by V. Vaughn
“I don’t appreciate you barging into my shop and telling me that I’m going to sell, for starters,” she barked, sitting up a bit straighter.
“My apologies. I agree that wasn’t the best way to start the conversation.”
“There is no way to start the conversation as I’ve told you that I’m not interested in selling.”
“I can offer you…”
“Money, yes I know. You think that’s what makes people happy and that if you can throw some at them that they’ll fall at your feet. Well, Mr. Varcelli, you have met your match then. I do not want your money. My shop is my life, and there is no price you can put on it.”
“I don’t mean to sound rude, but you can’t possibly expect to keep your doors open long should I start to open up chain stores steps from your own.”
His statement left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had never had any doubts or qualms about the business deals he had ever done. Buying people out of their family owned business was his life’s work. He had once bought an apple cider making business that had been five generations old, and tore it down right in front of the family as they watched with tear-filled eyes with a smile on his face. He was cutthroat, but this woman and her store were turning that all around.
If the store made his mate happy than he would move hell or high water to allow her to keep it. Except he couldn’t. Andru had to buy her store and knock it down.
“I don’t particular care for chain stores, and I certainly don’t want to see them take over our beautiful historic downtown, but I’ll survive.”
“No you won’t. Your best bet is to sell to me now while you’re profitable. Once I crush your sales, then my offer is going to dwindle down to practically nothing,” he said, swallowing the guilt he felt as he watched her eyes flicker with brief sadness.
“Mr. Varcelli, I came here today in hopes of explaining to you what makes the historic shopping market so unique and special. To persuade you from doing what you’re doing. I can see that you don’t care, though, do you? You’re controlled by the all mighty dollar. I honestly just feel sorry for you.”
“I wouldn’t be sorry for me, my dear. I live a wealthy life. You could too if you’d let me buy your shop.”
“My life is wealthy in the most important way. I suppose I’ll see you around,” she said as she stood up.
“Please, let’s just discuss this further,” he said, jumping anxiously to his feet, desperate to keep her there longer.
“I think this conversation is over. If only there was some way to show you how special the shop is,” she said softly.
“Wait, maybe you can.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he couldn’t believe he had said them. It obviously caught her by surprise as well. Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
“I mean if the shop has some unique value as you keep telling me, it wouldn’t hurt to have a look,” he said, trying to not sound so desperate.
“I would love to show you,” she said, her eyes bright with excitement.
The look was intoxicating, as well as addicting. Andru would have given both his wings just to have her look at him that way forever.
“When is a good time?” he asked.
“I’ll be decorating the shop for Christmas this weekend along with the other shop owners. We have a big celebration and the shoppers love coming out and enjoying the decorations as they go about their days. The Alexanders make special treats, and the toyshop has elves and reindeer that the kids can spend time with. It truly is one of the best days of the year.”
“Then I’ll be there,” he said, extending his hand.
This time she stepped forward and slid her slender fingers into his hand. Electricity seemed to ignite from their touch. The mate bond, strong and desperate, whipped around them. Jill jerked back and took a step away from him. He wanted to grab her hand again and pull her against him and savor the feeling of the mate bond wrapping around them like a ribbon on a package.
She nodded and then took off out of his office like the demons of hell were upon her. He may not be a demon, but he was after her nonetheless. There was nowhere she could run that he wouldn’t find her. Andru had never looked forward to a Christmas based activity in his entire life, but he was already counting down until the weekend.
5
Chapter 5 - Jill
The morning of the Christmas decorating extravaganza, Jill woke up earlier than usual and headed to her shop. She hadn’t heard from Mr. Varcelli since she had left his office, but she hadn’t stopped thinking about him. Whatever happened when she had went to shake his hand had shaken her to her very core. It had felt like a lasso had wrapped around her and had been pulling her to him.
The man was attractive, she would give him that; tall, dark and handsome. He was the epitome of the saying. His broad shoulders stretched his expensive suit fabric, and his amber eyes felt like they had been looking straight into her soul. Jill couldn’t let herself forget though, that he was fighting to tear her life’s work apart.
A couple hours after she had been in her store, she heard the front door bell jingle. Her closed signed had still been up since she had forgotten while she had been dragging out decorations to go and flip it, so she assumed it was him. Jill took a couple seconds in the mirror to make sure she didn’t have any cobwebs in her hair or dirt on her face from all the unpacking she had been doing. Once she was certain, she made her way to the front of her store.
“Good morning, Mr. Varcelli, I’m glad you came,” she greeted him, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt.
The man was an image standing there in her shop in his red t-shirt stretched across his beautiful muscles and his dark jeans, hugging tight to his powerful legs. His dark hair was gelled just right, and his eyes lit up when they made eye contact. Jill shook herself out of her stupor and forced herself to frown.
“You can call me Andru. I told you I would be here, and I don’t break my word.”
She nodded for lack of anything else to say. Then they stood there in an awkward silence for a few more minutes.
“Is there something I can help you with? If I’m going to be here I might as well make myself useful.”
“I was actually just getting the rest of my decorations out of the attic here. I store some of the decorations for out on the street here too, so it takes me most of the morning.”
“Perfect, lead the way.”
“I see you dressed for the festivities,” she said, gesturing towards his red shirt.
He shrugged and a half smile tugged at his lips. The sight sent a shot of desire straight down Jill’s body, awakening a part of her that had been asleep for far too long. She couldn’t remember any man in her life ever having such an effect on her.
Jill could feel his eyes on her as she led him back to where she was pulling the decorations out. The feeling gave her a steady hum of attraction up her back.
“So, Mr. Varcelli, I mean Andru, what’s your favorite part of Christmas?” she asked to keep her mind off of his eyes on her.
“None of it,” he replied dryly.
Jill stopped in her tracks and flipped around to confront him. Her sudden halt caught him off guard and he barely came to a stop before plowing her over. His close proximity made her instantly forget her reason for stopping in the first place.
“Jill…” he said when she didn’t say anything.
“You don’t like Christmas?” she asked when she finally remembered what she wanted to confront him about.
“Not particularly.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone that didn’t like Christmas.”
“We’re rare, but we’re out there.”
“Mr. Varcelli,”
“Andru,” he corrected her.
“Andru, I think you’ve just given me an even more distressing matter to deal with.”
“Besides my wanting to buy your store?”
“Yes. I don’t know how you’ve gone through life without loving Christm
as, but I’m going to change your mind.”
His eyebrow arched up. The action was so sexy Jill bit her lip to keep her from blurting out something embarrassing. His eyes dropped down to her lips, and the air in the room instantly changed. The zing of attraction that seemed to linger around them flourished to the point where it was almost suffocating. Jill finally dragged herself out of the haze and turned and restarted her original journey back to her decorations.
“Holy shit,” Andru blurted out when they got back to the room.
Jill’s nervous energy finally gave way and she burst into giggles. Andru looked so horrified she couldn’t help it. The man was completely out of his element. She had to wonder why he had even agreed to her challenge in the first place.
“Don’t look so horrified, it’s fun,” she finally managed to say.
“Our definitions of fun are very different.”
“I have a feeling that’s not the only thing that is very different.”
“Oh, but I think you’ll find we can have very similar tastes as well.”
6
Chapter 6 - Andru
An hour into dragging red, green and white sparkly, glittery Santa ordained things from Jill’s ancient attic, somehow Andru felt happier than he had in ages. Whenever he’d bring down one of her favorites pieces, she’d squeal with joy and tell him some small story about the piece. Her smile lit up the entire house and brightened his dark soul.
When the doorbell jingled, he followed her out to the front of the store.
“Angie, I’m so glad you stopped in. I have your pieces you ordered, and the jeweler actually dropped off some new pieces that you may be interested in,” Jill said as she led the woman over to a display full of unique jewelry pieces.
Andru tried to appear uninterested, but the scene captivated him. Jill radiated joy as she perused the jewelry with the woman. Jill spent thirty minutes with the woman who took her originally purchased pieces, and ended up buy three more pieces as gifts for her granddaughters. Andru was impressed with Jill’s ability to sell her products, and it didn’t even look like selling. It was as if two girl friends had been out shopping instead of the normal owner of a business and a customer interaction.
“Have a great day, Angie. Are you sticking around for the decorating party?”
“Of course! Ted’s over at the leather store, he needs a new coat before they close up shop. We’re going to miss that store desperately. Those department stores just don’t have good leather like Jackson does.”
“I know. I hate to see them go as well.”
“See you later, Jill. Thanks for everything.”
“Thank you,” Jill called after her.
Jill turned and gave him a stern knowing look. The conversation about the leather store closing down hadn’t been lost on Andru.
“Are the Jacksons even staying open for Christmas?” Jill asked him.
“No, I paid them extra to see that they closed down before December,” he replied honestly, hating the bile that rose up in his stomach as he answered her.
Her face fell, and his dragon raged against him for making her sad. There was nothing he could do about it, though. He had to see his plan through. Christmas obviously meant something totally different to her than to him. He just had to stick to his guns.
“Why does it matter if they’re out sooner?”
“I can get the building gutted faster.”
“That family has owned that leather store for generations. I don’t understand how that doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“They didn’t have to take the money,” he said. It was a weak defense, but it was all he had.
“Oh yeah, put the blame on them. You’ve swooped in here and disrupted people’s lives, and you waltz around throwing around money without a care. This historic district means a lot to a lot of people.”
“This district is most profitable at Christmas time. The rest of the year, everyone is barely scraping by. The money I’m offering will set people up for life.”
“It’s not about money to us. Some are taking it because they’re afraid that you’ll start putting pressure on their banks. I live a very comfortable life, and I love my store and what I do.”
“That’s very obvious by watching you with your customers. You were born to do this,” he replied.
Jill seemed shocked that he had complimented her. She sighed and her shoulders sagged in frustration. The doorbell jingled again and the transformation overcame her. She greeted her customer with a genuine smile and proceeded to show them around her store. Andru decided to head back to the decorations and see if he could figure any of them out.
7
Chapter 7 - Jill
Customers had come in steady for a few hours, putting Jill behind schedule to get her decorations done. When she finally made it back, Andru had surprisingly got them all out and organized. The lights were all neatly wrapped and he had already checked them all and changed out fuses. Her ribbons were neatly steamed and ready to be wrapped around the old fashion light post down the street.
“Wow. For a man who doesn’t like Christmas you sure know your way around decorations.”
“Organization is key to anything. Whether I like the thing or not,” he replied.
“Alright, well, let’s get some of these up. I flipped the sign to say I’m at lunch so I can make some headway.”
“You’ve been busy this morning.”
“I’m usually always this busy on Christmas decorating day. It brings a lot of people out and about.”
He nodded, but didn’t reply. Jill had hoped he would have one of his smart remarks to make. She instructed him what she wanted him to do, and found him a ladder so he could string lights up overhead in her shop. Without a complaint, he set about his task with a look of concentration on his face. Jill got to work on setting up her Christmas tree in the front window of her shop.
A knock on her store door interrupted her a few minutes later. It was Ed, the owner of the wine cellar down the street. Jill hung the ornament she had in her hand and unlocked her door.
“Happy decorating day, Jill,” Ed cooed as he stepped in the door.
“To you too, Ed. How’s it going?”
“Wonderful. Mother has been bustling around the place all morning. This is her favorite day of the year, I think. It’s good to see her up and about. After her knee surgery she’s been a bit sluggish. I was starting to worry about her.”
“I know you were. I’m so glad to hear this day has perked her up. There’s just something about the Christmas spirit,” Jill replied, shooting a sideways glance at Andru.
“I couldn’t agree more. Speaking of which, I brought you a bottle of that mulled wine you like so well. I also wanted to see what you were doing this evening?”
Jill watched as Andru descended from the ladder he had been up and moved towards her. There was something about the way he was walking that alarmed her. Ed had been trying to get Jill to go on a date with him for years, but she had always found a way to say no. He was a sweet guy, but there was no spark there.
“Thank you so much, Ed. That’s sweet. I’m actually showing someone around tonight. Perhaps you’ve met him already, Andru Varcelli,” she said, putting a hand up towards Andru as he came to a stop dangerously close to her.
“You’re showing Mr. Varcelli around?” Ed asked in shock.
“Yes, he’s agreed to come have a look at our beautiful historic shopping district festivities.”
Ed eyed Andru just as thoroughly as Andru was eyeing him. Andru looked much more menacing. Jill could feel the turmoil radiating off of him, and even though she didn’t understand why, she could smell the trouble in the air.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Varcelli.”
“You as well, Ed,” Andru said, taking the bottle of wine from Ed’s hands.
Jill cleared her throat as if it would clear the tension.
“Well, I don’t have much more time left before I need to open back up to
customers. Ed, tell your mom I said hello, and thank you again for the wine,” Jill said, trying to shove Ed out of the door.
“You’re welcome, Jill. Call me if you need anything.”
Jill nodded and shut the door behind him and then turned to glare at Andru.
“What the hell was that about?” she barked, snatching the bottle of wine from his hand.
“That man wants you,” Andru growled as if it were any of his business.
“Yes, I know. He’s always been that way. What I don’t understand is why you seem to think it’s your job to scare him off?”
“I don’t like him,” Andru snarled.
“That’s obvious. Did your business deal with him go bad? Did he not take your bonus to get out early?” She sneered.
“No he didn’t, but that has nothing to do with it,” Andru retorted, turning his glowing amber eyes on her.
Jill’s breath caught in her throat. The man was terrifying, yet completing arousing at the same time. She couldn’t remember a time when a man had gotten jealous on her account. His muscles were coiled tight and he seemed on the verge of snapping. Jill took a step forward and touched his arm. Even though it was rather drafty in her old shop, his skin was pure fire. She jerked her hand back.
“You’re hot. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said, his tone finally easing back to normal.
The tension fell off of him and he snatched the bottle of wine back from her, setting on the counter as he stormed off back to where he had been hanging lights. Jill felt like she was going to get whiplash from the man’s mood swings, but she tried to ignore it as she went back to decorating her tree. In all the craziness of Ed’s visit, she had forgotten to turn her sign back on. Before a customer could walk off though, she hurriedly threw open the door and told them to come in.
Andru continued to work through the tasks she gave him while she tried to fill in the gaps between customers. No matter what the man was doing, Jill could always feel his eyes on her all the time. It should probably have made her feel creepy, but it didn’t. The only part of her store and her dream of running it that had fallen short was that she had always planned on running it with someone. Her love life had fallen short though between all the long hours she put in to get her store started.
