Gift-Wrapped in Her Wedding Dress, page 14
‘People can be very judgemental,’ she said to Walter. ‘And the media seem to be particularly unfair to Dominic. I’m incredibly proud of him and support his reasons for wanting to keep what he does in Brisbane private. To talk about that terrible time is to relive it, over and over again. From what Dominic has told me, living it once would be more than enough for anyone.’
Dominic squeezed her hand back, hard, and his eyes were warm with gratitude. Gratitude and perhaps—just perhaps—something more? ‘I can’t stop the nightmares of being back there,’ he said. ‘But I can avoid talking about it and bringing those times back to life.’
Andie angled herself to face Walter full-on. She was finding it difficult to keep her voice steady. ‘If people knew about the centre they’d find out about his living rough and the assault charge. People who don’t know him might judge him unfairly. At the same time, I’d love more people to know how generous and kind he actually is and—’ She’d probably said enough.
Walter chuckled. ‘Another thing he’s done right is his choice of fiancée.’
Dominic reached over to kiss her lightly on the lips. ‘I concur, Walter,’ he said. Was it part of the act or did he really mean it?
‘Th...thank you,’ stuttered Andie. She added Walter to the list of people who would be disappointed when she dumped Dominic.
‘I’m afraid I can’t say the same for your choice of first wife,’ Walter said.
Dominic visibly tensed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I met with her and your former employee this morning. He’s an impressive guy, though not someone I feel I want to do business with. But your ex-wife made it clear she would do anything—and I stress anything—to seal the deal. She suggested that to me—happily married for more than forty years and who has never even looked at another woman.’
Dominic made a sound of utter disgust but nothing more. Andie thought more of him that he didn’t say anything to disparage Tara, appalling though her behaviour had been. Dominic had more dignity.
‘The upshot of this is, Dominic, that you are exactly the kind of guy I want to do business with. You and your delightful wife-to-be. You make a great team.’
Dominic reached over to take Andie’s hand again. ‘Thank you, Walter. Thank you from us both.’
Andie smiled with lips that were aching from all her false smiles and nodded her thanks. The fake engagement had done exactly what it was intended to. She should be jubilant for Dominic’s sake. But that also meant there would soon be no need to carry on with it. And that made her feel miserable. She wasn’t doing a very good job of guarding her heart.
When Andie said goodnight to Dominic, she clung to him for a moment longer than was necessary. Playing wife-to-be for the evening had made her start to wish a real relationship with Dominic could perhaps one day be on the cards.
Perhaps it was a good thing she wouldn’t see Dominic again until Christmas Eve. He had to fly out to Minneapolis to finalise details with Walter, leaving her to handle the countdown to the Christmas party. And trying not to think too much about what had to happen after Christmas, when her ‘engagement’ would come to an end.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IT WAS MIDDAY on Christmas Eve and as Andie pushed open the door into Dominic’s house she felt as if she was stepping into a nightmare. The staircase railings were decorated as elegantly as she’d hoped, with tiny lights and white silk cord. The wreath on the door was superb. But dominating the marble entrance hall was an enormous Christmas tree, beautifully decorated with baubles and ornaments and winking with tiny lights. She stared at it in shocked disbelief. What the heck was that doing there?
When she said it out loud she didn’t say heck and she didn’t say it quietly.
Her stylist Jeremy’s assistant had been rearranging baubles on the lower branches of the tree. She jumped at Andie’s outburst and a silver bauble smashed on to the marble floor. Calmly, very calmly, Andie asked the girl where Jeremy was. The girl scuttled out to get him.
Throughout all the Christmas party arrangements, through all the fake fiancée dramas, Andie had kept her cool. Now she was in serious danger of losing it. She had planned this party in meticulous detail. Of all the things that could go wrong, it would have to be this—Dominic would think she had deliberately defied his specific demand. And she didn’t want him thinking badly of her.
Jeremy came into the room with a swathe of wide red ribbons draped over his outstretched arm. Andie recognised them as the ones to be looped and tied into extravagant bows on the back of the two hundred chairs in the ballroom.
She had to grit her teeth to stop herself from exploding. ‘Why is there a Christmas tree in here?’ Her heart was racing with such panic she had to put her hand on her chest to try and slow it.
‘Because this entrance space cried out for one. How can you have a Christmas party without a tree?’ Jeremy said. ‘I thought you’d made a mistake and left it off the brief. Doesn’t it look fabulous?’
‘It does indeed look fabulous. Except the client specifically said no tree.’ She could hear her voice rising and took a deep breath to calm herself.
How had she let this happen? Maybe she should have written NO CHRISTMAS TREE in bold capitals on every page of the briefing document. She’d arrived here very early this morning to let the decorating crew in and to receive final deliveries of the extra furniture. Jeremy had assured her that all was on track. And it was—except for this darn tree.
‘But why?’ asked Jeremy. ‘It seems crazy not to have a tree.’
Crazy? Maybe. She had no idea why—because Dominic, for all his talk with Walter Burton over dinner that night that had seemed so genuine, still refused to let her in on the events in his past he held so tightly to himself. He’d drip-fed some of the details but she felt there was something major linked to Christmas he would not share. It made her feel excluded—put firmly in her place as no one important in his life. And she wanted to be important to him. She swallowed hard. Had she really just admitted that to herself?
‘The client actually has a thing against Christmas trees,’ she said. ‘You might even call it a phobia. For heaven’s sake, Jeremy, why didn’t you call me before you put this up?’ Her mouth was dry and her hands felt clammy at the thought of Dominic’s reaction if he saw the tree.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Jeremy, crestfallen. ‘You didn’t specify not to include a tree in the decorations. I was just using my initiative.’
On other jobs she’d worked with Jeremy she’d told him to think for himself and not bother her with constant calls, so she couldn’t be too cranky with him. Creative people could be tricky to manage—and Jeremy’s work was superb. The tree was, in fact, perfect for the spot where he’d placed it.
She took a step back to fully appraise its impact. The tree looked spectacular, dressed in silver with highlights of red, in keeping with her overall colour scheme. She sighed her pleasure at its magnificence. This perfect tree would make a breathtaking first impression for the guests tomorrow. To the children it would seem to be the entrance to a magical world. It spoke of tradition, of hope, of generosity. Everything they were trying to achieve with this party. It would make Dominic look good.
The beautiful tree was beginning to work its magic on her. Surely it would on Dominic too? He’d come such a long way since that first day, when he’d been so vehemently anti everything Christmas. Christmas was not Christmas without a tree.
She took a series of deep, calming breaths. Dominic should at least have the chance to see the tree in place. To see how wonderful it looked there. Maybe the sight of this tree would go some way towards healing those hidden deep wounds he refused to acknowledge.
She turned to Jeremy, the decision firm in her mind. ‘We’ll leave it. You’ve done such a good job on the tree, it would be a real shame to have to take it down.’
‘What about the client?’
‘He’s a client but he’s also my fiancé.’ The lie threatened to choke her but she was getting more adept at spinning falsehoods. ‘Leave him to me. In the meantime, let me give you a hand with placing the final few ornaments on the lower branches,’ she said. She was wearing work clothes—jeans, sneakers and a loose white shirt. She rolled up her sleeves and picked up an exquisite glass angel. Her hand wasn’t quite steady—if only she was as confident as she had tried to appear.
Dominic was due back in to Sydney early this evening. What if he hated the tree? Surely he wouldn’t. He seemed so happy with everything else she’d done for the party; surely he would fall in love with the tree.
But it would take a Christmas miracle for him to fall in love with her.
She longed for that miracle. Because she couldn’t deny it to herself any longer—she had developed feelings for him.
* * *
Dominic had managed to get an earlier flight out of Minneapolis to connect with a non-stop flight to Sydney from Los Angeles. Nonetheless, it was a total flight of more than twenty hours. Despite the comfort of first class, he was tired and anxious to get away from the snow and ice of Minnesota and home to sunny Sydney. A bitterly cold Christmas wasn’t quite as he’d remembered it to be.
Overriding everything else, he wanted to get home to Andie. He had thought about her non-stop the whole trip, wished she’d been with him. Next time, he’d promised Walter, he’d bring Andie with him.
As the car he’d taken from the airport pulled up in front of his house, his spirits lifted at the thought of seeing her. He hadn’t been able to get through to her phone, so he’d called Party Queens. Eliza had told him she was actually at his house in Vaucluse, working on the decorations for the party.
On the spur of the moment, he’d decided not to let her know he’d got in early. It might be better to surprise her. He reckoned if she didn’t know he was coming, she wouldn’t have time to put on her fake fiancée front. Her first reaction to him would give him more of a clue of her real feelings towards him.
Because while he was away he had missed her so intensely, he’d been forced to face his real feelings towards her. He was falling in love with her. Not only was he falling in love with her; he realised he had never had feelings of such intensity about a woman.
Melody had been his first love—and sweet, damaged Melody had loved him back to the extent she was capable of love. But it hadn’t been enough. That assault charge had happened because he had been protecting her. Protecting her from a guy assaulting her in an alley not far from the takeaway food shop where he’d worked in the kitchen in return for food and a few dollars cash in hand.
But the guy had been her dealer—and possibly her pimp. Melody had squealed at Dominic to leave the guy alone. She’d shrieked at him that she knew what she was doing; she didn’t need protecting. Dominic had ignored her, had pulled the creep off her, smashed his fist into the guy’s face. Then the dealer’s mates had shown up and Dominic had copped a beating too. But, although younger than the low-lifes, he’d been bigger, stronger and inflicted more damage. The cops had taken him in, while the others had disappeared into the dark corners that were their natural habitat. And Melody had gone with them without a backward glance, leaving him with a shattered heart as well as a broken nose. He’d never seen her again.
Of course Melody hadn’t been her real name. He’d been too naïve to realise that at the time. Later, when he’d set up the Underground Help Centre, he’d tried to find her but without any luck. He liked to think she was living a safe happy life somewhere but the reality was likely to be less cosy than that.
Then there’d been Tara—the next woman to have betrayed him. The least thought he gave to his ex-wife the better.
But Andie. Andie was different. He felt his heart, frosted over for so long, warm when he thought about her. What you saw was what you got. Not only smart and beautiful, but loyal and loving. He’d told her more about his past than he’d ever told anyone. He could be himself with her, not have to pretend, be Nick as well as Dominic. Be not the billionaire but the man. Their relationship could be real. He could spend his life with Andie.
And he wanted to tell her just that.
The scent of pine needles assaulted his senses even before he put his key in his front door. The sharp resin smell instantly revived memories of that Christmas Eve when he’d been eleven years old and the happy part of his childhood had come to its terrible end. Christmas trees were the thing he most hated about Christmas.
The smell made him nauseous, started a headache throbbing in his temples. Andie must be using pine in some of the decorations. It would have to go. He couldn’t have it in the house.
He pushed the door silently open—only to recoil at what he saw.
There was a Christmas tree in his house. A whopping great Christmas tree, taking up half his entrance hallway and rising high above the banisters of the staircase.
What the hell? He had told Andie in no uncertain terms there was to be no Christmas tree—anywhere. He gritted his teeth and fisted his hands by his sides. How could she be so insensitive?
There was a team of people working on the tree and its myriad glitzy ornaments. Including Andie. He’d never thought she could be complicit in this defiance of his wishes. He felt let down. Betrayed.
She turned. Froze. Her eyes widened with shock and alarm when she saw him. A glass ornament slid from her hands and smashed on the floor but she scarcely seemed to notice.
‘What part of “no Christmas tree” did you not get, Andie?’
She got up from her kneeling position and took a step towards him, put up her hands as if to ward off his anger. The people she was with scuttled out of the room, leaving them alone. But he bet they were eavesdropping somewhere nearby. The thought made him even more livid.
‘Dominic, I’m sorry. I know you said no tree.’
‘You’re damn right I did.’
‘It was a mistake. The tree was never meant to be here. There were some...some crossed lines. I wasn’t expecting it either. But then I saw it and it’s so beautiful and looks so right here. I thought you might...appreciate it, might see how right it is and want to keep it.’
He could feel the veins standing out on his neck, his hands clenched so tight they hurt. ‘I don’t see it as beautiful.’
Her face flushed. She would read that as an insult to her skills. He was beyond caring. ‘Why? Why do you hate Christmas trees?’ she said. ‘Why this...this irrational dislike of Christmas?’
Irrational? He gritted his teeth. ‘That’s none of your concern.’
‘But I want it to be. I thought I could help you. I—’
‘You thought wrong.’
Now her hands were clenched and she was glaring at him. ‘Why won’t you share it with me—what makes you hurt so much at this time of year? Why do I have to guess? Why do I have to tiptoe around you?’ Her voice rose with each question as it seemed her every frustration and doubt rushed to the surface.
Dominic was furious. How dared she put him through this...this humiliation?
‘Don’t forget your place,’ he said coldly. ‘I employ you.’ With each word he made a stabbing motion with his finger to emphasise the words. ‘Get rid of the tree. Now.’
He hated the stricken look on Andie’s face, knowing he had put it there. But if she cared about him at all she never would have allowed that tree to enter his house. He could barely stand to look at her.
For a long moment she didn’t say anything. ‘Yes,’ she said finally, her voice a dull echo of its usual husky charm. ‘Yes, sir,’ she added.
In a way he appreciated the defiance of the hissed ‘sir’. But he was tired and jet-lagged and grumpy and burning with all the pain and loss he associated with Christmas—and Christmas trees in particular. Above all, he was disappointed in her that she thought so little of his wishes that she would defy him.
His house was festooned with festive paraphernalia. Everywhere he looked, it glittered and shone, mocking him. He’d been talked into this damn party against his wishes. He hated Christmas. He uttered a long string of curses worthy of Scrooge.
‘I’m going upstairs. Make sure this tree is gone when I come back down. And all your people as well.’ He glared in the general direction of the door through which her team had fled.
She met his glare, chin tilted upwards. ‘It will take some time to dismantle the tree,’ she said. ‘But I assure you I will get rid of every last stray needle so you will never know it was there.’ She sounded as though she spoke through gritted teeth. ‘However, I will need all my crew to help me. We have to be here for at least a few more hours. We still have to finish filling the goody bags and setting the tables.’ She glared at him. ‘This is your party. And you know as well as I do that it must go on. To prove you’re not the Scrooge people think you are.’
Some part of him wanted to cross the expanse of floor between them and hug her close. To tell her that of course he understood. That he found it almost impossible to talk about the damage of his childhood. To knuckle down and help her adorn his house for the party tomorrow. But the habits of Christmases past were hard to break.
So was the habit of closing himself off from love. Letting himself love Andie would only end in disappointment and pain, like it had with every other relationship. For her as well as himself. It seemed he was incapable of love.
‘Text me when you’re done,’ he said.
He stomped up the stairs to his study. And the bottle of bourbon that waited there.
* * *
Andie felt humiliated, angry and upset. How dared Dominic speak to her like that? ‘Don’t forget your place.’ His harsh words had stabbed into her heart.
