|
M&M Presents:
CHRISTMAS
A romance duet
With stories by
Mandy M. Roth
And
Michelle M. Pillow
The Christmas Curse © copyright December 2004, Michelle M. Pillow
Trust in the Season © copyright December 2004, Mandy M. Roth
Cover Art by Eliza Black, © copyright December 2004
ISBN 1-58608-365-1
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Trust in the Season
By
Mandy M. Roth
Chapter One
Victoria Resa focused hard on the computer screen in front of her, hoping that her boss of two years, Frank Hewitt, would just pass by without stopping to do his normal song and dance.
Please, just keep on moving,
"Vicki, did you happen to get the updated customer service component packs together? I got stuck with the damn training seminar again and I'd really like to be prepared this time, sweetie," he said, with a wink that made her stomach turn. She hated being called Vicki and really hated his pet names for her.
She wanted to take his neatly trimmed blond head of hair and ram it through the wall. Of course she had the packets of information ready. She always had everything that sleazebag needed done ahead of time. It wasn't her fault that the jerk had left them at his mistress' house the night before last year's seminar. Frank didn't tell his superiors that. No, he told them that his assistant had failed to get them done in time.
Lies, all lies.
Victoria could have spoken out against him, but what was the point? The company would never move her any higher than her current position. Frank had told her that the minute she refused to sleep with him.
He cornered her in the copy room, after hours, and made it very clear that if she wanted to advance her career, she could do so by servicing him first. It would be a cold day in hell before that happened. Victoria had immediately begun the search for a new job, but couldn't figure out why no one seemed to call back. She overhead Frank giving her a rather nasty reference on the phone and knew then why she hadn't been able to get another job.
Her Master's Degree in Marketing seemed pointless now that she was no more than Frank's glorified secretary. He ordered her around like a dog and she jumped at his every whim, or almost every whim. Maybe if she took that one last step, she could be free of him. It's not as though she ever had any better offers. She worked so much that she never socialized and Frank had spread rumors around the building that she was his, so no men asked her out.
Her vibrator had become her best friend, and when she realized that she was buying batteries in bulk on a regular basis, she knew things had gotten bad. The touch of any man sounded good at the moment.
Frank wasn't a bad looking man. On the contrary, most of the women she worked with were so jealous that he was her boss that they didn't speak to her. She swallowed back the vomit in her throat as she pushed the idea of screwing Frank out of her head. Making a mental note to seek psychiatric help if she should ever entertain sleeping with him again, she forced herself back to reality.
"Hello, Vicki?" Frank asked, leaning on her cubicle so hard that she was sure the damn thing would tip over. "Packets of info?"
"Yes, Mr. Hewitt, they're all done. Check the bottom drawer of your center filing cabinet and you'll find enough for up to eighty participants. Nancy, the one in charge of seminars, told me that they'd only had fifty sign up for it so far and that they were closing registration. The room capacity is seventy-five so you should be covered."
Frank stood there with his mouth open. She smiled at him sheepishly and went back to working on analyzing the data from last month's sales records. If she didn't die of boredom, she'd be done and out of the office on time for once.
Being behind on Christmas shopping and having ten shopping days left, she was up a creek if she didn't get it done soon. Or, rather, get it started.
Frank turned slightly but didn't leave. "Oh, Vicki, I need you to stay late tonight and let the people setting up for the company Christmas party in please."
"But, Mr. Hewitt ... ?"
He grunted. "Now, Vics, I've told you at least a thousand times to please call me Frank."
And I've told you a thousand times that my name is Victoria, not honey buns, sweetie, Vics, or Vicki!
"Right, Frank." She nearly choked on the words. "But I thought that Mr. Ruth's secretary specifically requested you to be here when they dropped everything off." She knew damn well that they'd requested Frank be there personally because she'd been the one to take the message from Betty, Frank's actual secretary.
Frank rolled his eyes and loosened his tie. "I can't be expected to micro-manage. Just sign my name wherever it's needed. It's not like the man will ever know. Last I heard he was at the German branch. Why the man even shows up for work is beyond me. He's one of the richest men in the world. Albert P. Ruth III, with a name like that you know he's got money. Have you ever seen him? He looks more like a biker than a billionaire. Guess it's one of the perks of being the boss. Anyways, I'm off."
Victoria should have known better than to think the jerk would do his own job. "Can Betty stay? I really have to get a few things done tonight."
"Betty's grandson is in town and picked her up about an hour ago. Listen, I need to go meet my wife for dinner before she skins me alive. See you in the morning, sweet cheeks, unless you'd rather I stay a bit longer and keep you company? Say the word and I'm all yours." He touched her shoulder lightly, running his fingers through her hair. "How do you get it so black?"
She resisted the urge to cringe and turned her head towards him. "I was born with it that way."
"I love long hair. I wish all women had it."
No, you love hearing the sound of your own voice.
He leaned down and put his mouth close to her ear. "Tell me, Vicki, is all of your hair this dark?"
"You better get going, Frank. You wouldn't want to keep your wife waiting."
Pulling back from her quickly, he let out a sigh as he walked away. Victoria felt like she needed a shower. Having his hand anywhere near her made her blood boil.
She put her hand in the air and flipped him off. It seemed to be her normal 'goodbye wave' whenever Frank was concerned. Fighting the overwhelming desire to throw her stapler at the back of his head, she turned to finish her job.
* * * *
Philip made his way through the glass doors, Christmas tree in tow. He smiled at Mr. Kingston, the night watchman. He'd known him since he was just a boy.
"You want me to call up for some help for you there, Philip?"
"No, sir," he said, pulling the tree the rest of the way in. "I'm planning on dragging it down the hall to the board room."
The elderly man tipped his hat slightly. "Well, see, there'd be your problem. Mr. Hewitt decided to move the party to the top floor. Said something about being more dramatic ... making some sort of statement."
Phillip shook his head. "Did he now?"
The phone rang and Philip stood silent as Kingston answered it. "Yes, Ms. Resa, I sure have seen the man here to drop off the party stuff." The old man's brow furrowed. "No miss, there's just one person."
Philip motioned to him. "Have her send Mr. Hewitt down." He very much wanted to meet the man that thought he was in line to run the New York office.
Mr. Kingston relayed his message and hung the phone up. "Ms. Resa will be right down to help you out, Philip."
"Where the hell is Hewitt?"
Kingston shrugged. "That's not really any of my business. I keep to myself here. It's best to not see everything that happens, if you know what I mean."
Philip was just about to ask him to clarify himself when the elevator doors opened. His breath caught in his chest. At first, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the long set of caramel colored legs that stood before him. It took him a minute before he was able to take in the rest of the beauty before him, and oh, what a beauty she was. Around five seven, with a head of long onyx-colored hair, she stared out at him from large dark brown eyes. She looked like she was only around twenty, but the way she carried herself made him add a few more years to that.
Kingston let out a deep laugh and touched his shoulder. "Breathe."
He did and caught the scent of her light floral perfume. Oh, God, she was perfect. Shifting slightly, he hoped that his erection wasn't obvious through his tight jeans.
The woman flashed him a brilliantly white smile that made her full lips look even more luscious. "Hi, they've got you working late too, huh?" She glanced down at the evergreen on the lobby floor and laughed. "Well, I kind of thought you'd show up with an artificial one in a box, but this is loads better. Hmm, can you give me just one second? I've got some clothes in my bag from the gym. I'm not trying to sound like a priss, but I'd rather not tempt fate to see if stains from that thing come out of my clothes."
Philip wanted to respond, say something witty and look like the suave man that he truly was. Nothing but a straggled croak came out followed closely by a weak shrug.
She smiled wide at him again. "Hello?"
Kingston gave him a good hard thump on the back of the neck and he jerked back to his senses. "I'd like to put it in you ... shit, I mean ... I can get this onto the elevator myself. If you want to change and help with the rest of the stuff in my car, that would be great."
She let out a throaty laugh and pushed the elevator button. "Suit yourself."
Philip grabbed hold of the trunk and dragged the tree to the elevator. The exotic goddess before him held the door open as he fought to get the twelve-foot long tree into the elevator with them. He gave one final tug, and she let the door release.
"Do this often?" she asked.
"Do what?"
"Deliver trees?"
He chuckled. "No, I don't do this often. How about you? You work this late all the time?"
"Whenever my boss tells me to," she said sardonically.
"Let me guess, you don't care for him much."
She cast him a sideways glance and put her hand out, changing the subject. "I'm Victoria Resa."
Victoria, the name bounced around in his head as he reached for her hand. It was so soft and warm that he instantly wondered what it would feel like wrapped around his cock. He hadn't thought about a woman sexually since his ex-fiancée had run off to the Bahamas with one of his biggest business rivals close to five months ago. Even when he'd been with her, he'd never had random thoughts of steamy sex pop into his mind.
All he wanted to do to Victoria Resa was push her up against the elevator wall and fuck her until she passed out in his arms. Letting his eyelids flutter closed, Philip focused on clearing his head and hopefully easing his erection.
"So, do you have a name?" She had one of those voices that sounded like it would be perfect on the receiving end of a nine-hundred number.
"Philip Ruth."
She laughed. "Any relation to the almighty Albert P. Ruth ... the third?" The way she added the third to his name told him that she didn't think highly of him for some reason.
His mind raced with various ways to get out of the situation with her number and hopefully her naked underneath him. Opening his mouth to speak, he stumbled as something slashed past his face quickly, slamming his body into Victoria's. She grunted as they both tumbled to the floor.
* * * *
"What the hell?" Victoria cried out as the weight of Philip's large body crashed down onto her.
Her brain screamed at her to push him off her, but her body, in its state of deprivation rubbed against his of its own accord. She'd been taken by him the moment she'd walked into the lobby to find him standing there in his black leather coat, faded jeans, and black boots.
The fact that he had a head of long brown hair that hung past his shoulders coupled with a body that screamed perfection left her drooling on the inside. She amazed herself by speaking in complete sentences and not panting, yet here she was, rubbing her lower region against the hard bulge in his pants. But, oh what a bulge it was.
Strands of long brown hair covered his face as he lifted his head slowly. "Ouch," he said, ducking back down close to her face. So close now, that when he opened his mouth to speak, his lips brushed hers.
Moaning, she shifted beneath him. Heat flooded her between her legs as his hips ground into hers. She wanted to move in and steal a kiss from him. Hell, she wanted to fuck him, to heck with just a kiss.
Philip moved his head to the side and glanced back at the now fully extended Christmas tree. "Hmm, may have misjudged the strength of the twine I used to tie that up."
She laughed as he tried to move off her. "Gee, you think?"
"We could always go with the theory that I planned this, just to get to lay on top of a goddess."
Goddess? The man had obviously been smelling evergreens too long. He was delusional.
"I guess that's one way we could look at it, but saying we did go with that theory, then we'd have to assume that you planned on seducing Mr. Hewitt, since he was the one who was supposed to meet you."
Philip's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, only to close it again. His square jaw twitched for a moment, and she had to fight the urge to kiss a line to the tiny dimple at the corner of his mouth. Apparently, questioning his manhood had left him speechless. It was too cute for her to pass up.
"So, tell me. How long did it take you to find breakaway string? Frank will be so very disappointed that he missed this. I mean, after all the hard work and planning."
"Victoria, I can assure you that I am not ... oh, to hell with it," he said, dropping his mouth down to hers.
She gasped, allowing him the play he needed to slip his warm tongue into her mouth. He pushed his lower body against her more, causing her to cream her panties from the excitement of it all. He pulled back from her quickly, letting out a small cry as the tree attacked him once again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Please, accept my...."
Victoria grabbed hold of the back of his head and yanked his face back down to hers. This time it was she who initiated the kiss, not wanting to pass on what could be the opportunity of a lifetime, or at the very least, a man who didn't turn her stomach when he touched her.
She pulled at his shoulders, trying desperately to crawl through him as their tongues dove in and out of each other's mouths. He tasted like peppermint and the smell of the tree above them made her in the mood for more than just Christmas. Going too long without sex, and living with the endless line of Frank's advances, had left her horny, and in need of some attention.
Victoria eased her hands down his body and in search of one thing, his left hand. When she found it, she relaxed a bit, hoping that he wasn't one of those men that were married, but didn't wear their ring.
His lips curved as his fingers laced in hers. "No, I'm not. Are you?" he asked, seeming to read her mind.
"No."
* * * *
Philip could barely contain himself when Victoria slid her fingers over his, obviously checking for a wedding band. He'd never been married. Sure, he'd come close five months ago, but it hadn't happened. Part of him was still upset that it hadn't worked out. Sonya was a money hungry whore, so it wasn't her that he missed, it was the idea of being married. He wanted a wife, someone to come home to, share his thoughts, dreams, fears. He'd always wanted children and hoped that someday he'd find a woman who was only interested in him, not his money. So far, Victoria seemed very interested in him, and she thought he was just the decoration guy.
Hmm, could she be the one?
Philip shook the thought from his head, not wanting to put too much stock in a chance meeting. He knew nothing about Victoria. But, he did know that his body reacted to hers like never before. His cock was actually throbbing. If he didn't free it soon from his jeans, they'd slice right through him.
The elevator doors opened and the tree fell partially out of the elevator, freeing his body enough to climb off Victoria. Not that he wanted to. No. He wanted to stay above her the rest of the night, and if he played his cards right, he just might be able to.
"Looks like we're here."
"Yeah," he said, a bit upset that she didn't seem to want to finish where they'd left off.
Rolling to his side, he surveyed the situation. Beautiful goddess on the floor next to him, and tree blocking the exit--there really was no choice, but duty called. He got to his feet and extended a hand to Victoria. She took it and let him help her up. The doors began to close on the tree and she pushed the button quickly to keep them open.
"So, Mr. Tree-guy, how do you propose we get off ... errr ... get it off?" Her caramel complexion turned slightly rosy and before he knew it, he was reaching out to touch her smooth skin. She turned her face just before he touched her and he could see the confusion in her big brown eyes. A piece of him was happy that she seemed to second-guess what they'd done. That meant she most likely didn't do that sort of thing with just anyone. Another part of him wanted her to throw caution to the wind and let their attraction for one another run wild.
Philip wasn't about to push her and cause her any discomfort, so he focused on the current problem--the stupid tree he'd insisted on. Why he hadn't let the guy at the lot deliver it was still beyond him. He could have paid someone to handle all of this. That's what people always expected him to do, but he didn't care for the way society thought he should be tucked away calling the shots. He loved people and enjoyed interacting with them as an everyday kind of guy. It'd been hard at first, being born with a 'silver spoon' in his mouth and all, but he'd adjusted and could blend in as an everyday Joe when needed.
He gave the tree a good shove. It didn't budge. He tried again, this time pushing against the back of the elevator with his feet as he went. In one quick movement, the tree broke free of the elevator and he landed flat on his face.
"Oomph!"
"Are you okay?" Victoria asked, appearing above him suddenly. She looked like an angel to him in her off white dress suit. Waves of black, loose curls spilled down around him and he closed his eyes, picturing her straddling him, riding him, as her hair encompassed them. His cock twitched and for a second he thought for sure that he'd come in his pants, but he managed to hold on. "Philip, are you hurt?"
"Are we, or aren't we counting my pride?"
"I like you. You're a funny guy."
By the look in her eyes, he knew that that small confession cost her a lot. He got the sense she didn't tend to like too many people. Guilt over misleading her washed over him, but to confess now that he was owner of the company would leave him always wondering if anything they had was real or not.
"I guess I should get that thing where it needs to go."
"Yeah," she said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Do you need me to help with the other stuff?"
"Only if you want to."
Her smile beamed down at him and he felt his heart twist. Shit, she has me. If she truly wants me, then I'm hers for all time.
|
