Laughing, I said, “Now, I never said that, did I?”
“Deets, please!” Holly said, leaning towards me.
“No, a lady never kisses and tells,” I said.
“Hmph, you had no problem complaining about Tucker and the issues you had when he couldn’t get you off.”
“No, I was just reaching out to you asking for suggestions on how to improve my sex life with the man, is all.”
“Yeah, and how’d that work out for ya?”
“I should have known if I had to teach him, he wasn’t the man for me in the first place,” I said.
She leaned to the side a bit and stared over my shoulders with a slight frown.
“What?” I asked, turning around and staring.
Neither of us could see anything thanks to the ivy-covered trellis dividing the individual patio tables, designed to give patrons an illusion of privacy.
Shaking her head, she replied, “Nothing. Something was familiar about the guy who just sat down on the other side of the trellis.”
“Oh? You saw him?”
“No, not really. Just an outline, or something. Anyway, back to this amazing guy.”
“Marc is sweet and thoughtful. When you first meet him, he seems a bit aloof and gruff. But when you get to know him, he’s a big ole teddy bear.”
“Did you have to teach him how to please you?”
Laughing, I said, “Girl, he was the mentor, and I was the mentee! When I tell you, just thinking about that man lights my body on fire! Being with him was like going up in a blaze of fire. That’s what scares me.”
“You shouldn’t be. Allow yourself to be pleasured and treasured for once because Tucker sure as hell did a piss poor job of that. Honey, when you got back with him after he got engaged to that heifer, I wanted to slap the shit out of you. Ari thought you needed to be in a mental institute.”
“I thought I was in love, Holly. But I wasn’t.”
“Are you saying that’s what this is with this guy?” she asked, wearing a doubtful look.
I knew that it sounded crazy. I wrapped my fingers tightly around my French 75 cocktail, my all-time favorite drink.
“No, that’s not it either. I’m not sure what I share with Marc Easton, but I know that I love it. It thrills me, amazes me, and scares the hell out of me. It just all happened so fast, Holly. I mean on the heels of my break up with Tucker and getting fired. I just don’t want to hurt Marc. I’m so scared this is a rebound, and that’s the last thing that I want.”
“Well, you could always take it slow and get to know each other better. Re-assess it in a few months and then decide where to go from there,” Holly suggested.
“I can’t,” I confessed.
“Why not?”
“Because Tucker’s such an asshole if he learned we were together, he’d do something to mess up the contract for Marc. I can’t have that because I did learn that it was his largest contract. I can’t ask him to sacrifice that for me.”
“You could always have a conversation with Marc and see how he feels about it.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We barely know each other. I just have to step away. That’s the only solution to this,” I said sadly.
Meeting Holly for drinks was just what the doctor ordered. Girl time was always in order when stress was on the menu. And despite my imminent loss of Marc, spending time with Holly made me feel better.
THE RINGING OF MY DOORBELL didn’t signal good news. After drinks with Holly at Mick’s, I’d come home and showered again and changed into my nightgown.
It was a little after eleven, and I’d been home for only an hour. Slipping my arms into my robe, I headed towards the door.
Only a few people had the code to enter my building. Since it wasn’t Holly and I knew it wasn’t Ari, and I’d just gotten off the phone with my mom, it could only be one other person.
“Tucker, what do you want?”
“To talk, babe.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, “Oh, so I’m babe again?”
“Noe, you and I both know your behavior that night was unacceptable,” he said.
“Uh-uh, what was unacceptable was how I played myself, believing in you. What is it that you want? It’s almost midnight. Don’t you have a wife to go home to?”
“Can I come in for just a few minutes to talk with you? Please.”
Sighing, I opened the door wider, not caring to have this private conversation in the public realm of my condo hallway.
“Just a few moments,” I said as I closed the door behind him.
“Thanks, babe.”
“So, say what you’ve got to say, Tucker.”
“I wanted to come to see you. Give you an early Christmas present.”
The words that once excited me now incited disgust within.
“No, thanks,” I replied.
“Look, I know you’re angry that I brought Anya to the party. But I had no other choice. You and I are supposed to be discreet. You blew that out of the water that night. All I asked for was a little more time, Noe.”
“Uh-uh, all you asked was for me to continue playing your fool. From the moment you became involved with someone else while we talked about marriage, I should’ve let you go. I was stupid to believe your lies that you only married her temporarily for a business decision. Yes, Tucker, I was stupid for a while, but no longer.”
“You sure about that? I can make you feel real good tonight. We were always great in bed together. If this is goodbye, then let’s do it the right way, Noelle.”
“Tucker, I’m good by myself.”
Tucker’s gleaming dark eyes roamed over me, taking me in from head to toe. He rubbed a hand over that skin so rich and dark, the color of nutmeg that I’d loved for so long. I wondered how come I hadn’t allowed myself to see the truth in him a long time ago.
Tucker cared about no one except for Tucker. I pitied Anya now.
Tucker stepped closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me to him.
“You feel that?” he asked, lifting my chin so that our gazes could meet. “That’s all for you,” he said, lowering his head to kiss my lips.
Turning away from him, I pulled out of his embrace. “I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not in my heart, nor in your pants. Good night, Tucker. I think it’s time for you to go home and wake up to your wife in the morning.”
Those coal-black eyes darkened, and his nostrils flared. “Do you know that I have the power to hire you back at the firm?”
“Why would I do that, though? I don’t want to be there, under your influence, playing these games with you.”
“You do realize that I have the power to get you on at any other firm you want to work at. Or I have the power to block you.”
My heart thudded in my chest because I knew what he said was true. But I’d rather take my chances.
“Sorry, that’s just the risk I’ll have to take, Tucker.”
Lowering his head, he laughed, licked his lips, and looked up at me again. His gaze was eerie as he pulled his fingers through his beard.
Tucker Timbers was an attractive guy; I couldn’t deny that. But his personality could quickly turn a woman off, and he was displaying that side tonight.
“Sweetheart, I’m not here to make a deal with you. I’m telling you how it’s going to be.”
“I’m not sleeping with you, Tucker.”
“Oh, that’s not what I’m asking for. What I’m telling you is that you will stop seeing Marc Easton. And if you don’t, I’ll not only fuck up your world, but I’ll rip his right out from under him. And when I’m done, he won’t want you anywhere near him,” Tucker snarled.
“Excuse me! What’re you talking about?”
I felt as if someone had injected ice in my veins. How the hell did he know about Marc and me?
“Next time you and your friend, Slutty Holly, decide to have a conversation at a bar...tell her to go with her gut instincts when she thinks she recognizes som
eone. I saw you and Holly go into the bar tonight. Saw you walk out onto the patio. Waited a few minutes before I came in and requested the table behind yours. Seeing as how the waiters at Mick’s all knew we were fucking anyway; they were glad to accommodate my request when I told them I had a surprise Christmas gift for you.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I hate the day that I met you, Tucker. Your father wasted the sperm it took to produce you. His ass should have shot you down your mother’s throat instead of inside of her.”
“You just remember what I said, little girl,” he said, winking his eye at me and putting his fist underneath my head. “Chin up.”
My body shook with rage when he stepped out of my apartment, closing the door behind him. I rushed to it and locked it. I’d have to make sure to add him to the list of banned visitors. Until today I had no one on my list.
15 – SILVERBELLS
It’s funny the things that you don’t realize until they become a thing for you. Every Christmas, I spend the day working on my property, sometimes on assignment, but more often than not, it’s just Sabre and me.
Football, old cowboy movies, and a decent meal with my girl at my feet. That’s all I’ve needed until today.
Today, I felt it should have been more than the same routine. Spending time with Noelle left me wanting more. Expecting things I hadn’t put in the work for.
All the women I’d slept with over the years never meant a thing to me. I could walk away from them with no problem, and damn sure didn’t think about them at Christmas. Unless one of them called me up, crying about being alone and needing company.
My cock and I would ride over to their place, hook them up for the day, wish them a Merry Christmas and be on our way. But that wasn’t sufficient today.
I’d gotten a drunken call from an old friend named Yolanda. I’d received texts from Carrie, Pam, and Beth. But I hadn’t returned any of them and wasn’t interested in doing any favors.
The only thing I wanted was Noelle in my house fucking up a dessert recipe she’d found online, singing along to a Christmas song on the radio, or whipping up a delicious meal.
But she’d said she’d needed time. Somehow, I’d hoped for at least a phone call or Merry Christmas text. Nothing. Not from the one that I wanted to hear from anyway.
She hadn’t even accepted my phone calls or text messages over the last few days.
As the evening wound to a close and along with it the sappy mood I was in, I found myself at a ball. The elite of Vermont all gathered to wish one another a Merry Christmas and to exchange false well-wishes. Most of the politicians assembled in this room would be airing the dirty laundry of the others in a well-timed political campaign next year. Pretending as if they hadn’t been acting like the best of friends tonight.
I knew they were all watching each other at this moment, trying to seek an opportunity to gather dirt on one another. Unfortunately, at the moment, I was being watched, as well. However, I was pretending that I didn’t notice.
The band played Silver Bells as people danced on the ballroom floor or huddled at their tables in quiet conversation. Anya Timbers danced around the floor with some guy who worked in the governor’s office. And Tucker Timbers sat alone at a table, scowling at me.
Brock Harrington, the CEO of Softnet Technologies, invited me to tonight’s event to introduce me to more of the movers and shakers of the state of Vermont. I didn’t give a damn about Tucker’s glares, and I wouldn’t let him divert my attention from the purpose of my attendance tonight.
I would find out what the hell was wrong with Timbers later.
“Easton!” Gregory Timbers exclaimed as he walked up to my table.
I stood and embraced the salt-and-pepper haired older man. Gregory was fit for a man in his sixties, better than most.
“I didn’t expect to see you here tonight. This isn’t usually your type of thing,” Gregory said.
“You’re right, sir. Brock Harrington invited me tonight to introduce me to a few of the people at this event,” I explained.
“I didn’t know that you knew Brock.”
“I was referred to him by a mutual friend of ours, Colonel Cross.”
“Ahh, the good Colonel. Both he and Brock are good men.”
“Yes, sir, they are.”
“So, you’re working with Brock?”
“Well, I submitted a proposal for him around September and did a few jobs for him afterward. He contacted me yesterday, on Christmas Eve afternoon, and extended the offer. Then he invited me to the ball tonight.”
“That’s great, son. And Brock is a great connection for you because he has lots of wonderful connections that will be good for your business. Before I know it, you won’t need Timbers Pharmaceutical. Especially not with the likes of Brock Harrington on your roster.”
Chuckling, I said, “He won’t be officially on my roster until after the New Year, but I do look forward to doing business with him.”
“Speaking of which, how’re things going with my son?”
Lifting an eyebrow, I asked, “What do you mean, sir?”
“I’ve had quite a few complaints about Tucker from some of the senior and executive management team. The most recent one came after your party. I understand there was a debacle of some sort with our director of accounting. Can you tell me more about that?”
“Sir, I think you should consult with your son about his affairs,” I said for lack of a better word.
My jaw clenched a few times, not wanting to speak of the disastrous affair of that night.
“I’d like to hear it from you, Easton. Maybe you haven’t picked up on it, but I doubt that’s true, but my son isn’t the most trusted member of our company. Not in the sense that he doesn’t have good business savvy; on the contrary, he does. If that were the case, he wouldn’t be in his position. However, sometimes I worry about his scruples.”
“Again, sir, I believe that’s a discussion for you and Tucker.”
Gregory leveraged a look at me that I couldn’t turn away from. A look that told me that he meant business. Sighing, I nodded my head. “I’m not sure of the details behind it, only what I witnessed.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” Gregory said.
“I was moving amongst the guests checking on everyone, and I saw a woman approach your son and his wife, from where I stood across the room. I could tell by the body language the conversation was growing heated. But then the volume of their voices increased, and I could hear them over the music. I was moving in their direction by this time. I saw Mr. Timbers hold his hand out to keep the woman away from him, telling her she’d had too many drinks. Mrs. Timbers was upset, and the woman said that she hadn’t drunk enough and that she was tired of playing games. She went on to inform him that she didn’t like being required to attend parties where he’s at with his wife, and she proceeded to let Mrs. Timbers know that she and Mr. Timbers were involved in an intimate relationship.”
“And then what happened?”
“Mr. Timbers tried to explain to Mrs. Timbers that it wasn’t true, and he called the woman a drunk fool. I guess those words angered her because the next thing I knew, she raised her hand to slap him. By that time, I was right there with them, and I grabbed her wrist before she had a chance to strike him. I physically removed her from the party.”
There was no reason to tell the senior Mr. Timbers that I’d housed her for the last few days.
“And my son, what happened with him afterward?”
“He focused on getting his staff back into the party spirit, but there were several fires to put out that night, sir. Not just your son, so I don’t quite recall what all happened afterward. But I know that he and Mrs. Timbers left not long after, and she wasn’t happy. End of story for me.”
Gregory Timbers looked at me knowingly. I wondered what all he knew, but for now, he appeared satisfied. We talked a bit longer about business and my contract, and he returned to the table to escort his wife to the dance floor.
> I wasn’t in the mood to be around others on Christmas Day. The most that I could do was find my way to Noelle’s place and hoped that she would see me. I’d memorized her address from seeing her driver’s license. After I said my final round of goodbyes, I left the ballroom and headed to my vehicle.
Carolers stood on the sidewalk singing Jingle Bells while the hired Santa of the evening laughed easily, waving at me and saying, “Merry Christmas!” as he rubbed his belly.
“Merry Christmas,” I grumbled. My mind was on one thing and one thing only, Noelle.
“Easton!”
Slowly I turned around at the familiar voice. “Tucker.”
“You’re cutting out early,” he said.
“Yes, sir. Is there anything that you need from me?”
“No,” he said, tucking his hands into his slacks and turning his lips down. “Just saw you slipping away and wanted the chance to wish you a Merry Christmas. I hadn’t gotten to do that all night.”
“Merry Christmas,” I said, turning away from him.
“Easton?”
“Yes?” I asked, turning around again.
“You’re wasting your time on that one.”
“Excuse me?”
“Noelle Riley. She’s not the type of woman you marry or settle down with. I know she stayed at your place a few days after the party. What was that about?”
“She was stranded after the snowstorm.”
A frown set deep in his features, and his eyes darkened just a bit. Tucker Timbers was not an intimidating man. Some might fear him because of his power, but not me.
“But the snowstorm didn’t hit until well after midnight. I thought she was sent off the property earlier than that.”
“Is there a question you want to ask, Timbers?” I returned in a gravelly voice.
Turning his lips down, he shrugged and shook his head. “I’m just wondering why she was still at your place after everyone left. After I thought she was kicked off the property.”
“She was kicked out of the party but not the property. She needed time to sober up, and that was my intention, but it didn’t quite work out the way I’d planned,” I said.
Noelle's Holiday Rebound: A BWWM Christmas Romance (A Glacier Hollow Christmas Romance Book 1) Page 10
