Cinderella Christmas (3 page)

He grinned. Darcy loved games. She was playing a game with him. How well she knew him, for there was nothing he loved more than a challenge.

Nick swiftly cleaned up in the bathroom, then flung on his Centurion outfit. Darcy would be down at the party. If he knew her, she’d be acting as if nothing happened and he’d have to seduce her all over again.

What a woman.

What she didn’t know was that if he had his way, she’d be spending the night with him, and many nights thereafter.

Because Nick knew he’d just found what he’d been looking for.

Eve didn’t totally relax until she was safely inside her townhouse apartment and had shut the door securely behind her. God forbid any of her neighbors see her in costume. She leaned back against the front door, legs shaking, head in her hands, and wondered how everything could have gone so terribly wrong.

Well, right and wrong. Now she knew, she really knew, and with that knowledge came the realization that she would never truly be content with a man she settled for. But she could never have Nick. So any way you looked at it, she lost.

Tonight was great. Better than great,
that wicked little voice inside her whispered. The sex she’d had was the sort of sex you remembered for a lifetime.

The voice of sanity butted in and replied that she’d had sex with her
boss
. In
disguise.
It could cost her the best job she’d ever had. And it all sounded like a really bad plot for a Lifetime Movie of the Week.

Whatever happened to just a kiss?

A tiny whimper brought her out of her thoughts. Eve lifted her head out of her hands and saw Maurice, her French bulldog puppy. He was staring at her from the living room couch, his black and white wrinkled face the picture of concern.

“It’s okay, boy,” she said quietly, not wanting to upset him. Maurice had led a pretty desperate life before she’d found him. He had separation issues. The last thing she needed was to frighten him.

She stepped further into her living room and the little dog shot off the couch and pranced toward her, totally excited she was finally home. French Bulldogs were the clowns of the dog world. When Maurice felt secure and hammed it up, the puppy could make her laugh like nothing else.

“Let’s get you a biscuit,” she said. As they headed for the kitchen, her elf hat fell out of her coat pocket and Maurice dove for it. The pup had an obsession for pompoms and this red hat had a large white one.

“No! Let go!” She wrestled the hat out of his mouth and flung it on the kitchen counter, then reached for the biscuit bin. While Maurice happily crunched, Eve grabbed the elf hat and headed into her bathroom.

The sight that greeted her in the mirror wasn’t pretty. Her mascara was smudged, her cherry colored lip gloss smeared. She blushed as she remembered particularly vivid moments with Nick, then shrugged off her coat and started to unfasten her bustier.

One by one, the various pieces of her elf costume were tossed in the bathtub out of Maurice’s reach. First she threw in the hat, then the bustier, then the boots. They were followed by the sexy mini-skirt and finally the short black wig. She stared down at the whole mess. Red glitter that had flaked off the bustier sparkled faintly against the white tile floor. Eve felt as if she’d thrown her alternate personality away with each piece of her costume.

What were you thinking?

Don’t think. Just keep moving. You can put all this behind you.

She flung on her pink chenille robe, pulled on her comfortable slippers, then raced into the living room and toward the small front hall closet. Inside, she grabbed a Victoria’s Secret shopping bag, then headed back to the bathroom where she crammed the entire elf getup into the bag and threw it into the closet.

With her costume out of sight, her breathing slowed and her heart stopped racing. It was almost as if she could believe Miss Naughty had never existed.

Why did that thought make her want to cry?

The phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts.
Nick!
No, he had no reason to call her. She’d made sure he thought she was coming down with a cold when she’d left his house before the party. And if it was him, she could fake a cough –

She glanced at her cell. It was Sally, one of her closest girlfriends. Eve picked up her phone.

“Hey, Sally,” she said. “How are you?”

“Listen, Eve, I think we came down a little hard on you the other night – “

“No, you didn’t.” She tried to still her racing heart. “It’s okay – “

“You sound out of breath. What’s going on?”

Deflect, deflect, say something . . .

“I – I just came in the door.”

“Really?” Sally sounded intrigued. “Where were you?”

“I – I just got back from a date.”

“Oh my God! Tell, tell! Did you kiss him?”

Did I . . .

“He was nice. One of the girls at work set us up. I’ve got to start somewhere, you guys were right.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“No, not at all. Listen, Maurice is hungry and I want to get out of these heels. I’ll fill you in on every detail when we have lunch next, okay?”

“I’m so happy you’re getting out, Eve. I mean, I didn’t want to really pry and ask you how long it’s been since you’ve had sex – “

Oh, about two hours . . .

“ – but it’s just -- we want you to be happy.”

“I know. It’s okay, Sally. But I’ve got to go.”

As Eve hung up the phone, she glanced at the mirror over her fireplace. Her stocking and Maurice’s were hung on the mantle. The woman who looked back at her had wild blonde hair sticking up all over her head. She looked crazed, confused, stunned –

And
alive
.

Eve went back into the bathroom and carefully took out the brown contacts, revealing her blue eyes. Then she removed her makeup. When she went back into the living room, Maurice had climbed up the three carpeted doggy steps on one side of the couch and was huddled in the middle of a plaid throw.

She sat down next to him and he raced into her lap, quivering with joy.

“Maurice, what am I going to do? Everything kind of – spiraled out of control.”

His look of doggy adoration seemed to say,
I don’t care what you’ve done, I’ll love you forever.

She hugged him closer, pulled the warm throw over both of them and reached for the remote. What she needed now was distraction. The last thing she needed to think about was Nick. She had all day Sunday to rest up. If she had to she could call in sick on Monday with more of her fake cold. She hadn’t taken any sick days so far this year so she had a few coming. And she truly was sick – with worry.

Maybe she was making a big production out of nothing. Eve had never considered herself a drama queen, but there was a first time for everything.

She had to be reasonable and stick to the facts. She had to squash down any emotion that might complicate things and get her in trouble. The criminals who got caught were always the ones who panicked and ended up giving themselves away. She could not afford that luxury.

Nick could never find out his naughty elf was his plain Jane personal assistant.

But why would he want to? One elf wouldn’t be as much as a blip on Nick’s radar screen of conquests. The sex had been fantastic for her, but how did she know it had even been memorable for him? This had to be why women flocked to Nick and threw themselves all over him. He was a man who knew what he was doing and could give a woman more ecstasy in bed that she’d ever experienced.

What they’d shared tonight must have been just a typical sexual encounter for a guy like Nick. And the memories of this evening would be ancient history by the time she returned to work next week.

By early Sunday morning when Eve finally drifted off to sleep, she’d almost convinced herself.

#

“
Watson! Get in here!
”

Nick was in a bear of a mood. Eve had taken both Monday and Tuesday off, then forced herself to return on Wednesday. There was no way she could delay any further.

She’d reviewed the entire evening for anything that might have given her away. She had long blonde hair and clear blue eyes. Miss Naughty Elf had short black hair and dark brown eyes. Eve had always gone to impressive lengths to conceal the size of her breasts. Miss Naughty had let it all hang out. Eve wore sleek pencil skirts and classic white blouses. Miss Naughty had barely worn clothing at all. And Miss Naughty had been wearing a mask the entire time.

No, he’d never make the connection. But boy, was he in a mood. She’d never seen him this bad before.

“Sir?” she said as she walked into his office.

“Shut the door,” he said, without even a please. This was so unlike the Nick she worked for. Stunned, Eve couldn’t move. Then automatic pilot took over and she shut the door. She took a seat by his desk. Eve had a large mug of coffee with her and took a sip, letting the fragrant brew warm her.

“You’re feeling better?” he said brusquely.

What bug was up his butt? She frowned. “Yes. I was down for a few days with that cold that’s been going around, but I’m better now.”

“How’s that bulldog of yours? Morris?”

“Maurice. He’s fine.”

“Getting over that separation anxiety?”

She was touched he’d remembered. She’d been late one morning because Maurice had cried so piteously.

“Yes. He’s much better.”

“He’s still a little guy. If you want to bring him to work, that would be fine with me.”

She stared at her boss. Just at the moment she wanted to believe Nick meant absolutely nothing to her, he went and did something so sweet it touched her heart.

He was too charming, too wonderful, too –

“Eve?”

Flustered, she replied, “Maurice at work. I’ll think about it.”

“He’d cheer the office up.” Nick grimaced. “Get me out of my mood.”

“If there’s anything I can do for you – “ The images that popped into her mind were the definition of erotic. She promptly squashed them down.

“There is something you can do for me, Watson.”

She nodded as she took another sip of her coffee.

“I’m determined to find a woman named Darcy and I want you to help me.”

She choked and blew coffee out her nose.

What the hell?

#

Nick came around his desk and pounded her on the back. “I think that just went down the wrong way.”

She wheezed as she tried to sit up. Nick had grabbed a damp paper towel and was perilously close to her breasts –

“I’ll get it!” She grabbed the towel out of his hands and dabbed at her stained white blouse.

“Do you need to go home and change?”

“No,” she gasped. “Spare blouse in the closet – “

“That’s my Watson, always prepared.” He smiled at her with such kindness she suddenly wanted to weep. But her hands were shaking. He wanted to find Darcy? Why, oh why had she ever given him a name?

She left his office, grabbed her extra blouse and went into the executive washroom. With shaking hands, she took off her stained blouse and buttoned up the other. Tucking it into the waistband of her skirt, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

You are one lousy bad girl.

She looked like she was in shock. Which she was. Eve had never gone in for drama in High School or College, but now she was going to have to play the part of her life. She looked at herself for a long moment, taking deep breaths the entire time. She could do this. She had to.

Eve knew that even if she could never have Nick the way she wanted, she still wanted to work for him a little longer. But maybe one of her New Year’s resolutions should be to look for a new job.

Squaring her shoulders, she headed back to his office.

“Where were we?” she said calmly, reaching for her note pad.

“Darcy,” he said promptly.

“How do you know this woman?” Eve said.

And the deception began.

“I met her at the Christmas party.”

He told her most of the details, how Darcy had appeared at his office door and all about her naughty elf costume. He described her playful, flirtatious behavior. It was clear Nick was besotted with what she’d created.

“I see.” Then she bit her tongue and waited. In all the police procedural shows she and Maurice had watched on television, the guilty parties always gave themselves away by talking too much. She wouldn’t make that mistake.

“I asked everyone at the party if they knew a Darcy at work and no one does.”

She nodded, taking notes, praying she wouldn’t blush. That was the one bad thing about being a blonde, it was so obvious when she was embarrassed.

“She left the party before you could get her phone number?” she inquired coolly.

He looked at her for a long moment and to her complete astonishment, Nick blushed. Nick, man about town, serial dater, the bad boy who would never settle down, actually
blushed
. Then he looked down at his hands.

“Something like that.”

“I see.” She bit her tongue again and waited.

“No, Watson, I don’t think you do,” he said, then got up and began walking around his office as he talked. “Nothing I say leaves this office?”

“Of course.”

He was silent for so long she wondered if he was going to say anything at all.

“It’s just that – for a long time now I’ve felt something lacking in my life.”

Her insides quivered. This was the last thing she’d expected.

“Watson, I’m happy with the job. I love the company and how we serve people, help them make memories. I feel like it’s my calling, what I was put here to do.”

She set her pencil down. No point taking notes. Nick Holmes was about to pour his heart out to her and she wasn’t sure if she could bear it.

“But I’ve been – I don’t know, searching for something more. Something to make me come alive. On an emotional level.”

She nodded her head to let him know she understood what he meant.

“I’ve worked with you for some time now, Watson, and I feel I can trust you completely.”

Eve bit the inside of her mouth to stop herself from shouting,
I was that elf! I‘m so sorry! It was just supposed to be one kiss and you can’t trust a person like me at all!