Perfect Bride for Christmas, A

by Dyann Love Barr

  “Just let me talk to her, and I’m sure she’ll feel much better about it. I mean she won’t have to do any of the work.”

  Irritation wriggled around in his brain and into the beginnings of a headache that settled behind his eyes. He loved Sydney, he really did. It’s just times like this made him wonder if he was doing the right thing for both of them. The great sex usually balanced out his misgivings. Sydney had all the qualifications he desired in the perfect woman.

  Sophisticated, she had enough money of her own that nothing she bought fazed him. She ran in the right social circles, and beautiful to the max—slim and blond, just the way he liked his women. Not to mention her father, Lyle Stanford, hinted at a big promotion after the wedding. After seven years here, Alex would become a senior partner. All of his hard work and effort paid off.

  Or had it?

  For an instant, Zoe Hillman popped into his thoughts. That had been a colossal mistake, but no one could doubt her heart. He still grieved for their lost friendship. The day he heard she married some guy in St. Louis, he felt relieved. However, a void 32

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas that no one else ever quite came close to filling followed. Alex guessed in some way he did love Zoe.

  Her smile lit up her fantastic eyes; her sense of humor always eased the days when nothing went right. If only she hadn’t gone along with Tommy that night five years ago.

  Over the years, bits and pieces of the memory of his wedding night resurfaced. It shamed him to say he couldn’t remember a time when he’d made such passionate love to a woman. To Zoe Hillman of all people. She gave of herself, holding nothing back.

  Even Sydney came in second. And Sydney was hot. “Hello, baby. Where did you go?” Sydney’s voice filtered through his wayward thoughts. He shook his head to clear it both of Zoe’s memory and answer Sydney’s earlier remark.

  “No, she’s already hired a caterer to handle the details. You can try to talk her out of it, but today isn’t the best time. Why don’t you plan on another day? Mom and I have some business to discuss, and she may not be up to talking wedding plans.”

  “No. I’m coming with you. Besides,” she purred into his ear. “I have a surprise for you when we get back.”

  “I like your kind of surprises.” They usually ended up with them in bed. “Give me a hint.” His mouth nibbled along her jaw, inhaling the perfume of her skin.

  “No,” Sydney pulled back to give him a sly smile.

  “None of that until later.”

  “Okay, if you’re going to play dirty.” Alex gave Sydney a little push to get her out of his lap. “I have no alternative but to wait.” He stood for a second to allow the blood to come back to his legs instead of his dick. “Let’s go then.” He picked his coat out of a small closet in his office and held his hand toward the door. “After you.”

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  Dyann Love Barr

  ****

  Sydney went out to the garage to see the new kittens, Beulah, Mom’s four-legged mousetrap, had birthed a few weeks earlier. They had their eyes open. Alex knew anything warm and cuddly would keep Sydney occupied for a while. Anything except human children. She’d declared early in their relationship that she had no desire to start a family, now or in the future. Mom wanted grandchildren.

  He couldn’t say he blamed her. The idea of children grew on him over the last few years as well.

  Once he’d ironed out this particular wrinkle in his and Sydney’s relationship, there would more grandkids than his mother could handle.

  But first, he had to tell Mom about Keeley Jacobs’s claim.

  “Do you want coffee while we wait for Sydney?”

  He shook his head. “No. Actually, I sent her away so we could talk in private.”

  “Well, it will have to be quick. The caterer is coming by in a half hour to meet with Sydney and me. You’re invited to join us.”

  He shook his head. “Like that’s going to happen.

  Mom, sit down.”

  Her blue eyes dimmed with worry, but she took a seat on the cushy floral sofa. “What is it? It’s that letter I had you look at isn’t it?”

  Alex sat down beside her and took her hand in his. “Yes.”

  His mother closed her eyes. “I’m not stupid, you know. Do you think I ran my family’s business on my own, without a few smarts? I realized it had to do with the estate, but I’m not an expert in legal affairs. The minute I saw the name Keeley on the letter, I knew it meant trouble.”

  He didn’t know where to begin, but he had to do this, so it might as well be hard and quick. Mom 34

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas could take a punch, but she’d had more than her share this year.

  “Keeley Jacobs says she is Dad’s daughter. Her mother is someone called—”

  “Cathryn Jacobs.” His mother’s eyes welled up.

  Her hand trembled against her lips as she nodded.

  It threw him for a loop that she already knew Keeley Jacob’s mother.

  “Vietnam. The nurse there.” She let out a heavy sigh and got to her feet. “He told me about her. The first night he came home—our anniversary, Christmas Eve.”

  Her hands covered her eyes, and she stood still as a statue. “I wanted him so badly.” The slap of her hands against her thigh made him jump. She turned to look at him with anger, pain, and understanding in her bright blue eyes. “But he wouldn’t touch me.

  Not until he told me about this nurse. They’d become friends, and one night after an ambush…” She took a shaky breath. “He and his men were under gunfire, two of them were killed, another injured.

  Your father got the injured man into a helicopter and rode with him to the M.A.S.H. unit. That’s where he met her. Frank told me he how tired, scared, and so alone he felt. He wanted me, but she was the one there.”

  “Mom, I don’t want to hear this.”

  “You’re my lawyer, so you sit there.” She stabbed a finger at him. “You are going to listen to me, and that’s that. You seem to forget your parents were flesh and blood people.”

  He might be her attorney but right now, he squirmed in his chair like as if he were still six instead of thirty-two. “Okay.”

  “He never said anything about getting the woman pregnant. She was a nurse, for God’s sake.

  Frank swore he used protection.”

  Alex cringed. He didn’t like to think of his father 35

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  having sex with his mother, let alone with some stranger. The talk of condoms in the same conversation about his parents creeped him out.

  “We’ll ask for a DNA test to prove paternity.”

  Mom’s face paled. Her eyes burned bright. “Of course, we will. I wouldn’t expect anything else. If she’s Frank’s child, and I say if, I want to meet her face to face. Let her tell me why she why wants me to sell the farm. Is she angry at Frank or does she simply want money?”

  A surge of anger toward this unknown sister butted with Alex. “That’s not going to happen. I have enough to pay her whatever she wants.”

  “No you won’t. Let me think this through.” She paced the floor, hands on her hips. “Let me contact her.” “No.” Alex jumped to his feet. “As your attorney, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Don’t you no me, Alexander Franklin King.”

  “Yes, ma’am. As your attorney, let me make the call.”

  “I forgave your father a long time ago, in fact, I’m sure we conceived Clint that Christmas Eve.”

  “Ah, God, Mom. I don’t want to hear this.”

  “Get over it.” His mother stopped midstride.

  There it was, hard steel under the peaches and cream exterior. “Maybe this woman wants more than property or money. If that’s the total sum of what she feels will make up for not having a father, well, we’ll cross that bridge and so on.”

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  A Perfect Bride for Christmas Chapter Five

  Hollyfield was a true Painted Lady. It loomed, large and sp
rawling, with wraparound verandas, rattan chairs, as well as gingerbread generously sprinkled over the house’s façade. A rounded turret graced the right side of the house, while the left sported a gazebo. Zoe loved it on sight.

  Zoe got out of her van. She walked up and down the drive so she could take it all in. White paint covered the majority of the house while a deep rose and turquoise accented the individual details. The grounds, even in the depths of winter, were neatly manicured.

  The kids would go nuts with all this space to run and play in. One day, she vowed, she would have a house like this.

  Zoe tightened her tan wool coat against the chill.

  The early afternoon sun scooted behind fast moving clouds, leaving the rest of the world to deal with the gloom and cold. She hurried around a large black SUV sitting in the drive and headed towards the porch as a gust of wind added its bite to the dropping temperatures.

  Bright lights glowed behind the lace curtains as she mounted the steps and rang the bell. Instead of the stately Westminster chimes she’d expected, the first strains of Somewhere Over The Rainbow greeted her. The silliness of the song made her smile. She stamped her feet to get rid of the snow.

  The door opened.

  Alex stood there with a smile on his face and not 37

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  a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. Five years hadn’t changed him, except for the crook in his nose.

  Somehow, it suited him. It made him less than perfect. Heat suffused her face as she remembered the long ago day she broke it.

  That was then, this was now. Zoe pulled in a steadying breath and smiled.

  “Well, hello.” The welcome in Alex’s voice held a question as well as appreciation. He slathered on the Alex King charm as thick as ever. How many women had he used it on since she’d whacked him in the nose?

  “Hello. I’m expected. Classic Kitchen? I’m the caterer for the wedding reception.”

  “Oh, yes.” He opened the door wider and motioned her in. “You must be Ms. Bennett.”

  Zoe smiled and waited.

  Still no recognition.

  Had she changed that much? Sure, she’d lost about a hundred and fifty pounds, but she was still the same Zoe. Maybe he’d have known her if she still had long hair. Now she had it styled in a short do with wispy spikes all around, along with a few blond highlights. Keeping it short made it easier to manage in a hot kitchen. Between that and three kids, she didn’t have time to fuss with her hair.

  “Yes.”

  Alex frowned down at her. “Do I know you? I’m sure we’ve met before.”

  Ah, here it comes. Let’s have a little fun.

  Alex liked to flirt so she gave him slow, sweet smile. “If we have, I’m sure you’d remember.” If he couldn’t figure it out, she wouldn’t enlighten him.

  Zoe walked through the door and peered over her shoulder at him. Oh yes, she knew Alex all too well.

  He’d wrack his brain until he figured it out, it would drive him crazy. She turned back to face him.”You don’t strike me as the sort of man who forgets 38

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas women.”

  Her comment made him blink in surprise.

  “Come this way.” He caught up with Zoe and walked beside her, frowning as if he scrolled through a metal Rolodex. “My mother is in the living room, discussing the reception with my fiancée.”

  The inside of the house was as elegant and picture perfect as the outside. Zoe had seen rooms like this in magazines. However, everything gave off a homey feel that made one want to sink into the overstuffed chairs and take a load off. Amelia sat on the couch in front of a large coffee table spread with papers and catalogs. Another woman, tall, blonde, and slim as a reed, stood by the fireplace, holding up a white kitten in her hands. The cat squirmed and tried to climb her arm, catching its tiny claws in the woman’s expensive sweater.

  This had to be Alex’s bride.

  “Oh, Amelia, they are the cutest little things.”

  She pulled the kitten away and held it up, giving it a gentle shake. “No you don’t.” Her brilliant smile lit up her beautiful face. “I don’t know how you can make them stay out in the cold garage like that.”

  She gave a pretty pout and turned towards Alex.

  “You have to tell your mother to bring the kittens inside.”

  “No, Sydney, they’re mousers, and they are plenty warm where they’re at.” He lead Zoe towards his mother. “Ms. Bennett is here to discuss the reception, so I’ll leave you ladies to it. Mom, I’m going into the den to look over these papers again, maybe make a few phone calls.”

  “Remember what I said.”

  “I won’t do anything without consulting you.” He gave a little wave and left the three of them alone.

  “Ms. Bennett, this is Sydney Stanford, my son’s fiancée.” Amelia cocked her head to one side as if expecting Zoe to respond. Not for the world would 39

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  Zoe so much as blink an eye.

  Sydney put the kitten on the floor and held out her hand in welcome. “I keep trying to tell Amelia that there’s no need for her to go to all this trouble, but she won’t listen. I’m sure you’re a fabulous caterer, in a homespun sort of way, but I’m very particular about food quality.”

  “My company won several awards earlier this year.”

  The moment their hands touched, Zoe knew she would never like Sydney Stanford. She actually felt sorry for the Alex—Sydney’s character went as deep as a lake in the Sahara. Mix in a good dose of stubborn, along with a sense of entitlement, and it made for a bad combination. Clearly, things went her way, or no way at all.

  “I’ve heard nothing but good things about your food,” Amelia interjected. “Zoe’s exactly who I want to do the job, Sydney. Shall we get down to the particulars?”

  Sydney pouted but sat in a rose chair next to the couch.

  The fight would be to the finish, but Zoe put her money on Amelia.

  Maybe she’d made a snap judgment. Maybe Sydney had a good side, and if she were honest, maybe a small part of her still had some unresolved issues with Alex. Right now, those issues were sitting at home having an after preschool snack.

  One thing became clear as the meeting progressed—no way in hell would she ever let Sydney Stanford anywhere near her children.

  ****

  Alex rubbed the bridge of his nose. He tried to concentrate on the screen of his netbook, but the words blurred together into a mishmash of gray. His mother’s affairs should come first, especially with this Keeley Jacobs popping up into the picture with 40

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas her demands and threats. Instead, all he could focus on was a pair of hazel eyes.

  Only one person in the world had eyes like that, eyes that held the rainbow. Kaleidoscope eyes.

  The woman at the door couldn’t be Zoe Hillman.

  Could she?

  Petite, yet voluptuous, she had the kind of body that begged a man to explore every inch. Her breasts were full and high, her hips just wide enough to balance the whole. He could imagine tracing his hands over the slopes of her backside while he kissed Mrs. Bennett’s smiling mouth. Were her nipples brown, pink, or coral?

  He didn’t usually find her type of women attractive, his taste ran to the long, slim, blond, model types rather than short and curvy. Mrs.

  Bennett could be described in one word—cute.

  His physical response unnerved him.

  Alex had to admit she intrigued him. No, it went deeper than that—hell, he had to be out of his mind, sitting here with a boner for the caterer while his fiancée sat discussing menus with her in the next room. Alex rubbed his nose harder. Mrs. Bennett probably had six-feet-four of mean husband who’d beat the crap out of him if he so much as touched her. What was wrong with him?

  It had to be the eyes.

  He straightened up, adjusted his slacks, and began to Google Classic Kitchen Catering.

  Bingo! A very elegant website p
opped on the screen with pictures of food that made Alex’s stomach growl in protest. Sydney’s idea of lunch had been a few leaves of lettuce with some lemon juice.

  He’d wanted to order the steak, but she gave him a look that bode ill.

  Damn it, he’d wanted the steak, and he’d let Sydney call the shots. When had he become so 41

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  pussy-whipped? For a man who made confrontation a livelihood, why hadn’t he ordered the fucking steak?

  His stomach growled again.

  Alex went to the ABOUT button on the menu and read the story of Classic Kitchen Catering, located in North Kansas City, founded a year ago by Zoe Bennett. She’d already garnered some prestigious awards, and the critics raved about her food. It was Zoe. Why hadn’t she acknowledged him at the door?

  He sucked in a breath at the stab of hurt. A wave of guilt followed. He’d made a point of keeping out of her life after the annulment. She’d said she’d wanted it that way, and he had no choice but to honor her decision.

  Frantic for more information, he continued his search to find the obituary of James Oliver Bennett, a prominent attorney in the St. Louis area. Zoe—a widow?

  James Bennett died of heart failure at the age of forty-five, Alex read on, leaving behind his wife, Zoe Ann Hillman Bennett and their three daughters Mia, Michaela and Macy.

  Alex shook his head. Kids. He’d never imagined Zoe with children. But then, he’d never once considered her sexually attractive. James Bennett saw past the outside enough to want to have children with her.

  Shame made his face heat. The words and accusations Zoe had hurled at him in that Las Vegas room flooded back to him in a rush. His growling stomach turned into a vat of acid. The asshole came back in full force, judging Zoe, forgetting the real person who’d been trapped inside her fleshy prison.

  Yes, it was official; he’d earned the title jerk with a capital J. A jerk sitting here, lusting after the 42

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas woman he’d hurt, someone who’d been his friend for so long. None of it would’ve happened if he’d had the balls to face The Partners’—and Tommy’s—