Texas Christmas

by Nancy Robards Thompson

“In that case, I suppose I’ll have to wait with you until a cab comes.”

  At this time of night, that could take an hour. She looked around the desolate area. If he was going to kill her or hurt her he could’ve already made his move. The guy was twice her size and there was no one around to hear her protests. And what if he left and Mr. Drunk-and-Nasty came back? Then what?

  Suddenly, taking the red-eye to save money and to avoid the crowded morning flights didn’t seem like such a smart idea. And stubbornly refusing the only viable ride home seemed even dumber.

  “I live in Celebration,” she said. “Are you sure you’re up for the drive?”

  “I live not too far from Celebration myself. Come on. The car is this way.”

  He stopped. “You know, I don’t blame you for being hesitant to get into the car with me—not after that crazy guy in the airport. And it’s just the way the world is these days. I have a sister. If she were in your shoes right now, I can’t say I’d want her to get in the car with some strange guy at three o’clock in the morning.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, opened it and handed her a business card and his cell phone.

  “What’s this?”

  “Why don’t you use my phone to call a friend or family member and tell them to expect you in no less than thirty minutes? You have my name there on the card. My cell number will register on their phone.”

  She must’ve been giving him a weird look because he shrugged and said, “Hey, it’s all I’ve got. Unless you can think of a better idea.”

  He held out his driver’s license for her to see and pointed to it. “See, face on the license matches the face on the man. Name on the license matches the name on the card. Feel better?”

  She glanced down at the card. Sure enough, it was engraved with the name Robert Macintyre. She traced her finger over the gold-embossed Macintyre Enterprises and Macintyre Family Foundation logos. She hadn’t realized the handsome, reclusive oil baron had a foundation. Though he obviously had a heart—or at least a strong protective streak. She glanced up at him...and a smokin’ pair of lips that looked delicious.

  She must’ve been more exhausted than she realized because not only was she accepting a ride home at three o’clock in the morning from a man she’d met only hours ago, but she was also fantasizing about kissing him.

  She decided to dial her friend Sydney’s number because Sydney was her only single friend. Her other close friends AJ and Caroline had recently met the loves of their lives and were living with their fiancés. No sense waking up two people when Sydney was still living alone.

  “Hello?” Sydney’s groggy voice came through the phone.

  “Hi, it’s Pepper. I’m so sorry to call and wake you up.”

  She explained the situation, and after assuring Sydney five times that she did not need her to come to the airport and pick her up, Sydney compromised by saying that she would wait for a call from Pepper saying she was safely at home, and if not she would send an entire fleet of Celebration’s finest out searching for one Robert Macintyre.

  Her British accent sounded so proper.

  Especially when she said, “Is this the Robert Macintyre?”

  “Yes, I do believe it is.”

  “Wait right there and let me come ride with you,” she said breathlessly. “From pictures I’ve seen of him, he is positively yummy.”

  Pepper’s gaze fell on Robert’s lips again.

  “I’ll be sure and let you,” she said.

  After they found his black Range Rover, they fell into the same easy dialogue that they’d shared on the plane ride. As he drove, Pepper studied his profile. A bump on the bridge of his otherwise straight nose made his silhouette slightly imperfect, and a strong square jaw offsetting a full bottom lip made the imperfect look just right. At stoplights he would glance over at her and smile a smile that made her lose her train of thought.

  Finally when they pulled up in front of her house, he settled back in his seat and let his gaze meander over her face, taking a long, unapologetic leisurely look.

  “I can’t thank you enough for how you handled things in the airport,” she said.

  “You didn’t deserve that. No one deserves to be treated like that. I’m just glad I was there to help you.”

  * * *

  All he’d wanted since the moment he’d first set eyes on her was to know how she would fit in his arms, how her lips would feel on his, how she would taste when he ravaged her mouth with his own. And he’d be damned if he was going to leave her tonight without knowing the answers to those questions.

  He wasn’t sure who moved first, but the next thing he knew he was kissing her.

  She gasped a little when their lips first touched. The sound she made was barely perceptible—more of a shudder. Rob wondered if maybe he’d felt her more than he’d heard her reaction. But the important thing was she didn’t pull away, she didn’t break contact.

  He shouldn’t be doing this—for so many reasons. But she was kissing him back. He knew that, but her mouth was soft and warm and inviting. That little taste wasn’t enough. It tortured and tempted him more than it satisfied. As they sat there, arms around each other, lip to lip, the feel of her urged him to lean in closer. When he did, her mouth parted and she invited him in.

  Want swirled around him, as if his taking possession might bind her to him and fix everything that was broken. The taste of her—like cinnamon sugar and roses and something bright, like golden honey or sunshine—made him reel.

  * * *

  Robert Macintyre might have shied away from Dallas society, but he certainly hadn’t fallen out of practice when it came to kissing. That was the one lucid thought Pepper had as she melted into him.

  Rob made a noise deep in his throat, and desire coursed through Pepper, a yearning that only intensified the spell he’d cast on her. For a few beautiful seconds she thought she never wanted to catch her breath again. She could be perfectly content right here breathing his air for the rest of her life.

  His rugged hands on her waist held her firmly but gently against him. Who would’ve guessed such a sturdy man could kiss so tenderly...yet with so much smoldering passion?

  Then, just as naturally as they’d come together, they slowly released each other, staying forehead to forehead while the magic lingered.

  “That was nice,” he whispered. “You taste good, like that truffle you shared with me on the plane.” He reached out and ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip.

  He gave her one more wistful kiss, this one featherlight, before saying, “I’ll walk you to the door.”

  Caught in the twilight between longing and lucidity, she couldn’t find her tongue, but she was able to force her legs to carry her out of the truck and around to the back of the vehicle where he helped her with her luggage.

  When they were standing at the door she could still taste him on her swollen lips.

  “You have my card. If you ever need rescuing, you know where to find me.”

  Chapter Three

  Two days later, Robert sat in his home office and sorted through a stack of mail. He deposited five invitations to parties he would normally have no intention of attending into a pile. But the thought of running into Pepper Merriweather made him rethink his standard no.

  “Shall I RSVP yes to these for you?” asked his sister Kate. She’d been working for him since she’d graduated from the University of Texas with an MBA eighteen months ago.

  And then he came to his senses. The last thing he needed was to go out searching for his Cinderella. Hadn’t his divorce taught him that?

  Rob answered Kate with a barely audible harrumph, which Kate seemed to intuitively understand. “Come on, Rob, I’ll watch Cody for you. You need to get out.”

  He shot her his best leveling stare. “I have too much work to
do this week to waste my time at parties thrown by people I don’t even know.”

  Pepper might be there.

  All the better reason not to go.

  She shook her head. “If you went to these parties, you’d have the opportunity to meet them. Come on, you need a break. Get out and have some fun. Besides, the only reason anyone goes to these things is to work the circuit. There’s a lot of money at these shindigs. You’re missing out on opportunities for the Foundation.”

  She was right. But to him, working the shindig circuit, as Kate called it, ranked up there with shopping or an evening at the ballet. Simply put, he could think of a hundred other things he’d rather do—such as change the oil in his truck or wash Gabe, his Lab-like, Heinz 57 mixed breed. Or, most important, staying in with Cody, his five-year-old son and eating popcorn and watching Spider-Man—again.

  “I pay you to schmooze for the Foundation. If you think these parties are such a missed opportunity, why don’t you go in my place?” He turned away from the neat stacks of mail he’d created for Kate so she’d know what to do with them.

  Next he began opening the emails that had come in since he’d taken a break to eat lunch with Cody, who had come home from kindergarten early today claiming he didn’t feel well. He’d perked up once he saw his dad. Rob wondered if he should schedule a conference with his teacher. Being the only kid in his class who was in a wheelchair made things difficult. Kids could be so heartless. Downright mean. He didn’t want Cody falling into the trap of having his old man fight his battles for him. But he was only in kindergarten.

  Sometimes he sucked at being a single parent. But there was no questioning how much he loved his son.

  “The only reason they invite me is because they want to hit me up for whatever cause they’ve deemed worthy this week.”

  It was true. And Rob did give back generously to the community through the Macintyre Family Foundation, where the recipients of charitable gifts were hand selected and well researched to make sure they fell within the guidelines of the MFF mission statement: Family, Community and Education. He had a real problem with these so-called nonprofits that spent a boatload of money to throw parties in the name of charity.

  The truth was even though his corporation, Macintyre Enterprises, was worth more than a cool billion, the assets weren’t liquid. Rob’s money was tied up in oil rigs and other ventures that looked impressive on a balance sheet, but didn’t allow for a whole lot of impulsive financial movement.

  Hell, if he had the liquidity, there would be no need for his Foundation to beg for money for the most recent cause they’d taken on: partnering with Celebration Memorial Hospital to raise five million dollars to build a state-of-the-art pediatric wing onto the hospital. When Cody had been in the accident two years ago, he had to be airlifted to a hospital miles away for treatment. The boy was lucky to be alive. But that was one of the dark memories that Rob had sealed off, and he blinked it away to ensure it wouldn’t escape.

  Kate crossed her arms and gave an impatient huff. “These invitations are addressed to you, Rob, not me. I’m pretty sure they’re nontransferable.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” he grunted absently, opening and skimming an email about a project update that he’d been waiting for.

  Even if Cody’s wheelchair was a stark reminder of past mistakes, at least his boy was alive. That was all that mattered. More pressing was the fact that Cody would need at least one operation soon if there was ever going to be a chance that he’d walk again. Sadly, even with the Macintyre Family Foundation’s personal commitment to raising the money to build the pediatric surgical wing, the facility wouldn’t be ready for a while.

  If he had the damn money in hand, he’d pay for the wing himself so it could be built now, and he wouldn’t have to bother with parties and schmoozing and all the painful gyrations that went along with getting someone to do you a favor.

  “Rob? Are you listening to me?”

  “Not if you’re still haranguing me about the parties.”

  “It would be good for you to get out every once in a while,” she persisted.

  His thoughts drifted to the kiss he’d shared with Pepper.

  “How long are you going to punish yourself for something that wasn’t your fault?”

  He squinted at the computer screen, pointedly ignoring her, hoping Kate would take the hint and not go where this conversation seemed to be heading.

  The door to his past was closed. Period. He would not revisit the events he’d permanently sealed behind it.

  Instead, he allowed himself to revisit the memory of the kiss. It was a harmless memory. A good memory. Something that made him smile, no matter how fleeting and unsubstantial it was. But it was just a memory. He could relive it, but he wasn’t going to try to recreate it. They each had their own set of weighty baggage. So they were both better off leaving each other alone.

  Spending time with his son was something real and concrete. Something he wanted to do. It certainly wasn’t punishment. No, punishment would be spending the evening with people who would cross him off their guest list the second his net worth fell off the Forbes Rich Roster.

  Much in the same way the Dallas social set had exiled Pepper and her family. She was the perfect example of how society would chew you up and spit you out once you’d fallen from grace. At one time she’d been at the top of everyone’s guest list, too. Now she was the poster child for social pariahs. And as far as everyone knew, she’d had nothing to do with her family’s fall from grace.

  If he had a soft spot for spoiled debutantes, he might feel sorry for her. Although he did have to admit, she was nothing like what he might’ve imagined if he’d been inclined to follow the local players. She’d handled the drunk guy with grace and dignity. But then again, at three o’clock in the morning in the middle of an empty airport, who wanted to take on a guy who was three times her size? Things might’ve been different if she’d had her entourage in tow.

  Then again, maybe her entourage had ditched her, too—

  “But you are still going with me to the Raven Chair Affair next week?” Kate said. “Yes?”

  Rob let his body fall back into his chair, away from his keyboard, and exhaled audibly. Scrubbing the heels of his palms over his eyes, he purposely softened his tone. “May I choose the ‘bamboos under the fingernails’ option instead?”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “No, you may not. Raven Chairez could give the Foundation a lot of money. Somehow, I don’t think I’m the one who could sweet-talk her.” Kate raised her eyebrows at him in a knowing way. “You need to start practicing your manners. Now.”

  Raven Chairez was a piece of work. She was too old to still be throwing around her daddy’s money. Even worse was the way she threw fits when his money didn’t buy her exactly what she wanted. The only reason Rob knew this much about her was because Kate had briefed him about her. It struck him that if Pepper Merriweather was the poster child of the social pariah, then Raven Chairez was the picture of everything Rob hated about Dallas society. Plain and simple, she reminded him of his ex-wife. And when Kate had informed him that she’d heard through the grapevine that Raven Chairez was fixated on him—that he was a conquest she fully intended to make—Rob had made a point of avoiding all social situations where she might have the opportunity to corner him. Now, she was dangling the carrot of a potential hefty donation to the pediatric surgical wing.

  One of the best ways to clinch that donation was by attending her Raven Chair Affair annual gala. Of course he would attend. But that didn’t mean he had to pass up this opportunity to make his sister sweat.

  “Please promise me when you hire your new assistant, you won’t give her as hard a time as you give me over engagements like this.”

  “Are you kidding? That’s special treatment I reserve only for you. Speaking of the new assistant, when are we beginning the interviews?�
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  They’d started the Foundation right after Kate had graduated with her master’s. She had been the one who had built it into what it was today, laying the groundwork for partnering with Celebration Memorial to build the pediatric surgical wing. In the process, she’d also taken on the additional duties of caretaker for Cody and himself after he’d gone through a string of personal assistants who didn’t work out.

  With his divorce and Cody’s accident, Rob had been under a lot of stress, and Kate had come to both his and her nephew’s rescue.

  It was time for his sister not only to separate the dual roles she’d been playing but to have a much deserved and long-overdue promotion within the Foundation. Rob had the unanimous support of the Foundation board, and it was a surprise Kate didn’t know was coming.

  “I’ve lined up several people for you to interview,” she said. “But I’m not sure I’ve found the right person yet. So I’m still looking. In fact, I had lunch with Agnes Sherwood the other day. I asked her and a handful of other women of discerning taste to keep their ears open and let me know if they hear of someone good who is looking.”

  Agnes Sherwood was one of the Dallas area’s most influential doyennes. She was the grand dame of the small affluent town of Celebration, Texas, and the woman had more money than the U.S. Treasury and commanded twice as much respect. She was just about ready to commit to a tidy donation for the pediatric wing but had to confer with her financial advisors.

  “So it won’t be long now and you’ll have your own entourage following you around tending to your every whim.”

  He scowled at his sister, and she laughed at him in return. She knew how much he hated the concept of an entourage. Yet he couldn’t help but think her word choice was ironic, given that he had just used it to describe Pepper and her lack of followers.

  It was more like Pepper Merriweather, party of one. Pepper Merriweather with the rosebud mouth.

  Pepper Merriweather, who’d obviously taken up residence in his head.