Christmas With Us (A Nucci Securities Novel, #1.2)

by Debra Presley

  “Well, you can’t believe everything you hear, can you?” Abby scratched her arm and hoped Sophie caught her signal. She was done talking to Stephanie.

  “I suppose.” Stephanie gave Abby a “yeah right” look.

  “Excuse me, ladies,” Sophie interrupted. “Abby, you need to get ready for your meet and greet. Stephanie, if you’d like to do a formal interview with Abby, give me a call and I’ll set it up.”

  “Sorry, Stephanie, gotta go meet my fans.” Abby gave Stephanie a quick hug and air kiss before Sophie ushered her away.

  “Thank God that’s over.” Abby sighed. “She’s relentless about Sean.”

  “I’m sorry.” Sophie squeezed her arm and guided her through the mass of people, deftly avoiding anyone who might have wanted Abby’s attention. She loved Sophie for that.

  “By the way, you look hot, girl,” Abby said, returning their conversation to a safe-for-public topic. Since Sophie always looked hot, it was an easy segue. She scanned Sophie’s outfit to confirm it was true yet again. She wore a black shift dress with a thick white band down the middle and a square-cut neckline. To set it off, she’d selected a pair of black, sparkly four-inch platform shoes and pulled her reddish-brown hair into a bun. She was totally rocking the hot-for-teacher look. “That’s the other reason I hired you. Your fashionista sensibilities.”

  “Learned it from you. Now come on. The inner sanctum awaits.”

  Abby followed her into the private part of the dressing area and sank onto a sofa. She closed her eyes, savoring the quiet.

  Always efficient, Sophie retrieved her binder from the coffee table and took the seat opposite.

  “Okay, tonight we have a meet and greet. It starts in about an hour and a half. We also promised you’d stick around to sign autographs and take pictures. I have an outfit set aside, and Amy and John stayed behind to help you get ready. Oh, and Ms. Sohm called.”

  “She did?” Abby smiled without intending to do so. Ms. Sohm was her former teacher and de facto parental figure. She’d traveled with Abby for years and taught her everything her mother neglected. Abby loved her to bits. “Remind me to call her tomorrow.”

  “You got it.”

  Abby stood. She wanted to talk to Sean before she had to get ready for the rest of the night. She worked her way around the room, smiled, and greeted people as appropriate. Finally, she found Sean tucked in a corner, pressed up against a scantily dressed blonde with her tits hanging halfway out. Not again. The blonde giggled inanely at whatever Sean said as he ran his fingers up and down her arm.

  Abby stared; she was shocked that he’d be so blatant. Stephanie was here, for Christ’s sake. The woman lived to gossip about their love life. When she recovered enough to move, she ignored everyone else in the room and made her way toward them. She approached the pair from behind so Sean couldn’t see her.

  “Am I interrupting anything here?” she asked.

  Sean moved away from the blonde. “Baby, I was talking to…”

  “Brandi,” the blonde snapped.

  “Yeah, Brandi.” He ran his hand through his hair. “She was telling me about a club we should check out.”

  “Oh, really?” Did he know Abby at all? She was all for a night out once in awhile, but with all that was required of her, she didn’t do it often. Especially not after a show. “Too bad we don’t have time. Can I talk with you for a moment, baby?” She tried to keep her tone even, doing her best to not attract any more attention from the small group of onlookers that had inched closer. She wrapped her arm around his waist and guided him to her private dressing area.

  She double-checked to make sure the room was empty before saying, “What the fuck was that? I can’t leave you alone for more than five minutes without you trying to get into some random skank’s pants? Really?” She kept her voice low.

  “I was being nice. She came up to me and wanted to talk. What was I supposed to do? Be rude?” He ran his finger across Abby’s collarbone and looked into her eyes.

  She always had a hard time resisting his touch, because no matter what else, Sean was great with his hands. She ran her fingers through his shoulder-length, brown hair and enjoyed the way the unruly curls caught against her fingertips enough to ignore the sweat left over from being on stage.

  “Mmm. There, we’re cool, right?”

  “Fuck you, Sean. I’ve reached my limit with you. I’m sick of being made to look like a fool.”

  Sean stared at her. “I really am sorry.”

  Abby searched his face. He looked sincere, but she had no way of actually knowing. There was a time, in the beginning of their relationship, when she would’ve believed his apology, but he’d burned her too many times. When they first got together, they really were in love and not just faking it for appearances. When Kelly introduced them, they hit it off immediately. Sean was everything she thought she wanted in a man—attentive, loving, and he listened to her. They talked a lot. He was charming and persuasive. He even managed to change her mom’s mind a couple of times. In Abby’s experience, that was something that never happened.

  Now, though, his suave ways had begun to wear old, and the truth never matched up with his version of events. Lately, she was starting to think the Sean she fell in love with was never real in the first place. And everything she believed back then was a lie just like everything he said to her now. The worst part by far was, along with the loss of trust for him, she also lost trust in herself. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to trust blindly again like she had with him.

  When he claimed the blonde was a friend and all she wanted was to tell him about a club, she knew it was bullshit, but what did that knowledge get her? She knew he was lying, and he knew she knew he was lying. Everything else was just the costumes they wore in public. She could push the issue and start an argument, but with so many people within earshot, it wasn’t worth it. Nothing would change anyway.

  “Fine,” she said, annoyed with life right now. “I have to get ready.”

  He shifted out of her way, but grabbed her hand before she could pass. “Where are you going?”

  “I have an event that my mother set up.”

  “You can’t get out of it?”

  Abby rubbed her temple and sighed, letting go of some of her anger. “I wish I could.” It wasn’t the complete truth since she liked her fans more than her boyfriend at the moment, but she said it as a gesture of forgiveness. She was stuck with Sean, so she might as well make it as pleasant as possible.

  “Um, sorry to break things up here, but you have to change now if you want to get back at a decent time.” Sophie smiled, apologetic, and Abby wondered how much she’d heard.

  “I’ll wait up. Want me to have a bath ready for you?” Sean asked.

  “That sounds nice.” Abby gave him a small smile.

  “How long are you gonna be?”

  “A couple of hours, I guess.” She looked over at Sophie.

  “I have you scheduled for two hours, but the sooner we leave, the sooner you can get back to your room.”

  Abby smiled. “All right. See you later.” She headed for the bathroom.

  * * *

  Abby sagged against the elevator wall, completely exhausted from her long day. All she wanted now was the hot bath Sean had promised, followed by blissful sleep. Sophie, along with her personal security detail, Danny Nucci and Ron Miller, stepped into the elevator with her.

  “That wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been,” Sophie said.

  “Danny was lucky enough to get cornered by that woman.” Ron chuckled and pressed the buttons for their floors. “Left me to hold back all the squealing teenagers.”

  Abby fought the urge to roll her eyes. The woman was gross. She was dressed like a cheap whore. And, she was there with her daughter, not at some nightclub. She wouldn’t leave Danny alone.

  “You could’ve given me some help. She was disgusting.” He shook his head exaggeratedly.

 
; “She was quite fond of you.” Abby laughed to mask her real feelings.

  “Not one of you tried to intervene. I’m gonna need to shower for a week in order to get her perfume out of my nose. She reeked.”

  “Yeah, you do smell pretty,” Abby goaded.

  “I’ll remember this. Just wait,” Danny warned as the elevator door opened to Sophie’s floor.

  “Night.” Sophie gave Abby a quick peck on the cheek before she stepped off the elevator.

  “Night.” Abby waited inside the elevator with Danny. He held the door open while Ron walked Sophie to her room.

  “So, what are your plans for the rest of the night? A late night rendezvous with the smelly cougar?” Abby teased.

  “Aren’t you the funny one this evening. Well, baby doll, it’s two-thirty in the morning, so I’m thinking sleep. Why? Did you have something in mind?”

  She got lost for a minute in his deep-brown eyes that sparkled with mischief. She’d always thought he was hot, but she was caught off guard by the desire to touch his cheek, to smooth her fingertips over his dimples. This visceral reaction to Danny kept happening more and more frequently, no matter how much she tried to suppress it.

  “Um, you still with me, Abby?”

  She blinked, and her cheeks flushed with heat. “Oh, you want me to answer you?” she laughed to cover up her embarrassment. She didn’t want him to realize she’d been daydreaming about how rough his five o’ clock shadow would feel against the flat of her tongue. “I told you how I feel about your stupid nicknames.” She tried to sound pissed, but didn’t pull it off.

  Ron laughed as he entered the elevator and pressed the button for their floor. Danny glared at him for a moment then started laughing with him.

  Abby changed the subject. Much safer that way. “What time are we heading out in the morning?”

  “Oh-nine-hundred hours,” Danny replied.

  “Okay, Drill Sergeant, I’ll be ready.” The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the semi-private floor which held the suite she shared with Sean, along with another across the hall where Danny and Ron stayed.

  “Well, Military Man, it’s been a pleasure. I’m gonna go pass the hell out. Have a good night. See ya, Ron.” She waved over her shoulder as she slid her keycard through the electronic lock. When the reader beeped and the green light came on, she gave the men one last smile before entering her suite.

  She closed the door and removed the nude color platform pumps from her aching feet. Clearly, her shoes were made for showing, not walking. She made her way into the large sunken living room; the muted neon glow from the Vegas strip was the only light in the room.

  “Sean?” Abby called on her way to the bedroom. She dropped her shoes next to the dresser.

  Sean wasn’t there, even though he’d said he would be. Abby blew out a puff of air, annoyed with herself for believing him, yet again. She wasn’t lying when she said she’d reached her limit, but that didn’t matter when he knew that it wasn’t up to her anyway. Her mother would never let her leave him. She had plans, and it didn’t matter what Abby wanted. Abby turned the light on then dug into her bag for her phone. It wasn’t there. “Fuck,” she muttered. She picked up the hotel phone and dialed Sean’s number. It went to voicemail. She hung up. There was no point in leaving a message.

  She dialed back to the operator and asked to be connected to Sophie’s room.

  “Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you have my phone?”

  “No, I don’t think so, but let me look. Hold on.”

  Abby chewed her lip, thinking about Sean. Where the hell was he? Worse, who was he with? A hard knot formed in her stomach as she thought about what he might be doing.

  “Hey,” Sophie said. “I don’t have it.”

  “I must’ve left it in my dressing room.” Typical, considering the way her luck had been tonight. “Sean’s not here. You know what that means.” She sighed. “I’m gonna go find my phone.”

  “Why do you even bother with him anymore? We’ve hashed this out before.”

  “It’s late. Can we talk about this later? He’s not here and right now I can’t even think about what that means, but I know I need my phone.” She was sick of it all.

  “You shouldn’t go alone.”

  “It’ll take twenty minutes. Quick and easy.” Thankfully the arena was connected to the hotel.

  “Okay, but ask one of the boys to go.”

  “They’ve had a long night. I don’t want to bother them. I won’t be long, and besides, you’ll know where I am. When I find my phone, I’ll call you.”

  “Abby! Tell them. I get that you’re upset, because Sean’s disappeared…again but don’t do something stupid.”

  “Fine. Will you come with?”

  “I’ll meet you at the elevator.”

  “Perfect. Thanks.” Abby slipped on a pair of flats and unhooked the panic button from her purse and attached it to her bracelet. Danny insisted that she wear the damn thing. She insisted that it looked good as a charm she could wear hanging from wrist or attached to her purse. After all, security was important, but appearances could make or break her career. She didn’t want it to look like she had a tracking device on her.

  Abby double-checked that her keycard was in her pocket before she let her door close behind her, then she jabbed the call button for the elevator. She was about to knock on the door to Danny and Ron’s suite, but a ding sounded behind her and announced the arrival of the elevator. “Damn.” She decided to call the guys when she got her phone and hurried into the elevator before the doors could slide shut without her.

  About the Author

  Debra Presley is a USA Today Bestselling author and native New Yorker who made her escape to the suburbs. She often returns to her hometown to visit her favorite deli for a bagel with butter, because there’s no better bagel than a New York bagel. When not in search of bagels, Debra spends her time running Book Enthusiast Promotions, an online promotions company that helps indie authors spread the word about their books. She’s also the owner of The Book Enthusiast blog.

  She started writing lyrics in her wall-to-wall NKOTB bedroom at the tender age of thirteen while dreaming of the day she’d become Mrs. Jordan Knight. That dream never came to fruition, but she has continued to write.

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