One Night Before Christmas: A Billionaire for Christmas / One Night, Second Chance / It Happened One Night

After long seconds when it seemed as if every molecule of oxygen in the room vaporized, he moved away. “Whatever you want,” he said. “Just ask.”

* * *

Leo was neither naive nor oblivious. Phoebe was attracted to him. He knew, because he felt the same inexorable pull. But he had known her for barely a day. Perhaps long enough for an easy pickup at a bar or a one-night stand, but not for a relationship that was going to have to survive for a couple of months.

With a different woman at another time, he would have taken advantage of the situation. But he was at Phoebe’s mercy for now. One wrong move, and she could boot him out. There were other cabins...other peaceful getaways. None of them, however, had Phoebe. And he was beginning to think that she was his talisman, his lucky charm, the only hope he had of making it through the next weeks without going stark raving mad.

The fire caught immediately, the dry tinder flaming as it coaxed the heavier logs into the blaze. When he turned around, Phoebe was watching him, her eyes huge.

He smiled at her. “Come join me on the sofa. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together. We might as well get to know each other.”

At that very moment, Teddy announced his displeasure with a noisy cry. The relief on Phoebe’s face was almost comical. “Sorry. I’ll be back in a minute.”

While she was gone, he sat on the hearth, feeling the heat from the fire sink into his back. Beneath his feet a bearskin pelt covered the floor. He was fairly certain it was fake, but the thick, soft fur made him imagine a scenario that was all too real. Phoebe...nude...her skin gilded with firelight.

The vivid picture in his mind hardened his sex and dried his mouth. Jumping to his feet, he went to the kitchen and poured himself another glass of wine. Sipping it slowly, he tried to rein in his hunger. Something might develop during this time with Phoebe. They could become friends. Or even more than that. But rushing his fences was not the way to go. He had to resist the temptation to bring sex into the picture before she had a chance to trust him.

Regardless of Phoebe’s desires, or even his own, this was a situation that called for caution. Not his first impulse, or even his last. But if he had any hope of making her his, he’d bide his time.

His mental gyrations were interrupted by Phoebe’s return. “There you are,” he said. “I wondered if Teddy had kidnapped you.”

“Poopy diaper,” she said with a grimace. She held the baby on her hip as she prepared a bottle. “He’s starving, poor thing. Slept right through dinner.”

Leo moved to the sofa and was gratified when Phoebe followed suit. She now held the baby as a barricade between them, but he could wait. The child wasn’t big enough to be much of a problem.

“So tell me,” he said. “What did you do with yourself before Teddy arrived?”

Phoebe settled the baby on her lap and held the bottle so he could reach it easily. “I moved in three years ago. At first I was plenty busy with decorating and outfitting both cabins. I took my time and looked for exactly what I wanted. In the meantime, I made a few friends, mostly women I met at the gym. A few who worked in stores where I shopped.”

“And when the cabins were ready?”

She stared down at the baby, rubbing his head with a wistful smile on her face. He wondered if she had any clue how revealing her expression was. She adored the little boy. That much was certain.

“I found someone to help me start a garden,” she said. “Buford is the old man who lives back near the main road where you turned off. He’s a sweetheart. His wife taught me how to bake bread and how to can fruits and vegetables. I know how to make preserves. And I can even churn my own butter in a pinch, though that seems a bit of a stretch in this day and age.”

He studied her, trying to get to the bottom of what she wasn’t saying. “I understand all that,” he said. “And if I didn’t know better, I’d guess you were a free spirit, hippie-commune, granola-loving Earth Mother. But something doesn’t add up. How did you get from stockbroker to this?”

* * *

Phoebe understood his confusion. None of it made sense on paper. But was she willing to expose all of her painful secrets to a man she barely knew? No...not just yet.

Picking her words carefully, she gave him an answer. Not a lie, but not the whole truth. “I had some disappointments both personally and professionally. They hit me hard...enough to make me reconsider whether the career path I had chosen was the right one. At the time, I didn’t honestly know. So I took a time-out. A step backward. I came here and decided to see if I could make my life simpler. More meaningful.”

“And now? Any revelations to report?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you mocking me?”

He held up his hands. “No. I swear I’m not. If anything, I have to admire you for being proactive. Most people simply slog away at a job because they don’t have the courage to try something new.”

“I wish I could say it was like that. But to be honest, it was more a case of crawling in a hole to hide out from the world.”

“You don’t cut yourself much slack, do you?”

“I was a mess when I came here.”

“And now?”

She thought about it for a moment. No one had ever asked her straight-out if her self-imposed exile had borne fruit. “I think I have a better handle on what I want out of life. And I’ve forgiven myself for mistakes I made. But do I want to go back to that cutthroat lifestyle? No. I don’t.”

“I know this is a rude question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. What have you done for money since you’ve been out of work?”

“I’m sure a lot of people wonder that.” She put the baby on her shoulder and burped him. “The truth is, Leo. I’m darned good at making money. I have a lot stashed away. And since I’ve been here, my weekly expenses are fairly modest. So though I can’t stay here forever, I certainly haven’t bankrupted myself.”

“Would you say your experience has been worth it?”

She nodded. “Definitely.”

“Then maybe there’s hope for me after all.”

* * *

Phoebe was glad to have Teddy as a buffer. Sitting with Leo in a firelit room on a cold December night was far too cozy. But when Teddy finished his bottle and was ready to play, she had no choice but to get down on the floor with him and let him roll around on the faux bearskin rug. He had mastered flipping from his back to his tummy. Now he enjoyed the increased mobility.

She was truly shocked when Leo joined them, stretching out on his right side and propping his head on his hand. “How long ’til he crawls?”

“Anytime now. He’s already learned to get his knees up under him, so I don’t think it will be too many more weeks.” Leo seemed entirely relaxed, while Phoebe was in danger of hyperventilating. Anyone watching them might assume they were a family...mom, dad and baby. But the truth was, they were three separate people who happened to be occupying the same space for the moment.

Teddy was her nephew, true. But he was on loan, so to speak. She could feed him and play with him and love him, but at the end of the day, he wasn’t hers. Still, what could it hurt to pretend for a while?

She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Ordinarily, she would have lain down on her stomach and played with Teddy at his level. But getting horizontal with Leo Cavallo was not smart, especially since he was in touching distance. She’d give herself away, no doubt. Even with a baby between them, she couldn’t help thinking how nice it would be to spend an unencumbered hour with her new houseguest.

Some soft music on the radio, another bottle of wine, more logs on the fire. And after that...

Her heartbeat stuttered and stumbled. Dampness gathered at the back of her neck and in another, less accessible spot. Her breathing grew shallow. She stared at Teddy blindly, anything to avoid looking at Leo. Not for the world would she want him to think she was so desperate for male company that she would fall at his feet.

Even as she imagined such a scenario, he rolled to his back and slung an arm across his face. Moments later, she saw the steady rise and fall of his chest as he gave in to sleep.

Teddy was headed in the same direction. His acrobatics had worn him out. He slumped onto his face, butt in the air, and slept.

Phoebe watched the two males with a tightness in her chest that was a combination of so many things. Yearning for what might have been. Fear of what was yet to come. Hope that somewhere along the way she could have a family of her own.

Her sleepless night caught up with her, making her eyelids droop. With one wary look at Leo to make sure he was asleep, she eased down beside her two companions and curled on her side with Teddy in the curve of her body. Now she could smell warm baby and wood smoke, and perhaps the faint scent of Leo’s aftershave.

Closing her eyes, she sighed deeply. She would rest for a moment....

Seven (#u46b89808-d66e-517c-8bde-945c256bbe0a)

Leo awoke disoriented. His bed felt rock-hard, and his pillow had fallen on the floor. Gradually, he remembered where he was. Turning his head, he took in the sight of Phoebe and Teddy sleeping peacefully beside him.