Sugar And Spice (45 page)

He slid one silken strap to the side, then, finally, his hand was there, the palm encompassing her fullness, his thumb teasing across the nipple. She moaned and arched against him, sliding upward on the desk, allowing him more access to slip into the space between her legs.

Clearly, there were more dimensions to Natalie Harris than he had realized. Really sexy, absolutely incredible dimensions.

Before they rounded any other bases, Natalie broke away. He backed up, releasing her. She got to her feet, pausing for a moment, before connecting again with his gaze. “I want you,” she said, clear and sure and sending another spark of desire rocketing through him. “Or, rather, I wanted you.”

He arched a brow. “As in past tense?”

“The Jake Lyons I’ve been fantasizing about wouldn’t compromise people for profit. And he wouldn’t try to hold onto a sinking ship when it wasn’t even a ship he wanted to be on.”

He refused to acknowledge that he hated working here, that he had been questioning whether this was the right path since the day he walked into the building. If he did, then where did that leave the Lyons legacy? “Do you know what makes me get out of bed in the morning and come rushing in here? It’s not the job.” He took her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over her warm, peach-scented skin. “It’s you. But you expect a lot out of me, Natalie. More than I think I’m capable of giving you.”

Her smile was fleeting, gone too fast. “I understand. Maybe someday down the road, we can try this again.”

“But that kiss—” he said, gesturing toward the desk.

“Was a kiss good-bye. Before today, I wanted a fling with you. A one-night stand. I was too afraid to say anything, because I was too worried that those damned words would get caught on my tongue. I’m done being afraid, Jake. I’m done waiting for what I want.” She smiled, shook her head, then looked back at him. “This is going to sound crazy after everything that’s happened, but I’ve realized that it’s okay to want more. To want the whole enchilada instead of just the beef.” She placed a palm against his cheek, her gaze bittersweet. “That’s why I’m leaving the company. And you. If I don’t stand up for and go after what I want, I’ll never get it.”

He envied her that confidence, that surety in what she was pursuing. Hell, most of his life he’d been seeking a purpose and thought he’d found it when he came to work with his cousin. But the empty feeling in his gut told him Natalie had hit his nail on its head.

The only problem was he didn’t have a backup plan.

Natalie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Jake. I wish you well.”

“Wait,” he said, reaching for her, wishing he could rewind their conversation. “Don’t go. Not yet.”

“I have to. I have some serious shopping to do. I can’t produce Santa, but I can sure blow my last paycheck on giving those kids at Our Hope Shelter the best damned Christmas they’ve ever had.”

And then she was gone, leaving the millionaire feeling, for the first time in his life, as if he was lacking something very important.

Jake turned to go back to the party, then stopped when a glint of metal caught his eye.

Natalie’s cell phone. He picked it up, stepped out of the cubicles to look for her, but she was gone.

It wasn’t until he flipped the lid and saw the text message displayed across the screen that he realized he’d just lost a lot more than a good employee.

Natalie had left the party early, spent the rest of the day and all of Christmas Eve shopping and wrapping. She’d thought, when she walked out of the Lyons building, that she would feel free, ready to embark on something new.

Instead, a nagging sense of loss had dogged her every step. She’d woken up early that morning and hurried over to the shelter with her bundles of gifts, determined to make this Christmas Day wonderful for twelve boys and girls.

And just as determined to forget about Jake Lyons.

She readied her pile of gifts and faced the closed doors that led to the family room, waiting for the shelter’s director to finish with a phone call and start the festivities.

“Merry Christmas, SpiceGirl.”

Natalie pivoted at the sound of a familiar male voice in her ear, nearly dropping the gifts in her arms.

“Santa?” she asked, raising a brow.

The man in the red suit and white beard just winked—a wink she recognized. “Ho, ho, ho. Yes, indeed, I’m Santa. And if you’ve been good, little girl, I’ve got a present for you.” When she opened her mouth to speak, he tick-tocked a gloved finger at her. “No, no, not now. You have to wait until we hand out all these presents first.”

Jake took a step to the right, revealing a huge red sack on the floor behind him, filled to the brim with toys. Dolls, remote control cars, Game Boys, books, puzzles. She stood there, stunned. First, because he was here, and second, because he had gone to so much trouble for the children. Hope thudded in her chest. Maybe she didn’t have to settle for just the appetizer. Maybe there was still a possibility she could have the whole Jake entrée. “I bet you just raised Toys ‘R’ Us’s stock a hundred points,” she teased.

“Great! You did get a Santa.” Kitty Planter entered the room and beamed at Natalie. “The kids are going to love it. Are you ready?”

“I need a second,” Natalie said. She turned back to Jake. “Why are you here, really? And don’t tell me it’s for a tax deduction.”

“Nope. I’m not even going to ask for a receipt. It’s because someone inspired me to find my passion.”

Beneath the fake beard she could just make out his grin. “Now, let’s get to work, and then you’ll see what Santa has in store for you.”

Curiosity bloomed inside her. All she could do, though, was look at the man beside her and wonder if he was real or just a Christmas miracle.

Natalie nodded toward Kitty, who turned the handle of the family room door. The second it opened, the children rushed forward, squealing with surprise at the appearance of Santa and his toys.

They were swarmed in an instant, but Jake held his cool and maintained his Santa persona, dispensing the gifts with clear enjoyment of the task. Each toy widened a smile, brightened the red in their cheeks, and turned the eyes that had seemed so weary before to ones filled with joy. Parents joined in on the fun, and laughter rung its happy peals in the room for the first time in forever.

When the gift frenzy had died down, David approached Santa, a huge stuffed bear clutched tight to his chest, along with a copy of the book that Natalie had read to them the last time she was here. Every child had received a copy of Bear’s Christmas Wish from Santa Jake, a sweet touch that had melted Natalie’s heart.

David squinted up at Jake, assessing his suit and his beard while his mother waited a few feet away, a beam of pride on her face. “Are you really him?”

Jake nodded. “Yes, sir, I am.”

“Then how’d you find us? We don’t have a house, not anymore,” David said. “That’s why we gotta live here.”

Jake put a finger beneath David’s chin, lifting the boy’s sad face up, and Natalie’s heart constricted again at Jake’s tender touch and care for one of the most traumatized children in the room. “Well, David, Miss Natalie helped me find you. You don’t have to worry, though, about next year. As of today, you do have a home. Santa got all of you an extra special gift.” Over the boy’s head, he caught his mother’s eye. “A deed.”

Natalie froze. Had Jake just said what she’d thought he did?

David’s mother gasped as the words sunk in. “A deed? For a house? But how? Why?”

Jake’s gaze connected with Natalie’s, the blue eyes twinkling above the snowy beard. Her heart expanded a hundred times, filled with love for this man, who had gone to greater lengths than she would have ever dreamed. “Santa heard from this lady here that you all were very, very good. And she also told me that what you needed, more than books, more than dolls, was a place to call home.” The room was silent, as if no one could believe what was happening. The parents looked from one to the other, eyes wide with disbelief. In the back of the room, Kitty Planter had slumped into a chair, her mouth agape.

Jake reached into the bag, rooted around at the bottom, and with a flourish pulled out several large, thick envelopes filled with the promised papers and a set of house keys. Each of them, Natalie saw, had been addressed to the families who resided at the shelter.

Santa Jake made his way through the room, handing one to each struggling parent. To the single mothers who had done their best to make ends meet. To the grandmothers who were living their retirement years raising a whole other generation. To the dads who had been beaten down by failure but whose faces brightened when they realized they held a new start in their hands. “Merry Christmas,”

Jake said.

Ariana’s mother, tears streaming down her cheeks, reached out, took his arm and gave him a squeeze.

“Thank you. Oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, with a short, quick nod. But when he turned away, Natalie was sure the twinkle she saw in his eyes now had nothing to do with being jolly.

“Well, children, my bag is empty now,” Jake said, swinging the red velvet sack over his shoulder, “and I’ve got some mighty tired reindeer waiting for me, so I’m heading back to the North Pole. You all have a good Christmas.”

He turned and headed back out the door he’d entered, followed by waving hands and chattering children shouting Christmas greetings.

A moment later, Natalie followed, waiting until the door had shut behind her before she spoke. “What was all that?”

Jake pulled off the beard, then the hat, revealing the face that had become as familiar as her own in the last few weeks. “That is my new job.”

She quirked a brow at him. “You’re a professional Santa?”

“No. I’m the new head of the Natalie Lyons Foundation, dedicated to helping families stay off the streets and find homes.”

“The…” her voice trailed off as the words sunk in. “Natalie Lyons Foundation? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, would you look at that?” Jake said, ignoring her question and once again reaching into the sack.

“Santa has one more gift in his bag.” He withdrew a tiny velvet box; then, as Natalie watched in stunned, silent surprise, he lowered himself to one knee, pulled off his gloves and tipped back the lid of the box.

A perfect round diamond, nestled in a plain, perfect setting, gleamed back at her. She gasped. “An engagement ring? Holy cow.”

“Natalie Lyons, will you be my Mrs. Claus?”

She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again when no words would come forward. She stared at the ring, at the man bearing it, and waited for it all to hit her. “M-m-marry you?” This time, the stuttering was perfectly understandable, given the circumstances.

“I know it’s a little sudden, but a very wise woman told me that if I don’t stand up for and go after what I want, I’ll never get it.” He grinned, flinging out an arm in surrender. “This time, I’m on my knees.”

She laughed, still not believing the sight before her. “But, Jake, I’m leaving the company and—”

“Yes, you are. And you’re coming to work with me.” He grinned. “I can’t very well run the Natalie Lyons Foundation without Natalie Lyons, now can I?”

“But this is so sudden, so…crazy.”

“Yeah, it is. And that’s what makes it so perfect. I want you, Natalie, and the SpiceGirl underneath. But most of all, the woman who showed me that finding my right path is just about looking in the right direction.” He rose, withdrew the ring from the box, then took her left hand in his. “So, are you ready to try the whole enchilada?”

She nodded, for the first time in her life, unable to speak at all for a good twenty seconds while she processed it all, taking in the ring that he slipped onto her finger, the meaning of his words. “But what about Lyons Corporation and Brad and your father’s legacy?”

“I thought about my father’s legacy a lot after you left. I realized there was no better way to honor him, and my grandfather, than to start something that gave back to the very community that built Lyons rather than trying to chase someone else’s dream.” He drew in a breath, then went on. “I had no family as a kid, not really, and when I was here, with you that day, I got a true sense of what family is really about. It’s not money or bloodlines, it’s about connections and creating a home. So, I sold my shares to Velma. She worked under my grandfather and knows more about the firm than anyone. And she’s the only one who can make Brad quake in his boots.”

Natalie laughed. “That was brilliant.”

“Besides, Brad can’t even add to twelve. He shouldn’t be in charge of an accounting firm.” Jake took her hand, the one with the ring on it, and clasped it between both of his. “You know, today is the twelfth of Brad’s little days.”

“And since it’s Christmas,” Natalie said, teasing him, “the office is closed. Oh well, I guess you won’t find out who SpiceGirl was after all.”

“Oh, I have my suspicions,” Jake said, his voice low and dark and so incredibly sexy, Natalie was sure she was going to melt on the spot. “I found your cell phone after you left.”

“Were you…” she paused, “disappointed it was me?”

“I was hoping it was you.” The smile that took over her face erased any lingering doubts in Natalie’s mind. “I love you, Natalie Harris.”

Joy soared in her chest. “I love you, too,” she said, the words coming out clear and strong, without a trace of hesitation.

As she stepped into Jake’s arms, Natalie realized that the unnamed bear in the story wasn’t the only one getting his true Christmas wish fulfilled this year. “Jake,” she said, drawing back, her voice husky. “Do you have a big red bow?”

“Of course. I’ll give you one guess where I’m wearing it.” The grin on his face just before he kissed her promised they would be ringing in a very merry holiday tonight.

Santa had brought Natalie exactly what she wanted for Christmas. She was sure she’d be tipping him extra for the personal delivery for many, many holidays to come.