Hot, Sexy & Bad

by Angelo, Judy, et al.

  ***

  Shadonna Richards’s The Belmont Christmas Bride (The Bride Series)

  Olivia McAlister is getting married in the morning on Christmas Day. Her three hundred guests are booked into the hotel and family members from out of the country have arrived—too bad her groom just called off the wedding.

  In steps the hot, sexy and mysterious general manager of the hotel, Dane Romano. He’s not a marrying man but he sure as hell doesn’t want this pretty young thing’s day to be a total loss. Will he come to her rescue?

  'Tis the Season…for romantic miracles!

  Table of Contents for The Belmont Christmas Bride

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Sometimes in life, not getting what you want is a blessing in disguise.”

  –Dalai Lama

  Olivia McAlister was having the worst. Day. Ever!

  She sat in a daze at the historic Belmont Hotel suite the night before her wedding with the phone pressed to her ear.

  “What do you mean you’re backing out?” Olivia felt the breath being squeezed out of her lungs. Her heart hammered hard and fast in her chest. She needed air, like yesterday.

  A sigh over the phone was all she could hear.

  “Jack? I’m talking to you! What do you mean you’re backing out of our wedding? You mean you want us to elope instead?”

  “Listen, Olivia. That’s just it. You never know what I want. Hell, I don’t know what I want sometimes. I just—”

  “Just what, Jack?”

  “Listen, I’m backing out of the wedding and…and…that’s it. I’m sorry.”

  “Jack, don’t do this. Why are you doing this?”

  Silence on the other end of the phone line.

  “This is how you treat somebody you love? Someone who has always been there for you?” she continued, her voice trembling. “I supported you through law school and now that you’ve graduated you don’t want me anymore? This is our wedding you’re talking about. Not some…stock option in a defunct enterprise.”

  “Look, Olivia, weddings…I mean, marriages are investments. Emotional investments. I’m just not ready yet. It’s not a matter of cold feet. I just passed the bar exam and I haven’t really had a chance to explore life yet.”

  “What? You seemed okay with us together when you couldn’t pass your elective courses. Who did all your research for you? I did.”

  “Listen, I’ll pay you for all the work you did for me. I really appreciate all you’ve done for me, Olivia.”

  Olivia bit down on her lip. She fought hard to stifle the tears. Appreciation? Some appreciation.

  “Fine. You know what? Good bye, Jack.”

  “Olivia! Wait. I don’t want us to end like this. I know how you feel—”

  “You don’t know…Jack!”

  “Now that’s not fair.”

  “No. This is not fair. Have a nice life.” Click. Olivia had to hang up the phone before she exploded into a river of tears. She was not going to give him that satisfaction. She might not have him any longer but she was going to hold on to that one thing a woman should always have—her self-respect.

  After Olivia hung up she hung her head down in her hands. She was hyperventilating. She had to get air. Her lungs burned. She quickly moved over to the bar in the hotel room and grabbed one of the paper bags on the countertop. She unfolded it and pressed the opening against her mouth and nose and began to take deep breaths. Exhale all the crap that was on her mind right now and inhale all the confidence and strength she could.

  Jack was gone. Out of her life.

  He was calling off their wedding? Now? At the last minute?

  Olivia's limbs were numb and felt limp like cooked spaghetti. Her brain was so fried that she could not process anything.

  She was crushed. Devastated. Numbed with shock.

  What was she going to do?

  This was all so surreal. A nightmare. A horrific nightmare before Christmas Day. Her wedding day!

  Her body trembled.

  Jack was leaving her—now?

  He was jilting her the night before their wedding?

  This must have been a dream. A hallucination. This was not happening. It could not be happening.

  She’d thought of her grandmother’s advice to her when she had trouble in her past. If life gives you lemons…you sweeten them to make lemonade. Right now she couldn’t imagine anything that could sweeten this bitterness she felt inside her heart.

  Jack was gone!

  It’s over?

  It’s over!

  How could he do this to her?

  How could he dump her like this after all they’d been through together? It was true then what her grandmother had always told her: “It’s better to be rejected than used. They both amount to the same thing in the end but being used takes longer.”

  Heck, she wished she could do something to bring her out of this hole right now.

  Three hundred guests!

  Three hundred guests will be showing up tomorrow morning at the chapel…and Olivia was groom-less.

  This was the ultimate disgrace.

  Olivia gasped when she looked over at the bedside table—a card signed by the women at the Survivors Camp sat atop it. She had lost her own mother to breast cancer just two Christmases earlier and had successfully undergone a biopsy removal of a lump in her own breast. Thankfully it was benign and she was cancer-free. But what about the women who were so happy for her that she’d finally found love? She reached over to the table and picked up the pretty red card with floral designs and scanned all the precious signatures within it.

  “To the Belmont Christmas Bride. Best wishes on your special day.”

  Some of the women had relapsed and wouldn’t be able to attend, but there was talk about her getting married at the famous Belmont Hotel in Toronto on Christmas Day. Olivia cherished the moniker they’d given her. The Belmont Christmas Bride. Too bad she would never live up to that name. She was more like the Belmont Disgraced Bride.

  She would be the laughing stock of the entire town. The staff even greeted her as the Belmont Christmas Bride when she had arrived with her sister, Bria, at the check-in counter. “Oh, you’re the Belmont Christmas Bride this year,” they’d welcomed her with a warm smile. “Every year we have one lucky bride who gets married in our famous ballroom. Congratulations, ma’am.”

  “Thank you,” she had gushed earlier that day. Bria beamed with excitement. Finally, they would have wonderful memories for Christmas Day even if Mom couldn’t be there physically.

  The truth was, a bride could not afford to host her wedding there. It was such an exclusive hotel and the price tag would make the royal wedding look more cost effective. It was more of a donation from the management team at the hotel to give away an affordable wedding package to one lucky couple and Olivia and Jack were supposed to be that one lucky couple this year.

  Instead, that was not going to happen now, was it?

  Olivia was there at the hotel alone while Jack was on the other side of town at some Caribbean restaurant, probably with his mistress, eating his favorite dish, Jerk Chicken. Well—it’s true, you are what you eat, she thought to herself bitterly.

  The phone rang again.

  She spun her head around to the noise as if it was a horribly shrill alarm. This was the third time he was calling her. She really didn’t want this. Not now.

  Olivia intended to ignore it but she sucked in a deep breath and walked over to the phone, her heart still revving over the limit. She was sure her blood pressure must be through the roof.

  She picked up the phone. “Jack, you are one crazy, inconsiderate jerk! I don’t want to speak with you again. I don’t want to see you again. And—”

  “Whoa! I think you’ve got the wrong guy, miss,” a smooth, deep voice that sent tingles down her spine sounded over the phone instead. It wasn�
��t Jack. Oh, God! This was more than embarrassing. Now someone else knew that Jack and she were no longer an item.

  Could this day get any worse?

  “Um…sorry, who…who is this?” Heat rushed to her face and slithered down her neck. Shit! This was humiliating.

  Damn, Jack!

  “Dane. I was told you needed some assistance. Is everything okay?” His silky, deep voice lulled her into a relaxed mood. His voice carried a deep sensual feeling that sent ripples through her. Dane? Oh, God. Was she that loud when she’d argued with Jack over the phone? Had one of the other guests complained about the noise coming from her suite?

  “Um. I…um. Well, no…um. Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” He was told that she needed assistance?

  Olivia lifted up her head and turned her gaze towards the adjoining door in her suite. Great! The hotel guests in the adjoining room could probably hear her sobbing and arguing with Jack. And since the sound insulation between adjoining rooms tends to be minimal, it should come as no surprise that they’d made a phone call to the front desk. Maybe they were in the middle of a romantic rendezvous and her screams over the phone disrupted the moment. Or perhaps they were genuinely concerned about her and thought she was having a serious fight with someone in her suite.

  “I’ll send someone up right away.” Dane's mellow baritone voice was edged with control and authority. He didn’t wait for her to answer. Her hesitance may have sparked an alarm. For all he knew, she could be a held against her will in her own room. He sounded like a man not to be reckoned with.

  After Olivia replaced the phone on the receiver, she bit down on her lip and hugged herself. Her heart was pounding hard and fast like that of a galloping horse on a racetrack. What was with her? She really didn’t want anyone to see her like this. Not now. Especially not a man with a rich, sexually charged baritone voice that made her tingle in places that ought not be tingling. Her mascara was probably running down her face after her teary conversation with Jack. She got up and paced in front of the fireplace in the suite, wringing her hands. What was with her?

  Great! She was going to be humiliated in front of hundreds of her friends she hadn’t seen in years as well as her family. Her heart wasn’t broken, it was shattered in a million tiny pieces. Her eyes drifted to the dark sky outside and the blowing snowflakes falling against it. It should have been the most romantic evening of her life. Christmas Eve. But it wasn’t. Tomorrow was supposed to be her Winter Wonderland themed wedding in the ballroom of the hotel. All the decorations were in place. Hotel staff had congratulated her earlier.

  Everybody was so festive at the hotel. But not Olivia. She was the jilted bride. Left out in the cold. Her Winter Wonderland was nothing more than a frigid nightmare. Icy fear twisted around her heart. She felt numb with shock. She felt like a fool. Like a walking disaster in stilettos.

  Moments later, a knock at the door distracted her thoughts.

  Olivia glanced in the mirror over the dresser to make sure she didn’t look as bad as she felt. She dabbed her swollen eyes and removed some of the mascara that had run down her cheek after her river of tears. The last thing she needed was to be the guest of honor at her own pity party.

  “Just a minute,” she called out, her voice quivering. She had to get a hold of herself. She had to regain her composure.

  When she opened the door, her jaw dropped.

  Standing in front of her was a sex god. The most delicious tall, dark and sexy man she’d ever laid her large, brown eyes on—and he was wearing a tailored dark grey suit that accentuated what appeared to be a fit, athletic build. Stop drooling, Olivia!

  She couldn’t help but looking up to him, as his head almost reached the top of the door frame. How tall was he? Six-foot-five?

  “Hi. Is everything okay?” His smooth, deep voice sent shivers down her spine again.

  “Um…yes…”

  “I’m Dane Romano, from management. I called.”

  “And…I’m…” speechless.

  Damn it, Olivia. He’s just a man. A fellow human being. Hello? Where are your thoughts?

  Olivia had almost forgotten who she was for a split second. Okay, that had never happened to her before. Ever! This wasn’t like her at all.

  “Um…I’m…Olivia,” she finally responded, almost breathless. Almost too breathless for her liking.

  “Yes. You’re Ms. Olivia McAlister, the Christmas Bride, right? You’ll be getting married in the morning?”

  Well, that killed the moment. No, she was no longer the Belmont Christmas Bride. She was the Belmont Jilted Bride.

  She cast her eyes down; suddenly her eyelids grew heavy and there was that pronounced palpitation thing going on inside her chest again.

  “May I come in?” he asked, almost as if he noticed her abrupt change in body language.

  “Sure,” she said, opening the door wider while trying to swallow the lump that lingered in her throat.

  Hmm. Well, her nostrils caught a whiff of his delicious cologne, which strangely enough had a calming effect on her. God, it was irresistible. It was as if for all her troubles that night, the universe had granted her a consolation prize of some sort. Only, Dane’s presence was more than a mere consolation. It was a little boost of goodness Olivia genuinely needed so that she wouldn’t feel as if her whole life was shot to hell right now. There was something about this man’s aura. Of course, he was probably taken. All the good ones were. A vaguely sensuous light seemed to pass between them. There was something in the air. What was it? Her hallucination after being dumped on the night before her wedding? Or a godsend: an angel in the disguise of the hottest guy she’d ever laid eyes on. And he was in her hotel suite. Hers!

  Olivia could feel the sexual magnetism Dane radiated.

  Mixed feelings surged through her. Her emotions seemed so out of control. Disquieting thoughts raced through her mind. What was going on inside her?

  Why hadn’t she ever felt this way with Jack? This was beyond absurd. What was this? Kismet? No. It couldn’t be. This man was obviously taken…and well, she was obviously betrothed to someone else…who happened to have dumped her moments ago over the phone.

  But oh, his dark piercing blue eyes framed by long beautiful lashes. His eyes were as blue as the ocean in summer and dangerously engaging. Mysterious. His olive, smooth complexion and his dark, chiseled high cheek bones and shiny cropped hair made it look like he stepped right off the cover of the latest edition of GQ to come to her rescue. He looked almost too good to be true.

  “I guess you’ve heard complaints about this room,” Olivia spoke softly. She didn’t know what else to say.

  Dane glanced around the room. What was he doing? Assessing the torn notes she’d left on the floor after she’d gotten off the phone with Jack? The clothes strewn about on the bed? The obvious signs of a woman distressed and scorned by her fiancé moments ago? Or perhaps he was simply making sure there was no one else in the room who could pose a threat to her. Yes, that must have been it!

  “We received a call from a concerned guest in the hotel,” he said discreetly, his sexy ocean-blue eyes drawn back to her.

  How thoughtful of him. He could have said, room xyz called and said some crazy woman was next door having an argument with her lover and obviously didn’t know what "quiet conversation" meant.

  Olivia guessed his controlled discretion was part of his managerial duties.

  Dane seemed to be peering at Olivia intently. So much so that she felt the heat of his gaze. Holy, moly! Why was this…stranger having this sort of effect on her?

  Unbelievable!

  Especially at a time like this.

  When Dane’s gaze met hers, Olivia's heart turned over in response. Okay, maybe it was her “just-jilted” nerves taking over. She could not—should not—read into it any more. She glanced down at his gold-plated name on his suit.

  It read: Dane Romano, General Manager—Belmont Hotel & Resort.

  Almost instinctively, her gaze dropped to his left hand. Ba
re. No rings. Not even a tan line or evidence of any wedding bands ever gracing his long, tanned slender fingers. His hands looked strong and capable, yet smooth. She wondered in her mind what they would feel like over her—

  Stop it, Olivia!

  Focus!

  “Wait a minute! You’re the general manager? What are you doing working here? At this time of night?”

  “I decided to stay late since it’s Christmas Eve. During the holiday season it can get pretty crazy around here so we all do our part to make sure things run smoothly. I’ll be heading out soon.”

  How selfless of him. Not too many highly ranked executives in an organization such as the Belmont Hotel & Resort would stay late on a holiday weekend. It was Christmas Eve and you would think that the GM of a luxury hotel such as this would be cozying up by the Christmas tree with his significant other, his two-point-four children, and maybe the family pet snuggling up by the fireplace. And not just any pet, but a dog. He seemed like a dog man. In a good way, of course. Olivia couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy for whoever was his significant other. He must have been involved in a relationship. Or, perhaps he was engaged.

  “Of course,” Olivia murmured thoughtfully. “That’s nice of you,” she whispered. Her eyes were stinging again. She and Jack had planned to have two-point-four children and a pet. Actually, Jack had protested over getting a pet. He said he was allergic to pet dander. Now that had all evaporated into the cold, frigid air. God, why was she feeling so cold and empty inside?

  No, not the tears again. She was not going to shed another tear for Jack. He simply wasn’t worth her tears. Not anymore.

  Dane could not believe the beauty before him. She looked so humble…yet so broken. He wasn’t usually the type of guy to butt in but he really wanted to know who caused this pretty little thing in front of him to have swollen, red-rimmed eyes. She was far too hot to be in pain.

  There was something about the gorgeous, young thing in front of him that turned him on. A surge of heat seared through him. He’d found her sweet fragrance intoxicating. She clearly looked shaken to the core.