Page 132 of Tuxedos and Tinsel
‘It does indeed look fabulous. Except the client specifically saidno tree.’ She could hear her voice rising and took a deep breath to calm herself.
How had she let this happen? Maybe she should have writtenNO CHRISTMAS TREEin bold capitals on every page of the briefing document. She’d arrived here very early this morning to let the decorating crew in and to receive final deliveries of the extra furniture. Jeremy had assured her that all was on track. And it was—except for this darn tree.
‘But why?’ asked Jeremy. ‘It seems crazy not to have a tree.’
Crazy? Maybe. She had no idea why—because Dominic, for all his talk with Walter Burton over dinner that night that had seemed so genuine, still refused to let her in on the events in his past he held so tightly to himself. He’d drip-fed some of the details but she felt there was something major linked to Christmas he would not share. It made her feel excluded—put firmly in her place as no one important in his life. And she wanted to be important to him. She swallowed hard.Had she really just admitted that to herself?
‘The client actually has a thing against Christmas trees,’ she said. ‘You might even call it a phobia. For heaven’s sake, Jeremy, why didn’t you call me before you put this up?’ Her mouth was dry and her hands felt clammy at the thought of Dominic’s reaction if he saw the tree.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Jeremy, crestfallen. ‘You didn’t specify not to include a tree in the decorations. I was just using my initiative.’
On other jobs she’d worked with Jeremy she’d told him to think for himself and not bother her with constant calls, so she couldn’t betoocranky with him. Creative people could be tricky to manage—and Jeremy’s work was superb. The tree was, in fact, perfect for the spot where he’d placed it.
She took a step back to fully appraise its impact. The tree looked spectacular, dressed in silver with highlights of red, in keeping with her overall colour scheme. She sighed her pleasure at its magnificence. This perfect tree would make a breathtaking first impression for the guests tomorrow. To the children it would seem to be the entrance to a magical world. It spoke of tradition, of hope, of generosity. Everything they were trying to achieve with this party. It would make Dominic look good.
The beautiful tree was beginning to work its magic on her. Surely it would on Dominic too? He’d come such a long way since that first day, when he’d been so vehemently anti everything Christmas.Christmas was not Christmas without a tree.
She took a series of deep, calming breaths. Dominic should at least have the chance to see the tree in place. To see how wonderful it looked there. Maybe the sight of this tree would go some way towards healing those hidden deep wounds he refused to acknowledge.
She turned to Jeremy, the decision firm in her mind. ‘We’ll leave it. You’ve done such a good job on the tree, it would be a real shame to have to take it down.’
‘What about the client?’
‘He’s a client but he’s also my fiancé.’ The lie threatened to choke her but she was getting more adept at spinning falsehoods. ‘Leave him to me. In the meantime, let me give you a hand with placing the final few ornaments on the lower branches,’ she said. She was wearing work clothes—jeans, sneakers and a loose white shirt. She rolled up her sleeves and picked up an exquisite glass angel. Her hand wasn’t quite steady—if only she was as confident as she had tried to appear.
Dominic was due back in to Sydney early this evening.What if he hated the tree?Surely he wouldn’t. He seemed so happy with everything else she’d done for the party; surely he would fall in love with the tree.
But it would take a Christmas miracle for him to fall in love withher.
She longed for that miracle. Because she couldn’t deny it to herself any longer—she had developed feelings for him.
Dominic had managed to get an earlier flight out of Minneapolis to connect with a non-stop flight to Sydney from Los Angeles. Nonetheless, it was a total flight of more than twenty hours. Despite the comfort of first class, he was tired and anxious to get away from the snow and ice of Minnesota and home to sunny Sydney. A bitterly cold Christmas wasn’t quite as he’d remembered it to be.
Overriding everything else, he wanted to get home to Andie. He had thought about her non-stop the whole trip, wished she’d been with him. Next time, he’d promised Walter, he’d bring Andie with him.
As the car he’d taken from the airport pulled up in front of his house, his spirits lifted at the thought of seeing her. He hadn’t been able to get through to her phone, so he’d called Party Queens. Eliza had told him she was actually at his house in Vaucluse, working on the decorations for the party.
On the spur of the moment, he’d decided not to let her know he’d got in early. It might be better to surprise her. He reckoned if she didn’t know he was coming, she wouldn’t have time to put on her fake fiancée front. Her first reaction to him would give him more of a clue of her real feelings towards him.
Because while he was away he had missed her so intensely, he’d been forced to facehisreal feelings towardsher. He was falling in love with her. Not only was he falling in love with her; he realised he had never had feelings of such intensity about a woman.
Melody had been his first love—and sweet, damaged Melody had loved him back to the extent she was capable of love. But it hadn’t been enough. That assault charge had happened because he had been protecting her. Protecting her from a guy assaulting her in an alley not far from the takeaway food shop where he’d worked in the kitchen in return for food and a few dollars cash in hand.
But the guy had been her dealer—and possibly her pimp. Melody had squealed at Dominic to leave the guy alone. She’d shrieked at him that she knew what she was doing; she didn’t need protecting. Dominic had ignored her, had pulled the creep off her, smashed his fist into the guy’s face. Then the dealer’s mates had shown up and Dominic had copped a beating too. But, although younger than the low-lifes, he’d been bigger, stronger and inflicted more damage. The cops had taken him in, while the others had disappeared into the dark corners that were their natural habitat. And Melody had gone with them without a backward glance, leaving him with a shattered heart as well as a broken nose. He’d never seen her again.
Of course Melody hadn’t been her real name. He’d been too naïve to realise that at the time. Later, when he’d set up the Underground Help Centre, he’d tried to find her but without any luck. He liked to think she was living a safe happy life somewhere but the reality was likely to be less cosy than that.
Then there’d been Tara—the next woman to have betrayed him. The least thought he gave to his ex-wife the better.
But Andie. Andie was different. He felt his heart, frosted over for so long, warm when he thought about her.What you saw was what you got.Not only smart and beautiful, but loyal and loving. He’d told her more about his past than he’d ever told anyone. He could be himself with her, not have to pretend, be Nick as well as Dominic. Be not the billionaire but the man. Their relationship could be real.He could spend his life with Andie.
And he wanted to tell her just that.
The scent of pine needles assaulted his senses even before he put his key in his front door. The sharp resin smell instantly revived memories of that Christmas Eve when he’d been eleven years old and the happy part of his childhood had come to its terrible end. Christmas trees were the thing he most hated about Christmas.
The smell made him nauseous, started a headache throbbing in his temples. Andie must be using pine in some of the decorations. It would have to go. He couldn’t have it in the house.
He pushed the door silently open—only to recoil at what he saw.
