Charles was not him.
Drake knocked on the hospital door decorated with princess stickers. Entering the room, he handed his last wrapped package to the little girl inside. Her parents sat smiling beside her bed while they held hands.
Mary was just ten years old and fighting cancer. She’s lost her hair, but refused a wig. She was determined to beat it and she was showing positive signs so far.
“Merry Christmas, Mary. Hi, Dina. Grant.” He nodded to her parents and placed the box on Mary’s bed. “I don’t know, Mary. I’ve been hearing how you’ve been sneaking into the nurses’ lounge at night and eating ice cream. You might be moved to the naughty list.”
The little girl grinned, not looking guilty at all. “Well, they said to take it one day at a time. I’m just choosing to take it one ice cream at a time. If you don’t go after what you really want, there’s no guarantee you’ll be around to get it tomorrow.”
Truer words had never been spoken. And the only want he could think of was the woman from last night. He didn’t care if it involved hacking a phone or hunting her down by any other means. He was going to find her. “How old are you again? I might need to take this back and get you a briefcase so you can take over the world.”
“I’m ready, but my body isn’t yet. It will be soon, though.” She smiled and her rounded face lit up. Drake raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“We got the latest tests back. She’s in remission,” Dina said with tears of joy welling in her eyes.
“I get to go home in a couple weeks. Isn’t that fantastic? I haven’t been home in three months,” Mary said excitedly.
“Oh that’s fantastic.” Drake gave the girl a hug and shook her parents’ hands. When Mary had been admitted three months ago, the outlook for remission was bleak and Mary had been given a short time to live. Grant’s brother was a match for a bone marrow transplant, and after two rounds of chemo and radiation, Mary had undergone the procedure. So far, she was now producing healthy cells.
“Here. Open your Christmas gift. Although it seems Santa already gave you something even better this year.”
Mary tore open her gift with glee and placed the big ribbon on Drake’s head. She opened the box and pulled out a beautiful princess doll. Inside were matching pajamas, dresses, and tiaras for the doll and Mary.
“This is so cool! Thanks, Drake.” Mary put on the tiara and hugged her doll.
“Now, when you go home, you’re not going to forget me, are you? Remember I have a college scholarship with your name on it.” There was no doubt Mary was going to change the world.
“Mr. Charles, you’ve done so much for us. We’ll never forget you.” Dina hugged him and he felt almost complete. He was just missing the redhead by his side to share this moment. Maybe she was even somewhere in the hospital now.
“Keep me updated. You all have my personal email. I want lots of pictures.”
“You got it,” Grant said as he shook Drake’s hand.
“Merry Christmas.” Drake smiled as he saw Dina take a seat on the bed to ooh and ahh over the doll.
Now Drake had a mission. He looked around the hall and saw only a few nurses. They must be celebrating the holiday in the nurses’ station. He made his way down the hall and into the back room where they were eating the desserts he’d brought.
“Caught y’all red-handed,” Drake teased the six nurses taking their break.
“Mmm, these are delicious. You spoil us, Drake.”
“I did it to butter y’all up. I need two things. First, does anyone know how much Mary’s bill is? I know her mother works at a coffee shop and her father is in construction. They can’t have that much money.”
A nurse went to the computer and pulled it up. “Looks like they have insurance, but there’s some things that aren’t covered. It’ll be close to twenty thousand by the time she leaves. You want to do the regular?”
“Yes. Just send me the bill.” When Drake knew families were strapped for cash, he silently paid the bill while the families were left wondering why their accounts showed a zero balance. “Now, the second thing I need is to find the owner of this cell phone. A lady dropped it at the gala last night. She’s about five feet, six inches with red hair and green eyes. She’s probably in her late twenties, early thirties. She told me her mother volunteers here and I think she might be a doctor.”
“That would make her mother in her fifties or sixties,” one of the nurses mumbled as Drake could see her thinking of all the volunteers.
“Unfortunately for you, that’s the age range with the most volunteers. But I don’t know of any redheaded women doctors that age here. Do you, Stella?”
“No. I sure don’t. The only redhead on staff is a man. So, I think it’s safe to say she’s not a doctor here. And you’re sure her mother volunteers here?” Nurse Stella asked.
“Positive.” Drake nodded.
“Does she have any brothers or sisters? Does she have kids or is she an aunt?”
“Yes, she mentioned having sisters and maybe a brother. But she didn’t say anything about kids,” Drake told them.
One of the nurses in the back of the room snapped, “I know who it is. It has to be Margaret Simpson. She’s here at least three times a week. She’s one of our best volunteers and she’s always joking about having to come here to make up for the fact she doesn’t have any grandchildren of her own. She treats everyone here as if they were hers. The kids love her. You know her.”
Drake tried to remember all the volunteers, but there were so many.
“That’s right. And while her hair is kind of blonde now, there are streaks of red in it. Goes by the nickname Retty,” another nurse put in.
“Oh, I know who you’re talking about. Thank you so much. You’ve been a big help,” Drake said as he prepared to leave. How many Margaret Simpsons were in the Atlanta area?
“I’m surprised you don’t know her oldest daughter, Elle,” a nurse in the back of the room said.
That had him stopping in his tracks. Elle—that name struck a chord for him. "Elle? Why would I know her? Is she a doctor here?”
“No. She’s in big business like you. She’s the CEO of Simpson Global. I guess you could have meant one of her sisters, Bree or Allegra. But I think Elle’s the one with the pure red hair. Her sisters are more strawberry blonde. Elle’s a big supporter of Children’s Hospital too. She’s the one who paid for the new MRI machine.”
Drake stood rooted to the ground. Elle Simpson—business’s most powerful woman and the woman on this month’s Business Weekly magazine. He couldn’t believe it. Although now that he thought about it, Phillip had said she was a fox when he placed the magazine on Drake’s desk a couple weeks ago. Her red hair had been pulled back and she’d been in a suit and had on minimal makeup: the standard executive getup. Strip that away and shake out her hair—yeah, he could see it, but there was no way she could be the owner of the phone. The owner of the phone was hot and passionate, not cold and ruthless as he’d heard Elle described. He’d just have to keep looking.
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