Page 104 of Tuxedos and Tinsel
Dessert was being served—spring berries and home-made vanilla bean ice cream—and she turned to Dominic at the precise moment he turned to her. Their eyes connected and held and she knew without the need for words that he was happy with her decision to bring him here.
‘Your family is wonderful,’ he said in a low undertone.
‘I think so,’ she said, pleased. ‘What about you? Do you come from a large family?’
A shadow darkened his eyes. He shook his head. ‘Only child.’
She smiled. ‘We must seem overwhelming.’
‘In a good way,’ he said. ‘You’re very lucky.’
‘I know.’ Of course she and her siblings had had the usual squabbles and disagreements throughout their childhood and adolescence. She, as number four, had had to fight for her place. But as adults they all got on as friends as well as brothers and sisters. She couldn’t have got through the loss of Anthony without her family’s support.
‘The kids are cute,’ he said. ‘So well behaved.’
Her nephews, Timothy and Will, and her niece, Caitlin, were together down the other end of the table under the watchful eye of their grandmother. ‘They’re really good kids,’ she agreed. ‘I adore them.’
‘Little Timothy seems quite...delicate,’ Dominic said, obviously choosing his words carefully. ‘But I notice his older cousin looks after him.’
A wave of sadness for Hannah and Paul’s little son overwhelmed her. ‘They’re actually the same age,’ she said. ‘Both five years old. Timothy just looks as though he’s three.’
‘I guess I don’t know much about kids,’ Dominic said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
She lowered her voice. ‘Sadly, little Timothy has some kind of rare growth disorder, an endocrine imbalance. That’s why he’s so small.’
Dominic answered in a lowered voice. ‘Can it be treated?’
‘Only with a new treatment that isn’t yet subsidised by the public health system. Even for private treatment, he’s on a waiting list.’ It was the reason why she drove an old car, why Bea had moved back home to save on rent, why the whole family was pulling together to raise the exorbitant amount of money required for tiny Timothy’s private treatment.
But she would not tell Dominic that. While she might be wildly attracted to him, she still had no reason to think he was other than the Scrooge of his reputation. A man who had to be forced into a public display of charity to broker a multi-million-dollar business deal. Not for one moment did she want him to think she might be angling for financial help for Timothy.
‘It’s all under control,’ she said as she passed him a bowl of raspberries.
‘I’m glad to hear that,’ he said, helping himself to the berries and then the ice cream. ‘Thank you for inviting me tonight and for introducing me to Hannah. The next step is for you and your business partners to come in to my headquarters for a meeting with my marketing people. Can the three of you make it on Friday?’
CHAPTER SIX
ANDIEANDHERtwo business partners, Gemma and Eliza, settled themselves in a small waiting room off the main reception area of Dominic’s very plush offices in Circular Quay. She and her fellow Party Queens had just come out of the Friday meeting with Dominic, his marketing people and senior executives in the boardroom and were waiting for Dominic to hear his feedback.
Situated on Sydney Cove, at the northern end of the CBD, the area was not just one of the most popular harbourside tourist precincts in Sydney—it was also home to the most prestigious office buildings. Even in this small room, floor-to-ceiling glass walls gave a magnificent close view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a luxury cruise liner in dock.
Andie couldn’t help thinking the office was an ideal habitat for a billionaire Scrooge. Then she backtracked on the thought. That might not be fair. He hated the term and she felt vaguely disloyal even thinking it. Dominic was now totally committed to the Christmas Day feast for underprivileged families and had just approved a more than generous budget. She was beginning to wonder if his protestation that he wasnota Scrooge had some truth in it. And then there was his gift to her mother to consider.
As she pondered the significance of that, she realised her thoughts had been filled with nothing much but Dominic since the day she’d met him. Last night he had even invaded her dreams—in a very passionate encounter that made her blush at the hazy dream memory of it.Did he kiss like that in real life?
It was with an effort that she forced her thoughts back to business.
‘How do you guys think it went?’ she asked the other two. ‘My vote is for really well.’ She felt jubilant and buoyant—Dominic’s team had embraced her idea with more enthusiasm than she could ever have anticipated.
‘Considering the meeting was meant to go from ten to eleven and here it is, nearly midday, yes, I think you could say that,’ said Eliza with a big smile splitting her face.
‘Of course that could have had something to do with Gemma’s superb macadamia shortbread and those delectable fruit mince pies,’ said Andie.
‘Yes,’ said Gemma with a pleased smile. ‘I thought I could describe until I was blue in the face what I wanted to serve for the lunch, but they’d only know by tasting it.’
Party Queens’ foodie partner had not only come up with a detailed menu for Dominic’s Christmas Day lunch, but she’d also brought along freshly baked samples of items from her proposed menus. At the end of the meeting only a few crumbs had remained on the boardroom’s fine china plates. Andie had caught Dominic’s eye as he finished his second pastry and knew it had been an inspired idea. The Christmas star shaped serviettes she had brought along had also worked to keep the meeting focused on the theme of traditional with a twist.
‘I think they were all-round impressed,’ said Eliza. ‘We three worked our collective socks off to get our presentations so detailed and professional in such a short time. Andie, all the images and samples you prepared to show the decorations and table settings looked amazing—I got excited at how fabulous it’s going to look.’
