Twas The Knight Before Christmas (Something Great Series) (3 page)

Chapter 5

Jenna

It had been a crazy start to the week so far. Meeting our deadlines seemed harder with so many employees taking vacation time. And since Matthew and I were planning to take a week off after Christmas, we were in a time crunch.

“Which model’s shot are we going to use? Have we decided yet?” I asked my team, holding up the photos of the models named Josh and Nathan. We had used both before; however, this was a cover for the new year.

Matthew rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t decide.”

“Nathan,” one of my coworkers said.

“Josh,” someone else muttered.

“Nathan. I like the blue sweater on him,” another one said.

“This one is better, with Josh in the black sweater. It looks edgier. It’s from M. Knights men’s line, right?” another coworker asked.

“Both sweaters are,” I replied. “Matthew, it’s up to you. We can’t decide between the two.”

Matthew sighed, looking distracted, but then seemed to focus back to our conversation, “Use Nathan for January and Josh for February,” he ordered quickly and went back to his desk.

I narrowed my eyes at him and wondered if he’d had a fight with Becky. All couples had their ugly moments. It was inevitable. Either it was Becky or the job. “Let’s do what Matthew suggested,” I said and then adjourned the meeting. Being the good sister-in-law, I decided to be nosy and pretend to be busy on the computer, when actually I was eavesdropping on his phone conversation.

“Okay. I understand,” Matthew replied almost in a whisper, looking at the computer screen. It looked as though he was reading a document.
Then it wasn’t Becky on the phone.
I relaxed a little. Becky would have told me if they’d had a big fight.

He paused to listen.

“That’s fine. Just take care of it, Thomas. We don’t need this over the holidays.” He furrowed his brows, looking irate. “Okay,” he said a few seconds later. “I will. Keep me informed.” Then he hung up.

Whatever it was, Max was aware of it too, I was sure of it. We always told each other everything. Maybe it was something that had just come up recently. And what was it about? If it was about Knight Fashion, wouldn’t Matthew have talked to me about it? If it was personal, Becky would have told me. But since Matthew was speaking to Thomas, I knew it was a legal matter.

The first time I’d met Thomas was when Crystal wanted to sue Max. He had to get me involved when she wanted to accuse him of forceful play and was going to announce it to the world. Some people were desperate and would do crazy things. I was all too glad to have that settled quickly. I was just hopeful that whatever was going on now would be resolved quickly. Matthew looked too distraught and I hated to see him like this, not only because he was my brother-in-law, but for Becky as well. And whatever happened to them affected us. They were our family.

“Hey, Matthew.” I leaned slightly over his desk to give us some privacy. “Is everything okay?”

Matthew peered up, looking dazed. He must have been deep in thought. “Huh? Hey, Jenna. Are you trying to sneak up on your boss?” His tone was a bit more playful than ten minutes ago, but his shoulders seemed tense.

“Actually, I’m the boss, so yes, I’m sneaking up on my second in command,” I smirked. “But seriously, is everything all right?”

He scrubbed his hand down his face with a sigh. I could feel so much stress and tension in that sigh. “One of the models is suing us,” he finally whispered.

“What?
Which one?” My tone went up a pitch and then I tried to calm my pounding heart. I frowned and pulled up a chair. “When did this happen?” I lowered my voice to match his. The last thing we needed was everyone on our team stressed. It really wasn’t their concern anyway.

“Yesterday. And it’s”—he pulled out a photo— “Victor Cummings. Do you remember him?”

I nodded, recalling how unprofessional he was. It was too bad we’d had to fire him. He was very good looking. Matthew had a keen eye for models, but Mrs. Ward, the human resources manager, did the actual hiring and firing. “I remember you told me about him.”

“He told his lawyer that we had no grounds for firing him.” Matthew’s nostrils flared up and down while he tightened his jaw. “Does he think we’re stupid? I have logged all the times he was late and the times he didn’t show up to work at all. I have all the records of complaints by his coworkers. That asshole doesn’t know who he’s messing with. I’m going to bring him down so hard, he won’t know who ass whipped him.” Matthew puffed out air. He looked like he needed to vent.

“Ass whipped.” I laughed. “Does he know you have all these records against him?”

Matthew leaned back into his chair with a smug expression on his face. The chair slightly rocked back and forth. “He will tomorrow. Let’s see if he tries to challenge that. If he does, he’s not the only idiot, so is his lawyer.”

“I have to agree with you, but—”

“It doesn’t matter. I know we’ll win the case. It’s more time with the lawyer and less time with the family. Victor doesn’t have a family so he doesn’t give a fuck. It’s almost Christmas.” He leaned closer. “I think his lawyer wants us to pay him off. Who wants to deal with this kind of shit right before Christmas, right?” He paused. “I’m not going to give them the satisfaction. Sure, Max and I can afford to pay him off, but it’s a matter of integrity. I don’t want other models we fire to follow his lead. It’s the reason why we don’t give full-term contracts to models. It’s based on projects. Anyway, Jenna, I don’t want to hold you up. Aren’t you having lunch with Max?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, if I keep you any longer, he’ll be—”

“At the door waiting,” a deep, sexy voice said.

I turned to see Max leaning against the door with his hands tucked into his pants pockets. How he could make just standing there look so hot was beyond me.

“Excuse me, Matthew, while I drool over my husband,” Matthew spoke for me, trying to mimic my voice but in an annoying way.

Without looking at Matthew and smiling at Max, I said, “You read my mind, and you do an awful impression of me.”

Max greeted the employees busy at work with a wave and shifted his attention to me. Bending a little lower, he took my hand and kissed the back of it. “I believe I have a lunch date with this beautiful woman whom I happen to be madly in love with.” His eyes never left mine as he pulled me up to standing, with one hand holding mine while the other was gently placed under my elbow. Hypnotized by his actions and his piercing eyes staring into mine in the most heated way, I thought I was going to have an orgasm right then and there.
Hot Max!
Even after all these years, he still had a way with words and the way he could seduce me with his expression. He was calculated, determined, and all alpha male. But he was my Max.

“Ready, Mrs. Knight?” Max asked, looping his arms around me.

“I’m starving, Mr. Knight,” I said.

Max whispered as he led me toward the door. “Good. I know how to satisfy your stomach and other parts of your body.” Then he said to Matthew, “I’m sure my brother can handle things without you for a bit.”

“So not fair.” Matthew shook his head with a frown. “Jenna gets all your time.”

Max stopped and turned slightly. “When’s the last time you spoke to Mom?”

Matthew shrugged. “Last week, I think. I can’t remember. We’ve been swamped. And you?”

“I know,” Max sighed. “Mom left several messages. We’ve been playing phone tag. After I have lunch with Jenna, we need to talk about Victor Cummings.”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s the last person I want to talk about, but I will. We need to close this case before Christmas.”

“I agree.” With that Max shut the door behind us.

“Where are we going?” I asked, feeling butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

“To my office, Mrs. Knight, where I can do anything I please with you.” His hand resting on my waist slid down lower…lower…until it cupped my butt.

“Max. We’re at work.” I lightly tapped his hand and pushed him away, but secretly I was loving it.

He gave me a crooked smile as we walked to his office. Keeping a small gap between us, I gave him a playful smile. It had been difficult to spend time alone together the last couple of weeks. With three children, both of us working full-time, meeting deadlines, and not to mention trying to get Christmas shopping done, it was about all I could handle.

When we entered Max’s office, the smell of catered lunch rumbled hungrily through my stomach. A cup of coffee was all I’d had for breakfast. Sometimes I would forget to feed myself. The nanny did many things around the house for me, but when I came home, I liked to do as much as I could.
Maybe I should give her more responsibilities.
I had to remind myself that it didn’t mean I was a bad mother or that I had failed at being a mom if I asked for help. Sometimes I wondered if I should take time off and be a full-time mom.
If I could have the best of both worlds, then why not?

Max pulled out a chair for me and sat beside me. Reaching over, he grabbed a plate and filled it with salad, baked salmon, and a scoop of rice pilaf, and then handed it to me. “Since I have a meeting with Thomas, our lawyer, after lunch, I thought we’d have lunch together here. It’s going to be another long night. You know how it is in December. It’s our busiest time of the year.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the plate from him. I grabbed a fork and took a bite. “I know. I can’t wait till we get the whole week to ourselves and cuddle up with our babies.”

Max opened the cap of the bottled water and placed it in front of me. “Me too, babe. I’m so tired and beat. I knew M. Knights fashion line was going to be successful, but I didn’t think it would take off this quickly. Matthew is doing double duty for the magazine department, and I’ve been spreading myself thin, overseeing the designs and distribution. We’re going to have to hire more employees just for the clothing line.”

I swallowed a bite of salad. “That’s wonderful, right?”

“It is,” he agreed, taking a bite of his salmon. “We weren’t prepared for the demands. But it’s okay. We’ll get it handled.”

I reached over and kissed his lips. “I know. I have faith in you. You’re a smart, handsome businessman, Mr. Knight. You can do anything.”

Max curled his lips wickedly and gave me the most heated look. “You’re lucky I have to make our lunch short, Mrs. Knight, or I would take you on my table.”

I gulped and took a sip of water. “Then I’ll have to think about it all day and wait till you get home to take me on your desk and pretend we’re at work.”

Max slammed his lips on mine, taking in some of the rice pilaf I’d just scooped into my mouth. It was the kind of toe-curling kiss I would be thinking about all day. He growled lightly and pulled away. “Hold on to that kiss until tonight, babe.” He winked.

“I’ll be waiting,” I said in the sexiest voice I could muster.

As we quickly finished our meal, we talked about what we planned to get our children for Christmas. We’d already bought most of the gifts, but wanted to add few more things. Wrapping them was going to be a pain, but Max promised to help. We also talked about what type of food to have catered for Christmas Eve dinner. And we also talked about how terrible it was that we’d been so busy that the only time we had a chance to talk was during our lunch breaks at work. Any free time was saved for family and tending to our children’s needs.

The phone ringing interrupted our loving eyes for each other. Max reached over and pressed a button. “Yes?”

“Thomas is here to see you,” his secretary announced.

Max looked at his watch and frowned. “Is it that time already?” He planted a kiss on my lips and helped me up. “Sorry, babe.”

“It’s okay. I have to get back to work too, but it was nice catching up. I’ll see you at home. Try not to be so late.”

“It’s only till Christmas. After New Year’s we’ll be back on track. I promise.” Max gave me another kiss and led me out the door.

Chapter 6

Becky

After I gave the kids a bath, we cuddled in bed. Matthew had already said goodnight over the phone. He tried not to sound worried, but it couldn’t be easy when his family’s enterprise was being sued. It wasn’t the first and it wouldn’t be the last time, but still, it was stressful and something we shouldn’t need to deal with during the holidays. There had been a case when Max’s ex, Crystal, wanted to sue him and his company, but he was able to pay her off. But Matthew felt like he had a good case against Victor. He had presented the evidence to his lawyer. Now, all we could do was wait.

“‘Twas the night…” I started to read to my children. Reading to them while they were cuddled up in my bed was one of my favorite times of the day. It was even better when Matthew and I read to them together. We would animate the character’s voices and make it as if they were listening to an audio book. When I got to the last page, I said, “The end.”

“When is Daddy coming home?” Addy asked with a pout.

Still holding the book in one hand, I stroked her face with the other. “It’ll just be until Christmas. Then he’ll be able to spend more time with us. We’re going to see snow with Connor’s family after Christmas at Mount Mammoth.” Seeing her frown, I tried to tell her something to be excited about.

“Yay!” Abby shouted, followed by Mason.

That seemed to brighten their moods, except Mason had no idea what I was saying. He always copied Addy which I thought was too adorable.

“You want me to read another?” I asked.

Addy and Mason rubbed their sleepy eyes and yawned. Their yawns were contagious. “Okay,” Addy murmured softly, her eyes closing.

Mason’s eyes were droopy. He was fighting sleep.

“Let’s see…” I began. When it seemed as though they were asleep, I picked up the phone to call Mom and then Rachel. I thought about calling Ellen, my mother-in-law, but looking at the time, I was sure she was asleep. We were going to see them tomorrow night at Addy’s school Christmas performance anyway. Since Addy and Connor went to the same school, it would be easier for their grandparents. Having to choose which grandchild’s performance to watch would have been terrible.
How could they choose?

Matthew would be home soon. I should probably take the kids to their own beds, but I was so tired that I didn’t want to move. Thinking I would do it in a few minutes, I closed my eyes. Not a good idea.

Matthew

It was past midnight when I got home. Max and I had had our meeting with Thomas, followed by our meeting to discuss an action plan for the upcoming year. Part of that involved looking at resumes of potential managers—pinpointing people who could handle some of our responsibilities to free us up to leave the office at a decent time. God, I missed my family.

When I got home, Becca and the kids were asleep. My heart melted at the sight of them cuddled in our bed. Becca’s right hand was still holding a Christmas book. I carefully removed the book so I wouldn’t disturb her and pulled the blanket up higher. The heater kept the house warm, but the temperature automatically lowered a little during the night. Mom’s words stuck with me, reminding me it wasn’t good to sleep with the heater on all night.

After I washed up, I checked my email and messages on my phone. Becca had texted me to remind me about Addy’s Christmas show tomorrow.
Shit!
My own wife and I didn’t have the time to talk to each other on the phone because of my work schedule. This is not the family life I wanted for us. It reminded me of my parents’ schedules. I loved them dearly, but when they had just started their business, things were so hectic that they hardly had any time for us. A part of me had resented them when I was growing up, but the other half of me understood. Our company had done well since Max and I had taken over the family business, but we had to make it work for us.

I lightly smacked my head. I had forgotten about Addy’s show. Realizing how much Victor Cummings had been consuming my thoughts, I wanted to kick his ass. If I had it my way, I would beat the crap out of him. Not only was he giving me a headache, he was taking my time away from the family. I was going to bring him down. He had not met Matthew the family man.

After I washed up, instead of taking the kids to their own beds, I decided to sleep in the guest bedroom. Checking my notes on my cell, I remembered that I hadn’t called Mom back yet. I was sure everything was fine. I made a mental note to call her first thing in the morning.