A Christmas Rendezvous (The Eden Empire Book 4)

by Karen Booth

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said, kissing her bare shoulder.

  She smiled, eyes still closed, lying on her stomach. The early light of day filtered in through the windows, bathing her in a bright and beautiful glow. “Good morning.”

  He cozied up next to her, their naked bodies pressed together. It was so good to not wake up alone. “What do you want to do today?”

  In response, Isabel’s stomach rumbled loudly. “Food might be a good idea.”

  “We never ate last night, did we?”

  She opened an eye and popped up onto her elbow. “We did not. I feel like I should file a complaint, except you’re still way ahead of the Bacharach. Not a single siren went off in the middle of the night.”

  “We never would’ve met if it weren’t for that silly alarm.”

  She rolled to her back and clutched the covers to her chest. “We still would have met. It just would’ve been under far different circumstances.”

  Their first rendezvous had set the stage for last night, so he was immensely thankful that things had played out the way they had. “I’m glad the first time we encountered each other wasn’t at the negotiating table.”

  “Me, too.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Now let’s get some food. I’m starving.”

  Downstairs in the kitchen, Jeremy put some bacon in a skillet and began cracking eggs for breakfast. Cat had come downstairs for her own morning meal, which Isabel dished up for her before taking a seat at the center island. “I like watching a man cook.”

  “Lots of years as a bachelor,” he said. “And my ex didn’t cook anyway, so it was all up to me.” Looking back, he should have known it was never going to last. Kelsey spent too little time in this house. She was always out, desperate for her next adventure. It had taken a long time for him to figure out that her absence wasn’t about him. It was about the bottomless hole in her psyche that would always need filling.

  “What did you and your wife plan to do with all of this space anyway?”

  Jeremy dished up the bacon and eggs and grabbed slices of buttered toast, then ferried the plates to the island. “Madam, your breakfast is served.”

  Her entire face lit up when she smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

  He took the seat next to her. “I assumed we would have kids, and if we were going to create our dream house, it only seemed logical to me that we would have space for a growing family. That never happened, obviously. I wanted kids and she did not.”

  Isabel sipped her coffee, hands wrapped around the mug. “Did you guys not talk about it ahead of time? That’s a pretty important topic before marriage.”

  “We did discuss it. I told her that I wanted a family and she said she did, too. But when it came time to try to get pregnant, she kept secretly taking her birth control pills. I guess she just never had the guts to tell me she’d changed her mind. Or she’d been lying to me all along.” He was proud of himself for saying all of that without losing his cool. Something about Isabel made it so easy to confide in her. “Maybe I’m not cut out for parenthood, anyway. My own parents did not embrace their role.”

  “I wouldn’t call your dad warm and fuzzy. At least what I saw of him.”

  Jeremy had to laugh, even if it was a sound born of sadness. “He’s not. Neither is my mom, unfortunately. Although she has a softer edge to her. I’ll give her that much. They’ve both always been more interested in what a person accomplishes than what kind of person they are.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “They’ve always been like that and I fed into it. I learned from an early age that if I did exactly what they wanted, and especially if I excelled at it, I was showered with praise. That was as close as they came to expressing affection.”

  “Is that why you became a lawyer?”

  “Actually, it isn’t. My dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but it was my grandfather who inspired me to do it. He was all about the subtleties of the law and he loved the interpretation of it. He loved forming an argument.” Jeremy turned to Isabel. “Very much like you, actually.”

  “He sounds like an awesome guy.”

  “He was. Those are all his law books in my office upstairs.”

  “So that’s why you like to work here. Stay away from your dad and be surrounded by reminders of the real reason you got into this crazy business in the first place.”

  “Absolutely.” Jeremy nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly. Isabel was an angel who’d dropped out of the sky. She understood him so naturally. “So, I was thinking, since it’s Saturday and there are only a few days until Christmas, maybe we could do something holiday-related today.”

  “What did you have in mind? I hope not caroling. I’m a terrible singer.”

  “You and me both.” He took another bite of his toast. “Shopping? I’ve already done mine. I get the same thing for my parents every year.” A year’s supply of monogrammed golf balls for his dad, who not only hit the links regularly, he was apt to lose them in the water hazards. For his mom, Jeremy went to Tiffany & Co. and bought the most recent offerings of earrings or a bracelet.

  “I’m done, too. I got everything at Eden’s. It was the first time in years that I’ve done that.” She slid him a glance. “What about decorating? A Christmas tree?”

  “I don’t have an artificial one. There’s a tree lot about seven or eight blocks away. Even with the snow, it’s probably open. We could drag it back?”

  Isabel turned and looked out the patio doors. “We don’t need to buy one. You already have plenty.”

  “Out there?” This option had never occurred to him. Not once.

  “Do you have any lights? Ornaments?”

  “Well, yeah. I haven’t used them since my divorce, but they’re definitely still there.”

  “Let’s decorate one of the trees out on your patio. It’ll be so pretty at night. Plus you won’t have to worry about Cat climbing it or messing around with it.”

  “You want to go out there in the cold? And decorate one of the cypress trees?”

  “It’s not snowing anymore. The sun is shining. It’ll be nice. Plus, it’ll be good to get some fresh air.”

  This was about the craziest idea Jeremy had ever heard. And he loved it. “We’ll go hunting for everything in the attic in a little bit.”

  “We have all day, don’t we?”

  After breakfast was done and the kitchen cleaned, they trekked upstairs to the top floor of the house, where the attic was. It wasn’t difficult to find the boxes of Christmas decor. They were some of the only things up there—thus was the life of the single guy with too much space. Jeremy certainly hesitated before he opened the first box. He and Kelsey had bought these decorations together, back when he believed they were building a life and would use them for years to come. Back when he’d thought that they might have kids and those children would eventually hang these ornaments on the tree. He didn’t want to think about it too much as a reflection of the life he no longer had. Here with Isabel, his heart was nothing but light. If she’d never come along, these Christmas baubles might have spent many more years tucked away in an attic, collecting dust and going unused and unappreciated. It wasn’t difficult to see the parallel between the boxes of ornaments and his own existence.

  “I think four strands of lights will be enough. And I think these red and silver ball ornaments will stand up to the elements.” Isabel tapped a fingernail against the shiny orbs. “They don’t seem particularly breakable.”

  “Perfect.”

  They carried the boxes down a floor, then each went and changed into more suitable clothes for outdoors—jeans and sweaters. Back downstairs, they bundled up in boots, coats and gloves. “Do you have an extra hat I can wear?” she asked. “I don’t have one with me and it looks really cold out there.”

  “I’m sure I have something.”

  Jere
my rummaged through his front coat closet, where he pulled out a red hat he’d had for years. “I haven’t worn this one since college.” He tugged it on her head, which pulled much of her hair over her face. With his fingers, he gently brushed it aside, tucking it neatly under the cap. She looked up at him while he did it, eyes big and bright, leaving him with only one logical thing to say. “You’re so beautiful, Isabel. Truly.” He was so deep in her orbit right now, it would be difficult to ever pull himself out. He wasn’t sure he’d ever want to.

  “You aren’t half bad yourself, you know.” Leaning into him, she slowly rose up onto her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

  All he wanted to do was melt into her. Stay like this forever. You’re perfect. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in recent history. The words were right there, zipping around in his head, desperately wanting to be set free. But Jeremy knew his worst tendencies, the way he wanted to jump many steps ahead and profess his affection. It didn’t matter how amazing she was. It was too soon. “Ready for our Christmas tree adventure?”

  “I was born ready.”

  * * *

  Isabel was beginning to think she’d gravely misjudged Jeremy that first night they met. Normally, she was an exceptional judge of character from the get-go. She was good at picking up on signals—the little things people do that tell you what drives them or makes them tick. The talent was part and parcel of being a lawyer and it’d been honed over the years. If anything, she should be getting better at it, not worse.

  So where did she go wrong with Jeremy? Or was it simply that he was putting on an act, the one that kept him from sharing his pain with the rest of the world? She couldn’t decide which it was, but also decided that it didn’t truly matter. For the first time in years, she was actually enjoying herself. And she wasn’t about to let her overthinking ways come between herself and a good time.

  Trudging out onto the snow-covered patio with Jeremy, Isabel realized this suggestion of hers had been a bit unorthodox. “Thanks for indulging my peculiar idea.”

  “Are you kidding?” Jeremy asked, swiping snow from a patio table to give them a spot to put the boxes. “This is far less work than dragging a Christmas tree seven or eight blocks.”

  “It’s more eco-friendly if you think about it, too. This tree’s already here.”

  Jeremy trekked over to the back door and plugged in an extension cord, then returned to Isabel so they could begin stringing the lights. They worked in tandem, with her uncoiling the strands around her arm and Jeremy climbing up on a patio chair to loop them around the tree. It was a bright and sunny day, the air perfectly crisp and cold. Despite the temperature, Jeremy had opted for no hat, which gave her the perfect view of his adorable forehead wrinkles as he concentrated so intently on the task before him.

  “I know it’s probably my job to tell you where you missed a spot, but you’re doing an amazing job,” she said. “Not surprising. You’re pretty much perfect at everything you do.”

  Jeremy looked down at her so abruptly that his sunglasses slid to the end of his nose. “You have got to be kidding.”

  “Um. No. I’m not.”

  Shaking his head in disbelief, he placed the remainder of the final strand of lights. “We’ll have to wait until it’s dark to see how it turned out.” He then climbed down from the chair and opened one of the ornament boxes.

  “I was serious about what I said. You’re an amazing lawyer. Negotiating with you was one of the highlights of my entire career.”

  That stopped him dead in his tracks. “You’re the one who’s amazing.” He swiped off his sunglasses and before Isabel really knew what was happening, he had his arms around her. His mouth was on hers, passionate and giving. It sent ripples of excitement through her entire body. She couldn’t wait to go back inside with him.

  “Wow,” she muttered, sounding and feeling drunk.

  “You make me want to do things like that, Isabel. You make me feel good. In every way imaginable.”

  Funny how making someone else happy could be such a lift to your own spirits. Not that Isabel needed a lift—she was already floating on air. “You make me feel good, too.”

  They finished the tree and headed back inside, stomping the snow from their boots and peeling off the winter layers. The moment clothes of any sort started to come off, it all had to go. Jeremy approached Isabel like a man on the hunt, lifting her sweater up over her head, peeling her bra strap from her shoulder and kissing her bare skin.

  She shuddered, in part from his touch and in part from the ambient temperature in the room. “There’s too much cold air from outside down here. Let’s go upstairs to your bedroom.”

  He took her hand and led her through the house, zeroing in on his bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress and encouraging her to stand between his knees. He kissed her stomach, kneaded her breasts, and then pulled her down on top of him. She felt like a goddess, so admired and adored. That alone was nearly enough to send her into oblivion. The rest of their clothes were gone in a flash and they became a frantic tangle of limbs, mouths roaming and craving caresses. Isabel gasped when Jeremy drove inside her, relishing every delicious inch of him. He took deep strokes and kissed her neck, scratching at her tender skin with the stubble on his face. She wrapped her legs around his waist and used her feet to hold him tighter. It didn’t take long until he left her unraveling, calling his name and breathless.

  Jeremy climbed out of bed and pulled back the covers, Isabel quickly ducking under them to get warm. With the postorgasmic glow taking over, and after their eventful morning, she craved sleep. Her eyelids were heavy, her mind fuzzy. “You wore me out, Sharp. I guess all of that fresh air and sex did me in.”

  “Take a nap. You work like crazy and this weekend should be for relaxing. Plus, I remember that you told me the night we met that it’s one of your favorite things.”

  Isabel grinned at the memory of them sharing their three universal truths that night. “It’s the truth. I absolutely love it.”

  Jeremy reached over onto his nightstand for a book. “Perfect. You nap. I’ll read.”

  When Isabel woke, she was nothing if not disoriented. Jeremy was gone, the room dark. She squinted at his clock: 5:12 p.m. She’d taken a three-hour nap, so much longer than she would normally sleep during the day. As she slowly woke, delicious smells filtered to her nose—garlic, herbs and possibly wine. Jeremy must have started dinner.

  She padded down the hall to the guest room to grab a cardigan, popping into her bathroom to freshen her makeup while she was at it. Still not quite awake, she knocked one of her toiletry bags from the counter, sending the contents flying. She crouched down to pick up the mess, but her hand froze on a small box of tampons. For a moment, she stared at the blue-and-yellow swirl pattern on the package. It was as if she was standing on the edge of a realization, and reality was about to push her over the edge. I’m late.

  Frantically, she fished her phone out of her pocket and pulled up the app she used to track her cycle. She was remarkably calm despite what the notification on her screen was telling her—she was six days late. Maybe this was the upside of having been a high-powered attorney for so long. Most panic-laden situations did not make Isabel freak out. Even when she could potentially have a very big reason for going into a tizzy.

  Could she have gotten pregnant the night of the broken condom? It was the only possible explanation. Jeremy was the only man she’d been with in the last year. And if that was the case, what was she supposed to do about it? What would it mean? They were getting along amazingly and had an unbelievable chemistry, but this was going to throw everything on a fast track that Jeremy couldn’t possibly be prepared for. If he’d gone into a panic over the broken condom, she couldn’t imagine him reacting well to news of an actual baby.

  She sucked in a deep breath. She had to get her act together. Phone still in hand, she flicked over to a
different app and placed an order from the chain drugstore nearby. They could deliver her a pregnancy test tomorrow, along with a few other things to help hide the contents of the order, and she could take it Monday morning if she hadn’t started her period by then. It was the responsible thing to do, most likely completely unnecessary. She typed in Jeremy’s address, clicked Place Order and shoved her phone back into her pocket. It was probably nothing. Just her cycle being wonky.

  When she reached the main floor and rounded the staircase to walk to the back of the house, she saw the tree lit up out on the patio. She ambled along the main corridor, her pulse thumping in her chest, while the aromas from the kitchen enticed her to move a little more quickly. She was hungry. And she’d been incredibly tired.

  “Hey there, sleepyhead,” Jeremy said, turning away from the stove.

  Isabel’s heart did a full cartwheel at the sight of him. “Are you making me dinner?”

  “I’m making up for last night and the noticeable lack of food.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a soft kiss.

  “It smells amazing. Although I hope that doesn’t mean we don’t get to revisit the events of last night. Or this morning. Or this afternoon.”

  Jeremy slipped his hand under her jaw and brought her lips to his. The kiss was enough to make her lose all sense of time and place, which was perfect. She couldn’t stack another worry inside her head. “I can’t wait to do everything we did last night.”

  “Neither can I.” Goose bumps raced over the surface of her skin and she focused on the thrill of being with him.

  “Did you see the tree?” He took her hand and led her to the patio doors. “It’s so beautiful. You’re a genius. I’m going to do this every year from now on.”

  “How wonderful. A new tradition.” Isabel leaned into him and put her arm around his waist. The lights twinkled in the inky darkness outside and the wind blew enough to send snow from the tree boughs in puffs of white.

  Jeremy wrapped his arm around Isabel. “Can I tell you a secret?”