Baby, Let It Snow: I'll Be Home for ChristmasSecond Chance Christmas

by Beverly Jenkins

  She didn’t realize how closely Robert was watching her expression until she looked up into his eyes.

  “You know, if you don’t want me doing this, it’s fine. Just say so.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded and lifted the note in her hand. “You wanted to talk to me?”

  “Well, actually, I wanted to ask you out to dinner.”

  Diana bit her bottom lip, remembering the last dinner they’d shared. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Why not? We have both been working so hard, I thought a nice dinner in a decent restaurant would be a nice change from us scrounging around in the kitchen every night.”

  “The forecast didn’t sound good. Snow is on the way.”

  “It always is this time of the year. Come on, my treat. I’ll even throw in a show.”

  That sounds intriguing. She wasn’t sure if it was the idea of taking a break from work or Robert using his devastating smile on her unfairly, but she found herself agreeing and at seven o’clock that evening she stepped outside her front door to find a limousine in the driveway.

  “Whoa, what’s this about?”

  Robert took her hand in his and led her to the car. “I told you, tonight we do it right.”

  “Where are you taking me anyway?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  Two hours later, they were pulling into the parking lot of the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.

  The pair spent the next six hours having the most fun Diana had had in years. They played the slot machines and dined at Siniikaung Steak and Chophouse, enjoying the easy-listening sounds of the local lounge singer.

  By the early morning hours, despite the two daiquiris she’d had earlier, Diana’s mind was clear enough to see where things were heading. Throughout the night they had started touching—hand-in-hand as they made their way through the crowded casino; an arm around her waist as he guided her to their table in the restaurant, and now they stood spooned together, his front to her back, as they watched a table of blackjack players.

  She knew where things were heading, even before he whispered in her ear, “Come upstairs with me.”

  She glanced up at him, the desire was written in his eyes for all the world to see. But Diana knew that once they crossed the line there would be no turning back, and she was still too unsure of Roberts’s intentions toward La Bohemia to trust any other part of herself to him.

  So, with much regret, she shook her head no.

  “Where’s your adventurous spirit?”

  “I don’t have one.”

  “I don’t know about that. I remember you being kinda daring back in the day.”

  “We were both different people back in the day.” She looked up at him again. “Too much has changed.”

  He pulled her closer to him and she felt his stiff member pressing into the back of her thin after-five dress. “Not enough. You still drive me crazy.”

  Knowing she just did not have the spirit to fight him after such a wonderful evening, especially when she wanted the exact same thing he did, she shook her head again. “I think we should be leaving now.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were back in the car and headed home. Each had picked a corner of the limo to pout in, and neither had said a word. Finally Diana turned to face him. “Did you ever think of me? Ever wonder where I was and what I was doing?”

  “Of course.” He focused his attention out the window. “But, to be perfectly honest with you, Diana, I tried not to. I didn’t want to think about you maybe married to some guy, who made you totally happy—don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want you to be unhappy. I just like to think I was the only person who could make you happy. And the thought of you with some other man, lying with him every night, giving him my children… I didn’t want to think about all that.”

  Silence fell over the car again as they got lost in their thoughts once more. A few minutes later, Diana spoke. “Despite everything, I am glad you came back.”

  “Look, this partnership thing is new to both of us.”

  She shrugged. “It’s not just about the partnership, Robert. It’s about being partners with you. I mean, I love you, it’s not like—”

  “You love me?”

  “What?”

  “You love me.”

  “I meant loved, past tense.”

  “But you said love, present tense.”

  Electricity sparked through the silence like a muted thunderstorm.

  Suddenly, he sprung forward until he was leaning over her, bracing his hands on the door and seat behind her, effectively caging her within his arms. He stared down at her and despite herself she smiled at him. Robert leaned forward and kissed her.

  He reached up and pulled one of the spaghetti straps down her shoulder and ran his hand up her warm body. “Your skin is so soft, it’s like touching silk.”

  A soft moan escaped her throat as he sat back and brought her with him, straddled across his lap. He pulled the front of her dress down revealing a lacy pink bra. Seeing that it latched in the front, he smiled in approval. “You’re going to have to buy more like this.” He quickly unlatched the clips, revealing her small, firm breasts. Cupping them in his hands, he toyed with the brown puckered tips, enjoying her response as her mouth opened in a soft O.

  His hot mouth captured hers before running his tongue over her bottom lip. Her hips gyrated against his throbbing erection and even through the thin material of her dress he could feel the heat at the core of her body.

  “I want you,” he whispered in her ear, stating the obvious, because there was no denying what he wanted given the way he was straining against his pants.

  Diana sat up and yanked her dress over her head. Suddenly, Robert remembered they were not alone and quickly checked to make sure the privacy screen was up between them and the driver. Mercifully, it was.

  Diana was more feverish than he’d realized as she quickly unsnapped the button fly of his slacks and pushed them down and away and his rock-hard penis sprung free.

  Robert wanted nothing more than to be inside her, but instead she cradled him in her hands, gently, even lovingly stroking him up and down until he was unable to control the droplets of liquid oozing from the tip.

  Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out his wallet and handed it to her and Diana took out the condom and tossed the wallet aside as she tore open the wrapper. With a level of skill that made him momentarily suspicious of why she was so good at it, she slid the condom down over his erection with ease.

  His suspicion quickly disappeared as Diana lifted her body and came over the head of his penis. Pushing her panties to the side, she took him inside her, slowly sliding down until the bulk of him was buried deep inside her pulsating walls.

  He needed more, so much more, all of her, now and forever. But he would take what he could get for now. Reaching behind her he opened her cheeks and shifted lower in his seat and as expected she slid down even farther on his aching penis. Breathing deeply to keep from coming too soon, he held her in place, hoping against hope that he could hold off long enough to satisfy her first. But how, when she felt so good? So hot and hungry as her body sucked him in deep.

  He lifted her up and let her sink down once, and almost cried out in ecstasy. He lifted her a second time and she slid down so smoothly it took almost everything out of him. The third time was too much, before he realized what he was doing he was holding her hips in place as he pushed up into her, her head was buried against his neck as she made little simpering noises of pleasure. It was too much, much too much and suddenly he was spurting hot semen inside her.

  A few minutes later, she pulled back from him and looked directly at him. Her eyes were soft and drowsy, and the look on her face told Robert that he had achieved his goal, she’d had her release before he’d lost control.

  She kissed him before lying forward again. “I was thinking,” she said quietly, “if we are g
oing to have any kind of a future, we have both got to let go of the past.”

  He turned to see her face. “Do you think you can do that?”

  “We have to. I think if we’re going to do this it has to be all or nothing, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, I do.” He smiled, but some part of Robert was wondering if it were really possible. Could they really overcome all that had transpired before?

  Instead, he squeezed her thigh, just needing to touch her in that moment. “We’re going to make a great team, you know that?”

  She smiled in return. “We already are.”

  And she truly believed that until the next day, Christmas Eve, when she went into Robert’s room during the afternoon while he was in the office to leave him a small pre-Christmas-morning gift. It was a matching gown and boxing-short set decorated in reindeer and snowmen. It was completely corny and she knew he would love it.

  She planned for them to wear the set to bring in Christmas morning together. If anyone had told her a year ago that she would start Christmas day in Robert’s arms she would’ve laughed in their face. And yet, here she was fully intending to do just that.

  She tucked the box under his pillows and as she was turning to leave, a wisp of air blew an incoming fax onto the floor. She bent to pick it up to return it to the desktop when something caught her attention.

  As she stood reading the document, with every word her hopes and dreams of a future with Robert faded away. There was pain, there was sadness, but as she headed to the door still carrying the fax all that anguish turned into something else.

  Chapter 9

  With every step Diana could feel the fury growing in her chest. How dare he! Who did this man think he was? She pushed against the swinging door leading to the kitchen and ignored the stunned expression on Carol the cook’s face as she stormed down the back hall leading to the office.

  She threw open the door and Robert spun around from the file cabinet he was searching as the door slammed against the wall. His dark eyes took in Diana’s appearance with one sweep.

  She knew what she must look like standing there still in her robe and head wrap, but she didn’t give a damn. Yesterday she would’ve cared. Yesterday she would’ve been very conscientious about her appearance, wanting to look only her best in his presence, but this wasn’t yesterday and Robert was not the man she’d thought he was yesterday.

  “Something wrong?” he asked politely. You had to give the man credit, Diana thought, watching as he pushed the file drawer closed and crossed his arms over his chest. He stood there just patiently watching her, cool as an autumn breeze, as if he could not feel the murderous intent oozing from every pore of her skin. But she knew he could, because it was taking every ounce of strength she had to restrain the urge to strangle the life right out of him.

  She tossed the fax in his face. “Did you really think you were going to get away with this?”

  The thin sheet of paper floated soundlessly to the ground without so much as a glance from Robert. “What is going on with you?”

  Somehow his disinterest in the fax only enraged her more. “You backstabbing, conniving, son-of-a-bitch!” Diana knew she was screeching like a crazed banshee, but she had no choice. The change in her voice was the result of trying to hold back the flow of tears she could feel building up in her eyes.

  It happened so quickly, had she not been watching his expression so intently she could’ve missed it. First a brief flicker of recognition followed quickly by something that resembled pain, flashed in his dark eyes.

  Slowly, he bent and picked up the paper and quickly scanned it. “Oh…I see.” His dark eyes flashed to her face briefly. Then with a heavy sigh, he walked around the desk and plopped down into his chair.

  In her twenty-six years she’d never felt more betrayed than she did at that moment. Despite what the fax said, despite everything, some part of her still hoped, still believed he would deny the accusation. Some part of her wanted to believe it was all some kind of misunderstanding. But it wasn’t.

  She could see it in his eyes. Not guilt exactly, but a knowing, an understanding that was undeniable. “Oh? I see? That’s all you got?”

  He tossed the paper across the desk, and folded his arms across his chest. “What do you want me to say, Diana? I could try to explain, but it’s pretty obvious you’re in no mood to listen.”

  “Listen to what? More of your lies?”

  “See what I mean?”

  Her eyes widened in amazement. “I don’t believe you!” She shook her head in dumbfounded wonder. “You are some piece of work. You come waltzing in here in your two-thousand-dollar suits, and your secret plans, flashing cash at everyone including my brother—whom you tricked into selling to you, by the way. And now…somehow I’m the one being unfair!”

  Robert said nothing. He just watched her, his dark eyes revealing nothing of his thoughts, and Diana knew there would be no further explanations offered. Still, she had to ask. “Why, Robert? That’s all I want to know, why? Of all the inns you could’ve purchased, why did you have to come back here? Is this some kind of revenge for the way my father treated you because if it is…” She gestured around the room. “I don’t get it. He’s not here, the only people you are going to hurt with this are the people still here. Shawn, Oscar—” A thought occurred to her, and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

  Robert sat straight up in his chair. “What?”

  The past few weeks raced through her mind, but now those thoughts were peppered with this new knowledge and she began to see things in a new light. A frightening thought began to solidify into an insidious plan. It was hard to believe, but then again, the idea that he had come back after all this time with a plan to take over the inn was hard to believe, too. But it was the truth, and now she wondered…

  When she glanced back at Robert he was watching her face intently. “What are you thinking, Dee?”

  A dry chuckle slipped out. “I’m thinking what a little fool I’ve been.”

  Robert stood from his seat. “Hell, I knew I should’ve told you about this sooner, it just never seemed to be the right time.”

  “Of course not, didn’t want to ruin the plan by showing your hand too soon. But I have to give you credit, you got me. You got me good.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Slowly, he came around the desk toward her, but Diana stretched her arms out in front of her to ward him off. “All that talk about how Daddy wronged you, and you know what…I always bought it. Almost. And it was never about Daddy, was it?”

  She turned and started toward the door, but Robert beat her to it and leaned his heavy body against it so she could not open it.

  She pulled at the brass handle. “Get off the door, Robert! Move!”

  “No! Not until we talk this out. I admit, this is not the way I wanted it to come out, but now that it has we need to resolve this.” He reached for her arm, but she quickly shook him off.

  “Resolve what? You’ve had your little fun, you’ve gotten your revenge, congratulations—enjoy it while it lasts.” She released the handle and stepped closer to him, looking him directly in the eyes. “Because I plan to get a lawyer and sue your ass and I don’t care if I’m ninety and senile before it happens, but one way or another I am going to get La Bohemia back! Mark. My. Words.”

  “Diana, I’m not trying to take it away, only make it stronger, more capable of sustainability in an unstable marketplace.”

  Diana exploded in laughter. “Oh, my God! Are you actually trying that presentation B.S. on me, seriously? Who do you think you are dealing with here, Robert? This has nothing to do with sustainability in a shaky market or whatever the hell you said. This is about poor little Robert Fenton,” she said in a whiny voice. “And all the people who didn’t make him feel special as a child. Give me a break.” She huffed, and pointed a finger in his face. “You know what this really is, this is Carrie at her prom—and you’re Carrie.”

  “What t
he hell are you talking about?”

  “Carrie! The movie! And don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about because we watched it together.”

  Robert was frowning at her, his expression was slightly bemused. “Carrie…? You’re comparing me to Carrie?”

  “Except instead of telepathic powers, you’re using money to get revenge. You’re pissed because you had a lousy childhood and now you’re trying to get back at the people you think are responsible!”

  Robert studied her face for several long seconds. “And you think I consider you one of those people?”

  “Of course you do.”

  “Why would I?”

  “I don’t know! These are your twisted thoughts, not mine.”

  “But you were the best part of my childhood.”

  “Whatever. What did my father do that was so bad? Nothing! But it doesn’t stop you from hating him.”

  “He tried to ruin my life!”

  She snorted. “So, you say.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Now you don’t believe me?”

  “Of course not! Why should I?” She turned and stormed back to the desk and picked up the fax, shaking it in the air. “It’s pretty obvious you came here with one goal and everything else has been inconsequential.”

  “Not everything.” Their eyes met and what she saw there forced her to look away.

  The man was a master manipulator, Diana reminded herself, and she had better not forget that. Emotionally drained, she leaned against the edge of the desk and took a deep breath.

  As if he had been waiting for that cue, Robert locked the office door and walked back across the room toward her. “Okay, now it’s my turn.”

  Too tired to respond, Diana simply glared at him. He came forward and braced his hands on each side of her body and leaned in. Diana felt her heartbeat quicken at his nearness, the heat radiating off his body was sending tiny tendrils of warmth across the short distance separating them, straight to her center. She could smell his aftershave mixed with the faint smell of the bacon he’d had for breakfast. The strange combination was both arousing and comforting at the same time. After everything she’d just found out about him, she couldn’t believe she was still affected by him. Talk about unfair!