The Billionaire's First Christmas - Contemporary Romance (5 page)

I matched her whispered tone and said,
“Yes, I was supposed to ask for Aaron.”

“Of course,” she said. “May I check
your coat?” It was the moment of reckoning. As I slipped off my
coat and handed it to her I watched the change in her facial
expression. It wasn’t the least bit subtle and I wouldn’t say she
was the least bit amused.

“Thank you,” I told her as I handed my
coat over. I’d often heard the word “gaping” used, but I don’t
believe I’d ever actually seen anyone “gape” before. She was
definitely gaping at my outfit. Had it not been a joke, I may have
been offended. Actually, since she didn’t know it was a joke, I was
a little bit offended.

She swallowed hard and said, “Follow
me, please.” I did as she asked slipping the hat that went with the
costume out of my purse and onto my head as we walked across the
crowded restaurant. All eyes were on me and I made a point of
making eye-contact with a few of the appalled looking patrons and
smiling. It was a hilarious experience. The serious little dinners
they were having in their designer clothes were suddenly
interrupted, by an elf. Some of them looked as if they thought it
was the end of the world. People needed to learn how to have more
fun. As she led me to a table in a far corner of the room right
next to one of the big windows, I finally saw him. My confidence
waned a bit when I realized my mystery man was the gorgeous man I’d
seen get off the elevator that one day, and I hadn’t been able to
get him out of my mind since. At least I knew now that his voice
matched his looks. He was looking at me with a controlled
expression. I had no idea what he was thinking. The hostess turned
towards me and her gape turned into pure shock when she realized
I’d put on the hat. She turned back to my “date” that had stood up
to greet me like a perfect gentleman.

“Mr. Winters, is there anything else
you need?” she asked. When I thought about it later, I decided that
she’d been wondering if I was a crazy person and perhaps she should
have me shown out. But at that moment all I heard was “Mr.
Winters.” It was echoing inside my head. This was Aaron Winters,
CEO of Winters Inc. He was a billionaire business mogul… and he was
my employer, my real employer.

“Everything is fine, thank
you Shelby.” That was the voice, it was definitely him.
Oh geez
, I
wondered,
what have I done?

When the hostess was gone, Aaron
looked me over and I could at last see an expression in his eyes.
It was confusion. He was wondering what I was doing and at that
moment I was sure that Jeffrey had been right, he wasn’t
pleased.

“Hello Robyn,” he said, obviously ever
the gentleman.

“Hello… Mr. Winters,” I said as he
pulled out my chair.

“You can call me Aaron,” he said. He
pushed my chair in and went back around to take his own. He kept
staring at me as if he didn’t know what to say. I may have been
staring as well. First, I was shocked at whom he was and second …he
was drop dead gorgeous. I swear Adonis didn’t even come close to
describing this man. I hate to use the word “perfect” but there was
no other description for him.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” he
asked.

“Sure, I’d love some wine,” I told
him. He picked up the bottle out of the brass canister it was
chilling in and poured us each a glass of white wine. My mouth was
completely dry and I picked it up and took a sip… it was almost as
dry as me. Aaron still hadn’t cracked a smile and the butterflies
in my stomach had grown into pterodactyls. I finally just blurted
out what was on my mind.

“I was playing a joke,” he still
looked confused, but he offered me a weak smile and a soft chuckle.
“I was hoping you would think it was funny.”

He looked around at the others in the
restaurant before speaking.

“It’s just a little… uncomfortable,
all the attention. You definitely stand out in here.”

I glanced around too. He was right; we
were getting a lot of strange looks. It wouldn’t have bothered me,
but it obviously did bother him. For some reason, I wished that he
would lighten up, just a little bit. I finally gave in however,
mostly because he was my boss. Besides, I was hoping if he was more
comfortable he would relax and we could get to know each
other.

“I brought the other dress,” I told
him. “I can change if you’d like.”

“I’d like that, yes,” was all he
said.

I was unfazed by the stares of the
other patrons as I walked across the restaurant once more. The only
thing I was feeling was disappointed that this beautiful, brilliant
man didn’t seem to have any humor at all. I thought that humor was
one of the most important things in life. Some days, mine was all
that had gotten me through. I considered walking out and just going
home for a fraction of a second, after all, this wasn’t a real
date. But he was Aaron Winters, and he was beautiful and no matter
what that said about me, it was enough to make me want to stay and
give him another shot.

I quickly changed in the restroom and
ran my fingers through my hair. I reapplied my lipstick while I was
there and then I stuffed the elf costume into my bag and headed
back out to our table. I watched the expressions change again as I
walked back by, but none more so than my “date’s.”

Aaron stood up when I was about three
feet from the table. This time his expression was easy to read. He
was pleased with what he saw… very pleased. He pulled my chair out
for me again and once he’d taken his seat again he said, “You look
stunning.”

I smiled, “Thank you, and thank you
for the outfit. It’s beautiful, just not quite what I might pick
for myself.”

“It looks like it was made for you,”
he said. “Why wouldn’t you have picked it?”

“I’m just not one to go along with the
“norms” of society as I’m sure you can tell by the fact that I wore
an elf costume to dinner.” I was smiling, he was still not. He was
looking at me like he was trying to figure me out. It shouldn’t
have been that hard. I was just a girl who enjoyed having fun.
Aaron wasn’t looking like fun was something he did often to
me.

I was saved from Aaron’s gaze by the
waiter who came to take our order, until I realized that I hadn’t
even looked at the menu. Aaron asked me if I minded if he ordered
for me or if it would be like the dress and I’d pull a hamburger
out of my handbag. He was making an attempt at humor and I felt
encouraged suddenly, and strangely… proud of him. He at least
possessed a sarcastic wit.

“You go ahead,” I told him. “I’ll eat
pretty much anything.”

I listened as he told the waiter we
would both like to have the Charcoal grilled Miyazaki wagyu. I had
no idea what that was so I quickly glanced at my menu. It offered
no explanations. It just said that it came with, “Salsify
Dauphinois, Bluefoot Mushrooms, Arrow leaf Spinach and ‘Sauce
Bordelaise,’” and that it was a hundred and twenty five dollars a
plate. So as not to embarrass him, I waited for the waiter to leave
before I asked my next question.

“At the risk of sounding like an
ignorant diner… what did you just order for me?” The corners of his
mouth twitched. My outfit didn’t amuse him but my ignorance of
fancy dishes apparently did.

“It’s Japanese black beef with a side
of potatoes and the salsify is a European root vegetable. It’s very
tasty the way they prepare it here. I’m sure the rest you
recognized.”

I appreciated that he didn’t find me
ignorant enough to explain spinach and mushrooms to me.

“Thank you,” I said. “That does sound
good.”

We made small talk about my day and my
experiences with the kids and the elderly while we waited for our
meals. The only time he seemed bothered by my chatter was when I
veered off into how much I loved Christmas, or things I liked to do
myself. Then he would shut down and I’d have to think of a way to
start the whole conversation all over again. Jeffrey had been
right, this man did not like Christmas.

When dinner arrived, I couldn’t deny
that it looked delicious on the plate and my assessment was
confirmed with the first bite. The portions were small, but
everything was so rich and satisfying that you didn’t need a lot of
it to be completely satiated. We were about halfway through our
meal when we hit a lull in our conversation. I hadn’t meant to pry,
but suddenly I heard myself asking, “I was wondering what it was
about Christmas that you didn’t like?”

He raised an eyebrow. He does that a
lot. He paused for a long minute and then said, “How do you know
that I don’t like Christmas?”

“I asked Jeffrey why you didn’t hand
out the gifts yourself. They’re so generous. That’s all he told me,
was that you didn’t really care for the season.”

He looked like he was thinking of how
to phrase it.

“I’m just cynical, I guess. It’s so
commercialized these days.”

I had to admit that was true
about it being commercialized but I said, “I don’t worry about what
society thinks of it, kind of like I don’t worry about what they
think of me. When I was a little girl I saw
“A Christmas Carol.”
My favorite
line, even then was when Ebenezer Scrooge said,
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all
the year.”
I try to live by that as much as
I can.”

I wished that I could read his looks.
If I had to chance a guess I’d say that he was trying to decide if
he believed me or not. It was true, I had no one to impress but
myself. I loved Christmas, but I didn’t stop there. I loved being
alive and every morning, rain or shine, I started the day by
reminding myself of that fact.

“Does your family celebrate
Christmas?” I asked him.
Instead of really answering my question, he said, “I go away every
year at Christmas time. I go to one of the Islands, some place
warm. I leave on Christmas Eve and come back a few days later. I’d
go earlier but I feel it prudent that I attend the company holiday
party. I don’t care for the cold either.”

“Prudent, huh?” I asked with a
half-smile. “Some people look forward to the holiday party all
year. You don’t find it fun at all?”

“Not really,” he said, simply. “What
about you? How will you be spending your holidays?”

I thought about opening up to him, but
I didn’t think he’d understand since he was so unwilling to open up
to me. I simply said, “With my family, of course.”

After dinner we shared a piece of the
best cheesecake in the whole wide world. By the end of the night I
was torn by my feelings for him. He was gracious and charming and
I’d found out earlier today… very generous. But, he was also so
serious about everything it seemed, even Christmas. He didn’t even
smile at the cheesecake. The other thing was that I could
definitely stare at him all day and all night. He was the most
desirable man I’d ever laid eyes on even when he was being serious.
When he relaxed just a tiny bit and smiled… I felt my insides
melting.

CHAPTER FIVE

~

AARON

I looked across the table at this
woman that I didn’t know enough to say hello to in an elevator a
couple of weeks ago but now suddenly found myself completely
enchanted with. She was like no other woman I’d ever met. She kept
bringing up Christmas which both frustrated the hell out of me and
intrigued me. It frustrated me because I’d given it up so long ago
and never looked back. She was trying to get me to question that.
Of course she didn’t know why I’d given it up, but I had a feeling
this woman would say that I had handled it wrong. If anyone else
told me that I’d tell them to go to hell, but somehow as I looked
into Robyn’s pretty blue eyes I knew I would never tell her that. I
got the impression she wasn’t just being nosy when she asked why I
didn’t like Christmas… she truly loved it that much and couldn’t
fathom why anyone else would not.

The thing I liked most about her,
beyond her beauty… was the fact that she was blindsided by her
boss; the CEO of the company she worked for was her date and she
didn’t seem the slightest bit intimidated. She hadn’t tried to kiss
up to me or cowl down to me, she’d treated me like any other human
being and that, I appreciated tremendously.

“So what about eggnog?” she asked. She
wouldn’t let up on the Christmas kick. She was trying to insist
that there was something I liked about Christmas, no matter how
much I insisted there wasn’t.

“I don’t care for it,” I
said.

“Peppermint candy canes?”

“I’ve never had one.”