This Holiday Magic

by Celeste O. Norfleet

  “That doesn’t mean you can’t love them. Take Ethan and myself. We met when he and Adam were at MIT. They were roommates and came to the restaurant where I worked part-time as a waitress. I was working on my bachelor’s in business at the time. They came in wearing MIT T-shirts and I instantly knew they were a couple of brains, so I played it cool. Adam started flirting a little with me. I ignored him and flirted with the blond. For the next six months they were regulars, and then something happened—Ethan came in alone and asked me out, and we’ve been together ever since. Was I intimidated by his intelligence? Yes, but I didn’t let that stop me. They may be supersmart, Sage, but remember one thing—they’re also living, breathing men who need love like everyone else.”

  “I know you’re right,” Sage said. “I just don’t know if I’m up to being all Adam wants of me.”

  “That’s probably why he invited you this weekend,” Trudi said. “So you’ll get the chance to see him in his element. But try to remember, Sage, that all the accolades in the world, all the admirers, all the groupies don’t mean a thing to Adam. They’re just things imposed on him by society. Next time you’re alone with him, ask him what really matters to him and he’ll tell you, like Ethan told me eight years ago when we got married, that you’re what matters to him.”

  Sage wanted to believe Trudi because it corroborated what Adam had earlier told her, that deep down he was still the Adam she’d always known. Now, she supposed, it was all up to her. Would she be able to let go of the past and embrace the future?

  * * *

  Sage and Trudi got back to the Hofburg Congress Center in time for Adam’s speech. Ethan had saved them seats down front, and they flanked him as Adam strode onstage to thunderous applause.

  He began by welcoming the five thousand attendees to the summit, greeting them in English, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian and Mandarin. He joked that no matter which language he spoke, he always spoke it with an American accent.

  Then he said what he’d come there to say. “When I was a kid, I would race home from school in time to catch reruns of Star Trek. I wanted to be Mr. Spock. I wanted to live in their time, where currency was no longer needed because society made sure that all its citizens had what they needed without having to beg, borrow or steal. Everyone had access to a good education and was allowed to develop their talents. There was no caste system. Everyone was equal. We’re here today to discuss how we can change the world.”

  He spoke for more than an hour with enthusiastic audience participation. Questions were asked and answered. If Adam didn’t know the answer to an honest query, he referred the audience member to one of his colleagues.

  Sage found the whole thing stimulating. She knew that Adam was a mathematician, but until today she had been unfamiliar with the practical applications of mathematics in solving everyday problems.

  After the speech Adam joined her, Ethan and Trudi. He went straight to her and hugged her. They hadn’t seen one another since they’d split up at eight that morning.

  Sage smiled up at him. “I’m so proud of you,” she said with admiration. And she meant it. He’d really impressed her with his depth of feeling for the planet and its problems.

  Adam smiled happily at the compliment. “Really?”

  “Not only did I understand everything you said, I now want to go out and do something about it,” Sage told him, her eyes ablaze with excitement.

  “Don’t lay it on too thick,” Ethan laughed. “We don’t want it to go to his head.”

  Adam playfully shook his fist at his best friend and then pulled Sage into his arms and kissed her.

  Sage kissed him back.

  It was only after he’d let her go that she remembered they were in an auditorium full of summit attendees, to say nothing of Adam’s best friends.

  But, shyly looking around them afterward, she noticed that no one gave any outward indication that their kiss had been anything out of the ordinary. Ethan and Trudi were warmly smiling at her. But everything else remained unchanged. There was a buzz of human voices in the air. People were gathering their belongings, preparing to leave the auditorium and move on to some other event on the schedule.

  Adam pulled her close. Seeming to read her thoughts, he said, “Don’t worry. The media was only invited to the awards ceremony tomorrow night.”

  Sage was just about to tell Adam that it hadn’t even occurred to her that the media was there, but Ethan interrupted them. “Hey, how about a late lunch? I’m starved.”

  The next thing Sage knew, the four of them were squashed into the back of a cab heading somewhere to grab a bite to eat.

  * * *

  Later that night she and Adam got some alone time when they returned to the Palais Schwarzenberg. Because the day had been hectic, they’d elected to dine in her room and relax in front of the fire afterward.

  They were doing just that, cuddled on a love seat, cups of coffee in front of them, when Adam looked her in the eyes and said, “Sage, these past few days with you have been everything I imagined they’d be when I asked you to come with me. I’ve learned so much about you, and what I’ve learned I like very much. I challenged you, and you were woman enough to accept my challenge. Now I’m going to ask you to do something that is really going to take you out of your comfort zone.”

  Sage’s eyes had been closed as she enjoyed being in his arms. She’d changed into lounging clothes and taken her shoes off. Dinner had been delicious and she’d had two glasses of wine, which had her in a mellow mood.

  Adam’s nearness was doing crazy things to her body. She was aroused and very close to suggesting they move this scene to the bedroom, which was what went through her mind when he said he was going to ask her to do something out of her comfort zone.

  She gazed up at him, her thick-lashed eyes sultry. “I don’t think making love to you would be out of my comfort zone.”

  Adam smiled. “Nothing would make me happier, darling. But I was going to suggest something more.”

  Sage sat straighter on the love seat. “Like what?”

  Adam laughed. “You should see how big your eyes are now.” He turned and took her hands in his, then got down on one knee in front of her. “I’m trying to propose to you, Duck.”

  “Oh, my God,” Sage cried. She didn’t know how to react. Adam seemed to like springing surprises on her, but this was a little too much. She had gone along with a trip to Vienna, the ride on a Lipizzaner, but now a marriage proposal?

  “Adam, you’re moving too fast for me. I don’t know what to say. I like you. I want to make love to you. But I can’t truthfully say a marriage between us is the right thing to do. Give us time to get to know one another again.”

  “We’ve already wasted too much time,” Adam said vehemently. “I feel like we should have been married years ago and already have a family by now. I may seem overeager to you, Sage, but I never do anything without thinking about it for some time, and you’ve been on my mind for years. I love you, and I want you to marry me and be the mother of my children. I can’t state it any plainer than that.”

  Looking deep into his eyes, Sage sighed. “Remember the day you told me that it would be best if we stopped seeing each other?”

  Adam smiled sadly. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Sage.”

  “I know you didn’t,” she said softly. She gently touched his cheek. He grasped her hand and kissed the palm. Desire shot through Sage, jolting her to the core. He was looking at her with such longing, such utter loneliness that her heart could not deny him anything at that point.

  She kissed him. “Adam, Adam, this is exactly why I avoided you for a year. I knew that once you touched me, I’d lose all reason.”

  “That’s a good thing,” he said as he leaned forward and took her mouth once more. This time the kiss was more insistent and so sensual that Sage lost what little con
trol she had.

  What he could do with his tongue was indescribably wanton. Her limbs went weak, her nipples hardened, and she was so aroused she could feel herself moistening and her feminine center begin to thrum pleasurably.

  Breathing hard, she broke off the kiss. “I’ll make love to you, but I’m not going to give you an answer to your proposal tonight, Adam Benson. That’s too much pressure.”

  “Well, I’m not going to make love to you until you marry me,” he countered. “We made a promise, remember?”

  He got to his feet, smoothing his pant legs as he did so.

  Sage rose, too. “I was a teenager when I made you promise we’d wait until marriage!” she cried, outraged.

  “Which was a good thing then,” Adam said, “because I was a horny teenager. And it’s still a good idea because you make me feel like a horny teenager. Besides, I want our kids conceived after the wedding.”

  “That’s sexual blackmail!”

  “Call it what you will,” Adam said stubbornly. “But you don’t get the goods until you agree to marry me.”

  “I’m supposed to be the one saying that!”

  “I guess our roles have reversed,” said Adam. He picked up his suit jacket from a nearby chair, then turned back to face her, his eyes roaming over her body. “I may regret saying no tonight, but a man has to do what a man has to do.”

  Sage angrily threw up her hands in defeat and walked over to the door, opened it and gestured for him to leave. “Go right ahead and see if I care! I’m not marrying you just so I can sleep with you.”

  “I thought you’d marry me because you love me,” Adam said, which took some of the wind out of Sage’s sails. Her momentary anger fled.

  She appealed to him once more. “Adam, stay.”

  “No, thank you. I’ve got a date with a cold shower.”

  “I’m a lawyer,” Sage warned him. “I know how to play hardball. You’re not going to win this one, Adam.”

  “I lost when I broke your heart,” Adam said, looking her straight in the eye. “I’ll see this battle to the end.”

  “Good night, then,” Sage said.

  “Good night,” Adam replied softly. He left with his jacket thrown across his shoulder and his head held down.

  Sage closed the door and locked it.

  In times of stress she invariably turned to tidying up her surroundings, and she began with their coffee cups. She fumed as she worked. Adam Benson was insane. That was the only rational explanation. The billionaire genius was certifiable. He was so used to getting everything he wanted that he thought all he had to do to get her to marry him was dangle a million-dollar wager in front of her eyes, whisk her off to Austria and she’d be his!

  After returning the coffee cups to the room-service cart, which someone from the hotel staff would soon come to retrieve, Sage brushed her teeth in preparation for bed. Adam was not going to wear her down.

  Tomorrow, she would tell him she was going home, even if she had to take a commercial flight. She wasn’t playing his games any longer.

  When she came out of the bathroom and sat on her bed, she looked over and saw a small Tiffany bag sitting on the nightstand.

  Dread filled her as she reached for it and opened it. When had Adam come in here and put this beside her bed? She had no idea. She slowly opened it and reached inside. When she pulled her hand out, in it was a ring box. Her heartbeat quickened with excitement. Tears clouded her vision.

  Inside was a ten-carat, perfectly cut white-diamond solitaire in a platinum setting. She really started crying then because she could see the care with which Adam had chosen it for her. It wasn’t twenty or more carats and gaudy like some of the engagement rings she’d seen on celebrities’ fingers. Undoubtedly he’d chosen the purest color and cut. It was a ring he’d known she’d be proud to wear.

  Her first inclination was to put it on, but she didn’t. Adam should be the one to slip the ring onto her finger. He had obviously anticipated their making love tonight, and that was why he’d slipped in here earlier and put the Tiffany bag on the nightstand.

  But what could she do about it now after that argument? If she went next door to his room and threw herself into his arms, wouldn’t he think she’d changed her mind only after discovering the ring?

  One thing was for sure: she wasn’t going home tomorrow. She was going to see this out to the end, whatever that might be.

  Why did life have to be so complicated?

  Chapter 9

  Sage knocked on Adam’s room door. There was only one thing to do: tactfully give him the ring back.

  Adam opened the door wearing only his slacks. Sage momentarily lost her train of thought, so riveted was she by his naked chest. He was cut. His arms, chest and stomach muscles were clearly defined beneath his brown skin. She smiled. The teen whose chest had been practically hairless now boasted a profusion of hair.

  He was smiling at her as he stepped aside for her to enter. “Did you change your mind?” he asked pleasantly. He hadn’t seen the ring box in her right hand.

  Sage stepped inside, he closed the door and they faced one another. Sage handed him the ring box. “It’s a beautiful ring, Adam. Gorgeous, in fact, and I would be proud to wear it someday,” she said, smiling and pleading with her eyes for understanding.

  He accepted the ring in resignation, but his smile had faded. “Do you know what this does to a man’s ego, Sage?”

  “The same thing that was done to mine when you broke up with me?” she countered.

  “Is that what this is about?” Adam asked. “You want revenge?”

  “Nothing so childish.” Her eyes flashed in defiance. “It’s about wanting to wait until we know we’re in love and we aren’t caught up in what might have been, Adam.”

  She breathed deeply and exhaled, shedding the defensiveness. She hadn’t come here to argue. She went to him and touched his arm. When he didn’t recoil from her touch, she moved closer until he relented and pulled her into his arms. Sage lost herself in his masculine scent and the feel of his body wrapping around hers.

  After a couple of minutes, during which both of them relaxed and allowed the acrimony to drift away, he let go of her, and Sage peered up at him. “I still love you in that teenage-girl way I used to. Part lust, part romantic ideal, and now I want to love you like a woman would—completely. That’s worth waiting for, isn’t it?”

  Adam nodded. “Yeah, that’s definitely worth waiting for.”

  He walked her to the door and kissed her on the cheek. They didn’t say good-night again; Sage just left.

  * * *

  As Adam turned and walked back into the bedroom, the ring box felt burdensome in his hand. He didn’t regret jumping the gun and asking Sage to marry him. He simply regretted she hadn’t said yes. But he wasn’t going to let that discourage him. He’d give her more time to think about them.

  * * *

  When Sage woke the next morning it was snowing. She noticed it when she went to the curtains and opened them to allow the sunshine to spill in. Her room was on the second floor, and the windows opened outward and didn’t have screens. She opened one of them and held her hand out, capturing snowflakes in the palm of her hand as they drifted downward.

  She sighed. The grounds, the other buildings nearby and the surrounding woods were covered with a mantle of snow. This was how Christmas was supposed to look.

  Momentarily, she brushed the snow off her hand and closed the window. Adam would be knocking on her door in half an hour and she still had to shower.

  A few minutes later, as she was coming out of the shower, the room phone rang. She sat on the edge of the bed in her bathrobe and answered it. “Hello?”

  “Sage, it’s Trudi. Have you been online this morning?”

  “I brought my laptop, but I’ve b
een so busy I haven’t even taken it out of its bag,” Sage said.

  “Well, I wanted to warn you,” Trudi went on, “that when Adam kissed you yesterday, someone recorded it and put it on YouTube. It’s gone viral.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sage said. “Adam told me there weren’t any reporters at the summit.”

  “I don’t think it was a reporter. Whoever did it bragged that they captured the moment using the new Benson Electronics phone,” Trudi noted.

  Remembering the phone’s capabilities, Sage wasn’t surprised.

  “Am I identified?” Sage asked, hoping for a negative reply.

  “No,” Trudi told her. “The caption reads, ‘Is electronics wizard Adam Benson in love?’”

  “Has Adam seen it?”

  “I have no idea,” Trudi said. “I was just looking out for you, girlfriend. Actually, I’m kind of surprised that Adam let his guard down like this. He’s never been photographed with anyone he’s dated in the past. Did you know that? In fact, he didn’t even date anyone who didn’t sign a confidentiality agreement. I suppose you’ve signed one, too?”

  “No, he never brought up the subject,” Sage said softly, with a note of caution. She wondered why Trudi was asking so many personal questions, but assumed that if she and Ethan were Adam’s best friends, it was safe to confide in her.

  “Anyway,” Trudi continued, “Adam has a thick hide where invasion of his privacy is concerned, but you’re a newbie, so I thought I’d give you a heads-up.”

  “I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Trudi.”

  “No problem,” said Trudi. “See you tonight at the awards ceremony.”

  “All right. ’Bye, Trudi.”

  “’Bye, Sage.”

  After ending the call, Sage went to the closet where she’d stashed her computer and grabbed the black leather case she kept it in. Taking it to the desk in the bedroom, she sat and plugged it into the wall socket, realizing that after all this time without turning it on, the battery probably needed recharging.