Christmas Bride for the Boss

by Kate Hardy

  ‘It never even occurred to me that he’d cheat on me while he was away, but it turned out he had a different girl on every course he went on. I didn’t often join him at work social events, because they tended to clash with events I was managing—but when I did go to a party with his work friends, I always had this faint suspicion that people were avoiding me. I thought it was just because I wasn’t in the same business world and they were being a tiny bit snooty about it, but it turned out to be because they all knew what he was doing and were too embarrassed to talk to me.’

  ‘Which is his fault, not yours.’

  ‘But why didn’t I put all the pieces together?’ she asked. ‘We’d been together for three years when he said he wanted to talk to me. He’d organised dinner out somewhere really flashy. I was so sure he was going to ask me to marry him, because it was actually our third anniversary that night.’

  Jamie didn’t like where this was going. He had a feeling this was where her heart had been broken. And what kind of lowlife would’ve done that to a woman like Sophie? It’d be like kicking a puppy or snatching sweeties from a small child.

  ‘Instead, he told me he’d had a fling with someone. A junior in his office. She was pregnant. He said he wasn’t in love with her and he didn’t want to be with her, but obviously he had to pay child support for the baby.’

  It sounded to Jamie as if Dan was the sort who’d try to weasel out of paying child support, too.

  ‘And then he said he’d decided to fight her for custody and he asked me if I’d help him look after the baby.’

  He blinked, not quite sure what he was hearing. ‘What?’

  She looked away. ‘I know. How could I have spent three years of my life with someone who was that mean-spirited? The worst thing was, he was shocked when I said no. He thought I was being unreasonable.’

  ‘Hang on.’ Jamie could barely process this. ‘This is the man who had a fling, wanted to fight the woman for custody so he wouldn’t have to pay her anything, and expected you to look after the baby he’d had with someone else—and he said you were being unreasonable?’

  She grimaced. ‘We had a massive fight. He said I was being selfish. And that’s when it came out about all the rest of the women he’d cheated on me with. I just walked out of the restaurant and called Eva. She met me at my flat with her car, and we moved all my stuff to her place. She reminded me to call the bank and put a freeze on our joint account so he couldn’t just empty all the money into another account, and then I got my name taken off the rent. It was pretty toxic for a while, but I did the right thing. If I’d forgiven him and stayed, I know he would’ve cheated on me again within the next month.’

  ‘What happened to the baby?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘Apparently he’s living happily with his mum and her parents. Dan didn’t get very far with his custody case—and I don’t think he even sees the baby.’

  ‘He sounds like the worst kind of guy,’ Jamie said, ‘but not all men are like that.’

  ‘I know,’ she said softly. ‘I have two brothers and a stepdad who are fabulous, and Eva’s fiancé Aidan is lovely.’

  ‘But?’

  She sighed. ‘Dan wasn’t my worst mistake—just the first one.’

  He waited, knowing that if he gave her enough space she’d eventually talk.

  She took another sip of wine. ‘I met Joe in a coffee shop. He sent a choc-chip muffin over to me via the waitress, and then we got chatting and he asked me out. I thought he was a nice guy. It took me six months to work out that we never saw each other at weekends, I’d never been to his place, he never stayed at my place overnight and we only went out to small places around where I lived. I thought it was because he was busy at work, and so was I.’ She grimaced. ‘How stupid was I not to realise that he was avoiding places where he might see people he knew? And he never invited me back to his place because he wasn’t the single man I thought he was. He was married.’ She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. ‘Worse still, it turned out that his wife was pregnant. She had terrible morning sickness—and, instead of supporting her, like any decent guy would, he was having an affair. With me. This time, I was the other woman. And I really hated that. I’ve been there. I know how horrible it feels to be the one cheated on. But I was the other woman, Jamie. I let him cheat on her with me.’

  ‘It wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘Of course it was. I agreed to go out with him.’

  ‘It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that if someone asks you out, they’re not involved with anyone else,’ Jamie said gently. ‘You really weren’t the bad guy here.’

  ‘That’s not how it feels.’

  ‘If you’d had any idea that he wasn’t single, you wouldn’t even have accepted the choc-chip muffin,’ he said. ‘You have integrity.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She blew out a breath. ‘But after Dan and Joe, I just can’t trust my judgement where my love life is concerned.’

  ‘So, what? You’re giving up and spending the rest of your life alone?’

  She looked at him. ‘You make it sound as if I’m a coward.’

  ‘You’re afraid to trust your judgement again.’

  ‘I’m not a coward, Jamie. I just don’t want to make any more mistakes. I made two pretty bad ones.’

  ‘Everyone makes mistakes,’ he said. ‘You just try to learn from them. And yours were different mistakes.’

  ‘At root, they were the same. Trusting people I shouldn’t have trusted.’

  ‘People who took advantage of your kindness. Which I guess I’m doing, too.’

  She shook her head, grimacing. ‘That’s different. It’s for Sienna. And you’re not telling me lies.’

  No, but he also wasn’t telling her the whole truth about Fran’s death. Because he didn’t want her to dislike him as much as he disliked himself.

  But there was one thing he could do. Something she’d done for him, too.

  He took the glass from her and placed it on the coffee table. ‘Last week, I was maudlin and hating myself and I really needed a hug. You did that for me and it made me feel a whole lot better. This week, I think it’s my turn to give you a hug.’

  And he wrapped his arms round her, holding her close.

  Mistake.

  Big mistake.

  Because he could smell the vanilla scent of her shower gel and feel the warmth of her skin. And it made him want to push past another boundary and kiss her. To feel how soft her mouth would be against his, how sweet.

  No matter how much he told himself that it would be kissing her better, he knew he was being selfish. Putting his own needs before hers. Because Sophie was vulnerable. She’d done nothing wrong—and yet she blamed herself for being duped by a serial cheater and then a selfish charmer who’d broken his marriage vows.

  Could he really say that he was a better man than Joe or Dan? He wasn’t a cheat or a liar—but he had been responsible for Fran’s death. And he’d let his guilt and the pain get in the way of doing what he should’ve concentrated on, looking after his little girl.

  So in his own way he was probably worse.

  Sophie could do so much better than him.

  Instead of giving in to the urge to kiss her, he let her go. Stroked her face. ‘Don’t ever change, Sophie. You’re kind and you’re lovely.’

  ‘A naive, stupid sucker,’ she corrected.

  ‘Better to be naive and believe the best of people than be cynical and bitter and think everyone’s just out for themselves,’ he countered.

  ‘Maybe.’ She shook herself. ‘I’d better go.’

  She’d barely touched her wine, he noticed.

  ‘I’ll call you a cab.’

  ‘It’s fine. I can get the Tube.’

  ‘I promised I’d call you a cab.’

  ‘If I stayed an
d had a glass of wine with you. Which I didn’t. I’m sorry I wasted your wine.’

  He squeezed her hand briefly. ‘Don’t apologise. It’s my fault for pushing you to talk when you didn’t want to.’

  ‘I kind of did that to you,’ she admitted.

  ‘Yeah. But you were right,’ he said. ‘Talking helped.’

  She didn’t look as if it had helped her much, though. She looked as if she regretted what she’d told him. And he really didn’t know how to fix it.

  ‘I’ll see you on Monday,’ she said. ‘Call me if you need anything.’

  ‘You, too,’ he said. ‘And I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. That wasn’t my intention.’

  ‘I know. It’s just hard to forgive myself for being such a pushover.’

  There were things it was harder to forgive yourself for, but he didn’t want to go into that. ‘Don’t change who you are,’ he said. ‘Have a good Sunday.’

  ‘You, too.’

  And he let her go. Before he did something really stupid. Like kissing her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  JAMIE ENDED THE call and sighed. He felt a bit guilty that he needed to ask Sophie for her help yet again; then again, this was part of their deal. Had Cindy not broken her leg, it wouldn’t have been an issue because she would’ve been looking after Sienna anyway.

  However, had Cindy not broken her leg, he wouldn’t have got to know Sophie this well in the first place. He might not even have invested in Plans & Planes.

  But he really, really liked the woman he was getting to know.

  He called her. ‘Good morning. Are you super-busy right now?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because there’s a problem I need to sort out at work—and it’s not something I can delegate,’ he explained.

  ‘So you want me to look after Sienna?’

  ‘Please,’ he said. ‘Just for a couple of hours. And, because I don’t want to take complete advantage of you, I’ll cook dinner for you tonight.’

  ‘Cheese on toast again?’ she teased.

  ‘No. Name it and I’ll cook it.’ Even as he said the words, he knew he was giving her the chance to challenge him and suggest something outrageous.

  ‘Chicken parmigiana,’ she said. ‘I’ll email you the link to a recipe. I already know you’ve got all the ingredients in the fridge and the cupboard. And you can bake some jacket potatoes and steam some vegetables to go with them.’

  He knew she was testing him and expecting him to say no; she’d clearly already worked out for herself that it was quite a while since he’d bothered cooking anything properly. ‘All right—and thank you. See you at half-past two?’

  ‘Sure.’

  At half-past two, Sophie arrived with a DVD and a bag full of ingredients. ‘This is what rainy Sunday afternoons are for,’ she said to Sienna. ‘We’re going to make dessert and some cookies, and then we’ll watch a movie.’

  ‘Yay!’ Sienna looked thrilled.

  ‘Thank you for coming,’ Jamie said. ‘I feel a bit guilty for asking you.’

  ‘It’s fine. It’s what we agreed,’ she reminded him. ‘Go and do your work.’

  While Jamie was stuck at his computer, he could smell something gorgeous. Vanilla? Chocolate? If he sneaked into the kitchen, would they let him steal a cookie?

  Just as he was considering it, there was a quiet knock on his study door, then a louder knock. ‘Come in,’ he said.

  The door opened and Sienna came in, carrying a plate containing a single choc-chip cookie; Sophie followed her, carrying a mug of coffee.

  ‘You made the cookie?’ he asked, though he already knew the answer because there was still a smear of flour across his daughter’s nose and she was wearing the pink apron with white spots that Sophie had bought her.

  ‘I made it specially for you,’ Sienna said proudly.

  ‘It smells absolutely scrumptious.’

  She looked worried, as if not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad; clearly she hadn’t come across the word before. ‘That means “delicious” and I can’t wait to try it,’ he said with a smile. ‘Thank you, Sienna.’

  He took a mouthful. The cookie was still warm and it tasted even better than it smelled: buttery and chocolaty with a hint of vanilla.

  ‘Is it all right?’ Sienna asked, still looking worried.

  ‘It’s the best cookie I’ve ever had in my whole life,’ he said. ‘Thank you, darling. Can I have another one, please?’

  She beamed. ‘Yes! As long as you promise to eat your dinner.’

  He wasn’t sure whether that was Cindy’s influence or Sophie’s, and had to hide a grin. ‘I promise.’

  She brought him another cookie. ‘We’re going to watch a movie now, all about a princess.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ he said. ‘Have fun.’

  She smiled again, waved him a shy goodbye, and trotted off with Sophie.

  Even though Jamie was concentrating on his file, he could hear the faint sound of music in the background—clearly something from the movie. Then he heard Sophie singing along with the music; she had a really good voice. He heard Sienna’s higher voice joining in with part of the chorus, and then he heard Sophie say, ‘Let’s rewind the movie a bit and sing it again together.’

  He couldn’t resist tiptoeing out to the hall and peeking into the living room.

  Sienna and Sophie weren’t just singing, they were dancing in front of the television and clearly having a wonderful time. And they didn’t look anything like temporary nanny and her charge: they looked like a family.

  This was the sort of thing Fran would’ve done with Sienna. The sort of thing he should’ve done, in Fran’s absence, instead of letting his own childhood get in the way. Gwen Wallis had been a great believer in children being seen and not heard, and he’d followed in his mother’s footsteps. But, since Sophie had come into his life, Jamie had discovered that actually he liked the sound of hearing his little girl giggling and singing.

  Once Cindy came back, there would definitely be some changes made to their routine—changes he knew Cindy had tried to implement before, but he’d been too wrapped up in his grief and his guilt to let her make them.

  Guilt still froze him, but he knew it was time to think about moving on. It was time to make Sienna’s world a better place: starting with cooking dinner for them all tonight.

  And Sophie? Last night, she’d made it very clear she wasn’t looking for a relationship. He could understand why; she’d dated a couple of men who’d treated her badly and had made her think it was her fault, when in reality it had been their problem rather than hers. Maybe he could help her see that it wasn’t her fault—and that maybe it was worth dating again. And that maybe it would be worth dating him...

  He shook himself. They’d known each other a fortnight, that was all. This was all happening much too soon. Then again, she was the first person who’d really got through to him since Fran. Her warmth and her openness were irresistible, and he hadn’t been able to help responding to her, even though his head was telling him that he shouldn’t give in to the crazy impulses—that would lead to falling in love and losing control of his emotions.

  Sophie Firth was special.

  Jamie went back to his office and finished sorting things out, then cooked dinner. Just as Sophie had promised, all the ingredients were in the fridge. Funny, cooking dinner for them made him feel as if he was really part of a family. He was horribly aware he’d always left the cooking to Fran because she’d enjoyed it and he wasn’t bothered either way; he’d been happy to deal with the household chores that she hated instead. But this... This was very different.

  Was this the second chance he’d wanted deep down but had thought was unobtainable?

  Was Sophie the one who could redeem him?

  He
shook himself. Once she knew the truth about Fran’s death, she’d back off. It was pointless even trying. Better to keep things strictly professional.

  He went into the living room. ‘Okay. Dinner’s ready in five minutes. Come and wash your hands.’

  Despite his resolutions, the warmth in Sophie’s smile curled deep inside him, melting another layer of ice from round his heart.

  ‘This is scrumshuss, Daddy,’ Sienna said after her first taste, clearly wanting to use her newly learned word.

  ‘It’s good,’ Sophie added with a smile. ‘Okay. I believe you now. You can cook.’

  But when she retrieved dessert from the freezer, he realised she’d more than outdone him.

  ‘Are those penguins?’ he asked.

  ‘Banana penguins,’ she confirmed with a grin. ‘I thought after yesterday these would be perfect. It’s really easy to make them—you just dip the banana in melted chocolate, make the feet and beak out of dried apricots, and use marshmallows and chocolate chips for the eyes.’

  ‘We maked the penguins before we maked the cookies,’ Sienna said gleefully.

  So that must’ve been what some of the giggling was about. He didn’t have the heart to correct his daughter’s grammar. ‘I’m impressed.’

  ‘Not my idea,’ Sophie admitted with a smile. ‘I don’t think it was even my sister-in-law’s, actually. I think she got it from the Internet.’

  ‘They’re great,’ he said. He would never have thought of them in a million years.

  The banana penguins were a total hit, and Sienna chattered about them all the way through bathtime—and even though he still insisted on shallow baths, he could manage bathtimes now without flashbacks.

  Jamie read three stories to Sienna, then headed downstairs to join Sophie.

  ‘I feel bad about you doing the washing up,’ he said, noticing that she’d put everything away neatly as well.

  ‘Hey. You cooked. In my book, that lets you off dishwashing duty,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘Can I get you a glass of wine or a coffee?’

  ‘Thanks, but I need to be going,’ she said. ‘This is Hattie’s favourite film of all time and I promised to take it back tonight.’