Once Upon a Holiday

by Beverly Jenkins

  Candace’s usual no-nonsense attitude had failed her. Days later, she had practically run to New York, telling Monty that she needed time to break the news to her family, friends and even business associates that she was a married woman. But once she’d arrived home, she’d fallen back into her old workaholic habits and couldn’t admit to doing something that was so illogical and foolish to anyone. She had promised herself that the next time she talked to her husband that she would just tell him the real deal and request a divorce.

  That was the plan.

  Sticking to the plan was another story.

  Every time Monty had called or tried to meet her, she had come up with excuses or exaggerated her work schedule. The times she had agreed to meet him for weekend getaways, she had fully intended to tell Monty that she wanted an annulment or a divorce. But each time she saw him and each time she was locked in his arms, reason and logic were no longer a part of her vocabulary or thinking.

  Montel Starks had a way of bringing out another side of her that she wasn’t so willing to let go. With him, she was uninhibited, wild and sexy.

  But was she in love?

  It was a hell of a question to be asking oneself after two years of marriage, but here she was—staring at herself in the mirror and wondering why, with such a desperate shortage of good men, was she trying her level best to get rid of the one she’d snagged by accident.

  Because all men leave—maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually they all do. Hadn’t she witnessed that with her own father and the countless number of men in her and her girlfriends’ past?

  And yet…none of it felt true when it came to Montel Starks. The man was relentless and stubborn if nothing else. Their battle at Nu4us for the past year in some weird way showed her that he would stop at nothing to win her back. She kept running and he kept chasing.

  But was she making the biggest mistake of her life by refusing to admit that maybe, just maybe, she couldn’t control everything? While still staring at her reflection in the mirror, Candace pulled on the thin chain around her neck and pulled up the simple gold band that Monty had purchased at a casino shop in Bora-Bora. She remembered being giddy as a teenager when he had slipped it onto her finger. It was either that or one too many tequila sunrises.

  It wasn’t much—a simple band with a small cut diamond…but she kind of loved it. But did she love him?

  Yes. Candace closed her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “Damn.” She turned away from the mirror and marched out of the bathroom. She couldn’t deal with any of this right now. She had a Christmas party to crash.

  It was easier than she expected. Outside the main atrium of the hotel, employees and party guests were laughing and drinking in beautiful gowns and tuxedos. Christmas classics were being played on the piano by a handsome player in black tuxedo tails. Waiters and waitresses floated through the crowd with trays of hor d’oeuvres and tall flutes of champagne.

  The mood was light and joyous. Candace put on her best smile and put her head into the game. The faster she cornered and gave her little pitch to Walter Anderson, the better. She glided through the crowd in a soft peach-colored gown with straps around her arms instead of her shoulder. The gentle draping flowed with soft waves from just below her breasts to around her curvy hips. Her long, firm legs were showcased by the long split on the side of her gown as she walked.

  Men paused. Their heads and gazes tracked her while she moved through clusters of people to the open bar. Lord knew that she needed a drink. Bad. She ordered a Caipirinha in perfect French, smiled and then swept her gaze around the crowd.

  “Bonsoir.”

  Candace turned toward the whiskey voice and saw that it belonged to a long-haired blonde with the most startling pair of blue eyes she’d ever seen. “Bonsoir,” she responded in kind.

  They fell into easy, flirtatious conversation. The handsome Parisian praised her beauty and seemed downright fascinated by her smooth, ebony skin. She blushed and batted her eyes prettily before asking whether he’d seen Walter Anderson anywhere. It was sad to say that she didn’t even know what the elusive and eccentric billionaire looked like. The man avoided having his picture taken like the plague.

  “I don’t see him around,” the man said. “But I’m sure that he’ll be along shortly.”

  Candace nodded and went back to flirting outrageously. That is until the energy in the room shifted and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She, like most of the women in the room, turned her head. Sure enough, Montel strolled into the crowd looking like a chocolate god in his black tuxedo. She watched him effortlessly turn on the charm and melt into the crowd.

  She tried to pull her eyes away when a bevy of women started laughing around him.

  “A friend of yours?” her whiskey-voiced friend asked.

  “No. Not exactly,” she said, finally returning her attention to the friendly Frenchman. “I’m sorry, Didier, what did you say you did at Anderson Vytex?”

  “Actually, I’m the vice president,” he boasted with a widening smile. “My father owns the company.”

  “Oh…is that right?” She eased up closer to him. “So you’re Didier Anderson?”

  “Yes, my father owns the company—for now. I believe that he’ll be announcing his retirement this evening.”

  That news shocked her, and clearly it was written on her face.

  “Don’t worry. I promise not to run my father’s company into the ground.”

  Candace couldn’t believe her luck. “I’m sure you’ll be great.”

  Didier inched closer himself. “I hope so. I have some rather big shoes to fill, but I think I’m ready to prove that I’m up for the job.” He reached for his drink on the bar. “Now. About you. I don’t recall ever meeting you before. Which department do you work in?”

  “Oh, well…I don’t exactly work for Vytex,” she admitted.

  Didier cocked his head. “Then you’re here as someone’s date? I should have known that someone as beautiful as you couldn’t be here alone.”

  “No—”

  “You would be right about that,” Montel said, sliding up behind Candace and wrapping his arm around her waist.

  Candace’s smile melted off her face. She turned, but before she could scold or level an angry glare in Montel’s direction, he pressed a kiss against her full lips.

  “Hey, honey. Sorry, I’m late.” He placed another kiss against the tip of her nose before shifting his attention to Didier and thrusting out a hand. “Thanks for keeping my wife company.”

  Didier’s surprised gaze shot back to Candace. “Not a problem. It’s been my pleasure. Excuse me, won’t you?” With a final smile, he turned and drifted back into the crowd.

  “Wait, Monsieur Anderson—” But he was gone. She whipped back around to her smiling husband. “Do you know who that was?”

  “I gather Monsieur Anderson.” He looked toward the bartender. “A whiskey sour, please.”

  “Right. Walter Anderson’s son. I was just seconds away from—oh, never mind.” She grabbed her own drink and tossed it back like a seasoned sailor. “If you think you’re going to snatch this account out from under me, you have another thing coming.”

  One side of Montel’s lips kicked up. “C’mon. You know the real reason I’m here.” The bartender handed him his drink.

  She stretched up a single brow.

  “It’s all about you, baby. It’s always been all about you.” He held up his glass in a silent toast before draining the contents in one long gulp. He seemed tense—edgy. Maybe he hadn’t liked sleeping alone last night.

  Her gaze narrowed as she picked up his somber tone. “Now what was that supposed to mean?”

  “C’mon, Candy. Let’s stop playing games. I’m practically at the end of my rope here. You say ‘jump’ and I say ‘how high.’ I honestly don’t know how much more of this bullshit I can take.”

  “Finally, you’ve come to your senses.” she quipped, but immediately regretted it after the look he shot h
er.

  “Yeah, finally.” He stood there for a moment longer, gazing into her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time.” He surprised her by placing a kiss against the corner of her lips. “Goodbye, Candy.” He pressed something into her hand.

  Candace’s brows crashed together as she watched Montel turn and thread back through the crowd. Unaccustomed to Montel retreating in the middle of a perfectly good argument, she actually stood there waiting for him to turn back around to finish what they’d started. However, the more distance he stretched between them, the more nervous she became. If he looked back, everything was going be okay, she told herself. She waited and waited. When he came close to disappearing from sight, she started mentally willing and then pleading for him to turn around.

  He never did. She glanced down and opened her hand. Her vision blurred at seeing the simple gold band she’d given him on their wedding night.

  “That didn’t look like that went too well.”

  Candace jumped and then glanced to her right. Her Santa Claus look-alike stood next to her with a solemn smile. “Ah. It’s you again.”

  His smile broadened. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

  “No. No. I didn’t mean it like that.” She flashed him a smile and then glanced back over her shoulder to see if she could still see Montel. When Candace realized he was gone, her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach and tears stung the back of her eyes.

  He’s just…testing you. She nodded at that logic. It was exactly something he would do: trick her into chasing after him—just so he could prove a point.

  “Are you sure you’re making the right decision?” her jolly friend asked.

  “I’m not sure of anything anymore,” she answered under her breath.

  “Too bad. Because it’s clear that man was definitely crazy about you.”

  Candace closed her eyes and shook her head. “It would’ve never worked out. I would’ve…messed it up somehow. I mean…more than I already have.”

  Her Santa Claus chuckled at her. “I knew that you loved him.”

  She closed her eyes and then turned to look at him. “And how did you know that?”

  He reached up and touched her slender neck. “I can see your heart beating whenever you look at him.”

  Buh-bump. Buh-bump.

  Those hot tears that she had been struggling to keep in check finally burst through the wall that she’d spent a lifetime building and rushed over her mascara-coated lashes. “Could you excuse me, um…I don’t think I ever caught your name.”

  “Walter. Walter Anderson.” He thrust out his hand. “Nice to officially meet you.”

  Candace blinked and then laughed at the situation. “It’s nice to meet you, Walter. But…I really have to go.”

  Walter winked. “I completely understand. Good luck and Merry Christmas.”

  Candace kissed Walter’s cheek. “Merry Christmas.” She smiled and took off after her man.

  She just hadn’t planned on him already being checked out of the hotel.

  Chapter 11

  A giddy Georgine raced through the Christmas-decorated office of Nu4us in her favorite Prada heels and her staple tight pencil skirt. “He’s back. He’s back,” she announced to the ladies in their cubicles.

  In sync the women whipped out their compact mirrors, added swaths of lipstick, checked to make sure that their various hair-dos were picture perfect. Some even added a spritz of perfume, if need be. A split second later, a ding from the elevator bay had them all scrambling to put their mirrors and cosmetics away and then cast their eyes toward the opening elevator doors in time to see their early morning attraction.

  Montel Starks lifted his head and strolled into the office dressed in a sharp royal blue suit that fit his frame to an absolutely perfect tee. The man’s effortless sophistication still made head swirls, hearts flutter and moisten the panties of most of the supermajority female staff. But there was something different about him this time. Sure, he was still the definition of fine, but there was a melancholy air about him as walked down the aisle.

  When it was clear that he wasn’t about to offer his regular greeting, the women looked to each other and then chorused first, “Morning, Montel.”

  “Morning,” he mumbled and kept moving toward his office.

  “I wonder what’s wrong with him?” Vicki asked, creeping out of her chair.

  “I’d say that things didn’t go so well with him and the missus in Paris.”

  “We don’t know if they’re still married,” Mia said, appearing at her best friend’s side. “I’m willing to bet that they’re divorced or something. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “Uh-huh.” Vicki rolled her eyes. “Is that a real bet?”

  “I’ll put five on that,” Chanel said, from across the cubicle aisle.

  “I got five,” Sandy, a few cubicles over, piped up. Soon a group of about twenty were huddled around Vicki’s desk as she took bets for the next office pool.

  The elevator dinged again, and at first, the women didn’t pay it any mind until Mia glanced up and started elbowing the women. “Morning, Ms. Lahane.”

  Candace glanced up as she rushed out of the small compartment. “Morning, Mia. Do you know whether Monty is in yet?”

  “Monty? Um, er, you mean Mr. Starks? Yes, he just, um, walked toward his office.”

  “Great. Thanks.” She rushed off toward Montel’s office.

  The group of women turned toward each other. “Monty?” Their gazes shifted among themselves for another half a second, and then they all took off running toward Starks’s office so that they could see what was going on.

  It was his last day, Montel had decided. No way could he keep working for Nu4us. It would be complete torture to see Candace day after day now that he’d made up his mind that it was time to let it go. He sat down at his desk, booted up the computer and started typing out his letter of resignation.

  There a soft knock on his door, and he assumed that it was Georgine and didn’t look up. “If it’s not important right now, Georgine, could you come back a little later?”

  “I’m afraid that it is important.”

  Montel’s fingers stopped pecking away on the keyboard when he recognized the voice behind him. “What are you doing here?” he asked, still refusing to look up. “I thought you’d still be Paris.”

  “Well, I would’ve been if you hadn’t pulled that little stunt.”

  Frowning, Montel finally looked up. “Stunt?”

  “Running away…before I had the chance to push you away,” she admitted, walking over to his desk. “It wasn’t like our regularly scheduled program.”

  He sat there, staring at her.

  Candace’s small smile fluttered weakly. “You were supposed to laugh at that.”

  “Sorry.”

  “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

  He drew a deep breath while he thought it over. “No.”

  Candace’s brows jumped in surprised, but then she seemed to realize that there was no reason for him to go easy on her, not after all she’d put him through in the last two years. “Fine.” She drew a deep breath and pressed on. “During my flight back here, I really, really thought hard about what I was going to say to you. What words would really explain why I was so…scared of how I feel for you. And honestly and truly I don’t think there are any.”

  Montel dropped his gaze. “Pity.”

  “I’m a realist. I have been all my life. But since I met you by accident or by destiny, I couldn’t seem to fit this very square box into a round hole.” She moved behind his desk, inching closer to him in his big leather chair. “Logically, we don’t make sense. We don’t. But…there’s something. Some…”

  “Spark?” he supplied.

  Candace smiled and boldly sat down on his lap. “It’s much bigger than a spark,” she said and slid her arms around his neck. “I love you—and frankly I’m tired of fighting it.”

  Montel met her gaze, but made
no move to return her affection. “I don’t know, Candace.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. It was the first time he hadn’t called her Candy. Maybe it was too late. Her gaze lowered, but then her smile slowly returned. “Do you want to know a little secret about how a woman can tell whether a man wants her?”

  “This should be interesting,” Montel said, folding his arms.

  Candace lifted a finger and then tapped it against the side of his neck.

  “This vein right here is connected to your heart muscles and whenever your heart starts racing, this little baby right here starts pulsing like crazy. And this sucker hasn’t stopped jumping since I sat down.”

  “Is that right?”

  “That’s right. Buh-bump. Buh-bump.”

  He smiled and caressed her neck as well. “Buh-bump.”

  The women in the hallway startled Montel and Candace when they started clapping and chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

  Candace’s face colored with embarrassment, but then she turned back toward her smiling, not sure legal husband and felt she had to say one more thing. “I love you, Monty.”

  Montel’s warm gaze swept over her. “I love you, too, Candy.”

  “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss,” the women chanted.

  “What do you say we get married—again?” he asked. “Make it stick this time.”

  “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

  Candace pulled at one of the small chains from her neck and lifted both of their wedding bands from Bora-Bora. “I’d love it.”

  “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

  There was a tap on the office window and Candace and Montel turned to see the window washer chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

  Candace leaned forward until their lips touched and then she fed from his mouth hungrily. Montel moaned and wrapped his arms around her.