Presents, Passion and Proposals: The Billionaire's Christmas Gift / One Christmas Night in Venice / Snowbound with the Millionaire
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‘I’m doing it for Mrs Bennett and Bekka, remember?’ Not quite meeting his gaze, she turned away to slip off her duffle coat before handing it to him, knowing she would be warm enough in the centrally heated house.
She didn’t need to look at Nick to know how devastatingly male he looked in another one of those tailored dark business suits. Or to see the dark sheen of his hair to know that it was silky soft. Or to look into the chiselled perfection of his face to be aware of how her pulse was racing just being near him again…
‘Beth…?’
She stared at the perfectly knotted tie at his throat. ‘Yes?’
Nick didn’t at all like the way Beth was once again avoiding even looking at him. ‘Damn it, despite my telling you not to, you’ve been wallowing in guilt for the past four days!’
Irritation was evident in those dark blue eyes as Beth’s gaze flickered briefly up to his face and then away again. ‘Don’t flatter yourself, Nick,’ she snapped scathingly.
Was he? Was Nick mistaken in thinking that he and the kiss the two of them had shared the other evening were the reasons for those dark circles under Beth’s eyes and the paleness of her cheeks?
He frowned darkly. ‘Do you still intend to spend Christmas Day on your own?’
‘I don’t see what that has to do with you…’
Neither did Nick. Except he hated the very idea of Beth—anyone—being alone during the holiday period. But especially Beth…‘What about your parents?’
‘They were killed in the same car crash as Ben,’ she said abruptly.
God…!
Nick had become cynical about love and relationships in general after his marriage to Janet had failed so abysmally. Learning that Janet had cancer, and had been diagnosed as terminal, had at least allowed the two of them time to heal their differences and say goodbye to each other before she died.
Not that Nick believed there had been any rifts between Beth and her husband before he died, or between her and her parents, but sudden death made no allowances for goodbyes, and Christmas was a time that must surely bring that home to her…
He grimaced. ‘We’ll talk again when I get back.’
Beth looked fully into his face for the first time. And then wished she hadn’t as she saw the concern that darkened those grey eyes. Her smile was tight. ‘The subject is at an end as far as I’m concerned.’
‘But—’
‘I thought I had already made it clear that I don’t need or want your charity or your pity!’ Her eyes flashed deeply blue.
His eyes narrowed glacially. ‘Why do you have to be so prickly all the—?’
‘I thought you had to get to the hospital?’ Beth cut in pointedly, her brows raised in challenge.
Nick’s mouth thinned. ‘I do. But—’
‘Will you just go, Nick?’ she said impatiently. ‘The sooner you go then hopefully the sooner you’ll be back. I do have a life of my own, you know,’ she added pointedly. ‘One that doesn’t revolve around Nick Steele’s wants and needs!’
‘And what would you be doing now if you weren’t here?’ he challenged impatiently.
‘None of your business.’
Nick knew she was being deliberately awkward. He simply didn’t have the time right now to argue with her. But when he returned later this evening he intended making sure he found the time…
‘Fine,’ he bit out tersely. ‘Bekka is waiting for you on the sofa in the sitting room, wrapped up warm in front of the fire, with the three cats draped all over her. The dog is in the kitchen, so take care if you have to go in there to get Bekka some more medicine. There are plenty of drinks and food in the fridge—’
‘I believe I’m intelligent enough to work all those things out for myself.’
But not, it seemed, intelligent enough to know when not to prod and poke at a sleeping tiger…!
Nick had found himself thinking of this woman far too much the past four days. Remembering how good Beth had felt when he’d held her in his arms. How responsive her lips had been against his. How aroused he had been by her. How badly he had wanted her!
How badly he still wanted her, Nick acknowledged.
How did this ultra-sensitive and consequently prickly woman still manage to look sexy, with her face bare of make-up, her auburn hair brushed back from her face and secured in a ponytail, and wearing a long and baggy jumper that appeared to be several sizes too big for her?
Nick had absolutely no idea, but somehow Beth Morgan managed to do it!
He nodded abruptly. ‘I should only be a couple of hours.’
‘I’m sure that Bekka and I will manage just fine without you,’ Beth assured him.
Nick’s eyes narrowed in warning. ‘Just carry on the way you’re going, Beth…’
She arched auburn brows. ‘And what?’
His smile was feral. ‘I’ll let you know when I get back.’
She gave him a wry smile. ‘And am I supposed to live in fear until then?’
Nick gave a slow, warning shake of his head. ‘You’re playing with fire, Beth.’
Beth felt a quiver of apprehension run down the length of her spine as she looked up into those narrowed grey eyes. Or could it be expectation…? She was deliberately baiting this man, she knew. Couldn’t seem to help herself. Couldn’t stop herself from forcing a response from him. Any response.
The promise of retribution she could read in those mocking grey eyes warned her that she wasn’t going to like that response if she carried on deliberately baiting him.
Or that she might like it too much…!
She drew in a shaky breath. ‘Just go to the hospital, Nick,’ she advised heavily.
Nick continued to look down at her frowningly for several long seconds before giving an abrupt nod of his head. ‘Plan on having dinner with Bekka and me later.’
She bristled. ‘Isn’t it usual to ask rather than assume?’
He gave a humourless smile. ‘Where you’re concerned? No.’ He gave a shake of his head. ‘On the assumption you’re going to refuse to accept any payment for sitting with Bekka—’
‘You assume correctly!’ she snapped.
Nick nodded. ‘The least I can do is offer you dinner.’
‘Offer, yes. Assume, no. Besides,’ Beth added, ‘you already gave me dinner four nights ago. Unless…’ She looked up at him suspiciously. ‘When you said “plan on” having dinner with you and Bekka were you actually implying that I should cook it first?’
He chuckled throatily. ‘Not much gets past you, does it, Beth?’
‘You do want me to cook dinner!’ she gasped incredulously.
‘You know the old saying—“feed a cold, starve a fever”.’ Nick shrugged. ‘And obviously Mrs Bennett isn’t here to do it. Of course you could just leave Bekka to my less than proficient skills in the kitchen…’
‘You—I—’ Beth’s eyes were now flashing a deep blue in disgust. ‘Just go, Nick,’ she advised again in carefully modulated tones.
‘I’ll be glad to, now I know the problem of dinner is settled,’ he agreed brightly.
‘Nothing is “settled”, Nick,’ she warned him firmly.
‘Sure it is.’ He gave her a triumphant grin before leaving.
Beth stood in the hallway fuming for several long minutes after Nick had gone.
He was the most arrogant, infuriating—
She had told herself all of this before! Several times, in fact. And yet here she was, back at Nick’s house, taking care of Bekka, and with the added expectation on Nick’s part that she would cook dinner for them all this evening…!
‘I see that you’re feeling better, Bekka,’ Nick said thankfully when he returned early that evening and entered the kitchen in search of his young daughter and Beth, and found the two of them in there preparing dinner together, along with the huge cross-breed of a dog that Bekka had adopted six months ago. There was definitely some Irish Wolfhound in there, if Paddy’s colouring and size was anything to go by—or perhaps it was just wolf!
‘Daddy!’ A happily grinning Bekka rushed over to give him a hug. ‘How’s Mrs Bennett?’
‘Well enough to come home tomorrow,’ Nick assured her as he returned the hug, at the same time giving the traitorous Paddy a censorious glare as the mutt completely ignored him to lean slavishly against Beth’s leg, looking up at her adoringly. Nick usually had a fight as to whether or not the dog would even let him into his own house, and in the few short hours he had been gone Beth had managed to tame the beast.
The whole household seemed to be falling under this woman’s spell!
‘Dinner smells good,’ Nick muttered, as Bekka returned to stirring something in a saucepan on top of the cooker.
‘Let’s hope it tastes the same way,’ Beth drawled, telling Nick that she still hadn’t completely forgiven him for emotionally blackmailing her into making dinner—primarily for Bekka’s sake, but for the two of them, too.
In truth, Nick was no longer sure that it was a good idea, either, as he inwardly acknowledged that the highly domestic scene he had walked in on a few minutes ago was a little too cosy for his comfort. Although Beth didn’t look any more relaxed than he did, Nick noted, as she deliberately turned her back on him to carry on peeling the potatoes in the sink.
‘What is it?’ he prompted curiously as he detected the delectable smell of garlic rising from the pan Bekka was stirring so diligently.
‘It’s something called Pork Tumbet.’ Bekka turned to grin at him.
‘It’s just pork chops covered in seasonal vegetables and cooked in a tomato and garlic sauce. Then the whole thing is covered in sliced potatoes and baked in the oven,’ Beth dismissed lightly, still without turning.
‘Sounds good. It smells good, too,’ Nick murmured appreciatively.
As expected, Beth had spent an enjoyable couple of hours keeping Bekka entertained. The two of them had played draughts and then a few easy card games, and she and the three cats and Paddy the dog had become firm friends. But for all of that time Beth had been aware that Nick would be returning home soon. And not quite sure how she should behave towards him when he did.
It was the thought of having to sit down and eat dinner with Nick that was making Beth feel so nervous. Of course once she had put the food into the oven there was absolutely no reason why she actually had to stay and eat it with them.
That was obviously her way out of this; she would finish preparing the tumbet and put it in the oven, advise Nick on how long to leave it there, and then she would organise another taxi to take her home.
Beth turned, with the intention of telling Nick exactly that, only to draw sharply back against the kitchen unit as she realised just how close he was to her.
So close Beth could smell the elusively expensive aftershave he favoured.
So close she could see the darker ring of grey that encircled the iris of his eyes as she looked up at him.
So close that, once she had quickly glanced away and down from that compelling gaze, she could see the pulse throbbing in his throat.
Could feel her own pulse beating to that same erratic rhythm…
Chapter Seven
BETH forced a calmly relaxed expression on her face as she looked up at Nick. ‘I’m going to arrange for a taxi to come and take me home in fifteen minutes.’
‘Why?’ Nick frowned his displeasure.
‘I—because there aren’t any buses from this area to my apartment,’ she stated lightly.
‘Take it from me, Beks, it’s a bad sign when the chef won’t stay long enough to eat her own food,’ Nick told his daughter teasingly.
‘Not at all,’ Beth answered. ‘But, as I told you earlier, I do have a life of my own.’
Nick remembered everything this particular woman had ever said to him. And he was also becoming aware of the subtlety of all her moods—and her driving need at this particular moment was obviously to get as far away from him as possible…
He turned to his daughter. ‘Beks, could you just go and check that I turned off the headlights on my car before I came in?’
‘As long as you keep stirring the sauce while I’m gone,’ his daughter warned sternly.
‘I’ll do my best,’ Nick replied, his narrowed gaze returning to Beth’s slightly flushed face once Bekka had gone out into the hallway. ‘Okay, so what did I do now?’ he asked wearily, once the two of them were alone.
‘What makes you think you’ve done anything?’
‘Possibly the fact that, even though you’ve cooked the dinner, you refuse to stay and share it with us?’
‘Is it really necessary for me to eat it as well as cook it?’
Nick shrugged. ‘It seems a pity for you to have to prepare something for yourself when you get home.’
She shrugged slender shoulders beneath that overlarge sweater. ‘The tumbet won’t be ready for another hour or so.’
‘And is spending another hour or so in my company such a problem?’ he probed huskily.
‘Of course not,’ she said sharply. ‘I just—I thought you promised Bekka that you would keep stirring the sauce?’ she reminded with a frown.
‘To hell with the sauce!’ A nerve pulsed in Nick’s tightly clenched jaw.
‘The tumbet will be ruined if the sauce burns,’ Beth pointed out ruefully.
‘To hell with the tumbet too!’ Nick took the saucepan off the hob before taking a deliberate step closer to Beth, so that he now towered over her much slighter form. ‘Tell me the real reason you’re refusing to stay and have dinner with Bekka and me,’ he demanded.
Beth feigned an uninterest she didn’t feel as she gave another dismissive shrug. Feigned, because she was too aware of Nick, of his close proximity, to feel in the least uninterested!
‘You’re very pale, Beth. I think you need to eat…’
‘What I need is to be allowed to leave here so that I can get on with my own life!’ Beth knew by the way Nick’s eyes narrowed on her speculatively that she had spoken more forcefully than she had intended. Than was prudent with a man as perceptive as Nick Steele.
But she couldn’t be here with this man and his young daughter. Found this whole domesticated scenario too disturbing. Almost as disturbing as she found Nick himself…!
Beth pushed away from the kitchen unit to move abruptly away from him. Away from the sensual spell his proximity was once again weaving about her already heightened senses…
‘It will take me another twenty minutes or so to get the tumbet in the oven, and then I’m going home,’ she told him abruptly, before turning away with the intention of removing the roasted vegetables from the oven.
‘Beth, what the—’
‘Take your hand off me!’ she gasped as he grasped her arm.
Nick looked down searchingly into that pale and delicately lovely face; Beth’s eyes were huge and haunted, her cheeks paler than ever, her lips trembling slightly, her chin raised in the constant challenge this woman seemed to feel she had to show to the world. To him in particular…?
He gave a shake of his head. ‘I want you to stay and have dinner with us, Beth.’
‘Unfortunately those wants conflict with my own.’ She held his gaze as she firmly, determinedly, moved out of his grasp.
Nick let her go, not wanting to bruise a single inch of that delicately pale skin. ‘What do you want, Beth?’
She drew in a ragged breath. ‘I want you to leave me alone, Nick. For you not to call me again. To stop involving me in your own and Bekka’s lives.’
‘Isn’t that going to be a little hard to do when you’re one of Bekka’s teachers…?’
‘I meant your personal lives,’ Beth insisted.
‘And by personal lives, you mean…?’
‘I mean insisting I go out to dinner with the two of you,’ she said impatiently. ‘Inviting me to go bowling. To spend Christmas Day with the two of you here—’ She broke off as her voice broke emotionally. ‘To looking after Bekka. To cooking dinner for the two of you…’
‘Beth—’
‘Please don’t touch me, Nick!’ She backed away from him, her cheeks chalky-white now. ‘I—it was hard for me when Ben and my parents—when they all died. But somehow, little by little, I survived. I survived, Nick!’ she repeated shakily.
‘I can see that,’ Nick murmured distractedly, and he thrust his hands into his trouser pockets—before he gave in to the impulse he had to take this woman in his arms and attempt to make all the pain she had suffered go away!
Beth was so young, so delicate, too damned fragile to have suffered and survived the things she had been through—the death of her parents and her husband.
‘I intend continuing to survive,’ she added firmly.
‘By keeping yourself emotionally apart?’ Nick guessed.
Tears glistened on her lashes as she nodded. ‘And we both know how to do that, don’t we?’
Nick had meant to pierce that prickly exterior Beth presented to the world. To have her talk to him, tell him things about herself, anything about herself, as long as she let him in.
And by doing so he had hurt her. Had brought all that pain and suffering back into stark relief.
‘Your car lights are off, Daddy,’ Bekka announced happily as she came back into the kitchen. ‘And there are some carol singers at the door,’ she added excitedly as she slipped her hand into his. ‘Can we go and listen to them and then give them some money?’
Nick dragged his gaze away from Beth to smile down at his daughter. ‘Sure we can.’ He gave her hand a squeeze before glancing across the kitchen. ‘Coming, Beth?’
‘I—no,’ Beth refused. ‘I’m just going to finish up here and then call a taxi, but the two of you go ahead,’ she urged lightly.
He frowned darkly. ‘We haven’t finished talking, Beth.’
‘I think we’ve said all that needs to be said, don’t you?’ she dismissed.
Nick continued to look at her broodingly for several long seconds before he felt Bekka’s renewed tugging on his hand and allowed his daughter to pull him out into the hallway.
Beth sat down on one of the kitchen chairs as soon as she had finished talking to the taxi company and put the tumbet in the oven, very aware of her need to get away from here. Away from the cloyingly domestic atmosphere of just being here with Bekka and Nick. And the maelstrom of emotions that created inside her.
She had loved Ben so much—been devastated when he died. Her only way of coping with his loss, and that of her parents, had been to remove herself from the place where she had spent so many happy years with all of them. To move to London, a place where she could be assured of anonymity. A place where she could live quietly and privately, separate and apart from all emotional involvement.
Being here like this with Nick and Bekka had given Beth a painful glimpse of a life that she had long ago decided could no longer ever be hers. A full and happy life. A life that included a husband and children of her own.
After Ben had died Beth had told herself that if she never loved again, never had any of those things, then she could never be hurt again, either. Would never again have to go through the pain of losing someone she loved.
She realised now how foolish she had been to believe herself capable of shutting out all emotion. How stupid, how utterly, utterly stupid that belief had been, when just being here again with Nick and Bekka told her it was already too late—that without meaning to she had already allowed herself to care again. Not just for Bekka, but for Nick too.
To more than care for him…?
Beth shied away from admitting even to herself to feeling any more than attracted to him. If she didn’t acknowledge it, then perhaps it would just go away!
Just as Beth intended getting away from here, the moment her taxi arrived!
‘I told the taxi driver to wait outside.’
She spun round guiltily to face Nick, his eyes hooded as he stood in the kitchen doorway looking across at her. ‘Where’s Bekka?’ she prompted brightly.
‘Still listening to the carol singers.’
Beth nodded abruptly as she gave Paddy an absentminded pat on the head before picking up her handbag. ‘I’ll say goodbye to her on my way out.’
Nick frowned as he remained unmoving in the doorway. ‘We haven’t finished our conversation yet, Beth.’
She swallowed hard. ‘There’s nothing else to say.’
Nick crossed the room to stand in front of her. ‘Damn it, Beth, talk to me!’
‘My taxi is waiting—’
‘I instructed the driver to wait until you’re ready to leave,’ Nick told her.
Beth gave a pained frown. ‘I’ve done what you asked me to do and taken care of Bekka while you went to the hospital. I’ve even cooked dinner for both of you. I think the least you can do for me is to let me leave without fuss.’
His mouth firmed. ‘Run away, you mean?’
Beth gasped as the barb struck home. ‘That was uncalled-for, Nick!’
Yes, it had been, he acknowledged self-disgustedly. Uncalled-for and unnecessarily cruel. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Beth, I just—I want to help you,’ he encouraged gruffly as he reached out and grasped both her hands in his.
She drew in a ragged breath. ‘You can’t help me, Nick. No one can. Now, would you please just let me leave?’ she pleaded emotionally.
Nick could see that she was going to cry. He had managed to make Beth cry when all he’d wanted was to—
What? What did he want from her?
More to the point, what did he possibly have to give a woman like Beth? A woman who had been so hurt by life, by the loss of the husband and parents that she’d loved, that she had decided never to allow emotion into her life again.
As cynical as Nick’s own feelings were towards love, he knew he was the last person—the very last person—to give anyone advice on the subject!
Even so, it was hard to stand back and watch Beth as she left. To know that he had helped cause those unshed tears that glistened on her long dark lashes as she walked away from him…
Chapter Eight
‘NICK…?’ Beth felt the colour drain from her face as she answered the ringing of the doorbell to her apartment the following afternoon and found him standing outside in the hallway. ‘What have you done with Bekka?’ she asked as she realised Nick was alone.
‘Bekka is at home with Mrs Bennett,’ Nick supplied evenly, his grey gaze guarded.
‘She’s better?’
He nodded. ‘And wondering what all the fuss was about.’
‘That’s good.’ Beth nodded, trying not to notice how attractive Nick looked in a black cashmere sweater and black denims, his hair brushed back from the rugged handsomeness of his face. ‘What can I do for you?’ she queried brightly.
‘Inviting me in would be a good place to start…’
Beth gave a pained wince. She’d had plenty of time since yesterday evening to realise how completely she had let herself down during her last conversation with Nick. How much of herself, her vulnerability, she had revealed to him.
She gave a self-conscious grimace. ‘I was feeling a little—emotional yesterday evening. Christmas is always a difficult time of year, isn’t it?’ She attempted a laugh that didn’t quite come off. ‘I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much?’
‘Not at all,’ Nick dismissed smoothly.
‘That’s good.’ Beth nodded. ‘I don’t know what came over me,’ she added awkwardly as Nick continued to look down at her broodingly.
‘Don’t you…?’
‘No,’ she assured him sharply.
‘I really think you should invite me in, Beth,’ Nick added tensely.
‘I—Why?’ Her wariness deepened as the tension surrounding them increased.
Nick gave a derisive smile as he easily sensed that wariness. ‘Because it’s the polite thing to do?’
‘I think it’s a little late to worry about politeness between the two of us, don’t you?’ She hated to imagine what Miss Sheffield would say or do if she knew of the way Beth had spoken to the school’s ‘most influential parent’ this last week!
Nick’s decision to talk to Beth calmly, rationally, completely deserted him now that he was faced with the flesh and blood woman. Most of all the flesh!
She was wearing another overlarge jumper—red today—with fitted jeans, and Nick wanted nothing more than to take all her clothes off and explore the satiny flesh beneath