Christmas in the City II

by Samantha Chase

  Attributing the empty spaces to most businesses in the building being closed just like her office was, she walked inside and was surprised to hear a lot of voices in Hunter’s office. Looking around, she saw that the staff was having a holiday party. Feeling a little bit hurt he hadn’t asked her to come and join him, Lexi went in search of him.

  His assistant spotted her and waved her over. “Hi, Lexi! Hunter didn’t mention you were coming to the party!”

  “Um…yeah. I wasn’t supposed to. I had plans,” she lied. “But I got done early and thought I’d stop in. Is he around?”

  Janet Murphy was a sweet older woman who reminded Lexi of her own mom. Smiling, Janet looked around. “You know, I haven’t seen him in a little while. You’ll probably find him in his office. Do you know which one it is?”

  Nodding, Lexi wished Janet a Merry Christmas and made her way through the group toward Hunter’s office. His door was open and she heard voices coming from inside.

  “I expect you to do the right thing.”

  Susan Ashton.

  Lexi gasped silently and suddenly didn’t know what to do. Should she walk away? Go into the office? Ultimately, she opted to wait outside – and listen – because she had a feeling if she was ever going to feel confident in Hunter choosing her, she needed to hear how this conversation went down. As far as she knew, this was the first time Hunter and his mother had spoken since the party at her house.

  “You’ve already said that, Mother,” Hunter replied wearily. “And I already said I’d do it.”

  “I’m simply making sure,” Susan Ashton quipped. “You can understand why I’d feel the need to repeat myself. I won’t have a repeat of the fundraiser. Lucky for you the weather forced me to cancel or I would have been obligated to explain your absence. And God only knows what sort of gossip the catering staff spread around.”

  From her spot outside the office door, Lexi heard Hunter sigh.

  “Mother…”

  “You’ll do this and make it right,” Susan snapped, interrupting whatever it was that Hunter was going to say. “I’ll see you at six. You’ll be there, right?”

  “I said I would!” Hunter yelled and Lexi covered her mouth to muffle her own startled gasp. “As usual, you’re getting your way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

  Lexi had no doubt Susan was on her way out of the office and the last thing she wanted was to be seen so she quickly made her way toward the reception area and ran out the door. Deciding against waiting on the elevator, she took the stairs and practically sprinted down them, out of the building and back to the parking lot.

  At her truck, she finally stopped to catch her breath and think. Where was Hunter going? Was he going to invite her to go too?

  Her phone chimed with an incoming text from Hunter.

  Working late. Will see you tomorrow. H

  Her knees buckled and Lexi slid to the concrete. This was it. It was as if history was repeating itself. Eight years ago, Hunter had given her the brush off right before Christmas and here he was doing it again. When would she ever learn? Obviously they weren’t meant to be and she was stupid enough to let herself get caught up in the fantasy again – the one where it didn’t matter that he was from a wealthy family and she wasn’t.

  “Lesson learned,” she murmured, coming to her feet. Pulling open the door to the truck, she climbed in, started it up and immediately pulled out.

  It didn’t matter if the heat wasn’t on yet.

  Somehow she doubted she’d feel warm any time soon.

  ****

  Hunter was exhausted.

  And miserable.

  It was after ten and he was alone in his house for the first time in weeks and everything about it felt wrong. It was so damn…gray and lifeless. After practically living at Lexi’s house, he now saw how much was lacking in his life. But hopefully all that was going to change. He looked over at the pile of wrapped gifts on his dining room table and smiled. Lexi had no idea he’d gone shopping and he couldn’t wait to surprise her.

  Yawning, he padded into his kitchen and groaned when he looked in his refrigerator and saw there was nothing edible in there except a beer. Grabbing it, he slammed the door shut and went into the living room and collapsed on the couch.

  He’d lied to Lexi about having to work. It was for a good reason but…it still didn’t sit right with him. All night he longed to see her face and hear her voice but there hadn’t been time.

  Liar.

  True, he could have called her from the car but he was dealing with his own frustration and didn’t want her to have to hear him like that. Knowing it wasn’t too late and that Lexi tended to stay up until after eleven, he decided to call her. His spirits began to pick up as he listened to the phone ring. And ring. And ring.

  “Hey, it’s Lexi! Leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you!”

  Damn. “Hey, beautiful. I was missing you. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. How about I bring breakfast?” He paused. “Call me, okay? Bye.”

  Placing his phone down, Hunter couldn’t help but wonder where Lexi was and what she was doing. They’d talked this morning about having dinner together and he knew he was the one who flaked but…he figured she’d still be home. And she never did respond to his text.

  Dread settled like a big ball of lead in the pit of his stomach.

  Maybe he was simply overreacting or being paranoid. After all, it wasn’t as if Lexi knew he’d lied about tonight and where he was going.

  Just the thought of his mother made him grind his teeth. It was always one more thing, one more obligation. Although, after tonight he figured that wasn’t going to happen again. He was free. And he couldn’t wait to share the news with Lexi.

  And then it hit him.

  He couldn’t wait to share it with Lexi.

  “What the hell am I waiting around here for?” he asked himself as he jumped to his feet. Placing the unopened beer on the coffee table, Hunter walked into his bedroom and threw a couple of things into an overnight bag and then hauled it and all of Lexi’s gifts out to his car. As he closed the trunk, he noticed a few snowflakes were beginning to fall and it made him happy.

  “A white Christmas, Lexi and damn if I don’t feel merry,” he said as he climbed into his car. Within twenty minutes he was pulling up in front of Lexi’s house.

  Lexi’s dark house.

  What the…?

  He got out of the car and went to the door. Her car was in the driveway so he knew she had to be there. Knocking on the door, he called out to her. “Lexi? It’s Hunter,” he said and then mentally chided himself for sounding like an idiot. “Come on, Lex. I know you’re here.”

  The porch light went on and she opened the door and looked…sad. Concern for her had him by the throat. “Are you all right?” he asked, scanning her for any sign of injury or illness or…anything.

  “What are you doing here, Hunter?” she asked, her voice void of emotion.

  He smiled at her. “I missed you. I didn’t want to wait until the morning. I called you and left you a message but…I wanted to see you.”

  Lexi sighed and seemed to look everywhere but directly at him. “Look, Hunter…um…”

  He knew that whatever she was about to say wasn’t going to be good. “Lex, come on. Let me in. Tell me what’s going on. Why aren’t the Christmas lights on?”

  She stiffened as she stepped out onto the porch – not a good sign as far as he was concerned – and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I came by your office today,” she stated.

  “You did? When? Where was I?” And just as it hit him, she was talking again.

  “You were in your office caving to your mother. Again. You were having a party in the office and no one was working late the day before Christmas Eve and yet you texted me to tell me you had to work late. And…you never mentioned having a party at the office. So as far as I’m concerned, that’s two lies, Hun
ter. Not that I particularly care about the party, but the other? Um, yeah. That’s a biggie to me.”

  He sighed and scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “Okay, let me explain…”

  “You know what? I’m good. Thanks,” she said sarcastically. “Apparently this is your thing.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means that leading me on and having a little fun for a few weeks is what you do. It just happens to suck that you chose to do it again right before Christmas.” She took a step away from him and then spun back. “Dammit, Hunter! I trusted you!”

  “And you can trust me! I swear! I…” He muttered a curse and realized she was looking at him with disbelief and a hint of disgust. Sighing with resignation. “I didn’t have to work late tonight.”

  “I know,” she snapped.

  He sighed again. “Can we please go inside? Five minutes, Lexi. Please. And then – if you still want – I’ll leave.”

  She studied him for a long moment and Hunter was almost positive she was going to tell him to leave now.

  “Fine,” she said quietly. Walking past him, she went into the house, sat on the sofa and simply waited for him.

  Closing the door behind him, he walked into the room and stood a few feet away from where she sat. “I don’t know how much of the conversation with my mother you heard,” he began, “but I know none of it was good.”

  Lexi stared at him defiantly.

  “My company is mine. I’ll admit my parents backed me financially in the beginning but basically it’s all mine. Every once in a while, however, they like to come around and make demands on how things should be done and remind me of how I wouldn’t even have this company if it weren’t for them.”

  Nothing.

  Sliding his hands into his pockets, Hunter began to pace. “So that’s what today’s visit was about. My mother wanted me to hire her friend’s son and give him an executive level position. She played the financial backing card and – at the time? Back when they gave me the startup capital? It was a gift. At least…that’s what they’d said. I had no idea it would keep being an issue.”

  Looking at Lexi, he saw the same expression on her face.

  “Anyway, she was having those friends and their son over for dinner and wanted me to be there to make the job offer. She was badgering me about it and yes, I caved and told her I’d go.”

  Lexi opened her mouth to say something but immediately closed it.

  “I knew what I had to do and…I had to do it on my own. I didn’t want to bring you with me and have anything happen like what happened at the fundraiser. I didn’t want to put you in that position again – to have to be in my mother’s company and have her talk down to you.”

  This time when he looked at her, she looked a little less guarded.

  “I spent the afternoon with my accountant and then had to go over to the bank and let me tell you, the day before Christmas is not the best time to try to make such life-changing financial decisions.” He paused and stepped in close to her and then crouched down in front of her. Placing his hands on the sofa on either side of her, it was almost painful to not touch her.

  “I went to my parents’ house tonight and in front of their friends, I handed them a check for what they had initially given me, plus interest, and told them to stay out of and away from my business from now on. And then I left.”

  Lexi’s eyes were wide but she remained silent.

  He expected her to congratulate him or at the very least, tell him she understood. But the longer she remained silent, Hunter came to realize he’d done nothing to earn her trust – or her praise. He’d screwed up eight years ago and he screwed up again tonight. Looking around her darkened house – one that had been lit up and festive for weeks – showed him what he’d done to her.

  Again.

  She didn’t deserve this. Or someone like him who was capable of hurting her like this.

  Standing, he murmured, “I’ll be right back.”

  Seven

  Lexi sat there in stunned silence and wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. He lied to her. Again. He hurt her. Again. And even though Hunter explained why he did it, she just wasn’t sure she could risk it all again. The pain was still too fresh. Too raw.

  Outside, she heard a car door shut and she wondered if he was going to leave. Then the front door opened and she looked up as Hunter walked back in, looking solemn. He stood in front of her and held out a small wrapped box. She looked up at him and then at the gift. The wrapping was wrinkled and looked worn and…

  “I bought this for you eight years ago,” he said quietly. “I kept it all this time.” He paused and Lexi saw him swallow hard. “The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you, Lex, and yet it seems like it’s the only thing I keep doing. I hate myself for that and I’m so sorry.”

  She was about to tell him she understood why he’d done what he did when he bent down and kissed her on the cheek and put the small box in her hand.

  “Merry Christmas, Lexi,” he said, his voice low and gruff. Then he straightened and walked out.

  For a minute she was too stunned to speak, to move. Looking at the gift in her hand, she knew she had to see what was inside. Ripping the paper off, she opened the velvet box and gasped. Nestled inside was a vintage style ring in white gold with a magnificent ruby in the center – her birthstone. It was beautiful. It was the most exquisite thing anyone had ever given her.

  Jumping up, Lexi ran out the door toward Hunter’s car as he was starting to pull out of the driveway. She banged on the hood to get his attention and then ran around to the driver’s side. He immediately opened the door and climbed out.

  Her heart was racing like mad. “Why did you save it?”

  “Because I bought it for you. I always wanted you to have it,” he said softly. “I couldn’t bring myself to take it back.” He shrugged. “I guess I thought…someday…”

  Beside them the car was running and the headlights were shining on the house and all Lexi knew was that she didn’t want to be standing out in the cold having this conversation. Reaching for his hand, she took it in hers and squeezed it. “Park the car and come back inside. Please.”

  His expression was pained. “I don’t think I should…”

  She couldn’t help but grin at him. “Oh…you totally should.” And then she stepped back and waited for him to move the car and climb back out. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he had an overnight bag tossed in the backseat and before he could lock the car, she reached in and grabbed it and led the way back into the house.

  Two minutes later, they were back inside and she was turning on the Christmas lights and the tree. Then she turned toward Hunter and motioned to the box she’d left on her end table. “Tell me about the ring.”

  He looked a little sheepish. “Do you like it?”

  “Hunter…I love it. It’s so much more than any gift I’ve ever received. I don’t know what to say.”

  He reached over and picked up the box, then gently took the ring out and held it out to her. “Say thank you and that when you wear it, you’ll think of me.”

  Blushing, she held out her hand and positioned it so Hunter could place the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. He didn’t let go of her hand. Instead, he pulled her in close.

  “Thank you,” she said softly, her eyes never leaving his. “I can’t believe you held on to it all this time.”

  “I’m glad I finally got to put it on your finger.” He looked at her hand and touched the ring. “I wanted to do that so badly all those years ago. I had it all worked out in my head how I was going to do it.”

  Shaking her head, Lexi placed a finger over his lips to stop him. “What you did just now? That was the perfect way to do it. None of what happened in the past matters. What we have right now? It’s everything.”

  “You’re everything,” he said huskily. “I love you, Lexi. I always have and I always will.”

/>   “Hunter Ashton, I fell in love with you when I was seventeen and I never stopped either. I’m so happy you’re here with me. But…”

  “But?”

  “But…” she repeated. “You need to be honest with me. No more lying – even when you think it’s for my own good. And from now on, we’ll deal with your parents – your mother – together. We’re a team.”

  His smile was brilliant and it made her heart skip a beat. “Sweetheart, we’re a team no matter who we’re dealing with and I promise you right here, right now, no one is going to get between us ever again.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” she said.

  “And I’m going to hold you forever,” he said right before he bent his head and captured her lips with his.

  Epilogue

  One year later…

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  With a final glance around, Lexi nodded. “I’m sure.”

  “Because it’s not too late. We can totally cancel.”

  With narrowed eyes, she looked at Hunter. “Are you sure that you’re ready for this? Because it seems like you’re having some issues.”

  “It’s just…well…I’ve never done this before. It feels…weird. I’m not even sure of what I’m supposed to do.”

  Laughing softly, she moved in close to him and kissed him. “You’re supposed to smile and have fun and enjoy yourself. And then, a little later on, you hand out presents.”

  Now it was his turn to narrow his gaze at her. “That sounds too easy. Isn’t there some sort of schedule? I mean…what’s the plan here?”

  Now she was really laughing. “There’s no plan! It’s Christmas Eve and we’re hosting our families! It’s going to be fine.”

  “Easy for you to say,” he murmured. “The Ashtons have never had fun during the holidays.”

  “And I think it’s about time they learned,” she countered. “And really, they did fine at Thanksgiving. Your dad even carved the turkey himself.”

  “With the help of the caterer…”