Christmas with the Billionaire (Holiday Encounters Book 1) (12 page)

I took his hand and pulled him from the pantry, hoping his words meant he was looking for more than just another encounter in a different closet in the Roberts’ home.

***

We were met by knowing looks from the catering staff. My face heated but I managed to straighten my shoulders and keep moving. What just happened in there—totally worth a little embarrassment.

We stepped into the large family room where most of the guests were mingling.  A sudden thought stopped me dead in my tracks. “Did you come here with someone?”

He stopped at my side and amusement brightened his eyes as he looked down at me. “No. I did hope to speak to a few people tonight, but you were first on my list.”

“I hope you’re not planning on speaking to everyone the way you spoke to me,” I teased.

He chuckled and slid an arm around my waist, pulling me close to press a kiss to my forehead. I wanted to do a little dance at his casual show of affection. I let my gaze wander the room in an effort to hide how much I craved his attention.

It worked. This room was totally different than the entryway. A towering tree stood in the corner decked out with colorful lights and a mixture of ornaments. I knew from past Christmases spent here that those ornaments were special to the family, the ones passed down through generations and some Jade made in elementary school. There were even a few that Paige, Katelyn and I had made and given Mrs. Roberts as gifts over the years.

Mrs. Roberts’ enormous Christmas village took up another corner. I squealed when I saw it and tugged Nate over to see it.

“Mrs. Roberts puts this up every year,” I said. “When we were little, Jade, Katelyn, Paige and I would spend hours making up stories about the people in the village.” I looked up at him to find him smiling at me indulgently.

“Does your family do big Christmas celebrations?” I asked.

His expression shifted, closing down a little, and I immediately missed the warmth.

“No. They aren’t big on Christmas.”

I waited a minute, but he didn’t say any more.

“That’s a shame.” I turned to take in the room and inhaled the scent of pine wafting through. “There’s something magical about Christmas. Can’t you feel it?”

He smoothed a hand down my back, letting it come to rest at the top of my ass. “Hmm, I’m beginning to feel something magical.”

I laughed up at him. “You’re no fun. I don’t know if I can spend any more time with you if you don’t like Christmas.”

His face got serious as his eyes grew warm. “Maybe I need you to convince me.”

“Really? What would it take to convince you Christmas is magical?” I fluttered my eyelashes at him, expecting him to get into the teasing and come back with some kind of sexual innuendo.

Instead, he pulled me closer, all traces of laughter gone. “Spend Christmas with me.”

I stilled. “What?”

“Only two days until Christmas Eve. I’d like to take you to my home so we can spend the holiday together. Just the two of us.”

My breath caught in my throat. I usually spent Christmas with Paige and her family and then stopped in to visit the rest of my friends. But what I hadn’t admitted to anyone was how hard the holidays had been for me since my parents passed away.

The first few Christmases after their accident were tough because I still grieved for them. After that, as much as I loved the holiday, I still felt like a fifth wheel when I spent it with someone else’s family. Everyone always went out of their way to make me feel included, but it wasn’t the same.

The thought of spending Christmas with Nate made joy burst in my chest.

“Emma?” he prompted when I’d been silent for too long.

“I’d love to,” I whispered.

He bent and kissed me, a soft, sweet press of his lips against mine.

“Get a room, you two.”

I dropped my head to Nate’s chest when I heard Jade’s voice from behind me.

“From the looks of her dress, I’d say they already have,” Paige said, dryly.

“Ignore them,” I told him. “Eventually they’ll give up and go away.”

“No way. I’d rather draw attention to you two so my family will stop asking me questions about my love life,” Jade said.

“What love life?” Katelyn teased.

I felt his shoulders shake underneath my cheek and raised my head. “Maybe we can go start celebrating Christmas now?” I asked hopefully.

“We might just be able to arrange that, sweetheart.” And with that, he bent and kissed me right in front of all my friends and their families.

Chapter Eleven

I nuzzled my cheek against Nate’s bare chest and looked up at the lights on the Christmas tree.
Best Christmas ever
. 

We didn’t end up leaving Jade’s parents’ party early two evenings ago. Instead we stayed and laughed and joked with my friends and their families. Nate had wandered off to do some networking.

I didn’t mind. It gave me a chance to fill my friends in on our encounter in the pantry. I left out some of the details, though. I had to hold something back to share on New Year’s when we settled our bet.

Nate and I didn’t spend that night or the next together. He told me he had to tie up loose ends before the holidays but he’d pick me up at my apartment early on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Part of me feared this was his way of letting me down easy. Maybe he regretted issuing the invitation in the heat of the moment.

But I decided to take my more confident attitude out for a spin and take him at his word. Besides, if we were going to have Christmas together, I had a few things to do myself. What the heck did I buy for the man who could afford to buy and sell several small countries?

My friends jumped to the rescue, helping me plan what to wear and a few special surprises. And my confidence paid off. Nate texted me several times over the next few days and called me the day before Christmas Eve to confirm our plans.

“Are you sure you want to spend Christmas with me?” I had to ask him. “I know it’s not really your thing, and well, I may go a little overboard with the whole Christmas spirit thing.”

His warm chuckle had filled my ears and made every nerve-ending tingle. “I’m sure, sweetheart. Remember, you promised to show me how magical the day can be.”

I knew from his tone of voice he had more than tinsel and Yule logs in mind when he spoke of magic.

As it turned out, Nate had spent the two days before Christmas Eve much the same way I had. Well, maybe not quite the same. Where my friends and I had run around like crazy to get ready for Christmas, Nate had a full staff at his disposal to get his home holiday ready.

He arrived bright and early on Christmas Eve. When he saw all the stuff I had packed up to take with me, he froze in the doorway of my apartment.

“Don’t worry,” I rushed to explain. “I’m not moving in indefinitely. There are just a few traditions I have…”

I trailed off as it hit me that I should have asked him if all of this would be okay. We’d spent most of the time we’d known each other having sex. Mind-blowing, amazing, out-of-this-world sex. Maybe that was all he had in mind for the next few days, just a continuance of the one-night stand.

As I stood there biting my lip, frantically trying to think of how to backpedal and leave some of it behind, he stepped inside and kissed me. It was quick and hard, but held lots of promise. While I worked on shaking off the daze his kiss left me in, he scooped up my bags and headed toward the door.

Guess he didn’t mind humoring me with my Christmas traditions.

His condo came as a bit of a surprise. The address overlooking the park didn’t come as a shock. But the fact that it was comfortable and lived in and, while spacious, not humongous did. I loved it. It suited him and wasn’t at all the modern, streamlined, oversized penthouse his billionaire status had me expecting.

It was also decked out from top to bottom in Christmas decorations.

“You told me you didn’t do Christmas,” I said.

And for the first time since I met him, he looked a little embarrassed. My mouth dropped. Seriously, I swear the tips of his ears got a little pink.

“But you do Christmas,” he said quietly.

I twirled and took in the lights and the garlands, the stockings on the mantel, and the tall Christmas tree with its pile of presents underneath.

“You don’t do this every year?”

The expression he turned on me could best be described as a grimace. “No, I don’t do this. Ever.”

“So where did all this…” I gestured around the room, and words failed me as I took it all in.

“My staff helped me with it.”

I turned to him and tears prickled behind my eyes. “You did all this…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Too afraid to hope it could be true.

“For you,” he said. “I did all this for you.”

I froze for an instant. But then I dropped my bags and raced across the room to throw myself into his arms. It took us a little while after that to get to putting away the things I’d brought.

Later, he helped me bake Christmas cookies. And by helped, I mean he sat at the kitchen bar and taste tested cookie dough as I made it. That too had ended up with me in his arms. Or more precisely, us on the floor covered in flour with a batch of sugar cookies burning to a crisp in the oven.

Christmas morning had brought its own surprises. Turned out most of the brightly wrapped gifts under the tree were for me. Though I’d managed to sneak a few of my own under there when Nate wasn’t looking.

I’d be lying if I said many of those boxes for me didn’t contain sexy lingerie. I didn’t mind. It thrilled me that Nate saw me that way. For the first time in my life, I felt sexy and desirable. I couldn’t wait to try them on.

But there were some other things in there, too. He’d given me a pair of red plaid pajama bottoms with an oversized matching sweatshirt.

“For the nights we can’t spend together,” he’d told me.

And my breath left my lungs when I unwrapped a small blue box with a white ribbon. Inside I found a snowflake pendant of diamonds and platinum. I wanted to say it was too much. That he shouldn’t be spending money like that on me. But my throat clogged with tears at the sight of the beautiful piece of jewelry that would forever remind me of this day and of the moment we met in the hotel bar decked out to look like a winter wonderland.

Before I found my voice, he had the necklace clasped around my neck. All I could say was “Thank you.”

My own gifts felt like nothing in comparison, mostly in keeping with the magic of Christmas theme. But he seemed genuinely pleased with the snow globe of Manhattan during Christmas and the ornament from the Hotel Wynter. I’d also stuffed his stocking full of silly things—chocolates and puzzle books, funny socks and a booklet of sex coupons.

But his favorite gift from me was one I almost hadn’t given him. I’d debated a long time before I wrapped it up.

He’d opened the box I placed it in and looked up at me in question. I reached over and pulled the pile of pages out. “I wrote it for you,” I explained. “It’s our story. Of the night we met. But for your eyes only. And I didn’t give Brandi credit for this one.”

He looked at me for several long moments and then down at the pages in his hand. I held my breath as he read, afraid he’d be pissed or think I broke my promise about never writing about him.

But when he turned his gaze on me, I knew I had nothing to fear. His beautiful eyes had turned a dark amber, the green barely visible. Before I knew what he planned, he had me pinned to the floor surrounded by piles of wrapping paper. He stripped me of my red silky robe and matching nighty and worked hard at recreating the night we met.

The rest of the day we spent making love, cuddling and nibbling the munchies and the Christmas dinner his staff had left prepared for us.

And now, I was happy to lie under the tree, the Christmas lights the only light in the room. Nate’s hand absently sifted through my hair while I traced patterns over his chest with my finger.

“Merry Christmas,” I whispered.

He tightened his hold on me and used his hand in my hair to turn my face up to his for a long, slow kiss. “Merry Christmas.”

“Do you feel the magic yet?” I couldn’t help but ask.

He smiled down at me. “I might have to admit the last two days were a little bit magical. But I think it had more to do with you than Christmas.”

My heartbeat picked up speed and I stretched up to leave a line of kisses along his jaw. I let him believe what he wanted, but I knew the truth—the magic of Christmas had delivered this man to me.

I squeezed my eyes tight and sent one more Christmas wish out into the universe—
please, please let me have many more Christmases with Nate
.

THE END

***

A Note From Amy

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for reading
Christmas with the Billionaire
.

I hope you love Nate and Emma as much as I do. I have a feeling Nate has something in his past that makes it hard for him to appreciate all the magic of the Christmas season. So it’s a good thing he has Emma to help show him the way. And I can’t wait for you to read how the bet turns out for Katelyn, Jade, and Paige!

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