Christmas with Him: The Tycoon's Christmas Proposal / A Bravo Christmas Reunion / Marry-Me Christmas

Keep her wanting …

As it was, she doubted he’d meant to lock lips with her in the first place. Afterward, he’d barely managed to bid her a curt good-night before stalking away.

“Are you going to tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself?” Carole asked.

“No. I enjoyed myself.” It was easier to concentrate on the event rather than the man, so she said, “It was a first-rate affair. You wouldn’t believe the food that was served, or the dishes it was served on, for that matter. It was like being at a five-star restaurant. And the dessert? Sin on a plate.”

“Chocolate?” Carole asked.

“You got it.”

Carole made a humming sound, but then she was back to the subject at hand. “Okay, so tell me what you thought of the man.”

Eve poked through the white takeout carton with a pair of chopsticks, coming out with a peapod. “Let’s see. He can be incredibly overbearing and arrogant. Oh, and he definitely needs to be in control all of the time,” she added as she recalled their dance and the jolt it had given him when she’d taken the lead.

She still wasn’t sure why she’d done that. She only knew that for some reason she’d felt the need to push him outside the rigid confines of his comfort zone.

“Anything else?” Carole’s smile turned knowing. “What did you think of him physically?”

Eve heaved a dramatic sigh. “Okay, he’s also seriously gorgeous and just about as sexy as they come.”

Carole laughed. “That was what I thought, too. Of course, he was married at the time and I’d just gone through a very ugly divorce. In fact, landing the Burke Financial account helped pay for my lawyer fees among other things,” she said wryly. “Officially, Clive hired me, but I worked mainly with Dawson via Rachel Stern.”

“Mrs. Stern. That woman needs a hobby.”

“She’s really not so bad. She’s just very protective of Dawson, almost like a second mother,” Carole said. “And speaking of mothers, what did you think of Tallulah and the rest of his family?”

Eve grinned. “I liked them all. Very much. They’re nice people. Normal. Not at all hoity-toity, if you know what I mean.”

“I know.”

“Dawson is different around them. He’s less … stuffy. They obviously love him. That much came through loud and clear.”

“The Burkes are a close bunch,” Carole agreed.

Eve frowned. “Yes, but he won’t shop for them. And he told a friend that he’ll be heading out of town at the end of the month to spend the holidays in Cabo San Lucas. From the various comments I overheard, I couldn’t help but feel he’s avoiding them.”

“He’s avoiding life and has been since the accident,” her friend replied. “In fact, it wasn’t until the accident that he added his personal shopping needs to my duties. Before then, I just took care of the business end.”

“Sounds like he’s really changed.”

“Oh, he has.” Carole nodded. “Do you feel sorry for him, Eve?”

“Well, of course I do. How can I not? The man lost his wife and daughter.”

“Yes. In a car accident on Christmas Eve three years ago.” Carole’s expression turned grim. “Dawson was the one driving at the time.”

“And he was the only one to survive,” Eve finished. She closed her eyes, imagining his horror. Her chest ached. “Oh, God.”

“Exactly. The Burkes are highly regarded in the community not just because of the business, but because of their overall involvement. In addition to the charity ball, they’ve got their finger in just about every philanthropic venture that comes along. Dawson’s late wife’s family is well-known, too, so the accident received plenty of media coverage. There was even some ugly speculation about drunken driving before police revealed that his blood alcohol level had been well below the legal limit.”

“How horrible,” Eve said.

“Yes,” Carole said. “He also was cleared of any negligence. He was driving within the speed limit at the time and, with the exception of that patch of black ice, road conditions were fine.”

“It was an accident.”

“Yes. An accident. And it could have happened to anyone. Still, from what I’ve seen and from what those who know him well say, Dawson blames himself.”

Of course he does, Eve thought. He was that type of man. Duty, responsibility, family—he took such things very seriously. They were his foundation and in one fell swoop that foundation had been reduced to rubble.

“I really wish you had given me a heads-up, Carole. I’m the first to admit I can be too blunt at times. I might have been a little more diplomatic, a little more sensitive if I’d understood why he needed a personal shopper to purchase gifts for family.”

“Actually, that’s one of the reasons I didn’t tell you,” her friend surprised her by saying. “I won’t presume to know Dawson well. He’s more of a give-orders sort than the sit-down-and-chat kind. But I’ve always liked him and respected him. And from what I’ve seen since the accident, he doesn’t want coddling or pity. In fact, I’d say those are the last things he needs.”

“What does he need?” She hadn’t intended to ask that question. In reality, what business was it of hers?

But Carole was smiling coyly when Eve glanced in her direction. “I’m not sure, but maybe someone as resourceful as you will be able to figure it out.”

It was half past midnight and though Dawson had gone to bed nearly two hours earlier, he was wide awake. There was nothing new about that. Since the accident he’d had a hard time falling asleep and an even harder time staying asleep once he had. The only time he actually slumbered straight through until morning was when he relied on prescription medication. He didn’t like taking that, though. So, instead, he used the wee hours of the morning to make lists of things he needed to do and to catch up on his reading. Sadly, not even the boring article he was scanning in a business journal was making him heavy-eyed this night.

He laid the magazine aside on an oath, turned off the bedside lamp and rolled over. Giving his pillow a couple of punches, he admitted that the insomnia from which he’d suffered for the past several nights was different. He blamed Eve for that.

He also blamed himself.

“I never should have kissed her,” he muttered.

Why that mere peck should haunt him, he wasn’t sure. At the end of his two dates, he’d kissed both women and with far more intimacy than he had Eve. Yet neither encounter had left him wanting. Quite the opposite.

In the dark, he pictured Eve, her dark eyes wary and going wide as he breached her personal space and settled his mouth over hers. Her lips were soft, inviting. They were tempting, which was why Dawson had ended things quickly. Despite the brief contact, though, he’d felt something he hadn’t felt in a very long time: sexually interested.

And alive, his subconscious whispered.

He rolled over and ignored it. “I never should have kissed her,” he mumbled a second time.

Yet when he finally drifted off an hour later he dreamed of doing it again, and properly this time.

Eve was preparing to leave for the day when a courier knocked at her door with an official-looking envelope from Burke Financial. She tipped the young man who delivered it and went back inside her apartment to peel back the seal. Then she nearly fell over.

Inside was a pair of theater tickets for the same, sold-out musical that she’d bid on in the silent auction the previous Saturday night, only these were for better seats.

The note read:

Eve,

Burke Financial keeps a box at the theater. No one was going to this Saturday’s performance. It seemed a shame to let them go to waste.

Enjoy yourself.