“What?” she spat.
“You can’t—” His phone rang again, and he swore loudly. He swiped it on. “I said hang on,” he hissed into the phone. To Jules, he said, “Wait for me upstairs. I have to go now. You hear me? Wait for me.”
He sent her an intense look as he backed up down the hallway. She watched him as he turned and jogged away, her chest heaving like she’d run a marathon.
Wait for him. Fat chance of that. She scurried back through the lobby, darting between people and keeping her head down as she rushed toward the penthouse elevator. She didn’t dare look up, lest she see Mitch or his father anywhere. Cheers erupted from somewhere in the gala, and then the booming voice of Mitch’s father sounded over a microphone.
She shuddered, hurrying into the elevator. Her mind swirled with hurt and confusion the whole way up. When she got to the penthouse, she dismissed the babysitter and got to packing, tears streaming down her cheeks the entire time.
She needed to hurry, because Mitch would be back, and who knew what would happen then? She had to get out of here—had to get back on her own turf—so she could think for a second.
Jules packed as much as she could into her bags before calling for a driver. She instructed him to meet her at the front doors in ten minutes. Which meant the only remaining step was taking Noelle from the crib.
She hesitated, not wanting to wake the baby, but finally she scooped her into her arms. Noelle fussed a little, but Jules was able to rock her back to sleep. She struggled to pull the rolling luggage behind her, but she managed to get herself and Noelle onto the elevator without waking Noelle or tripping over her ballgown.
Jules stared back at the penthouse as the doors slid shut.
Goodbye, Mitch.
A tear rolled down her cheek. This was the right thing to do.
So why did it feel so much like the wrong decision?
* * *
Clapping filled the conference area, and hundreds of happy faces shone back at him.
Mitch waved and smiled for what felt like the hundredth time since his father’s big announcement.
It had happened. He was Denton Hotel’s newest CEO.
But his smile strained at the edges, and his stomach sank lower with each passing second that Jules was out of reach. He couldn’t bolt from the stage quite yet. But soon. Mitch’s dad slung his arm around his shoulders, turning toward another set of cameras.
“This is a dream come true,” Mitch said into the microphone once the applause had died down slightly. He’d already given a short speech, and the Christmas party still had plenty on the agenda. But Mitch only had one thing on his new, edited agenda: hunt down Jules.
A jazz quartet sprang to life, signaling the end of the announcement. His heart raced, and he turned to his father. “Thanks, Dad. I have to step away now.”
“Now? Just when the party’s getting started?”
Mitch’s brother Josh jogged up to the stage area, his fiancée Amelia in tow. They must have arrived during the announcement. Josh came up the small staircase and wrapped his brother in a hug.
“Good to see you, bro. I’m proud of you.”
Mitch grinned, but it faded fast. He clapped his brother on the back and waved at Amelia. “Thanks. I’m on my way out right now. How long will you be here?”
“You’re leaving?” Josh asked.
“I have something I need to take care of.” Every passing second reminded him that he needed to make things right immediately. It already felt too late. “I’ll be back. I want to catch up. You both look great.” He was heading down the stairs now, pointing at his brother and Amelia as he tried to combine pleasantries with getting the fuck out of there. “We need to get lunch soon. And I want to hear about the renovations upstate. Bye, guys.”
His father stepped into his path, grabbing his shoulder. “What is this about? That event planner? Come on. You need to enjoy yourself. This is your night.”
“Yeah. A night that wouldn’t have happened without her.”
His father scoffed. “Event planners are a dime a dozen. You are the real star tonight. You’ve been working your whole life for this.”
“Yeah, and what do I do that’s so special? Believe me, I love my job. I love our business. But I’m sick of pretending I’ve got something special up my sleeve that nobody else has. Jules is the best woman I’ve ever met. She’s selfless and dedicated and the first partner I’ve ever had. And you’d have me throw that away just because she’s an event planner?”
His father’s nostrils flared but he didn’t say anything.
“I’m happier with her around. I’m not going to lose her.” The words flowed more freely, now that he’d had a chance to grapple with the idea of losing her. “I want to enjoy life. I don’t want to just go through the motions until the day I die. She’s the first person I feel like I can really share life with.”
He expected his father to return a biting comment, but instead he crossed his arms and nodded.
“You have always had a hard time delegating,” his father conceded. “I’ve been waiting for you to show signs that you’re more willing to share the workload. And if it comes because of this woman, well…” He shrugged.
It wasn’t a blessing, but it wasn’t a condemnation either. Mitch could have whooped with excitement.
“I need to go. I’ll be back later, I promise.”
Mitch raced out of the conference area and up to the penthouse. He didn’t expect her to be there, but he had to be sure. The place was empty and her bedroom abandoned. Noelle’s empty crib stung the worst, and his chest tightened as he fished out his phone to call for his driver. He wasn’t getting a response, so he found a backup. He was in the car within five minutes and pulling up to Jules’s building within fifteen.
His heart hammered between his ears as his gaze washed over the brick building. His breath came out in white puffs as he hurried toward the front doors and buzzed her apartment number.
After a few moments, there was no response. So he buzzed again.
Still nothing.
He swore, pulling out his cell phone and calling. It rang, rang, rang before switching to voicemail. Was it possible she wasn’t even here? Fear coiled inside him. She had to be here. Had to. Because he wasn’t going to let today end without his little, unlikely family being reunited.
One thing was certain—Noelle and Jules were unofficial Dentons.
Mitch walked back to the sidewalk, peering up at the building. He made a rough calculation of which apartment was hers based on his last visit. He tried to remember the hallway, how many steps he’d taken, whether the door was on the right or the left. Based on all that, he concluded her apartment had to be one of the darkened windows.
But there was a fire escape leading right to that window…
He turned over the idea a few times in his head before he decided to go for it.
Better safe than sorry.
Because being a dad was all about doing whatever it took for the family.
And he wasn’t going to let his family spend a night without him.
19
Jules had been tossing and turning for what felt like hours. She’d turned her phone off, so she didn’t have that to check the time. But for as much as she’d been tossing and turning, Noelle had it worse.
The baby didn’t seem to like her apartment at all. She’d fussed nonstop for a full hour after arriving at the apartment, which didn’t even make sense because how could she really tell she was in a different place? But the baby knew, somehow, that this wasn’t her home, which made Jules feel even worse. She’d not only woken her up out of a peaceful sleep, she’d also forcibly removed her from her only safe haven at this point in her life.
The self-criticisms and anxieties were only spiraling now that she was back in her own place. She’d thought that they would have lessened slightly. After all, wasn’t that the point, to come back to her own world? To find a clear head and her own two feet?
But now tha
t she was here, she only wanted Mitch. She couldn’t do this alone, and more than that, she didn’t want to do this alone. She missed his steady presence beside her. The heat of him lying beside her in bed. His warm smiles and quiet reassurances.
Dammit, she’d made a mistake. And she wasn’t so sure Mitch was the type of guy to take a woman back, even if she returned on her knees. When he had a line a mile long of women in waiting, why would he?
A soft tapping at her living room window made her jolt. She sat up, trying to orient in the darkness. It had been so long since she’d spent the night in her own apartment, much less on the couch next to a bassinet. Maybe these were the normal night sounds that she’d forgotten about.
A shadow moved outside her window, and her heart leapt into her throat.
Or maybe someone was outside her window on the fire escape. Seconds away from breaking in.
Her limbs turned to stone and she waited in deathly silence for any other sound. After a few moments, the tapping returned. And this time, it was definite.
She clutched at her face, heart racing. Maybe it was a drunk person. It didn’t necessarily have to be someone looking to rob her. She wanted to go investigate, but with Noelle in here? She debated for a moment, and then decided to at least peer out the window.
Just to see.
She forced herself to walk over to the window in the living room and pulled back the curtain. A gasp rocketed out of her.
It wasn’t a robber, or a drunk person.
It was Mitch.
He cupped his hands around his eyes, pressing his face to the glass. “Jules.” His voice came out muffled against the glass and left a foggy warm spot. “Will you let me in?”
She could only blink in amazement, moving to open the window before she could even think. She pushed the glass pane as high as it would go, and Mitch folded himself inside the apartment. She hurried to shut the window once he was in.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed.
“You didn’t answer my calls. Or respond to the buzzer.” He adjusted his suit coat, which meant he’d come straight from the party. He looked around, gaze landing on the crib. “Is she asleep?”
“Yes, but just recently, so keep your voice down.”
Mitch raked a hand through his hair, his intense gaze switching to her. “Jules, come back to the penthouse.”
Her chest tightened and she gripped the arm of the couch behind her. “Why? We lead different lives. And I don’t think there’s room for me in yours.”
Mitch stepped closer, searching out her gaze. “There’s plenty of room for you in my life. In fact, without you in my life, there’s a hole.”
Emotion clogged her throat, and she looked away.
“I was thinking about what the rest of my life might look like, now that my dad named me CEO.”
Her brows shot up. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. It’s everything I wanted. At least, everything I thought I wanted.” He sighed, gesturing toward Noelle in the bassinet. “Actually, everything I want is here. In this apartment. The new job title is nice, but I need more than that. I don’t want to envision a future without you and Noelle in it.”
Jules could barely believe what she was hearing. But that was only her mind, because her body was flooded with emotion at Mitch’s words. She trembled from wanting him to hold her, wanting to be in his arms. All she could manage was a weak, “What?”
“I already told my dad that we were together. After you left. He’s got his own issues, but we can get into that another time. The point is, I didn’t handle that conversation well because I wasn’t prepared. But it’s handled now, and I promise you, Jules—” Mitch’s whisper faltered. “You are the only woman I want to be with.”
Jules covered her face with her hands, and Mitch swooped forward, wrapping his arms around her. She cried into his chest, clinging to him as pulled her into a tight hug. It felt so right—so undeniably right—to be in his arms.
“Will you take a chance on me?” he murmured into her ear. She squeezed her arms tighter around him, feeling the decision reverberate through her. She nodded, unable to speak or potentially ever leave his embrace.
Because there was one place she wanted to be, and it was right there.
In his arms. Bathed in his scent. Right alongside him on this crazy journey they’d started together.
When she finally found her voice, she tipped her head back to look at him, tears shining in her eyes.
“I needed you to be an asshole,” she said quietly, “because that’s what my mom taught me all rich men are.”
Mitch snorted.
“But you’re not. An asshole wouldn’t climb a fire escape at midnight to profess his love. An asshole wouldn’t choose his new family over partying all night at the best gala of the entire year.”
“I don’t even want to be there if I’m not at your side,” he whispered, and then pressed his lips against hers for a kiss.
Happiness and certainty swirled through her, making her dizzy. But Mitch grounded her—his embrace and his solid heat kept her from floating off into space. Because that’s what partners were for. They were the complements you didn’t know you were even looking for.
“Just look at us,” Mitch murmured. “We started perfect strangers, and now we’re a perfect family.”
She dissolved into laughter, more tears escaping. Because it was true.
It was so, so true, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER
“Jules! Come here!”
Mitch’s voice boomed through the penthouse. She looked up from where she’d been playing with Noelle on the carpet of the living room. Their little squirmy eight-month old was more inquisitive and exploratory than ever, which meant Jules couldn’t turn her back on her for a second. She scooped her up and followed the sound of his voice toward the balcony.
Her brows shot up as she stepped onto the expansive balcony. A dinner table had been set up out here, complete with a highchair for Noelle. The table was set for two, with a covered dish in the center.
“What’s all this?” Jules asked.
“Just my secret service elevator missions while you were occupied in the living room,” Mitch said, a knowing grin on his lips. He took Noelle from her arms to get her settled into the highchair, and Jules looked out over the city. Her breath caught as it often did, beholding the incredible sight. She’d never tire of this city or this view.
Or this family.
“That’s my little love nugget,” Mitch cooed as he strapped Noelle into the seat. “Daddy cooked something very special for you.”
“He did?” Jules asked, easing into her chair. She’d been entirely unaware of this happening, but she blamed that partially on being a little tired from Noelle’s recent nighttime teething pain, and just generally getting lost in playing with the child-size xylophone their daughter loved.
“Oh, yes. But he did it secretly, in the kitchen downstairs, so as to not alert the family.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Noelle’s head, and then turned his attention to the table. “Behold!” He uncovered the plate in the middle of the table, revealing an array of cooked vegetables—asparagus, potatoes, purple carrots and more—alongside what looked like sirloin steak.
“This looks amazing,” Jules said, gaze darting between the food and Mitch’s apron. “Though I’m not sure what looks better. The food, or you in that apron.”
“I understand if you choose the food. After all, I’m still wearing clothes.”
Jules snickered, unfolding her napkin. Mitch settled into his seat, reaching over to Noelle to tweak her button nose. The girl giggled, slapping her hands against the highchair table.
“I got some news today,” Jules said once they’d both filled their plates with food. “I’m getting a promotion at work.”
Mitch paused, his eyes going wide. “That’s amazing, honey.”
Jules grinned as she cut up her steak into very ti
ny pieces for Noelle to try. “It is. But I’m not going to take it.”
His brow furrowed. “You aren’t?”
“No. Because I want to start my own business.”
A coy grin crept across his face. “Do you now?”
“Yep. Learned some good business tricks from this guy I know, so it might be time to take a stab at the ol’ entrepreneur thing.”
“I’m proud of you, Jules. Either way. You have my full support.”
“I know.” She transferred the tiny bits of steak to Noelle’s tray, grinning over at Mitch. “And I love you for that.”
“I have some news for you,” Mitch said as he chewed. He leaned back in his chair, looking over at Noelle. The evening sun had just sunk low enough so that the entire balcony was bathed in red-tinted light. “The adoption is moving along. It’s just short of one hundred percent official.”
Jules’s heart leapt into her throat. Extensive review of the security camera footage from that early December day last year revealed enough information about the lady who left the baby that they were able to track her down—and begin a formal adoption process. The biological mother had agreed to terminate all parental rights, so Jules and Mitch could be sure that nobody would be showing up someday down the road to try to take Noelle.
“That’s amazing,” Jules said, but her voice betrayed the worry she felt down to her bones.
“But…?” Mitch prompted. After so little time as a couple, he knew her so well it seemed like they’d been together for fifty years.
“But…” She sighed, shaking her head. “What if they decide that we’re not fit to adopt her?”
“Honey, we are the fittest people to adopt this little bundle of energy.”
“Right, but you never know what could go wrong.” She wouldn’t rest until the entire process was over with. The constant waiting was driving her nuts. “I don’t trust bureaucracy.”
Mitch nodded, his jaw flexing as he studied something in his lap. “I know what you mean. And I’ve been thinking…” He fiddled with something in his lap, and then looked up at her, his icy blue eyes filled with mischief and something more. “I know what will seal the deal.”
Christmas with the Denton Billionaires: The Complete Series Page 20