Page 48 of Oh My Secret Christmas Baby
"Hollis," I whisper. "You're making it harder for me not to lure you upstairs."
"You wouldn't have to try hard." He kisses the tip of my nose. "But there are still plans for this evening, and I'm stealing you back from Mom. The music has started in the library, and I want to dance with my fiancée."
“Yes, please. I’ve yet to see that room fully done.” We had to have a lot of furniture removed from the house so that there was room for people to mingle. Hollis pulls me close as he leads us toward the library.
A few people try to stop us, but Hollis tells them he's taking his fiancée for a dance. I love the way the word "fiancée" sounds each time one of us says it. I can't imagine how I'll be when he calls me his wife.
I'd picked the theme for the library. Well, I had a hand in them all, really. Both Mary and Polly insisted I had to add touches to each of them, saying over and over again that this was my home now too. Everyone has gone out of their way to be so kind and make me feel accepted and welcomed.
I chose to have a woodsy, rustic feel for the library. I thought that would fit. There are floor-to-ceiling wooden bookcases that wrap around the whole room. We were able to wrap garland and white Christmas lights everywhere. They are even on the ceiling, making it appear as though you are in a forest looking up at the sky.
Earlier, when I went upstairs to change and get ready, they were pulling out the last of the furniture in the library to lay down the dance floor. I don't think Mary was far off the markwhen she told me that we weren't far from a wedding with all the details we'd put in for this holiday party.
The more she talks about a wedding and the more I get to know everyone in town, the more I find myself wanting one. I'd never given it much thought before.
"Is that a harp?" I ask. It's a silly question because I can see it. The rich chords fill the room. It's warm and soothing, giving the library a fairy tale-like quality to it now.
"You told me about how you loved to eat outside of the music hall at school to listen to them play, and the harp was always your favorite." It's true, and it was such an offhanded thing I must have said to him because I don't recall doing it. "Can I have this dance?" he asks.
The room is filled with people, but no one is on the dance floor yet. "Can we?"
"We can do anything you want, precious girl, but no one will dance until we do."
"Really?"
"Yes." He leads me onto the dance floor, and the song changes. Hollis pulls me close. I know everyone is watching, and it doesn’t bother me one bit. I don’t feel the sense of being awkward or out of place. I know this is right where I belong.
Chapter Twenty-Two
HOLLIS
For a few brief moments, I forget about everything else but Candy. I’ve heard people discuss the glow of a woman when she’s pregnant. I have never borne witness to it, but it’s all over Candy.
She lights up the room and everything around her. The more distance she puts between herself and the clutches of Maxwell, the more that glow shines. He tried to smother it and take it for his own, but he wasn't worthy. I'm not either, if I'm honest with myself, but I'll spend my life trying to be.
I want to give Candy and these babies the life they deserve, and to do that, I first have to take out the trash. It shouldn't be too difficult. Men like Maxwell aren't hard to bait and provoke. They are fueled by their narcissism. He does well to try and mask it, but if pushed far enough, he’ll snap.
That's my plan. I'm going to send him into a narcissistic rage. One that is of his own making. All the actions he has taken have led him to this point. I'm merely going to pull that trigger and do it in front of a room full of people. These are people whose opinions he cares about. Even if he doesn’t, they are people that matter. He’s already on thin ice after his insider tradingshenanigans. His outburst will ruin him socially and financially. He’ll become the recluse that he was trying to make Candy.
I know all it’s going to take is Maxwell seeing both Candy and me happy, and her thriving in a way he tried to diminish. Then, once I expose his lies, he will feel utter humiliation. The walls are already closing in on him, and he doesn't know it. That’s the problem with people like Maxwell; they’re too cocky to even see that their demise is near.
"You know I’ll always keep you safe and protect you."
"I do," Candy says without hesitation.
"That's my precious girl." I lean down and kiss her. Her hands slip up my chest to wrap around my neck. Candy's baby bump presses into me.
"Gwendolyn!" I lift my mouth away from hers when I hear Maxwell call out her name. Candy's eyes widen. I pull her to stand next to me. The dance floor has started to fill with people, and he is pushing through them.
Candy's hold on my arm tightens, and she wraps herself around it, stepping partly behind me. I know it's not to shield herself but it’s her protective instincts for our babies.
"Maxwell." I greet him when he finally comes to a stop in front of me.
"I want a word with Gwendolyn." His eyes are on her.
"Hey." I snap my fingers in front of his face. "Eyes on me and off my fiancée." The snap was right next to him. Maxwell's jaw clenches. "Don't make more of a fool of yourself."
"I'm the fool? You're the one dumb enough to think you can take her from me. I own her. We have a contract. Those babies along with her are mine," he says, trying to keep his voice down, but he's not doing a very good job of it.
