A Billionaire for Christmas Page 17

  Other people crowded in behind them, but Leo lingered for a moment longer. “Can we see the kids?”

  Hattie touched his cheek, her smile warm and affectionate. “We have them asleep upstairs with a sitter, but you’re welcome to take a peek.” She smiled at Phoebe. “Leo dotes on our babies. Lord help us when he has some of his own. I’ve never known a man with a softer heart.”

  “Hey,” Luc said, looking indignant. “I’m standing right here.”

  Hattie kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll always love you best.”

  On the cloud of laughter that followed, Leo and Phoebe moved into the thick of the party. It was soon clear to her that Leo Cavallo was popular and beloved. Despite his reputation as a hard-hitting negotiator in the boardroom, everyone under Luc’s roof treated Leo not only with respect, but with genuine caring and concern.

  After an hour, though, she sensed that his patience was wearing thin. Perhaps he hadn’t anticipated the many questions about his recovery. At any rate, she recognized his growing tension. She hated the unmistakable awkwardness between them as the evening progressed, but despite her hurt, she couldn’t stop wanting to help him. Even if he couldn’t be hers, she wanted him to be happy.

  In a lull between conversations, she touched his arm. “Do you want to go upstairs and see your niece and nephew?”

  He nodded, relief in his harried gaze.

  Luc and Hattie’s home was far different than Leo’s, but spectacular in its own right. Phoebe experienced a frisson of envy for the couple who had created such a warm and nurturing family environment. The little girl’s room was done in peach and cream with Disney fairies. The baby boy’s nursery sported a delightful zoo animal theme.

  Leo stroked his nephew’s back and spoke to him softly, but he stayed the longest in Deedee’s room. His eyes were somber as he watched the toddler sleep. “She’s not their biological child, you know. When Hattie’s sister died, Hattie took her baby to raise, and then after the wedding, Luc and Hattie adopted her.”

  “Has your brother been married long?”

  “Less than two years. He and Hattie were pretty serious back in college. The relationship didn’t work out, but they were lucky enough to find their way back to each other.”

  Phoebe stared at Leo’s bent head as he sat carefully on the corner of the bed and touched his niece’s hand. He took her tiny fingers in his and brought them to his lips. It would have been clear to a blind man that Leo was capable of great love and caring. He felt about these two little ones the way Phoebe did about Teddy.

  He turned his head suddenly and caught her watching him, probably with her heart in her eyes. “Will you take a walk with me?” he asked gravely.

  “Of course.”

  Tiny flurries of snow danced around them when they exited the back of the house. Leo had retrieved her wrap, but even so, the night was brisk. In the center of the upper terrace a large, tiled fire pit blazed with vigor, casting a small circle of warmth. Other than the old man adding logs now and again, Leo and Phoebe were alone. Apparently no one else was eager to brave the cold.

  A wave of sadness, deep and poignant, washed over Phoebe. If only she and Leo had met under other circumstances. No pain and heartache in her past. No devastating illness in his. Just two people sharing a riveting attraction. They could have enjoyed a sexual relationship that might have grown into something more.

  Now, they stood apart, when only twenty-four hours ago, give or take, Leo had been turning her world upside down with his lovemaking. Their recent fight echoed in her mind. She had accused Leo of not wanting to change, but wasn’t she just as cowardly? She had gone from one extreme to the other. Workaholic to hermit. Such a radical swing couldn’t be considered balance at all.

  In the faces of the crowd tonight, she saw more than the bonhomie of the season. She saw a kinship, a trust that came from working side by side. That was what she had given up, and she realized that she missed it. She missed all of it. The hard challenges, the silly celebrations, the satisfaction of a job well done.

  So lost in her thoughts was she, that she jumped when Leo took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. Again, as at her cabin, firelight painted his features. His eyes were dark, unfathomable. “I have a proposition for you, Phoebe, so hear me out before you say anything.”

  Her hands tightened on her wrap. “Very well.” A tiny piece of gravel had found its way into her shoe. And she couldn’t feel her toes. But not even a blizzard could have made her walk away.

  He released her as though he couldn’t speak freely when they were touching. She thought she understood. Passion had flared so hot and so quickly between them when they first met, its veracity was suspect given the length of their acquaintance.

  “First of all,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the heart attack. It was an ego thing. I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

  “But I…” She bit her lip and stopped, determined to listen as he had requested.

  He ran a hand across the back of his neck. “I was angry and bitter and confused when I met you. I’d spent a week at the hospital, a week here at Luc’s, and then to top it all, they exiled me to Tennessee.”

  “Tennessee is a very nice state,” she felt bound to point out.

  A tiny smile flickered across his lips. “It’s a lovely state, but that’s not the point. I looked at you and saw a desirable woman. You had your hang-ups. We all do. But I didn’t want you to look too closely at mine. I wanted you to see me as a strong, capable man.”

  “And I did.”

  “But you have to admit the truth, Phoebe. Last night in my office. You stared at me and saw something else.” The defeat in his voice made her ill with regret.

  “You don’t understand,” she said, willing him to hear her with an open mind. “I was upset, yes. It terrified me that you had been in such a dangerous situation. And I was angry that you didn’t trust me enough to share that with me. But it never changed the way I saw you. If you felt that, then you were wrong.”

  He paced in silence for several long minutes. She wondered if he believed her. Finally, he stopped and lifted a hand to bat away the snowflakes that were increasing in size and frequency. “We jumped too far ahead,” he said. “I want to say things to you that are too soon, too serious.”

  Her heart sank, because she knew he was right. “So that’s it?” she asked bleakly. “We just chalk this up to bad timing and walk away?”

  “Is that what you want?” He stood there…proud, tall and so alone her heart broke for him.

  “No. That’s not what I want at all,” she said, daring to be honest with so much at stake. “So if you have a plan, I’m listening.”

  He exhaled noisily as if he’d been holding his breath. “Well, okay, then. Here it is. I propose that we go back to your place and spend Christmas Eve together when it rolls around. I’ll stay with you for the remainder of the time I have reserved and work on learning how not to obsess about business.”

  “Is that even possible?” She said it with a grin so he would know she was teasing. Mostly.

  “God, I hope so. Because I want you in my life, Phoebe. And you deserve a man who will not only make a place for you, but will put you front and center.”

  One hot tear rolled down her cheek. “Is there more?”

  “Yes. And this is the scary part. At the end of January, assuming we haven’t killed each other or bored each other to death, I want you to come back to Atlanta and move in with me…as my fiancée. Not now,” he said quickly. “As of this moment, we are simply a man and a woman who are attracted to each other.”

  “Very attracted,” Phoebe agreed, her heart lifting to float with the snowflakes.

  She took a step in his direction, but he held up a hand. “Not yet. Let me finish.”

  His
utter seriousness and heartfelt sincerity gave her hope that what had begun as a serendipitous fling might actually have substance and a solid foundation. Cautious elation fluttered inside her chest. But she kept her cool…barely. “Go on.”

  “I’m not criticizing you, Phoebe, but you have to admit—you have issues with balance, too. Work is valid and important. But when you left Charlotte, you cut off that part of yourself.”

  She grimaced, feeling shame for the holier-than-thou way she had judged his life. “You’re right. I did. But I’m not sure how to step back in the opposite direction.”

  A tiny smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “When we get back to Atlanta, I want you to work for Cavallo. I could use someone with your experience and financial instincts. Not only that, but it would make me very happy for us to share that aspect of who we are. I understand why you ran away to the mountains. I do. And I strongly suspect that knowing each of us, we’ll need your cabin as an escape when work threatens to become all-encompassing.”

  Anxiety dampened her burgeoning joy. “I’m afraid, Leo. I messed things up so badly before.”

  He shook his head. “You had a man who didn’t deserve you and you lost your baby, a miscarriage that was one of those inexplicable tragedies of life. But it’s time to live again, Phoebe. I want that for both of us. It’s not wrong to have a passion for work. But we can keep each other grounded. And I think together we can find that balance and peace that are so important.” He paused. “There’s one more thing.”

  She was shaking more on the inside than she was on the outside. Leo was so confident, so sure. Could she take another chance at happiness? “What is it?” she asked.

  At last, he took her in his arms, warming her with his big, solid frame. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, his gaze hot and sweet. “I want to make babies with you, Phoebe. I thought my life was great the way it was. But then I had the heart attack, and I met you, and suddenly I was questioning everything I had ever known about myself. Watching you with Teddy did something to me. And now tonight, with Luc and Hattie’s babies upstairs asleep, I see it all clearly. You and I, Phoebe, against all odds…we have a shot at the brass ring. Having the whole enchilada. I think you were wrong about that, my love. I think with the right person, life can be just about perfect.”

  He bent his head and took her mouth in a soft, firm kiss that was equal parts romance and knee-weakening passion. “Will you be my almost-fiancée?” he whispered, his voice hoarse and ragged. His hands slid down the silky fabric of her dress all the way to her hips. Dragging her closer still, he buried his face in her neck. She could feel him trembling.

  Emotions tumbled in her heart with all the random patterns of the snowflakes. She had grieved for so long, too long in fact. Cowardice and the fear of being hurt again had constrained her equally as much as Leo’s workaholic ways had hemmed him in.

  The old man tending the fire had gone inside, probably to get warm. Phoebe gasped when Leo used the slit in her skirt to his advantage, placing a warm palm on her upper thigh. His fingers skated perilously close to the place where her body ached for him.

  Teasing her with outrageous caresses, he nibbled her ear, her neck, the partially exposed line of her collarbone. “I need an answer, my love. Please.”

  Heat flooded her veins, negating the winter chill. Her body felt alive, spectacularly alive. Leo held her tightly, as if he were afraid she might run. But that was ludicrous, because there was no place she would rather be.

  She gave herself a moment to say goodbye to the little child she would never know. So many hopes and dreams she had cherished had been ripped away. But the mountains had taught her much about peace, and in surviving, she had been given another chance. A wonderful, exciting, heart-pounding second chance.

  Laying her cheek against Leo’s crisp white shirt, feeling the steady beat of his wonderfully big heart, she nodded. “Yes, Leo Cavallo. I believe I will.”

  Epilogue

  Leo paced the marble floor, his palms damp. “Hurry, Phoebe. They’ll be here in a minute.” He was nervous about his surprise, and if Phoebe lollygagged too much longer, it would be ruined. He gazed around his familiar home, noting the addition this year of a gigantic Christmas tree, its branches heavy with ornaments. In the chandelier overhead, tiny clumps of mistletoe dangled, tied with narrow red velvet ribbons.

  His body tightened and his breath quickened as he recalled the manner in which he and Phoebe had christened that mistletoe, making love on the rug beneath. In truth, they had christened most of his condo in such a way. Including a repeat of what he liked to call “the kitchen episode.”

  He tugged at his bow tie, feeling much too hot all of a sudden.

  At long last, his beloved wife appeared, her usual feminine stride hampered by a certain waddling movement. She grimaced. “This red dress makes me look like a giant tomato.”

  He pulled her in close for a kiss, running his hand over the fascinating swell of her large abdomen. “Red is my new favorite color. And besides, it’s Christmas.” Feeling the life growing inside his precious Phoebe tightened his throat and wet his eyes. So many miracles in his life. So much love.

  She returned the kiss with passion. The force that drew them together in the beginning had never faded. In fact, it grew deeper and more fiery with each passing month.

  This evening, though, they were headed for a night out on the town with Luc and Hattie. Dinner, followed by a performance of The Nutcracker.

  Phoebe rubbed her back. “I hope I’m going to fit into a seat at the theater.”

  He grinned broadly. “Quit fishing for compliments. You know you’re the sexiest pregnant woman in the entire state. But sit down, my love. I have something I want to give you before they get here.”

  Phoebe eased into a comfy armchair with a grimace. “It’s five days ’til Christmas.”

  “This is an early present.”

  From his jacket pocket he extracted a ruby velvet rectangle. Flipping it open, he handed it to her. “I had it made especially for you.”

  * * *

  Phoebe took the box from him and stared. Inside, nestled on a bed of black satin, was an exquisite necklace. Two dozen or more tiny diamond snowflakes glittered with fire on a delicate platinum chain. She couldn’t speak for the emotion that threatened to swamp her with hormonal tears.

  Leo went down on one knee beside her, removed the jewelry from the box and gently fastened it around her neck.

  She put a hand to her throat, staring at his masculine beauty, feeling the tangible evidence of his boundless, generous love. “Thank you, Leo. It’s perfect.”

  He wrapped a hand in her hair and fingered it. “I could have waited until our anniversary. But tonight is special to me. It was exactly a year ago that you stood in the snow and gave me a new life. A wonderful life.”

  Running one hand through his hair, she cupped his neck with the other and pulled him back for another kiss. “Are you channeling Jimmy Stewart now?” she teased, her heart full to bursting.

  He laid a hand on her round belly, laughing softly when their son made an all too visible kick. “Not at all, my dear Phoebe. I’m merely counting my blessings. And I always count you twice.”

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss the first book in USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard’s brand-new family saga, THE KAVANAGHS OF SILVER GLEN, coming April 2014, only from Harlequin Desire.

  If you liked this BILLIONAIRES AND BABIES story, watch for the next book in this #1 bestselling Harlequin Desire series, THE NANNY’S SECRET by Elizabeth Lane, available January 2014.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE HIGH PRICE OF SECRETS by Yvonne Lindsay.

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Desire story.

  You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealt
h, status, incredible good looks…everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!

  Enjoy six new stories from Harlequin Desire every month!

  Visit Harlequin.com to find your next great read.

  We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks

  Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks

  Read our blog for all the latest news on our authors and books: HarlequinBlog.com

  Subscribe to our newsletter for special offers, new releases, and more!

  Harlequin.com/newsletters

  One

  “What do you mean you quit? It’s only four and a half weeks to Christmas! We’re so busy with guests and functions that we can barely move. Look, let’s talk about it. If you’re not happy, we can work around that. Find you something else to do.”

  Tamsyn sighed inwardly. Find her something else to do. Sure, that would solve how she felt right now—not. She couldn’t blame her brother, Ethan, for wanting to make things right for her. He’d done it all her life, after all. But this situation was beyond his fixing. That was why she’d needed to get away.

  A holiday was something she’d been thinking about for a while. Working at The Masters, which in addition to being their family home was a vineyard and winery with luxury cottage accommodation on the outskirts of Adelaide in South Australia, hadn’t given her any satisfaction for a very long time. She’d been restless, feeling as if she didn’t really fit in anymore—at work, at home, in her family, even in her engagement.

  The debacle of the night before had only proven just how right she was.

  “Ethan, I can’t talk about it. I’m in New Zealand.”

  “You’re in New Zealand? I thought you were staying here in Adelaide with Trent last night,” Ethan’s incredulity was clear as it transmitted through the hands-free kit in her rental car.