Perfect Bride for Christmas, A

by Dyann Love Barr

  disapproval. Now his mother had hired her to cater his wedding.

  “This is wrong on so many levels,” he muttered and rubbed the knot on his nose.

  Alex tried to pull his attention back to Keeley Jacobs. He couldn’t think. He shut down his netbook.

  Tomorrow would work as well, since Zoe wouldn’t be in the next room, haunting him like a ghost from the past. How strange to think of her as the woman he bedded and wedded for one night. Then he remembered—her nipples were rosy pink with just a hint of coral.

  He needed a drink. Dad usually kept a supply of bourbon or scotch in the den, in the credenza, unless Mom had cleared it out after the funeral.

  Alex looked through the cabinets until he found Dad’s stash, along with two glasses. He pulled out a bottle of scotch, blew the dust out of one glass, then poured two healthy fingers worth. Then another.

  After he fortified himself, he headed back to join the ladies. He wanted to see Zoe again, to talk to her. Somehow, within the last few minutes, it had become terribly important to him to find out if she had a good life in St. Louis.

  Once Alex came through the door, he wanted to turn right around and get another drink.

  His mother sat with a serene expression on her face, while Sydney looked ready to throw a hissy fit.

  Zoe had left. Disappointment set like a rock on his heart.

  “The country club would be much better for the reception. This caterer woman clearly isn’t up to the task. I mean, she didn’t want to give me what I requested.”

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  “I think asking for made to order filet mignon for five hundred people is a bit much.” His mother flipped a page in the notebook resting in her lap and picked up a pen to scribble a note. “Besides, we are keeping the number for the reception down to two hundred people.”

  Sydney flounced to an overstuffed chair and plopped down in a huff. “This will never work.” Her hand waved around the room. “It’s so small and confined.”

  “I like to think of it as homey.”

  “But I’ve invited over five hundred on my own.”

  “Sydney, we originally agreed we could have no more than two hundred at the reception. If you want to accommodate more people, it will be up to you to provide a much bigger heated tent. The food will be simple appetizers, something easy for the guests to choose from. You will have to get together with your wedding planner to make the appropriate changes.”

  “Alex.” Sydney jumped to her feet when she saw him. A cloud of anger covered her beautiful face, but she put on her best give me what I want smile.

  “Explain to your mother that I want the reception at the country club.” She sidled up to him, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. “It’s my day after all.”

  Irritation itched along his spine. He would break out in hives caused by stress until the wedding was over and he and Sydney were flying to Paris. He’d wanted a few days of relaxing in the Keys but Sydney’s parents gifted them with the honeymoon.

  From the look on his mother’s face, she’d dug in her heels as well. Alex could feel the hives popping out. “We’ll order a larger tent. Mom is paying for the reception, Syd, let her choose the food.”

  “But.” Sydney’s expression turned mulish.

  “In case you forgot, I’m a part of this wedding.”

  He held out his hand for her to be quiet. “I’m sure Mrs. Bennett will do a fine job. We will pay for the 44

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas difference in the cost of the food as well.”

  “I want—”

  “You know, right now, I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, it would be a hell of a lot easier to go to the courthouse and have Judge Parker marry us.

  Quick and to the point. I don’t give a rat’s ass about all this wedding…” He searched for the right word.

  “Shit.”

  Whoa. It had to be the whiskey piping up like a drunken sailor on shore leave. He hastened to soften his harsh words. “I love you, Syd, I really do, but there are times you make me want to sit on the floor of my closet with a bottle of scotch.”

  “Thank you, Alex.” His mother didn’t look the bit phased by his pickled backbone. “If Sydney wants more people, then by all means, order the tent. I’ll need a headcount by the end of the week.” She closed her notebook with a snap. “It wouldn’t be fair to Zoe to expect to be doing appetizers for five hundred, only to find she has to provide for more. We’re not adding anyone else to the list.”

  Sydney jumped to her feet with a bullish scowl on her face. “Look here—”

  Alex handed Sydney her purse so hard her breath came out in a whoosh. “I wouldn’t begin with Mom. You won’t win.” He grabbed her by the arm, picked up her coat that she’d slung over the back of a chair, and marched her out the door.

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  Chapter Six

  Zoe smiled at the sight of Cherri coming through the kitchen door, pushing back the loose tendrils of damp hair.

  “We had a water fight upstairs.” The damp spots on Cherri’s sweatshirt bore evidence of the girls’

  enthusiastic bath time. Her caramel-colored skin flushed from steam and the effort of bath time with three children.

  “Thanks for taking over for me.” Zoe spread the filling on the Crab Squares. “The Henderson’s garden party is at noon tomorrow. I have to get all this stuff done and in the refrigerator.”

  “No prob. They were down for the count by the time I got them tucked in.” Cherri took a bottle of water from one of the refrigerators, one of two in Zoe’s commercial kitchen. One regular and one stainless commercial fridge graced the wall.

  Alongside them stood a matching, doublewide freezer. Cherri sat on the stool next to her and watched.

  “Great.” Zoe laid the finished squares on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. A layer of plastic wrap followed. “There, all I have to do is pop these in the oven at the Henderson’s and voila.”

  She shoved the baking sheet into the larger fridge, along with the rest of the various appetizers and marinating brisket. “Done for the night.”

  “So why in the name of Hera’s Garter Belt does someone have a garden party the first week of December?” Cherri swirled the water around in her 46

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas bottle.

  Zoe laughed. “You can do anything if you have enough money. They have a big, I mean huge, solarium at the back of their house. The palm trees are covered in Christmas decorations.” She took one last look in the refrigerator, satisfied with the end product of two day’s work. “It’s a little weird but fun.

  The ladies are supposed to wear their summer dresses and big hats.”

  “Cool.” Cherri opened the bottle and took a drink. “Very cool. So you, going tell me what’s going on with you or what?”

  “Going on?” Zoe picked up the dirty dishes, put them in the speed washer, and pulled down the lid.

  The loud whoosh of the superheated power spray came close to drowning out her words. “There’s nothing going on, except the season is gearing up.

  I’m tired.”

  “Oh, no, I’ve known you from the day you brought those beautiful babies home from the hospital. You gave me a job when no one else cared if I had to go back to that homeless shelter.”

  Zoe saw the concern in Cherri’s eyes. “You’ve been a blessing, you know that. I mean how often have you hinted for a raise?” She smiled, trying to wipe away the frown on Cherri’s face. “None.”

  Cherri waved Zoe’s comment away. “I don’t care about the money. Besides, you’re changing the subject.”

  Zoe opened the dishwasher. Steam filled the kitchen with a humid fog. “Like I said, I’m worn out.” “You’ve been quiet. Usually you have the radio blaring while you work. It’s silent as a tomb in here—except for the dishwasher.”

  Zoe bit her lip while she unloaded the dishwasher. “I saw the girls’ father today. He’s getting marri
ed again. As a matter of fact, I’ve been 47

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  hired to cater the reception.”

  Cherri’s dark eyes grew round. “Oh my.”

  She held up her hand. “Don’t. I know what you’re going to say. It’s crazy.” Zoe sighed as she untied her apron and laid it on the counter. “I’ve debated whether to tell him about the girls. Cherri, he hasn’t changed a bit.” Her butt dropped to the top of the stool next to Cherri’s with a thump. “James said I should’ve told Alex all along. But the man was so relieved to get an annulment that I couldn’t envision him as an instant father. Besides, I told him not to communicate with me and I didn’t feel right about contacting him.”

  “Great Zeus’ thong, girlfriend, what are you going to do?”

  Zoe laughed. Cherri’s devout Christian upbringing kept her from taking God’s name in vain, but she had no such compunction against using the Ancient Greek pantheon with gusto. “I haven’t a clue. Play it by ear?”

  “You are nuts. Certifiable.”

  “I know.” Zoe gave her hair a mad ruffle with her hands. “He won’t care enough to want anything to do with them. The last thing I want to do is to tell them, ‘Hey you have a daddy, but he doesn’t care about you.’ Like I said, he’ll be relieved I let him off the hook.”

  “How do you know? It’s been over five years.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “Michaela, Mia, and Macy’s.” Cherri twirled the cap back on the empty water bottle and threw it in the trash. “You and Alex are going to hash this out, but no one hurts those kids. Not even you, Mamma.”

  For a second, Zoe was taken aback, and then smiled. “I’m not looking forward to this. Amelia saw them when she came by here earlier in the week. I mean, they’re miniatures of Alex.”

  “One thing I’ve got to say, working for you has 48

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas never been dull.”

  ****

  Alex left for the office to work on the Keeley Jacobs problem. But in the backup of morning rush hour, his mind kept wandering back to Zoe. He made it half the way to the office before he hit the menu on his GPS system and found the address to Zoe’s business. How could she have moved back to the Kansas City area without telling him? He let his blood boil into a righteous anger that simmered down to a dull ache of hurt as the miles passed. Okay, he admitted, she’d made it clear she didn’t want anything to do with him, but it would’ve been nice to know if he ran into her—like yesterday.

  Alex massaged his chest. The ache lingered there like an old scar that acted up when the weather turned bad. This was the last thing he needed so close to his wedding.

  Long ago memories of Zoe’s hands stroking his body, the feel of her mouth on him, the way she opened up to him without reservations haunted him.

  How could he have forgotten getting married when his body remembered the passion filled night. Even Sydney held part of herself back. Not Zoe.

  Now Zoe’s ghost was flesh and blood.

  He remembered the days when Zoe acted as his confidant, his best friend, and now she’d turned into a stranger with a new body and attitude to match.

  They needed to talk, to close up the loose ends before he married Sydney. It was weird to think of her catering his reception. He’d been so pissed off and headachy by the time he left his mother’s house yesterday, that he’d just wanted to go straight home.

  Sydney kept yammering on about her surprise, but he wasn’t in the mood. Usually, her surprises took form in some new sexual antic designed to drive him crazy. Yet, for the first time since he’d met 49

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  Sydney, Alex didn’t feel that strong sexual pull.

  Whatever she’d planned would wait until later today. She’d probably bought a new set of teddies to spice up their evening. Right now, he didn’t care.

  Between Keeley Jacobs and Zoe Bennett, his focus on the women had to be from the neck up, not the waist down.

  He lied. Zoe sent his blood pressure up. He found it baffling, funny, and a little scary. She had the same smile; her cheeks were more defined. No one would call Zoe beautiful but she had a way, a charm that made her so damned cute—the kind of cute that had his dick jumping up and down like a jack-in-a-box.

  He pulled up at Classic Kitchen and turned off the engine. Zoe had located her business in a large, two-story brick building in the middle of the business district. The house stood out, but it welcomed customers to the white clapboard addition to one side. A large sign hung over the door, much like an old tavern sign. Elegant, yet understated.

  A large Christmas wreath hung over the door.

  Instead of the usual pinecones and poinsettias, it looked like a large plate filled with cookies. For some silly reason, it made him smile.

  The chime of a bell greeted his entry. He glanced around the neat little shop. Sydney and his mother would say his sense of interior design verged on…pitiful would be generous. He looked at art the same way—he knew what he liked, and he liked this, very much. Everything, even the Christmas decorations, had the same, soft greens, along with a touch of pink: Zoe’s favorite colors. The scent of something wonderful wafted through the store.

  Meat, he smelled meat cooking. If his nose didn’t lie, it was a brisket. Barbeque.

  His stomach growled in anticipation.

  “Down boy,” he muttered as his nose breathed in 50

  A Perfect Bride for Christmas the enticing aroma.

  He turned to look at the shelves lining one wall.

  They held an assortment of gourmet mixes, jellies and other goodies from different companies around the area. A jar of colorful lollipops sat on the counter, and a small table with two chairs fit into the front of the bow window.

  “Hello, Alex. What can I do for you?”

  He jumped at the sound of her voice. She didn’t sound particularly glad to see him. Alex looked at her, taking in how sweet she looked, even with a scowl on her face.

  “Did Sydney have any changes she wanted to make?” She wiped her hands on the white towel that rested on her shoulder. A flush stained her porcelain skin; her eyes were huge in her face. The upturned nose didn’t look like a pig’s snout anymore. It was pert and dainty.

  He still couldn’t get over the difference.

  She came around the counter and rolled down the sleeves of her chef’s jacket. An embroidered patch with the words cordon bleu and something else in French emblazoned the right pocket.

  “No, I…ah…”

  What had he been about to say? Hormones rushed through his veins, begging him to take one taste of the luscious woman in front of him. Before he could change his mind, his hands swooped down to capture her face, to cover her mouth with his. For a second, maybe two, he felt her submit, to allow herself the luxury of feeling. She melted into him, but it lasted all of that single heartbeat. He couldn’t help it, he had to have one more taste of her. She’d been his wife, even if it were only for thirty-six hours.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Zoe pried his hands away. Her face pinked with anger, but he saw a hint of arousal in her eyes.

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  “Kissing you.” Had she always tasted this good?

  In pale memories of his wedding night, he couldn’t remember. Right now, she looked like she wanted to slap him silly.

  “Why?”

  Alex took her by the shoulders to bring her closer. He was hard, in need. Old habits slipped into place, the charming smile, the smooth voice, the practiced moves. “Because you’re so adorable, and I’ve never kissed a—”

  “Fat girl?” She gave him a gentle push to the chest and stepped away. “Hate to break it to you, Slick, but you’ve done more than kiss the fat girl.!”

  “That’s not what I planned to say.” What had gotten into him? He already had a fiancée for God’s sake, and here he was, trying to seduce his ex-wife.

  Alex rubbed the bump on his nose. “A chef.” Th
at sounded lame to his own ears.

  Zoe threw him a wan smile and shook her head.

  “Did you forget you’re engaged Alex? Why, I can read you like a book. You want what you can’t have. And you expect everyone else snap to, so you can obtain whatever you’re chasing at the moment.”

  “No, it’s not like that. I didn’t come here with the intention of behaving like a caveman.” For a brief second he had forgotten about Sydney. “I kissed you because...

  How did he tell her he wanted to see her, maybe rekindle the friendship they had so long ago? Alex knew she could heal the ache, fill the hole left by her when she disappeared out of his life.

  “Then why did you come here?” She cocked her head to one side, arms across her chest before taking another step back. “I’m waiting—and staying out of touching distance.”

  “Fair enough.” Alex motioned to the table and chairs. “Can we sit down?”

  Zoe went to the table and sat. “I’m still waiting.

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  A Perfect Bride for Christmas There’s a lot of work I have to do before noon, so make it snappy.”

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t know why I came.

  You didn’t tell me who you were when you came by Mom’s house. Why?” He sat on one of the elegant chairs and leaned forward.

  Her lashes fluttered down, shutting those amazing eyes from his scrutiny. “It felt weird. You didn’t recognize me, and I wasn’t about to say, ‘Hey, Alex. Remember me? Wife number one is catering for wife-to-be number two.’ See—weird.”

  “Okay.” He nodded, trying to push back the niggle of hurt in his heart. “We were friends for a long time before the Vegas debacle.”

  Zoe sat straight in her chair, back stiffened, anger flashing in her eyes. Right now, they were brilliant green. “I’m sorry you remember our time together that way. Yes, I won’t deny I had my reasons for marrying you, but they are ancient history.”