by Jill Sanders
Christmas Wish
Jill Sanders
Contents
summary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Also by Jill Sanders
About the Author
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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DIGITAL ISBN: 978-1-945100-20-8
PRINT ISBN: 9798652617295
Text copyright © 2020 Jill Sanders
All rights reserved.
Copyeditor: Erica Ellis – inkdeepediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
summary
Laura’s been down on her luck with love, starting with Simon Berg. After the man of her fantasies left her shattered years ago, she determined to never let anyone get close to her again. She would have succeeded if Simon hadn’t waltzed back into her life a month before Christmas.
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Leaving Laura had been the hardest thing Simon had ever had to do, but it had been the only way to save her from the hell that was surrounding him. But now that he’s made a name for himself and escaped the horrors of his past, he can finally focus on winning back the only woman he has ever loved.
Prologue
Even though Laura was only ten years old, she understood why she, her brother, and her mother were moving into the small two-bedroom apartment that sat directly over the complex’s laundry room.
Divorce. It was something several of her friends had talked about. Her older brother Logan had explained it to her in his not-so-subtle way.
Her parents were no longer going to be a family. And that was just fine by her. She knew the hell her father had put Logan through. It seemed that every chance he could, their father was hitting Logan for one reason or another.
Even though her father had never raised a hand to her, she had felt every slap, every push, every terrible name her father had called her brother just the same. After all, Logan was the only person she’d ever looked up to. The only one she’d ever loved unconditionally. No, even her mother hadn’t earned that from her. Yet.
Gina Miller was spineless and a coward, in Laura’s ten-year-old mind. It was strange—the woman acted as if she was the one taking the abuse, when, in fact, Laura’s father had never lifted a hand or raised his voice to his wife. He reserved that for his son.
A mother was supposed to protect her son. Not only did she not rise up to defend him, she at times looked the other way and once even left in the middle of a bad incident that had left Logan with a bloody lip and a bruised cheek.
Both Laura and her brother were looking forward to the new life. To starting over and forgetting the horrors of their past.
At first, Logan continued to act out, as he had when they had lived in Golden under their father’s rules. Then he’d settled into finding himself, a man who stood up for the weak and defended others against bullies like their father. Even their mother changed and started coming out of her shell, as she called it.
Laura, on the other hand, took years before she opened up and trusted someone other than Logan.
Then she’d met Simon Berg at her new school in Cherry Creek. It had taken her several years for her to trust Simon, but he’d been there, patiently waiting the entire time as their friendship blossomed and grew into true love. Then, everything had been perfect.
So when Simon up and disappeared on her just before their graduation, she’d been left more than just brokenhearted. She’d turned angry and bitter at every man in the world.
Chapter 1
Laura was running late for work, again. She hated Mondays. Absolutely freaking hated them. It had been two years since she’d moved back to Golden, Colorado, to take a job at her brother’s new business. Well, okay, it was technically her uncle’s old business, which he’d handed over for her brother and his wife Amy to run together.
Logan and Laura’s uncle, Gary, had finally retired and left Rocky Mountain Real Estate to the newlyweds. One of the first things they had done was to snag Laura from Cherry Creek Realty, a job she’d gotten fresh out of high school. She’d quickly worked her way up in that company while taking night classes. She was thankful that her brother had hired her on as head of RMR’s interior design division to oversee small renovations, stage furniture and artwork, and take care of other small details so that homes or businesses could be made ready for the best possible sales price.
She loved her work but hated Mondays. Anything and everything that could go wrong usually happened to her on Mondays.
That morning, she’d almost left her apartment with two different shoes on. Thankfully, she’d caught her error the moment she’d stepped outside into the deep snow, as one heeled boot sunk into the depths of the cold snow while the other, the higher boot with the spiky heel, kept her foot dry and warm.
She’d rushed back inside, and it had taken her almost ten minutes to find the correct boot, which of course made her late and left her apartment in total disarray. She’d planned on stopping off at the little coffee shop on the corner for some hot cinnamon rolls and the delicious spiced coffee she liked so much but now that she was late, she had to settle for a smashed granola bar that had been sitting at the bottom of her purse and wash it down with the tasteless bland coffee from the office kitchen.
Sure enough, while she hunted in the fridge for some creamer, she spilled someone’s leftover spaghetti lunch all over her pants.
By the time she’d cleaned herself up, her coffee was cold, and she was in an even fouler mood. Sitting at her desk, Beverly, a new temp she had been working with, gave her a look.
“What?” She groaned. “I know I’m late.”
“Nothing.” Beverly smiled at her. Beverly had worked at RMR for almost six months. She was the third temp Laura had gone through since being there. She hadn’t had issues with the first two, but both had decided to move on to greener pastures. So far, Beverly appeared happy with the position and fit in better at RMR than the previous two people.
Laura liked Beverly. The woman was almost twice Laura’s age but was in better shape than she was. She knew that Beverly attended yoga classes four times a week and, on the weekends, went biking or hiking with her boyfriend, a man half her age.
“Looks like someone got out of bed on the wrong side?” Beverly murmured.
“I think I used up all my luck getting out of bed this morning without breaking anything,” she replied as she turned on her computer.
Just as the thing booted up, Logan poked his head in the office she shared with Beverly.
“Hey, heads-up. I need you in this meeting that starts now.” He looked at his watch and, before she could reply, he disappeared.
“Meeting?” She frowned. “What meeting?” she asked Beverly, who just shrugged.
If her computer were faster, she would have had time to glance at the schedule, but since it was taking its sweet time, she grabbed her cold coffee and rushe
d down the hallway to the large meeting room.
When she stepped inside, she was shocked to see her brother shaking the hand of a man she thought she’d never see—or forgive—ever again.
She almost turned around and left, but her brother called to her and waved her into the room.
“Laura, there you are.” Logan moved over and took her by the shoulders when she didn’t move out of the doorway.
It was as if her entire body had frozen up. As her brother nudged her forward, her legs were so stiff that she almost tripped on the spiky heels of her boots.
She normally wasn’t a vain woman, but still she had dreamed of the moment she would see Simon Berg again so many times over the years. None of them entailed her wearing the outfit she currently had on, complete with the new spaghetti stain on her left knee.
Damn, why did he have to look so perfect? He looked even better than the last time she’d seen him. His jet-black hair was longer, the way she’d always liked it. He even looked taller than when he’d left five years ago. Taller and more muscular than he had been last time, she noticed as she got closer.
“Simon’s back! Isn’t this great?” Logan nudged her closer to the man she’d dreamed of for the past five years.
“It’s good to see you again, Laura,” Simon said as his eyes ran over her.
She felt her entire body vibrate under his gaze. Looking down at his outstretched hands, she was finally able to get her mind in gear.
As if it didn’t belong to her, her arm raised up and poured her cold coffee over Simon’s head. With pleasure racing through her, she smiled as the coffee caused his styled hair to fall in his eyes. She noticed a smile flash on his lips before she jerked away and stormed out of the room.
She didn’t stop until she stood out on the employees’ balcony at the back of the old building. She wrapped her arms around herself and desperately wished she’d thought to stop off at her desk for her coat.
“Want to tell me what that was all about?” Logan said, stepping onto the balcony and wrapping his jacket around her shoulders.
“No,” she bit back at her brother.
“Fine.” He leaned on the railing and looked out over the mountains. “Amy’s having to tap dance in there.”
Suddenly, she realized that there could be consequences to her actions. Had Simon been a big client? Had she just lost her brother’s business a lot of money? Could Simon sue the company?
“Shit,” she groaned. “I didn’t think. I’m sorry.” She leaned on the railing next to her brother. She’d been so upset about seeing Simon again that she hadn’t thought. She wasn’t even taking in the beautiful view of the snow-covered mountains sitting directly in front of her.
“Amy’s a pro at fixing situations like this.” Logan nudged her shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”
She glared at her brother as she turned towards him. “He up and left me. Left us,” she said with a frown. “No explanation. No note. No goodbye.”
“And for that, I’ll be forever sorry,” a deep voice said from the doorway.
They both turned as Simon stepped out onto the deck.
“I’ll…” Her brother glanced towards the building and, without saying anything, left them alone.
“Coward,” she groaned at her brother’s back as Simon moved over and stood next to her.
She noticed his hair was back to being perfect and looked even better slicked back from his perfect face. The new style accented his chiseled features and his haunting blue eyes even further.
She turned away from the man who had not only broken her heart, but broken her, completely.
“What do you want?” she asked between clenched teeth.
“To apologize,” Simon surprised her by saying.
She spared him a glance. “I’m the one that dumped coffee over your head.”
“I’m just thankful it was cold,” he said with a chuckle. He’d always been good at avoiding answering questions. When she’d been younger, she’d fallen for the broody dark boy. Now, however, she was having none of it.
“What are you doing here?” She turned to him and tried to ignore how handsome he was.
“If you’d come back into the meeting room, you’d find out,” he said easily.
She tilted her head slightly and gave him a look that said she wasn’t going to go along with his games.
“Nice place,” he said with a nod to the building behind them. “Have you been working here long?”
She figured two could play at his game.
Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “Something tells me you’ve known all along that I worked here with my brother. And for how long.”
He turned and glanced off at the view of the mountains. When she visibly shivered and hugged her brother’s jacket closer to her, he said, “Come inside. You’re freezing.”
Without replying, she marched towards the door. She was only going inside because she was cold. Just yesterday she’d been wearing short sleeves and open-toe shoes to work. The snow and chill had crept in during the night and, according to the weather reports, would be sticking around through New Year’s Day.
She felt Simon follow her inside and for a brief moment dreamed of slamming the door in his face and leaving him locked out in the cold. Then she noticed her brother and Amy waiting for them just outside the conference room, and she lifted her chin, determined to get through the meeting for their sake.
“Shall we try this again?” Amy asked in a cheery voice.
Laura held in a low groan as she passed her brother and sister-in-law. In the few years that her brother and Amy had been married, Laura and Amy had grown into more than friends. They acted just like sisters at this point. Laura really liked Amy.
As everyone settled in the conference room, Laura realized that the man was throwing her completely off. For some reason, she couldn’t wrap her mind around anything that anyone was saying. Especially after the conference room had filled with every employee at RMR. When her brother had started to explain how RMR was partnering with a company called ReVision Development on a big project, she assumed that Simon worked for the other firm and was there for the partnership.
Logan explained that the project would be a six-week-long ordeal. To her utter shock, Logan turned to her and told her that she had been chosen to work one-on-one with ReVision Development’s liaison to ensure the project went smoothly. And of course, with her outstanding Monday luck, that liaison was Simon Berg.
Chapter 2
Simon couldn’t keep his eyes or his mind focused on anything other than Laura. How long had it been since he’d been in the same room as her?
Too long. It hadn’t been safe until now.
Just sitting in a room full of people he felt comfortable being around was something he hadn’t done in a long time. Even now, his entire body remained on guard, his back to a wall and the door in his peripheral vision.
His main focus, of course, was solely on the woman of his dreams. The woman he was determined to win back as quickly as possible. The one he should have never let go in the first place.
“So, it’s settled,” Logan Miller, Laura’s older brother, finished saying. Back in the day, Logan had been like an older brother to Simon. He’d felt like the Millers—Logan, Laura, and their mother, Gina—had allowed him into their little family. Then everything had changed when he’d ruined everything. “Beverly will move into the annex so you can make room for Simon in your office.”
His eyes focused on Laura’s and could immediately see the anger behind them.
“I don’t think—” she began, only to have her brother wave her unvoiced concerns away.
“We can discuss the final details later,” her brother said quickly. “I think we’re all eager to get back to work.” He dismissed everyone. Immediately, people jumped up from their chairs and started moving out of the conference room.
Laura rushed over to her brother and—he could tell by the face she was making—scolded him quietly.
Pasting on an easy smile, Simon walked over to shake Logan’s hand.
“That was enlightening,” he admitted, his eyes moving to Laura’s. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“Go to hell,” she said under her breath.
“Excuse me?” he asked easily with a smile.
“I think what my sister was saying”—Logan stepped in front of Laura—“is that it’s going to be a pleasure working with ReVision Development.” Logan stepped back and wrapped an arm tightly around his sister’s shoulders.
Simon smiled bigger as Laura narrowed her eyes at him.
“If you need anything,” Amy Miller, Logan’s wife interjected, “our offices are on the top floor.” She beamed. He’d had a conference call with the couple last week to work out some of the finer details of the partnership. But this was the first time he’d met Amy Miller. He could tell instantly that he’d like the pretty blonde woman and that she was completely devoted to Logan and the business.
It had been pure luck that he’d stumbled across the old article about their marriage online last year. It had taken him a few more months to put his plan in motion. He’d had his secretary use the company to find just what he needed for the project of his lifelong dreams.
Now that everything was finally in place, his main mission in life was to win Laura back. To prove to her that he wasn’t the flake she believed him to be. That it had been in her best interest for him to disappear all those years ago.
