Red Letter Nights
Page 20
“What did Lucas want you to tell me?” she asked, stalling, needing time to sort through this crazy feeling suddenly ballooning inside, making it hard to draw a decent breath.
“The reason we fought.”
“Now? After all these years?”
“You need to know. I did something that I thought was a good thing, but Lucas didn’t agree. Now I understand why.”
Lifting the chain around her neck, he fingered the silver angel with a strange smile.
There was something so wistful about his expression, something so wry and amused…then it hit her. “You were my secret Santa.”
He nodded, meeting her gaze with a wealth of emotion, and she vividly remembered that Christmas. A hallmark year for memories she’d rather forget.
Except for her secret Santa.
School had hosted an annual Yule ball. It was a festive and much anticipated event, and since Josie had made Christmas her signature holiday, she’d headed up the decorating committee. She’d cooked up a beautiful Victorian Christmas theme, which the board had embraced. For months, she and her team had worked their hearts out plotting and planning the event, had even convinced the city to lend them some Mardi Gras decorations to recreate New Orleans at the turn of the century.
She’d been sixteen and wildly excited about the ball. She’d also been the only one in her circle of acquaintances who hadn’t had a date.
Remembering back to that thoroughly forgettable time, Josie honestly couldn’t blame any of her fellow classmates for not asking her out. She’d been what Nana had called a “late bloomer” and still cringed at pictures from that painful year.
Orthodontia, contact lenses and a capable dermatologist had eventually cleared up the most obvious problems, but the memory of that sad and lonely holiday…
“Why would you be my secret Santa, Max? You sent me a gift every day for the twelve days before Christmas. And they were such thoughtful gifts.”
He stared down at the silver angel. “I saw you in the Quarter on the night of the Yule ball. You were standing on a street corner all dressed up, chatting and smoking cigarettes with a bunch of vagrants.”
Another of her more stellar moments. She’d vowed to go to her ball stag but had copped out when she’d seen the grand hall in the old Jackson building transformed into a glittering world from a bygone era. She’d been the head of the decorating committee, noticeable, and had felt so ugly and pathetic in a room filled with couples dancing the night away.
She’d headed into the Quarter, instead, bought a few packs of cigarettes and made friends with some homeless folks who roamed the streets between Rue de Royale and Rue de Chartres.
“You were there when I came home, Max. You knew I lied to my parents about what a great time I had?”
He nodded.
“But what was Lucas’s problem with you being my secret Santa? That’s the only decent thing that happened to me that Christmas. He should have appreciated how nice you were.”
Max rested the angel against her neck, sat back and met her gaze squarely. “I never told Lucas because I didn’t want him to think I was being stupid. He always thought I was a wimp when it came to you.”
“You were nice. There’s a difference.”
He inclined his head. “Apparently Lucas didn’t think so. When he found out, he went nuts. He was angrier than I’d ever seen him.”
“Angry about what?”
“He told me I’d crossed the line. He made it sound like I was taking advantage of you with some dirty ulterior motive for sending those gifts. I couldn’t believe he’d even think that, when I only wanted to make you feel better.”
Max shrugged, a casual gesture that Josie saw right through. Ten years later, and he still hurt.
“Max—”
“I mean, come on, Josie, you were sixteen and I was nearly out of college. My head definitely wasn’t there, but Lucas wouldn’t believe me. I felt like I’d done something horrible and failed everyone—my grandmother, your parents, everyone who believed in me—and I felt like I needed to prove myself.
“It took me a while, but I’ve finally figured out that I only needed to prove myself to me. It wasn’t about the fight with Lucas or playing your secret Santa. I felt as if I didn’t deserve everything your family had given me through the years, everything my grandmother sacrificed to raise me. But at the time…”
“Oh, Max—” But she suddenly didn’t have any words.
Reaching under the tree, he grabbed the last gift and handed it to her. “It’s all in here. Open it.”
Her heart aching, Josie peeled away the bow and wrapping to find another box of letters. These weren’t yellowed or brittle with age. The envelopes were new, the whole stack wrapped in festive red and green ribbon, with dates written in Max’s bold hand.
She opened the one on the top, dated the night she’d first danced for him. Ma chérie, the letter began…
“It’s in French.”
“French is a romance language.” He smiled. “I told you I was thinking about more than notre nuit pour la fantaisie.”
The words tumbled from his lips as easily as they always had, but she skimmed the page, struggling to understand his fluent French. She recognized just enough to know his letter explained his reaction to her performance after she’d turned out the lights. He wrote of his surprise, his arousal and the way wanting her had made him think about the past.
“I wanted you to understand everything I figured out while I’ve been home, all you’d come to mean to me. I want a chance to explore what we have together, Josie. I don’t want you to say ‘au revoir’ after that incredible night we just spent together.”
That crazy feeling kept on swelling until she could barely breathe.
And Max knew. “So what do you say? Interested in seeing what we can have together?”
Josie loved surprises, and this unexpected Christmas surprise was better than anything she’d ever received. Slipping her arms around him, she held him close. “Yes.”
A simple word because there wasn’t anything else to say.
She’d never considered more than a night with Max because she hadn’t believed one would be possible, and she refused to set herself up to be disappointed. But having the chance to know him again, a chance to explore all this wild arousal and these oh-so right feelings…Lifting her face to his, she kissed him to seal the deal.
His mouth covered hers, a kiss that echoed everything she’d discovered in his arms last night, a kiss that made her want.
But a thought occurred to her, and she broke away.
“You still haven’t told me why Lucas thought you were taking advantage of me. He’s not stupid, so I’m not buying that he thought you were interested in me with any dirty ulterior motive.”
“I wish I’d have been so smart.”
“Really, Max. Think about it. I looked heinous at sixteen. The braces and my horrible skin—”
“You were still you, Josie.”
More simple words, more right words that revealed so much about this man, about how much he cared and always had. He might have left Court du Chaud and lost his way during the years, but he was still Max.
“That was what Lucas called to tell me,” Max explained. “Apparently, he wasn’t worried about me. From what he just told me on the phone, he was worried about your reaction if you found out I’d been sending the gifts.”
Oh, no!
Josie knew what was coming and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She covered her ears for good measure. No good. Max was stronger, and craftier. Grabbing both her hands, he brought them to his lips.
“What I didn’t know when I’d decided to play your secret Santa was that you had a huge crush on me. Lucas thought I knew how you felt. He was afraid that if you found out I was sending the gifts you’d think I was interested and get hurt.”
She opened her eyes and gazed into his smiling eyes. “You weren’t supposed to ever know that.”
“Well, I didn’t have a clu
e until he just told me on the phone. His apology was my Christmas gift.” He laughed softly, his breath bursting softly against her skin. “Your brother is as sick as ever.”
“Oh, Max. I know it seems silly now. I mean, it’s been so long, and we’ve shared so much these past few weeks. But I’m glad you didn’t know that I moon-pied after you.”
He pulled her into his arms, so she could feel all his hard places, thrill at the promise of the days ahead. “I like that you wanted me then. I like that you want me now.”
“I do, and I can’t wait to read all my love letters. Yours and Nana’s. But I’ll need help translating yours, you know.”
“Looking forward to it.” He ran a finger along her bare shoulder, pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We’re going to have fun, Josette. I promise.”
She believed him, and when she spotted the white bakery box on the end table, she leaned up to rummage through the cookies until she found the one she wanted.
Unwrap me.
Thank you, Chloe!
Handing him the cookie, she said, “Christmas is getting on here, Max. I think it’s time you opened another gift.”
“Me, too. And it’ll be the best gift of them all.”
Josie sighed. He always said exactly the right thing, and did the right thing. Reaching for her, he unwrapped the blanket with a flourish that rivaled any of her performances.
“Merry Christmas, Max.”
“Merry Christmas, Josie.”
Then his hands came around her, and when he caught her lips in a possessive kiss, Josie knew she’d been right…. Magic was happening around Court du Chaud this Christmas.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5748-5
RED LETTER NIGHTS
Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
LUV U MADLY
Copyright © 2005 by Mica Stone.
DELIVER ME
Copyright © 2005 by Karen Alarie.
SIGNED, SEALED, SEDUCED
Copyright © 2005 by Jeanie LeGendre.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Table of Contents
LUV U MADLY Alison Kent
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
DELIVER ME Karen Anders
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
SIGNED, SEALED, SEDUCED Jeanie London
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7