This Holiday Magic (10 page)

Mine by
Christmas

Janice Sims

DEDICATION

Mine by Christmas
is dedicated to my husband, Curtis, who is my very own tech nerd, like Adam Benson in this story. And to you, the readers, who have loyally followed me since
Affair of the Heart
(1996) to the present.

Thank you!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A story is written by an author in isolation, but it comes together with the efforts of many people. Thanks to my editor, Rachel Burkot, for her valuable advice on how to make
Mine by Christmas
a more pleasurable reading experience for you. Thanks also to editorial assistant Caroline Acebo, who keeps us writers on the right track at Mills and Boon.

Chapter 1

A
dam Benson awoke with a start. He reached over, switched on the lamp and groaned as he sat up and swung his long muscular legs over the side of the bed. What was wrong with him? Why was he dreaming about Sage so frequently? What was even more disturbing was the fact that they weren't erotic dreams. No, these dreams left a lasting impression of real emotions. His heart was still beating wildly in his chest and he vividly remembered the taste of her sweet lips. As he sat there in the bedroom of his Seattle mansion, his entire body was infused with the unmistakable feeling of being in love. He should recognize that feeling because Sage Andrews was the only woman he'd ever loved. Sure, he still thought of her fondly, but it had been years since he'd been face-to-face with her. Did she ever dream about him?

Coming to a decision, he picked up his cell phone from the nightstand and ran his finger across the touch screen, selecting the messages option. He listened to his mother's voice asking him to come home for Christmas. He had not planned to go home to New Haven, Connecticut, this year, but now he reconsidered. There was a certain neighborhood Christmas Eve party he had to attend.

* * *

Sage Andrews loved Christmas in New Haven. She never missed going to see the Fantasy Lights at Lighthouse Point Park. Every year she and her father, Earl, went to a local Christmas-tree farm to cut down their own tree. She even liked the quirkier aspects of Christmas in New Haven, including some guy named Noel climbing the Christmas tree on New Haven Green and getting tangled in the branches, which were laden with thirty thousand LED lights. Firemen had to rescue him.

She smiled at the thought as she drove to her parents' house for their annual Christmas Eve party in her old neighborhood. Her cell phone kept buzzing, but she ignored it. She'd had a long day in court substituting for her partner, Jim Douglas, a divorce attorney, who had been called away to be with his wife, Sha-Shana, in the delivery room. They were now the proud parents of a little girl. Sage usually dealt with custody issues, and listening to a couple tear each other apart in court today had been depressing. She just wanted to relax. Whoever was phoning her could leave a message.

Driving down these streets flanked by houses lavishly decorated for Christmas reminded her of her childhood. She'd been a happy kid with parents who loved her and who loved each other. Back then, the Andrews were struggling financially, but so were other families in the neighborhood. It was a close-knit community, though, and everyone helped each other. As times grew more prosperous, the houses improved. Today the neighborhood was one of the most prominent in the city.

She looked sadly at the Cape Cod across the street from her parents' Tudor-style home. The Bensons lived there. Seeing their home always made her think of their son, Adam, her first love and the only man to ever break her heart.

She sighed deeply and then perked up. Tonight was not for reminiscing about the past but for having fun!

She managed to find a parking space among the other guests' cars on the street and got out to walk to the front door. Just as she started up the solar-powered, lamp-lined walk, wrapped in a hooded woolen coat, it began to snow. She paused to look up at the flurries and held out her gloved hand to catch some flakes in her palm.
We're going to have a white Christmas after all,
she thought with a pleased grin.

She barely had time to pull her hand back after ringing the bell before her mother was pulling her inside.

“Sage!” Patricia Andrews cried, a panicked expression on her attractive chestnut-brown face. “Why didn't you answer your phone?”

Sage had a momentary glimpse of the tasteful holiday decorations such as poinsettias and red-velvet bows on the banisters of the stairs directly in front of her before her mother grabbed her arm in a viselike grip and pulled her through the foyer directly to the kitchen, bypassing the great room, where the party's guests were mingling.

“What's wrong, Mom?” Sage asked. “Can I take my coat off?”

“In a minute,” Patricia, a petite, attractive woman in her mid-fifties, said as she yanked her daughter into the chef's kitchen. “You can hang it in the pantry.”

The kitchen was bustling with catering staff. Sage, who hadn't eaten since lunchtime, went to grab a canapé from a tray on the counter and her mother slapped her hand.

“Mom, what's gotten into you?” Sage asked as she snapped back her hand and began pulling off her coat.

“I tried to warn you,” her mother said cryptically. She took Sage's coat, walked over to the pantry and hung it on a hook in there. The two of them stood in the large space, whispering so as not to be heard by the catering staff.

“Warn me about what?” Sage was getting worried now. “Has something happened to Dad?”

Exasperated, Patricia looked up at her daughter. “Adam's here.”

With those two words Sage felt as if her stomach had just taken a nosedive into her Louboutins. For a moment she couldn't think, let alone form coherent words. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled. “You never said he would be here.” She sounded more accusatory than she'd intended.

“I didn't know,” her mother said in defense of herself. “Millie and Adam Senior showed up with him in tow. What was I supposed to do, tell him he couldn't stay? I'm his godmother, for heaven's sake!”

“Of course not,” said Sage, removing her gloves and shoving them into the coat's pockets. She narrowed her eyes at her mother. “Wait a minute. How did you know seeing Adam would upset me? I never said I was avoiding him.”

“I'm your mother. You don't have to tell me,” Patricia said, rolling her eyes. “It's been nine years since you two broke up, and whenever he's home and Millie and Adam Senior invite us over for dinner, you make up an excuse as to why you can't come. I don't have to be a genius to figure that out!”

Sage willed herself to calm down. She laughed nervously. “He's a family friend visiting his folks for the holidays. No big deal.”

“Well, if my instincts are on the money, you're the only reason he's here,” Patricia said.

“What makes you say that?” Sage asked, feeling the panic rising again.

“Every time the doorbell rings, and I walk back into the great room with new guests, he cranes his neck to see who the new arrivals are. He's definitely waiting to see you. Who else is he eager to see again? Certainly not any of my other guests whose average age is fifty. That's why I pulled you in here for this little chat.”

Sage breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. She was not going to let Adam Benson's presence at this party unnerve her. So what if he'd thrown her over and gone on to become an electronics billionaire who hobnobbed with the likes of the president and Bill Gates?

She was no loser herself. At twenty-eight, she had the reputation of being one of the best family-law attorneys in the state. She looked her mother in the eyes. “Well, let's get out there.”

Patricia let out a relieved sigh and beamed. “That's my girl!”

They turned and walked out of the pantry. “And thanks for not letting me eat anything,” Sage told her mom. “I'd hate to meet Adam for the first time in nine years with food in my teeth.”

* * *

Adam was surrounded by people vying for his attention. He'd thought that at an intimate party for twelve couples, as his mother, Millicent, had described it to him, he would be left alone. But he had people in his face telling him how proud they were of him, a hometown boy who'd succeeded beyond everyone's expectations. He smiled and thanked them while surreptitiously keeping an eye on the entrance.

His patience was finally rewarded when his godmother walked in grasping Sage's hand. His breath caught and he heard himself sigh softly. At five foot nine, she was a statuesque beauty in a killer emerald-green dress. The same shade of green as his tuxedo vest. He smiled, thinking that he and Sage looked like a couple who'd chosen to dress similarly tonight.

He was nervous. How would she react to his being here? He didn't have to worry, though, because as their eyes met across the room, she gave him a welcoming smile that made her warm brown eyes sparkle.

Then she and his godmother were standing directly in front of him. “Adam,” Patricia Andrews said, “you and Sage are the odd ones out since neither of you arrived with a date. I hope you don't mind sitting together tonight.”

Adam grinned. “Are you kidding? It would be my pleasure.”

Patricia smiled in parting and went to attend to her other guests.

Adam and Sage stood awkwardly for a moment and then he impulsively pulled Sage into his arms for a hug. He expected her to stiffen, but instead she returned his hug. When they parted she looked up at him and said, “This is a surprise. If I'd known you were coming, I'd...”

“You would've made an excuse not to be here,” he said, eyes twinkling with good humor.

Sage laughed. “You're probably right,” she said softly.

He took her hand in his and they began walking toward the dining room. “It's wonderful to see you again, Sage. It's been way too long.”

Sage looked up at him, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “You're as charming as ever.”

Adam laughed abruptly. “That's not how you described me the last time we spoke.”

“That day I broke the record for the number of cusswords spoken by me in one day. I haven't matched that record since then.”

Still smiling, Adam gazed down into her upturned face. “I deserved every word.”

“Yes, you did,” Sage said. “Are you back for more?”

In the formal dining room, Adam pulled Sage's chair out for her. After she was seated, he sat next to her and turned to face her. The room was abuzz with the soft voices of the other guests, and a John Legend song was playing on the sound system.

The waitstaff was currently serving the wine. The tinkling of crystal wineglasses and the hollow sound of the wine being poured added to the background noise.

Adam's focus was on Sage. He took in the golden-brown smoothness of her skin. How her heavy fall of curly black hair framed her heart-shaped face so beautifully. His gaze drifted downward to her mouth, which was full and sensual. They used to spend hours kissing, so he knew how utterly kissable her lips were.

“Do you remember the promise we made to each other—that we'd always be honest with one another, no matter what?” he said after a minute of simply enjoying looking at her.

“I do,” Sage said at once. “And you weren't.”

Adam winced. He couldn't have guessed how she would react to him after all these years. But he'd hoped that most of the animosity she'd felt toward him would have dissipated by now. He saw that she was still hurt by his behavior.

“No, I wasn't honest with you,” he said. “I told you we should stop seeing one another because our long-distance relationship couldn't last. The fact is I broke up with you because I was ready for intimacy and you weren't. And since you weren't ready, I wasn't going to be that guy who manipulates his girl into something she's not ready for.”

“I knew that was the reason,” Sage muttered.

“You were only nineteen.”

“And you were twenty-one and unwilling to wait,” she whispered. Her eyes were momentarily fierce and then her gaze softened.

She briefly looked around, wondering if anyone had noticed them arguing, but the other couples were engrossed in each other. “Adam, that's water under the bridge.” She looked at him expectantly. “Mom thinks you came here tonight specifically to see me. Is that true?” She smiled as she waited for his reply.

Adam couldn't hide his astonishment at hearing this. “What is your mother, a psychic?”

Sage laughed shortly. “I've often thought so. Was she right?”

Adam reached for her hand and she placed it in his. “I'm going to assume our truth-only agreement still stands.”

Sage nodded. He thought he read genuine affection mirrored in her eyes as she watched him.

“For some reason I've been dreaming about you, Sage.”

Her brows arched in curiosity. “What kind of dreams?” she cautiously inquired.

Adam felt his face flush with embarrassment. “Innocent dreams, I assure you. But they're persistent, several nights per week, every week for about three months now.”

“I wonder why?” Sage said. “I was sure, until you showed up tonight, that I never crossed your mind.”

“Why would you think that? You were my first love.”

Sage sighed softly. “You're Adam Benson, electronics wunderkind. You rub elbows with the president. You could have any woman on earth. Why waste your brain cells on me?”

“Because you're special, Sage,” Adam answered immediately. “You're the only woman I've ever loved. And I'm here because I think there may be a reason I'm dreaming about you. Maybe we should give us another try.”

He could tell Sage was truly shocked by his words. Her big brown eyes were startled. Her hand went to her chest as though doing so would quiet a rapidly beating heart.

“Well, you wanted honesty,” Adam quipped.

They were presently being served by the waitstaff. After the waiter moved away, Sage met Adam's eyes. “You're the only man I've ever loved. But, unfortunately, I don't believe in fairy tales anymore.” She gestured to the snow falling outside the big picture window in front of them. “During the years we've been apart, my heart feels as though it has frozen over. That's why I haven't fallen in love with anyone else. I never
let
myself fall. I feel like a snow queen whose heart can't be pierced by love. So don't come here talking about trying again, Adam.”

Adam felt as though his heart had been run through by a sharp knife. Seeing Sage again confirmed for him that he had indeed been dreaming of her because he still had feelings for her. But if she didn't feel the same way about him, what good would it do for him to try?