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

Dawson

She called him at his office immediately, and of course got his secretary.

“He has a meeting in half an hour and he’s prepping for it,” Mrs. Stern informed her. It sounded like a brush-off to Eve. “Can I take a message?”

She’s like a second mother, Carole claimed. Eve decided to play on that. Mothers liked nothing better than women with good manners.

“He was kind enough to send me a pair of theater tickets. I just need a moment of his time to thank him properly. Do you think you could put me through?” she asked.

“Just a moment,” Mrs. Stern said. Eve was still congratulating herself when Dawson came on the line.

“Hello, Eve.”

“Hi. I know you’re busy, but I just wanted to call and say thank you.”

“I take it the tickets arrived.”

“Yes. Just a moment ago. For once I was glad to be running a little behind schedule.” As she spoke, she paced the length of her living room in front of the big windows that brought some of the city’s skyline inside. “It’s incredibly generous of you, Dawson.”

“They weren’t being used,” he replied.

“So you mentioned in your note.”

“It seemed a shame for them to go to waste when I knew how much you wanted to see the show.”

“Still, I’m grateful, but I find myself in a bit of a quandary.” She nibbled her lip.

“And why is that?” he asked.

“Well, I know what these tickets go for. I feel a little awkward accepting something so valuable from a client.” Which was partly true.

She pictured Dawson shrugging as he suggested, “Consider it a bonus.”

“Thanks, but my commission is all the bonus I require.” Eve twisted a lock of hair around her index finger as an idea took shape. “Perhaps you would consider coming to see the play with me?”

The invitation was met with deafening and prolonged silence, making her regret her haste in issuing it.

“Okaaaay. Apparently not. It was just a thought. You’ve probably already seen the show,” she said in an attempt to save face. Not that that was actually possible at this point. “I’ll let you get back to work now. Bye.” She hung up without giving him a chance to say anything, although she thought she heard him call her name just before she did so.

“God, I’m such an idiot.” She groaned in mortification and shuffled backward a couple of steps so she could flop onto the couch.

What had she been thinking, asking him out? The man was probably seriously regretting his generosity right about now. The cordless phone was still in her hand. It trilled to life as she lay amid the throw pillows mentally berating herself. Eve answered it from her prone position.

“Hello?” Home of the Perpetually Foolish, she almost added, and was mighty glad she hadn’t when she heard Dawson’s voice.

“You hung up awfully fast. I didn’t get a chance to give you an answer.”

She straightened to sitting, ran a hand through her mussed hair. “I guess I took your silence for an answer.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry about that. I was just a little … surprised,” he told her.

“I got that,” she said. Indeed, it had come through loud and clear.

“When I sent the tickets I assumed you’d have someone else in mind for the second one,” he said.

“Such as?” she prodded.

“Such as the date you had to cancel on the night of the ball,” he replied.

“Oh, that.” Because he couldn’t see her expression, she let her grin unfurl. “It was nothing serious. I was just getting together with a friend.”

“A friend.” He cleared his throat. “And would this friend be male or female?”

“Female.”

“Ah.”

He was quiet again. Too quiet. Eve began counting. When she got to ten she said, “You’re doing it again.”

“What?”

“Not saying anything, which forces me to draw my own conclusions.”

“And what might those be?” His tone held what sounded like amusement.

Pinching her eyes closed, she gave in to impulse once again. “You’re trying to figure out which restaurant you want to take me to for dinner before we head to the theater Friday night.”

While Eve held her breath, she heard a mild oath and then strangled laughter. Her lungs felt close to bursting by the time Dawson finally got around to saying, “You’re a mind reader.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE telephone rang as Eve reapplied her lipstick in the mirror that hung by her apartment door. Though it wasn’t her style to appear eager, she was wearing her coat and trying not to watch the clock.

“Eve, it’s Dawson. Sorry, but I’m running a little behind,” he said unnecessarily. She’d expected him to arrive twenty minutes earlier. Their dinner reservation was for six o’clock and that time was fast approaching.

“Everything … okay?” she inquired.

“Wondering if I’ve changed my mind?”

“I’d understand,” she said. And she would, given everything she now knew about his past.

While Eve wasn’t considering this a full-fledged date, neither would her conscience allow her to classify it as mere business. She found Dawson interesting, handsome and definitely sexy. Generally speaking, she’d made it a rule not to become personally involved with male clients. But since the Burke account was hers only temporarily courtesy of Carole, she felt safe making an exception.

“I’m not going to stand you up, Eve.” His tone was resolute. “Something came up at the last minute.”

“Okay. How about I meet you at Tulane then?” she suggested. The restaurant wasn’t far from her apartment and it would save him from having to backtrack, as the place was located between them.

He hesitated and Eve was reminded of the fact that he preferred to lead. But then he said, “All right. But give me another fifteen minutes before you leave.”