Cinderella Christmas (5 page)

He stared at her for a minute, then said, “Watson, you intrigue me. You have depths I’m only beginning to understand – “

Then their number was called and Nick stood up to get their order.

As he walked across the patio, Eve’s heart raced.

What are you doing? You’re supposed to be the dowdy frump, not the funny sexy elf! Don’t give him any reason to think you and Darcy are one and the same!

Nick returned with their box of food and they all dug in. Maurice chowed down on his plain hamburger minus the bun, while Nick ate his avocado burger and Eve made short work of her fish and chips.

“So you have no real plans?” Nick said as they were finishing.

“Not really. Maybe a party or two, but most of my vacation will probably be spent with a good book and a cup of tea.” The minute the words were out of her mouth she regretted them. She sounded as if she were ancient, not in her late twenties.

“So if I wanted to check out some local hotels or resorts over the holidays, you’d be available to travel with me.”

“Sure.” Eve traveled with Nick on a regular basis, functioning as his PA but also, as he insisted, giving him a woman’s point of view that was tremendously valuable. Easily half their customers were women, and as Nick had said often enough, Eve thought of things a woman might want on her vacation that would never cross his mind.

“I’m not sure anything will come up, but it’s good to know you’re available if we do need to check anything out.”

“I’d be fine with it.”

He reached over to pat Maurice’s wrinkly head. “And it goes without saying that this guy comes along. I can’t ruin his Christmas.”

#

She kept herself busy that weekend, cleaning and cooking and taking Maurice on long walks to keep her worries at bay.

On Sunday afternoon they raced into her townhouse after a walk, and as Eve unsnapped Maurice’s leash, he headed right for the downstairs and started digging at the door.

“No, Maurice, you can’t screw up the carpet! Stop that! Did you leave a toy inside?” She opened the door and the puppy made a beeline for the Victoria’s Secret bag. Once his head was inside, she saw what he was after.

Darcy’s elf hat.

“
No!
” She chased him around the living room and into the kitchen. Maurice, ecstatic at this new game he’d invented, stayed just out of her reach for a good ten minutes until she finally caught him and carried him – and the soggy hat – to the couch. Gently, she worked the white pompom out of his tenacious jaws.

“This is
not
a toy, Maurice. This is a hat. And I have to get rid of the evidence before it gets me in trouble – “

Her phone rang and she picked it up, while Maurice danced and barked and zeroed in on the pompom on the elf hat with a gleam in his doggy eyes.

“Maddy! Oh my God! Dinner! I forgot – “

“I just wanted to know if you want me to come pick you up, it’s on the way – “

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

Eve hung up the phone and looked down at her prancing pup. “You’re such a little devil.” She picked up a red rubber ball and threw it toward the kitchen. As Maurice raced after it, Eve opened the closet door, crammed the elf hat and the rest of the costume that had fallen out back into the shopping bag, shut the door and raced upstairs to shower.

#

“You guys really made me see that I wasn’t putting enough effort into my personal life. I’m grateful.” Eve held up her glass of white wine and toasted her friends. Sally, Maddy and Jeanette were her three closest girlfriends. She’d met Maddy at a yoga class. Maddy had introduced her to Sally, who had introduced them both to Jeanette. The four of them had taken to having dinners and lunches twice a month to stay current in each other’s lives.

Eve was probably closest to Maddy, though even with her she’d been cautious about what she revealed. She knew Maddy was the best of her three friends at keeping a secret, but there were some things Eve didn’t want anyone to know. Jeanette was more Sally’s friend than Eve’s, but she usually enjoyed her company.

“So,” Sally said, “tell us about this guy you were set up with.”

“He was okay. Nothing special,” Eve fibbed.
Boy, it’s getting easier and easier to lie. What does that say about me?

“Are you going out with him again?” Sally asked. With her precisely cut short dark hair and expensive clothing, Sally was something of a control freak and micro manager, always trying to manage her friend’s lives and tell them what they should do. But it was done out of love and concern, so Eve didn’t really mind.

“Yeah. I have a new rule. Three dates before I decide whether it’s working or not.”

“I think you should see him again. You’re glowing!”

Eve fidgeted in her seat. Something had changed in her since that wild sexy night with Nick. It was almost as if now that she knew how good intimacy could be with the right man, her body was responding by being really happy. Glowing.

“I like your new rule,” Maddy said. “But don’t force yourself to find some guy, any guy, so you aren’t alone. It has to be the
right
guy. I mean, look how I met Clark. Basically the day I threw in the towel and decided to stop dating, there he was.” Maddy was more of a bohemian, with her layered blonde hair and edgy fashion sense. A writer, she worked part time as a legal secretary in order to support her passion.

“What I don’t understand,” Jeanette said with the tight little smile that Eve always knew didn’t bode well, “is how a woman as beautiful and talented as you are has never even been
engaged
.”

For one small second, Eve was really pissed.

“Just lucky, I guess,” she retorted, surprising herself. Maddy laughed and Sally smiled, but Jeannette didn’t look pleased. She was the one of Eve’s three girlfriends who sometimes seemed to make all four of their lives into a very subtle competition.

Jeannette already had one disastrous marriage behind her to a man who’d turned out to be a compulsive gambler. Within weeks after her divorce, she was engaged to another guy. She barely took a breath between relationships and was one of those women who thought she was nothing without a man.

With her shoulder length brown hair shot through with blonde highlights and hazel eyes, Jeannette always looked as if she were barely thrown together and hadn’t had enough sleep. Of all four women, she was definitely the drama queen of the group and usually dominated the conversation with her newest disaster or triumph.

Disgruntled, Jeanette leaned back and studied what was left of the tiramisu on her dessert plate.

Where did that little crack come from?
Eve wondered.
Maybe I’m more like Darcy than I thought
.

#

Eve invited Maddy back to her place that evening and for one vulnerable moment she thought of telling her friend the entire story of Darcy and Nick.

But she couldn’t.

“Don’t let Jeannette get to you,” Maddy said as they sat on the couch in front of Eve’s fireplace. Eve had lit a fire and made them both cups of herbal tea. She’d also brought out a few Christmas cookies she’d baked.

“It’s okay, Maddy. I don’t think she’s very happy.”

“Not with you, anyway,” Maddy said as she petted Maurice. The puppy sat between them, clearly hoping someone would drop a cookie. “I don’t think things are going that well with her and that guy. What’s his name?”

“Matt.”

“Yeah, Matt. I think she rushed things and now she’s finding out they’re not that compatible.”

“Did you know with Clark? Did you know right away that he was the one?”

Maddy took a sip of her tea before she spoke. “I’d worked with him forever. We teased each other on and off, but we were always with other people and respected our relationships. Then that last relationship I had that was so bad?”

“I remember. The doctor.”

“Yeah, that one. I swore off men for about six months. I had to get my head together. Clark broke up with his girlfriend and we started going out to dinner. Just as friends. Then one night I looked across the table and realized he was the man I’d been searching for all my life.”

“How did you get him to see it?”

Maddy smiled. “He got the same idea at the same time.” She set her tea down. “Love isn’t logical, Eve. You have to have the courage to follow your heart, no matter how many times you’ve been hurt in the past.”

As Eve studied her girlfriend, she suspected that Maddy had depths she wasn’t aware of. She sensed her friend hadn’t had things easy her entire life, but had managed to rise above her circumstances. She also knew that Maddy looked at people deeply.

Maddy saw her, flaws, fears and all, and still wanted to be her friend. The thought humbled her.

“You’re an inspiration to me.”

“Oh, Eve, you’ll figure it all out. I have faith in you.”

“I’m going to pack up a box of cookies for you and Clark.”

“He’ll love that. I’m a good cook, but I’m on a deadline and don’t have time to bake.”

#

After Maddy left, Eve curled up on the sofa with Maurice in her lap.

Love isn’t logical.
That was the understatement of the century. Here she’d thought that one kiss from Nick would put all her feelings for him to rest. Instead, things had spiraled completely out of control and now she thought about him constantly.

This wasn’t love. It was obsession.

But was it? Nick wasn’t some stranger she’d fixated her feelings on. She’d worked with him for almost a year and seen him in all sorts of situations. She’d traveled with him, and that was one of the best ways to get to know a man.

She knew he was a good man, a kind man, fair to his employees and honest and ethical with his customers. She knew he loved his father enough to give him plenty of time with his new wife during their first Christmas together.

And on top of all that, Maurice adored him.

As much as she hated to admit it, what was wrong with her life all came down to her. Eve didn’t think she was broken, but perhaps too cautious. She felt safe, hiding out dressed as a librarian – and not the type that whipped off her glasses, let down her hair and got down to business. No, she was the sort of librarian who would work quietly among the books until one day she looked up and realized decades of her life had passed and she’d hidden herself away through it all. Kept emotion at a distance. Always made the safe choices.

Never really lived.

He wants to find Darcy so badly. Could you have the courage to tell him you’re the woman he’s looking for?

He’d never believe her. She’d played the part of the dowdy frump, then the naughty elf, so expertly she couldn’t even believe both personas were a part of her.

Maybe the real you is somewhere in the middle.

That was interesting. Maybe it was time she stopped hiding behind her tailored clothing, sensible shoes and oversized glasses. Maybe the Christmas present she should give herself was to come out of her shell a little.

She couldn’t have Nick, and that broke her heart. Even if she told him the entire truth about that night, there was a good chance he would never be able to forgive such a deception. She’d used him, plain and simple, the way men had used women for centuries. She’d used him for one kiss – and then sex – like some sort of experiment. But he was a human being, flesh and blood, with feelings and deep emotions.

She’d used Nick, and that didn’t sit well with her. Sitting by the fire with Maurice and her cup of tea, Eve found she didn’t like herself very much.

You have to find the courage to follow your heart.

Something had to change.

#

She discarded her glasses – she actually had perfect vision – and let down her hair. And was decidedly gratified by the double take Nick did when he walked into the front office Monday morning.

“Watson, I – “ he stopped.

“Yes?” She looked up at him expectantly, as if she came into the office every day with no glasses on and waves of blonde hair tumbling down her back.

“Wow,” he said softly. “I like the look, Watson. Very becoming.” He stopped himself, then said, “I hope you don’t think I’m out of line – “

“Not at all. What did you need?”

It took him a moment to collect his thoughts, he kept staring at her hair. Then he said, “There’s a new resort opening in Santa Barbara, very upscale. I’d like to go check it out this weekend if that’s convenient for you.”

“Of course.”

He stared at her again and she had the feeling he felt like he’d been hit by a baseball bat. Stunned would be a good description of her boss at the moment. He shook his head, then said, “I’ll get you the necessary information. Can you call and set things up?”

“Certainly.”

#

She came into his office with all the details of their weekend printed out and laid the sheet on his desk.

“We’re all set.”

“Watson, I need to have a word.”

She was already halfway to the door but at his voice she turned and came back into his office. Eve sat down on one of the comfortable chairs by his desk.

“Why the change?” he said, indicating her hair, her face. “If it’s not too personal a question.

“It was time.”

He frowned. “I still don’t understand.”

Eve took a deep breath in, then let it out. She’d resolved, over the weekend, that she had to be more authentic in her life. She knew she could trust Nick, that he wouldn’t fire her over what she was about to reveal.

She had to start somewhere.

“If I tell you something, Nick, can I trust that it doesn’t leave this office?”

“Yes.”

She leaned forward. “Remember those gaps in my resume? When you asked me about them I told you I was taking care of elderly relatives?”

He nodded.

“I wasn’t. I was fired from the two jobs I held previous to this one, and I didn’t want you to call and find out why.”

He leaned forward now, intent. “Why were you fired?”

She swallowed against the sudden tightness in her throat. As much as she trusted Nick, she was still afraid.

“I was fired for sexual harassment.”

“That’s crazy! You would never – “