THE BENNETTS' CHRISTMAS (The Bennett Family and the Masters Family Book 6)

by Brenda Jackson

  Monica didn’t say anything. It had been six years since he’d lost his fiancée and she could still hear the pain in his voice. It was obvious he had loved her a lot. His Simone must have been a special woman. She’d definitely been a blessed one for Landon to have loved her so much.

  He seemed pensive while studying his wine, and she could just imagine what he was thinking, the memories that were probably going through his mind right now. She figured it had been hard for him to relive the past, but she was glad he had done so with her.

  Landon then lifted his head and said, “That’s why my sister got it into her head to send me on this cruise for my birthday. And she somehow got others to buy into it.” He laughed. “So here I am.”

  Monica took a sip of her wine, then smiled. “And I’m glad you are, Landon.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  SOMETHING STIRRED TO LIFE in the pit of Landon’s stomach, and he tightened his hand on his wine glass. Once again, he wondered about the connection between them. Why was he drawn to her the way he was? Why just holding her gaze was causing all kinds of emotions to stir in him?

  And why had he bared his soul to her just now?

  Talking to her, reliving that painful time in his life, had been easy, natural, when with others, it had always been difficult. A few years ago, he had finally given in to his parents’ pleas and sought out the help of a grievance counselor. Dr. Jamison had been great, and with the man’s help Landon had been able to work through a lot of things, although not all.

  Even now, he wanted to take a step back and put some distance between him and the woman whose gaze he was still holding. He had a feeling Monica Bennett could become of vital importance to him and there was a part of him that didn’t want that, didn’t want any woman to ever mean that much to him again.

  Yet, at the same time, he felt he had met Monica for a reason. He’d always been too logical, too analytical to be a dreamer. Yet, surprisingly, he found a part of him still was. There had to be a reason their paths had crossed twice, the way they had. Maybe it was fanciful thinking on his part, but whatever it was, he couldn’t walk away from it. Besides, spending time with her meant not spending time with them—all the other women onboard, who even now were staring at him as if he was a juicy steak.

  But no matter who might be looking at him, his attention was solely focused on Monica right now. Neither one of them was saying much, but he figured they really didn’t have to. Their eyes were saying it all.

  Finally, she broke eye contact and glanced around. He used that time to breathe in slowly, trying to reclaim his desire for a rather tidy, uncomplicated life. Why did he feel that with Monica, there would be complications he might not be ready to deal with? Might be too old to deal with?

  He still couldn’t dismiss the ten-year difference in their ages. But like his sister, Monica acted rather mature for her age. He appreciated that.

  Monica returned her gaze to him and said, “The restaurant is not so crowded now.”

  He took the time to glance around himself. “I imagine most people are already on their way to the nightclub to try and dance off their meal.”

  She chuckled. “You’re probably right.”

  Landon accepted that he felt a deep desire for Monica that he could not ignore, but he wasn’t threatened by the thought. Nor was he threatened by the knowledge that she desired him just as much.

  Monica intrigued him because for some reason, he honestly thought she wasn’t aware of how desirable she really was, or how passionate she could be. He could see it in her gaze, every time their eyes met. But it seemed a bit wild, untamed. Could it be that she’d never experienced real passion? It was hard to believe, but the more time he spent with her, the more he sensed he was right.

  “So, tell me about you, Monica,” he finally said, when she continued to look everywhere but at him.

  The waiter came and poured more wine into their glasses. She took a sip, then asked, “Anything in particular you want to know?”

  He had a lot of questions but wouldn’t bombard her with them all at once. He’d go one at a time. First up… “Twice now, I’ve offered you my assistance. Some women wouldn’t have wanted me to interfere, and would likely be angry, thinking I was doubting their ability to handle things on their own. Yet, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

  She shrugged. “I really appreciated your help. Maybe I’m just used to it—I have two older brothers. Hansen is thirty-two and Pratt is twenty-nine. They take their roles as older brothers seriously. So, I let them.”

  “Are you the youngest?”

  “I have a younger brother, thanks to my mom and stepfather. I also have two sisters, one who is only two days older than me.” Apparently detecting his confusion, she placed her wineglass aside and said, “Let me explain my family dynamics to you. It’s a bit complicated.”

  “Alright.”

  “Well, like I said, I have two older brothers, and a sister, Kelly. We all have the same father, but different mothers. If you wanted to be generous, you could say that our father was a rolling stone. But a more apt description would be that he was a notorious liar and a man-whore.”

  It was obvious she had no problem saying how she felt. “Was he married to any of your mothers?” he asked.

  “Yes, he was with Kelly’s mom for close to twelve years. My brother Pratt was born on their wedding day. But Kelly’s mom hadn’t known a thing about it. Nor had she known he had gotten another woman pregnant three years earlier. That was Hansen’s mom. And Mrs. Perkins definitely hadn’t known my mom was pregnant with me at the same time she was expecting Kelly. Mr. Perkins had led my mom to believe he was single.”

  He lifted a brow. “You call your father Mr. Perkins?”

  “We all do. Kelly used to call him Dad, since she lived with him, but when she discovered the things he’d done, he became Mr. Perkins to her as well. The man has never done anything that would make any of us call him Dad.”

  Landon nodded. “Did Kelly’s mom stay with him when she found out about all of you?”

  “She had left before that point. She’d caught him in bed with another woman, but he was contesting the divorce. So she hired a private investigator to find out if that woman had been the only one he’d been with. I can’t imagine how she’d felt when she’d discovered that not only had he had several other affairs, but also that he had three illegitimate kids he’d kept well hidden.”

  “You and your siblings get along?”

  She smiled. “Yeah, we do. Once we found out about each other, we decided that we wouldn’t deny ourselves the chance to be a family. Hansen is a FBI agent and currently lives in Houston. Pratt finished medical school and is doing his residency at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. My sister Kelly also lives in Atlanta and is working on her PhD at Clark Atlanta.”

  Monica took another sip of her wine, then continued, “I have two other siblings from my mom. There’s my little brother and my sister Sebrina. Sebrina is three years older than me and is a heart specialist at St. Paul General. We share a house.”

  She leaned closer to him, and he figured she had no idea of the torture he was going through, sitting across from her and inhaling her scent. “Now this is where it gets really complicated,” she said in a low voice, as if she was about to share a top secret with him.

  “Michael Bennett had been adopted into the Bennett family as a baby, something he didn’t find out until he had finished high school. He was about to go into the military and needed his birth certificate. The truth bothered Michael so much that for years, he rarely came home.”

  “The fact that he’d been adopted?”

  “Yes. He felt betrayed since nobody had told him. He got married and had a little girl and made his home in St. Paul. Years later, Michael’s wife died in a car accident, and he and his thirteen-year-old daughter Kennedy returned home to Atlanta to be near his family. The Bennett family.”

  She didn’t say anything for a moment and Landon figured she was thinking
about that time in her life. “My mother, Taye, and Michael had always been close when they were growing up and once they were adults, they discovered they had always loved each other.”

  “Loved each other? Like in love with each other?” Landon asked, wanting to make sure he had heard her correctly.

  “Yes.”

  He lifted a brow. “But they were cousins.”

  She smiled. “Yes, but since Michael had been adopted, it wasn’t as if he was a blood relative. Less than a year after returning to Atlanta, Michael and my mom got married and they, along with me, my sister, Sebrina and Michael’s daughter, Kennedy, became a blended family.”

  He nodded. “And how did that work out?”

  A huge smile appeared on her face. “It was great. I adore Michael and he became the father I’d been missing all my life. A couple of years after they married, Mom and Michael had a son, Michael Bennett, Jr, who we call Mike. That means Kennedy, Sebrina and I share a brother.”

  Landon nodded. “How did you come to live in St. Paul?”

  “When Michael moved to Atlanta, he kept the house that he used to live in with his first wife and Kennedy. When Kennedy finished college, he presented her with the deed to the house as a graduation present. She decided to move back to St. Paul, and me, my sister, Sebrina and our cousin Victoria decided to join her.”

  She paused, taking a sip of her wine. Then she continued, “The arrangement worked out great for two years. Kennedy and Victoria got married this past June, so now it’s just me and Sebrina. But we’re getting another housemate soon.”

  “Another relative?”

  She shook her head, grinning. “No, a family friend, who like Sebrina, is a doctor.”

  “I see.”

  They talked for a while longer, and she told him about her plans to resign from the Tribune in another year to pursue her PhD. “I really want to become a college professor. Someday.”

  “And I’m sure you will,” he told her. “You come across as a woman who goes after what she wants, and I’ll bet you usually get it.”

  Monica wished Landon wouldn’t put ideas into her head. What would he think if he knew he’d just made her decide to go after him? After all, she had to do something. Whenever he looked at her with that dark penetrating gaze of his, she could feel her heart race, her body temperature ramp up, and her breathing become raspy. She’d never experienced anything like this before.

  Maybe her cousins and Sebrina were right—she’d been shortchanged in the bedroom those two freaking times. Instinctively, she knew that Landon could bring more than enough passion to the bedroom. This was her chance to find out what all the fuss was about. And she couldn’t wait.

  “You’ve gotten quiet on me, Monica. I’m curious as to what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

  Monica smiled. “What makes you think anything is going on?” she asked, although his question unnerved her. It had hit too close to home for comfort.

  He shrugged those shoulders she couldn’t wait to get her hands on. “I have a background in law enforcement. Before becoming a private investigator, I was a street cop and a detective. A big part of my job was learning to read people.”

  She nodded, though she wasn’t sure that was a good thing...especially given his dominant role in her daydreams. There was no way she could tell him where her mind had gone, so she decided to say something else. “I was thinking how nice it is to sit with you alone and not be bothered by others.” At least that was true. Although she hadn’t been thinking it at that particular time, she had thought about it more than once over the course of the evening.

  “I agree,” he said, holding her gaze.

  She felt her stomach clench when he picked up his wine glass and took another sip. Just seeing his mouth on that glass had her wondering how that mouth would feel on certain parts of her. Just the thought had her picking up her own glass of wine and taking a large sip.

  He glanced at his watch. “Would you like to go dancing tonight?”

  “Dancing?”

  “Yes. I heard that nightclub has a pretty good band. At least, that what Hagia says.”

  Monica smiled, realizing they had the same ship steward. “She told me the same thing.” She nodded. “It sounds like fun.”

  “Good. But first I have a favor to ask of you. It’s something that just might serve both of our purposes while on this cruise,” he said.

  “Oh? And what might that be?”

  “I was thinking that we should pretend to be a couple for the remainder of the cruise.”

  She lifted a brow. “Why would you want to do something like that?”

  “I told you this trip wasn’t my idea. I’d be the last person you’d find on a singles’ cruise. Most people have a purpose in mind when they book this kind of trip—finding Mr. or Miss Right. But I’m not looking for a relationship. I don’t want any woman to think her company is vital to my existence.”

  Monica chuckled. “And you assume that I wouldn’t think that way.”

  “Yes. You’ve admitted the only reason you’re on this cruise is for professional reasons, not personal ones.”

  “True.” She tossed his suggestion around in her head. Though he had presented this arrangement as a favor, bottom line was that she owed him for rescuing her from Dusty and Jack. But still… “How much time do you anticipate we’ll spend together?”

  “I promise not to get underfoot. I enjoy hanging out in my room, sitting out on the balcony reading most of the time anyway. But having you as a lunch or a dinner companion would be rather nice. And when we dock at the various ports, I’d prefer to hang out with someone I actually enjoy spending time with.”

  She smiled. “You do know there are some women on this ship who are so brazen, it won’t matter to them that we’re together. After all, you came on a singles’ cruise. You must be up for grabs.”

  “I have no problem letting brazen women know I’m not available. However, it’s much easier to do if I have a beautiful woman by my side.”

  A beautiful woman by his side. Usually, she didn’t let a man’s compliments go to her head, but she couldn’t help wanting to believe him. Suddenly, she felt a presence at their table. A woman stood there smiling at Landon. Only at Landon.

  “May I help you?” he asked.

  The woman’s smile got even wider. “You certainly can,” the woman said. “Do you plan to go dancing later?”

  Landon glanced over at Monica and gave her a look that all but said, See what I mean?

  She arched her brow, returning a look that said, And see what I meant about brazen women?

  Landon turned his attention back the stranger. “Yes, I’m going dancing later,” he answered. “With her,” he said, nodding to Monica.

  “Do you think you could save a dance for me?” the pushy woman asked. When he didn’t answer right away, she threw back her shoulders, which made the front of her dress dip, showing a generous cleavage. Her girls almost jumped out and said hello. Evidently, she figured Landon would take the bait.

  Monica inwardly smiled. Though she’d only known him a short time, she knew him well enough to be certain he wouldn’t be impressed. Neither was she. Especially when those babies weren’t likely even real anyway.

  “Sorry, but all my dances tonight are hers,” he told the woman.

  Disappointment clearly showed in the woman’s eyes. She glanced over at Monica, and then as if dismissing her, she switched her gaze back to Landon. “What about tomorrow when we get to Brisbane.”

  “What about it?”

  “Can we spend some time together?”

  Landon cleared his throat. “Let me make something clear. If the beautiful woman sitting across from me agrees, I’ll be with her for the remainder of the cruise. Her, and only her.”

  The woman frowned. “What a pity.”

  “What a pleasure,” Landon countered.

  The woman lifted her chin, stared hard at Landon and then walked off. He glanced over at Monica. “
So, what do you think?”

  She smiled over at him. “I think that for the duration of this cruise, we’re officially a couple, Landon Chestnut.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE NIGHTCLUB WAS IN full swing. Holding tight to Monica’s hand, Landon made his way to a vacant table he saw in the back. The moment they were seated, a waitress came to take their drink order.

  There was a live band that had most people on the dance floor. “So, what do you think?” he asked Monica over the loud music.

  She smiled over at him, and he couldn’t recall the last time a woman’s smile had rendered him temporarily speechless. It was a good thing he was waiting for her to answer him and not the other way around. The sexual chemistry was almost overwhelming. Because there were so many tables in the club, their chairs were close and they were practically sitting thigh-to-thigh. They weren’t touching, but it wouldn’t take much for him to ease his thigh closer to hers.

  He thought about what he’d proposed during dinner—about the two of them pretending to be a couple. Bottom line was that he wanted to spend as much time with her on this cruise as he could, and his idea would only make that easier. He really didn’t want to be bothered by other women, and she’d admitted she was tired of being pestered by other guys. This way, they could enjoy all the cruise had to offer together, and they’d get a chance to know each other better while doing it. For a reason he’d rather not explore at the moment, it was important to him that they had time to explore this thing between them.

  “I want to dance,” she said, tossing her hair back from her face. If only she knew how tempted he was at that moment to reach out and caress the smoothness of her face, she would have been more careful. “Landon?”

  He suddenly realized he’d been staring at her. “Yes?”

  “I want to dance. What about you?”

  Forcing his attention off her face and to the dance floor he said, “Looks like the band has decided to move on to line-dancing.”