Once Upon a Holiday

by Beverly Jenkins

  There was a long pregnant pause that had Monty fearing the answer.

  Finally, she gave a half laugh and shook her head. “That’s a ridiculous question.” She turned and climbed out of bed.

  He sat up. “Is it?”

  “Of course it is.” She headed to the bathroom and shut the door as if that meant it was the end of discussion.

  Monty stared at the door, a bit shocked at her abrupt behavior. The shower was turned on, and he climbed out of bed with the thought of joining her—but was thrown a monkey wrench when he discovered that she had locked the door. “What the hell?” He knocked on the door and grew frustrated when, instead of letting him in, she started singing in the shower.

  He walked down the hall to the guest room and used its adjoining shower. The whole time he was in there he couldn’t fight the feeling that while he’d come to jump-start their marriage, she had come to end it.

  An hour later, she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and smiling as if she hadn’t just walked out the moment they were about to start arguing. He sat on the edge of the bed with a small golden box, complete with a red bow, sitting on his lap.

  “What’s that?” she asked, stopping in the center of the room.

  Monty, still a bit annoyed, looked up and locked gazes with her. “It’s one of your Christmas gifts.”

  Her smile lit up the room. “Are we exchanging those now? I have yours down in the—”

  “Later. I really want you to open this one right now.”

  She looked at him oddly. “Oookay.” She walked over to the bed and sat next to him. He handed the box over and watched her hesitate before opening it. Finally, she took the plunge and ripped off the wrapping and lifted the top off the box. What she found inside caused her brows to dip with confusion. “A key?”

  “A key to our future.”

  She cocked her head. “I don’t understand.”

  He smiled. “Then maybe I should show you.” Twenty minutes later, he pulled his black Mercedes up into the driveway of a stunning two million dollar estate.

  He was incredibly nervous.

  She was remarkably silent.

  That is until he opened the door to their new house with the key from the golden box.

  “You bought a house?”

  “Surprise!”

  But there was no squeal of excitement, hugs or even showers of kisses. Instead the woman he’d hoped to build his life with simply turned to him and said, “I want a divorce.”

  Monty stared at her. Either he couldn’t or didn’t want to believe he’d heard her correctly. Then again, hadn’t he sort of expected this?

  “Why?” he asked in a low whisper.

  Candy slapped a hand against her forehead and started pacing in a small circle. “Do you really have to ask that question? I mean, we hardly know each other.”

  His groomed brows jumped up in amusement.

  “I mean other than…sexually,” she clarified.

  Monty crossed his arms. “It certainly isn’t because of my lack of trying.”

  “That’s just it. Why are you trying sooo hard?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Candy huffed out an impatient breath. “I mean…what we did was really…really stupid. Hell, I’m not even sure that our marriage is even legal.”

  Monty stepped back. She was unloading an awful lot on him right now and he wasn’t a man accustomed to rejection.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she said after a long beat of silence.

  “And for a whole year you couldn’t find the time?” He tried to keep his tone on an even keel despite the fact that he could feel his temperature rising by the second. He had never spent so much time trying to seduce, charm and romance a woman in all his life. What on earth did it take to win this woman’s heart?

  Candy drew a deep breath. “I was hoping you would…”

  “What? Pick up on the hint?”

  She dropped her head. “Something like that.”

  Monty took another step back and shook his head. “Well, maybe I did. And maybe I’m just a crazy, hopeless romantic who was hoping that I could convince you to change your mind.”

  She looked at him as if he was crazy.

  “C’mon,” he said, his confidence slowly returning. “Sure we met under unusual circumstances and maybe it was crazy to get married in Bora-Bora by, admittedly, a questionable pastor, but you can’t tell me that you regret it. I won’t believe you.”

  “I was drunk out of my mind,” she insisted.

  “And the weekend getaways since then? Hawaii, Aspen and St. Lucia?” She hesitated and he knew that he had his answer. His eyes fell to her long neck where he could see her fast heartbeat. Buh-bump. Buh-bump.

  Candy continued to shake her head. “Look. It will never work. I—I’m not even sure I believe in marriage.”

  “What?”

  “You’ll never understand.”

  He frowned. “Have you been married before?”

  “No. But…you’d have to have been living under a rock for the past few decades not to know that marriages don’t work anymore. Someone always leaves or cheats or just betrays the other person. And usually it’s the man!”

  “Excuse me?”

  “It won’t work—okay?” She glanced around the large home. “We should’ve just left it at sex. Anything outside of that gets too complicated.”

  “So you were just looking for a boy toy?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You’re not really saying that much,” he charged back. His irritation started bubbling up again.

  Tears started to glisten in Candy’s eyes as if she was fighting some inner war with herself. “You shouldn’t have bought this place like this. You should’ve consulted me.” She sniffed and continued to shake her head. “I can’t move here. Did you think I was just going to give up my life…my career and blindly move down here…and what—become a housewife?”

  “Fine. I’ll move to New York.”

  “No. I’m not asking you to do that.”

  “I’m offering.”

  “Just…stop.” She held her hands up and stepped back as though his mere presence was making it difficult for her to think.

  He decided right then and there that he liked it better when she wasn’t thinking. He smiled. “Look, Candy. It doesn’t matter how or where we met. The only thing that matters is how we feel about each other.” Monty walked back over to her. “How we met wasn’t an accident. It was destiny.” He gathered her into his arms and waited until her watery gaze met his before he slowly lowered his head.

  Encouraged that she didn’t pull away, Monty dipped his tongue in between her cherry-flavored lips and slid his arms around her curvy hips. She felt so good in his arms that nothing on earth would ever be able to convince him that she didn’t belong there. His heart took flight when Candy’s arm slid around his neck and pulled him even closer. The sparks that had always been there from the beginning were once again shooting all over the place. Once again they were swept into a passion that neither one of them could explain or could stop.

  In the empty foyer of their new house, they tore at each other’s clothes. And in no time at all, Monty had his wife—legitimate or not—naked on their new hardwood floor in the “side wind-her” position. A wonderful pose that had Candy lying on her side with her left leg raised over Monty’s shoulder while he straddled her bottom thigh and hugged her calf that lay across his chest as he entered her. Once he was in deep, he wound and whirled his hips.

  With each thrust, he discovered a new pleasure zone that kept them both on the edge of ecstasy. He started kissing her calves and then behind her knees. She grew so wet, she felt like a giant water slide. But he continued to stroke slow and deep in between her smooth and warm walls.

  Panting heavily, Candy got in on the act by dipping her fingers between her open legs and started twirling her fingers around her clit. Faster and faster her fingers whirled, causing her body to start trembling unco
ntrollably. Holding her steady gaze, Monty reached for her honey-coated hands and slipped them into his mouth where he proceeded to suck and lick them clean.

  Candace’s walls started tightening and Monty’s eyes started to roll to the back of his head. He lowered her leg and turned her body into a straight missionary position. “You belong to me,” he gasped against the shell of her ear. “We belong together.” He was sure that he was getting through to her, if the tears that were sliding down the corners of her eyes were any indication.

  Monty wasn’t young or even naive. He knew that much of what Candy had said to him was the truth. And it wasn’t as if there was any shortage of women that vied for his attention. And in the past he had definitely had had his fun. But there came a time in every man’s life when he had to put away childish things and become a man. For him that time had come the night he met his wife. There was just something about the woman in his arms that monopolized his thoughts and kept his body in constant longing.

  “Oh, Monty,” she whispered, rolling her head back and thrusting her large breasts toward his hungry mouth. He sucked, nibbled and tugged on her dime-size nipples and then watched as she wiggled and squirmed. A few minutes later, he was entering her from behind. Candy released a long satisfying moan as his hands anchored on to her hips and he started hammering his way into her lower belly.

  Monty hissed and moaned at the feel of her vaginal muscles tightening around him and then a few seconds later they started trembling violently. She could hardly catch her breath, and before they knew it they were calling out each other’s names as a powerful orgasm overtook them and shook them to their core.

  Spent and satisfied, they lay in each others arms with Monty peppering kisses across her collarbone and then down her shoulders. “We belong together.”

  It was a nice Christmas, but by New Year’s, his elusive wife was gone—again.

  But this time, Monty followed her…all the way to Nu4us.

  “Your dinner, monsieur.” His waiter placed his prime Angus rib eye in front of him with a smile. “Will there be anything else, sir?”

  “No. Everything looks fine. Merci.”

  The waiter bobbed his head and drifted off.

  Just when Montel was about to turn his attention to his delicious-looking meal, he saw Candy stroll into the restaurant’s door. As usual, she was stunning, even in a pair of basic black slacks and a red turtleneck. He was sure that he wasn’t the only one who thought so either, judging by the number of men’s heads that swiveled in her direction.

  He waited, and eventually her gaze found his from across the room. For a long moment, they just stared at one another. And when the hostess approached, Candace surprised him by pointing toward him before heading his way.

  “Mind if I join you?” she asked, gesturing to the empty seat across from him.

  “Of course not.”

  She took a deep breath and then pulled out the chair. The moment her butt hit the chair, his waiter reappeared and asked for her drink order. “The pinot noir will be fine.”

  “But of course, mademoiselle.” He tilted his head and then drifted off again.

  “It’s nice of you to join me,” Montel said, slicing a piece of his rib eye.

  “Well, if I recall, neither one of us likes to eat alone.”

  One side of his lips kicked up. “Sure.” He stabbed a piece of meat and then offered it up to her. “Would you like to try a bite?”

  “No. I’m not that hungry.” On cue, her stomach roared like a lion gaining ground on a wildebeest.

  Montel’s brows crashed together while he tried to hold back his laughter.

  “All right,” she said, exhaling. “Maybe I’ll just have a little bite.” She leaned forward and plucked the meat off the end of his fork with her teeth and proceeded to moan as she chewed.

  “I take it it’s good.” He sawed off another slice and offered it to her again. This time, she didn’t put up a fake protest and accepted the succulent strip of meat with another moan.

  Montel smiled as he watched her eat. The last time he fed her like this was with strawberries and in front of a fireplace. “So are we going to call it a truce this evening?”

  Her brown eyes fluttered up to him. “I guess I can put away my claws for one evening.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He offered her another slice.

  Candy accepted it with a smile. “It doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook. I still intend on landing this account tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure you do.” He reached for his whiskey sour and stared at her over the rim of his glass.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Now who’s lying?” she challenged.

  Their waiter returned. “Your wine, mademoiselle? Have you had a chance to look at our menu?”

  “Uh, thank you, but I think I’ll just order what he’s having.”

  “Of course.” The waiter disappeared again.

  “Now, what were you thinking so hard about?” she tried again.

  “Nothing you want to hear,” he tried again. His gaze drifted from her eyes down to the column of her neck.

  “Stop,” she said. “Don’t do that.”

  His smile returned. “As you wish.”

  Candace took a deep breath. “Look. It’s no secret that I’m physically attracted to you.”

  “You don’t say.”

  “But that’s it, Monty. Outside of the bedroom we have very little in common.”

  He laughed. “You don’t really believe that. We’re both competitive and ambitious. We both love to dance, gamble, ski, surf and even have a soft spot for strawberries.”

  She blinked at him.

  “Should I continue?” When she continued to gape, he added, “Every morning you have to have a tall half-skinny, half-one percent extra hot split quad shot—two shots of espresso, two shots regular latte with whipped cream. You love your family, though you think they’re dysfunctional. You’ve never forgiven your father for leaving, and every night you like to read a couple of chapters of the latest, greatest romance novel before falling asleep.”

  Candace still stared at him.

  “What? Some men listen.”

  “Your dinner, mademoiselle.” Her waiter reappeared and set her food down. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  She shook her head and continued to stare at the man across from her.

  “Aren’t you going to say something?” he prodded.

  “Yeah. You never cease to amaze me.”

  He licked his lips again. “That should be a good thing.”

  Chapter 10

  Dinner was wonderful.

  Candace and Montel fell into easy conversation and for a while it felt as if they were once again away on one of those many weekend getaways that they used to do in the first year of their dubious marriage. And after a couple glasses of wine, Candy’s gaze warmed and she started regretting her declaration of never sleeping with him again. Hell, it was the Christmas holidays and technically they were approaching their second year anniversary of their legally uncertain marriage.

  At least she thought it wasn’t legit.

  “So? This is your room?” Montel asked, stopping at her door while she searched for her key.

  “Yes it is,” she answered, smiling up at him.

  “You know, you could invite me in for a nightcap. I won’t tell anyone.” He placed a hand against the door frame over her head and smiled down at her. “I’m really good at keeping a secret.”

  “That, Mr. Starks, you are. I have to hand it to you. You had me on pins and needles all year, wondering when you were going to tell everyone at Nu4us that we were married.”

  “Something tells me that wouldn’t have gone over too well.”

  “You’re right. I probably would’ve killed you.”

  He laughed. “Well, since I’m partial to breathing it’s a good thing I kept my mouth shut.” He brushed his hand under her chin. “But I’m still hoping t
hat you’ll come around.”

  Candace’s heart squeezed at the hope shining in his eyes. And for a brief moment, it almost rubbed off on her. “Good night,” she whispered.

  Montel quirked up a brow. “Are you sure?”

  No. “Yes.” She bobbed her head, and to make sure that she didn’t change her mind, she turned around and slipped her key into the lock.

  “’Night,” he said, backing away from the door as she hurried inside.

  “Good night.” With a final smile, she shut the door and then pressed her body against it. After several deep breaths, she tried to shake all thoughts of Montel out of her head and tried to get ready for bed.

  “Do you love him?”

  It was the last thing that drifted across her mind before she fell asleep and the first thing when she woke up the next morning. By the time she was getting ready for Anderson Vytex’s Christmas party, she was sick of hearing the question. However, the answer had a hard time cresting her lips because it made no logical sense—why or how could she be in love? She had met a man during a wild time in Bora-Bora—a weekend where she’d let her hair down and acted like the complete opposite of the no-nonsense, take-charge woman that had kept her at the top of her profession. She’d gambled away a fortune, danced on top of tables and slept with someone she hardly knew on the first night and then hours later…married him.

  So how in the hell could she truly be in love?

  Sure, Christmas Day was technically their second anniversary and she had a whole year to make good on her promise to file for divorce. But the truth of the matter was that she couldn’t bring herself to actually file the papers. And Montel knew it. He sensed it. That was the whole reason behind him dropping his life in Atlanta and following her to New York. Maybe she could have handled it if he’d stopped at just that. But to then take a job at her company and proceed to try and take away something that she had spent a lifetime trying to build? How could she ever forgive that?

  And still I haven’t filed for divorce.

  Candace stared at her reflection again, hoping upon hope that the image staring back at her in the mirror would answer this complex question for her. The morning after their five-minute wedding ceremony on the beach of Bora-Bora, she had thought the simple fix would have been just to get their marriage annulled. But when Monty had awakened that morning smiling at her like she was the most beautiful and precious thing in the world—the words had just gotten stuck in her throat.