Rekindling Christmas (15 page)

The supervisor opened a drawer below
his desk and pulled out a small cream envelope with the hotel’s logo on it.
“She left this for you.”

Taking the letter from the man, he
sighed, grateful that Ryanne hadn’t rushed away without thinking about
contacting him. He thanked the man and stepped away from the desk as he opened
the note.

Carson
,

These few days have been amazing. I
wish they didn’t have to end so soon. However, reality had to set in eventually
and we both knew it. No promises, right? I wish you all the best. I know you’ll
be a great father. I’ll never forget you.

Yours,

Ryanne

Carson
stared at the words on the paper,
reading them the first time in confusion as he comprehended that somehow Ryanne
must have learned that Ashley was pregnant. The second reading was with
annoyance, because Ryanne didn’t come to him and allow him to explain. Finally,
he read it again with determination and a budding plan.

Damn right you’re mine
. If Ryanne McCall thought that she
would get away from him again after she’d been brought back into his life, she’d
better think again.

Chapter
Ten

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Ryanne smiled at her father’s voice
on Sunday night. She’d just walked into the house after going in to her office
for most of the day trying to catch up on work. She’d already had a stack of
things to do before she was selected for the conference, and being away had
caused more things to fill her inbox. Ryanne pushed aside the two weeks in
between; it was something she only allowed herself to think about while she lay
in bed praying that sleep would come.

“Hi, Dad. Sorry I didn’t call you
and Mom this morning after church as usual. I went in to work.” Kicking off her
shoes, she sat on the couch.

“No worries. I knew you’d call us in
a couple of days to wish us Happy New Year.”

She was concerned now. It was out of
the ordinary for her dad to call her. Usually her mom called and when she was
done chatting away about her grandkids, she’d give her father the phone. “Is
everything okay with you and Mom?”

“We’re doing very well. Nothing has
changed since you saw us a few days ago.”

Now she was confused. “Then you’re
just calling to say hi?”

“No, sweetheart. I’m calling because
I had a visitor come by and see me today.”

She curled her legs beneath her hip.
“Really? Who?”

She still wasn’t sure why her father
was calling. It was strange, because unlike her mother, who went around and
around a topic, her father was usually more direct.

“Carson Rodman. Haven’t seen that
young man since he was around nineteen and in college. Seems to be doing well
for himself.”

As her father rattled on about
Carson’s traits, Ryanne was trying to breathe. Inhaling deeply, she allowed her
mind to replay the image of the man that stole her heart in Starview, Colorado. Christmas had rekindled so many feelings between them—then in a moment it had all
been taken away again.

“Ryanne, sweetie, you there?” Now
her father sounded concerned.

“Yeah, Dad, I’m still here. Why did
he come see you? Did he just happen to be in town for work or something?” Her
parents were close to Daytona, where some of the NASCAR races took place, but
she couldn’t see Carson searching them out if he were handling some programming
issues at the Florida Speedway. Especially with him becoming a father soon. Would
he invite her parents to his wedding?
God, no.

“No. He came to speak to me.”

“Why?” Her throat was tight; she
felt as if her heart was lodged there.

“Well, baby girl, I’ll let him
explain that to you whenever he’s ready. Just promise me you’ll hear the man
out.”

Hear Carson out? If he called her,
she wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to answer the phone without letting her
broken heart come through in her voice. Caring for him when she was younger and
thinking she would never see him again had hurt. However, having him
physically, loving him, and not being able to be with him was devastating.
Squeezing her fist tight, she refused to allow herself to travel down that dark
emotional road. Knowing that if she went there she’d break down.

“Sweetheart?”

“I promise, Dad.”

“Okay. I love you very much, and I’m
proud of you.”

Those words brought tears to her
eyes. She knew her parents loved her, but so often her mother’s focus was
directed at altars and cribs. Ryanne rarely believed she pleased them with her
professional accomplishments. “Thanks, Dad.”

After she ended the call with her
father, she put on sweatpants and a T-shirt and grabbed the latest book she had
been reading and stretched out on her couch. She needed an escape, to put the
memories of Carson out of her mind; it was too risky to her emotional state not
to. Or worse, sitting around waiting to see if and when he was going to call.

*           *           *

New
Year’s Eve

“Ryanne, how’s the Douglas account
coming?” Todd entered her office and stood on the other side of her desk.

She tried to keep her attention on
the monitor to avoid giving the senior manager any encouragement to linger.
“Fine. I just have a few more numbers to enter and in the next few minutes I
should have them to Mr. Jacobs.”

“Great, he wants to head out in the
next ten minutes.”

There was no need for Todd to tell
her that her boss was trying to get out the door. The entire office staff was
trying to get out. They only had to work a half day for the holiday and people
had big plans for the night.

“He’ll have it.” Glancing at the
open folder on her desk, she located the data she needed and after a few more
keystrokes she was done. She took a moment to review the few documents before
she saved and attached them to an e-mail directed at Mr. Jacobs’ personal
assistant.

Pushing her chair back, she looked
up at Todd, who still stood there staring at her. “It’s done.” Translation:
Now
get the hell out of my office.

“I haven’t heard you talking about
your plans tonight for the new year.” He sat on the corner of her desk.

“I have a few things to consider.
So, sorry if you were going to add another party to my list, but I’m all full.”
She really only had two options: go to the party at Mattie’s house that she and
her boyfriend Bob were throwing, or watch the New Year’s Eve special on television
with a big bowl of ice cream. The latter was more appealing to her.

“Come on, Ryanne. Lester Mann throws
the best manager party. I’d let you come as my second date so you wouldn’t have
to go alone. Besides, Ryanne, you have to kiss
someone
at midnight.” His
smile looked sleazy.

Oh, God, I think I just threw up in
my mouth
.

“Then she’ll be kissing me.”

The smile dropped off Todd’s face as
he stood and turned toward the door to see the arrival, blocking her view of
the door. However, she didn’t need to look around her coworker’s frame to know
who was there. Carson.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t been
introduced.” Todd pushed his shoulders back and tried to make himself taller as
he approached Carson, who towered over him by a good three inches.

Ryanne stood slowly and admired the
man who commanded attention in her office. Carson looked good. Damn good. He
was dressed in a black suit with a sky-blue tie. She’d gotten so used to seeing
him in a snowsuit or jeans, she never considered how sexy he would look in a
dress suit. He was panty-wetting sexy.

She reminded herself that this guy was
soon to be a father, and maybe even another woman’s husband.

“Just call me Carson. You don’t mind
if I have a few minutes alone with Ms. McCall, do you?”

“No…no. Um, Rya—Ms. McCall, I’ll see
you later.”

“Next year,” Carson corrected, not
taking his eyes off her as Todd hustled toward the door.

“Yeah. Next year.” Todd bolted.

She and Carson just stood there
staring at each other. He allowed his gaze to travel across her face, taking
everything in as if he were trying to assure himself that nothing had changed
since he saw her a week ago. When his eyes lowered down the length of her body,
over her blouse and skirt, she could feel the heat of his gaze like a touch.

Her nipples tightened and her clit
throbbed.

Stop it, Ryanne.

“May I close your door?” Those gray
eyes returned and met hers.

“Of course.”

He turned, shut the door behind him,
and then crossed the room. He stood where Todd had, but unlike the other man
that annoyed her, Carson made her body feel on edge with excitement.

“You look beautiful.”

She fought against the heat in her
cheeks. “What are you doing here?”

“Where else would I be, sugar-lips?”

He was going to make her say it.
“With Ashley, supporting her through her pregnancy.”

He ignored that. Instead he asked,
“Can you come around the desk so I can hold you?”

“No.” God, she wanted to. With every
fiber of her being she wanted to leap over the desk into his arms. But she
didn’t. “Why did you go see my father?”

“Because I wanted to do things
right.”

“What things?”

He took a seat in the chair on the
other side of her desk, looking casual and unhurried. “You know, Ryanne, when I
was a teenager, and had so many dreams about you, I would imagine myself going
to your father’s house and asking his permission to date you.”

That bit of knowledge gave her a
moment of pause. “Well, that was then. It’s too late now. We’ve changed, grown
up. One of us has started a family.”

Once again he ignored her snide
comment. “It’s never too late when fate has blessed you with a second chance.
It did that for us.”

His sweet words were reigniting her
hope again, when she had no place for hope. “Carson, you are making this harder
for me.”

“What, sugar-lips?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Why would my telling your father
that I love his daughter more than anything else in the world and I want to one
day—hopefully in the next year—see him walk you down the aisle to me make this
hard for you?”

She bit down on her bottom lip,
fighting back the tears that were burning her eyes.

“Say it, Ryanne.”

“Because I love you.” She broke.
“But another woman is carrying your baby. It is ripping me apart inside,
because I know it’s best to let you go so you can do the right thing.”

“The right thing for you to do is
keep loving me, because I love you. Come here.” He beckoned her over with a
finger.

He loved her
. “What about Ashley? I heard her
tell you about the baby and that she wants to get married.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Evidently you
didn’t hear the whole conversation.”

He was right, she’d run off, not
wanting to hear him go back to the other woman.

“I couldn’t,” she confessed.

“If you would have stayed, maybe
even come into the room, you would have heard me tell her I had no plans to
marry her and raise someone else’s baby.”

“Are you
sure
it’s not
yours?”

“We broke up over a year ago. It
would be impossible. In that time she married her boss, the man she cheated on
me with, and when he died, she got nothing. His pre-nup and his adult children
made sure of that. I told Ashley she was spoiled and selfish and maybe raising
her baby herself would help her grow up.”

“Oh.” Ryanne couldn’t think of
anything else to say. Maybe because she realized that her running away in fear
of having her heart broken if she saw Carson walk out of her life again was causing
feelings of guilt to rise for bringing them both sadness.

“Come here, Ryanne.”

She rounded her desk and then went
to stand before him and was pulled down into his lap.

“I love you, and I want a life with
you. Only you.”

“I love you, Carson. I’m sorry I
left you.”

He caressed her back. “You’re
forgiven…under two conditions.”

“What are they?” She stroked his
tie.

“One, agree to be my date tonight. I
made plans to take you out to dinner and dancing.”

“I haven’t had a better offer.
Absolutely.” She smiled. “What is the second condition?”

Taking hold of her hips, he moved
her higher up his thigh so that she was situated directly over his groin.

She gasped at feeling the hard
evidence of how much he wanted her.

“Lock that door so we can have a
little make-up sex.” He winked.

Laughing, she wrapped her arms
around his shoulders. “That can be arranged, since I’m sure everyone has
probably vacated the office to get ready for their night.”