A Puppy for Christmas: On the Secretary's Christmas List / The Patter of Paws at Christmas / The Soldier, the Puppy and Me

CHAPTER THREE

‘NOW, aren’t you glad you changed your mind and decided to let Danny keep the puppy?’ Bree murmured softly, smiling down indulgently at the little boy and the puppy an hour or so later.

She had come to tell Jackson that she was leaving for the day, and the first thing she’d seen was Danny and the puppy rolling about on the carpet together—luckily avoiding contact with the eight-foot-tall Christmas tree standing in the corner of the room surrounded by presents! Danny’s happy chuckles filled the room as the puppy licked his nose.

‘The jury’s still out on that one,’ Jackson muttered, looking up from where he slouched in one of the armchairs. ‘Beau,’ he growled across at Bree. ‘He named the damned puppy Beau!’

Bree had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at his obvious disgust. ‘Ah, how sweet—he named his puppy after you!’

‘Very funny!’ Jackson rose lithely to his feet before striding across to where she stood in the doorway.

‘It suits him, don’t you think?’ Bree couldn’t resist teasing.

‘No, I don’t think!’ Jackson scowled down at her.

She looked up at him quizzically. ‘My, you’re in a cheery mood this evening!’

Jackson was well aware of his dour mood. Just as he was aware that the main reason behind that mood was standing in the doorway.

He felt surprisingly little lingering annoyance over Danny’s puppy; anyone with eyes could see how happy Danny was with his grandmother’s Christmas gift. No, he was willing to admit defeat where the puppy was concerned. Danny was so excited, what with Christmas being only six days away, that Jackson very much doubted whether he would be able to prise the puppy out of his son’s arms now!

It was that sudden stirring of interest in Bree earlier—interest in her past as well as her present—that had continued to unsettle Jackson for the last couple of hours. It had unsettled him to the extent that he felt the need for company. Female company.

‘Bree, could you sit with Danny later this evening while I go out?’

‘Ah …’ A perplexed frown creased her brow. ‘Ordinarily you know I would have been happy to, but … Actually, I’m going out myself this evening,’ she explained reluctantly.

‘Your offer to take care of the puppy didn’t last very long, did it?’

‘I believe my exact words were “during the day”,’ she reminded him primly.

Was it Jackson’s imagination or was that a blush spreading across Bree’s slightly freckled cheeks? A guilty blush? As if she were hiding something …

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Can it be that you’re going out on a date this evening?’

‘Well, there’s no need to look so surprised, Jackson!’ She was suddenly irritated. ‘I’m twenty-six, not eighty-six!’

That might be the case, but as far as Jackson was aware not only did Bree never go out in the evenings, but she hadn’t been out on a date since she’d come to work for him a year ago. Which, when he thought about it, was decidedly odd.

And Jackson had thought about it—for the past couple of hours. Several times. Several times too many as far as he was concerned!

For Bree to suddenly reveal that she was going out on a date this very evening—the first since he had known her—was a coincidence that only added to his already unsettled mood.

‘Meeting up with an old friend?’ he prompted curiously.

‘A new one, actually,’ she mumbled softly.

‘Anyone I know …?’

She bristled. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business, Jackson.’

Jackson forced himself to relax at the deserved rebuke. ‘I just thought perhaps I could vet him for you when he arrives.’ He arched a mocking brow. ‘You know—a man-to-man thing, to see if he measures up.’

Bree’s lips thinned. ‘He isn’t coming here. I’m meeting him at a restaurant.’

‘Oh, that’s bad, Bree.’ He shook his head, taunting her. ‘You should never trust a man who isn’t gentleman enough to call and collect you for a date!’

‘Says the gentleman who rarely—if ever—collects his own dates!’ she retorted tartly.

‘I make a point of it.’ Jackson gave an unrepentant grin. ‘That’s how I know you shouldn’t trust a man like that!’

Bree eyed him darkly. ‘I’ll bear your advice in mind.’

In actual fact it was precisely due to Bree’s uncertainty about having dinner with Roger Tyler that she had decided to drive to the restaurant alone: at least that way Bree could drive herself home if Roger behaved in any way she found in the least objectionable.

Jackson’s assumption when he went out earlier that the incoming telephone call would be Roger Tyler, confirming their two o’clock appointment, had been totally wrong; it had been someone else completely—another client confirming an appointment for next week. Roger Tyler hadn’t telephoned back at all, and neither had he answered any of Bree’s calls when she had attempted to inform him that Jackson was no longer available that afternoon. Instead Roger had appeared in person at Beaumont House promptly at two o’clock.

Tall and dark, probably in his late thirties or early forties, and with a craggily handsome face, Roger Tyler hadn’t seemed too perturbed when Bree had smoothly delivered the excuse that Jackson wasn’t there because he had been called away on business. In fact the other man hadn’t seemed bothered at all—instead he had chatted away quite happily with Bree for over half an hour, culminating in an invitation to dinner that evening.

Bree could only suppose that the ‘bimbo’ Jackson had referred to earlier hadn’t been willing to reschedule their date for the evening! Whatever the reason for Roger’s invitation, Bree had surprised herself by saying yes.

She had no idea why.

No, that wasn’t true; Bree knew exactly why she’d acted so completely out of character by accepting Roger Tyler’s dinner invitation. Because earlier she had realised that today was the one-year anniversary of her wedding that never was. In the circumstances Bree would probably have accepted a dinner invitation from the devil himself as a distraction from those crushing memories! Except the devil she knew hadn’t asked …

Whenever Bree thought back to a year ago—which she tried to do as seldom as possible—it was never without feeling that same sting of humiliation she had suffered on the day in question. The day that had changed her life.

Meaning to put up some curtains, Bree had gone to the house she and David had purchased together and had planned to move into after their Paris honeymoon only to discover David was already there. Not just David, but also her married sister Cathy. And, as Bree had discovered painfully, the two of them had been in bed together—in what should have been Bree and David’s marital bed.

Not only had Bree called off the wedding, but the scandal of David and Cathy’s several-months-long affair had ripped a hole in Bree’s family that still hadn’t completely healed.

So, yes, Bree knew exactly why she had so impetuously agreed to go out with Roger Tyler this evening. Her acceptance was based not on any attraction Bree might or might not feel towards him, but because she desperately needed a diversion from her feelings of hurt and betrayal. Of inadequacy. Because David had so obviously preferred her older sister to her.

Feelings like that didn’t seem half so important when a man like Roger Tyler had invited her out to dinner!

Doubts had begun creeping in after Roger had left Beaumont House—to the point where Bree had spent the afternoon toying with the idea of telephoning him to say that she couldn’t make it this evening after all!

Jackson’s obvious surprise that she was going out on a date, along with his cynical teasing, had brought about a complete change of heart on her part. Bree no longer cared whether or not Roger Tyler was a man she could trust—she had every intention of going out to dinner with him now. If only to prove to Jackson that she wasn’t the unattractive piece of furniture he obviously believed her to be!

Her chin rose stubbornly. ‘I’m sorry I can’t help out with Danny this evening, Jackson. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and get ready.’

Jackson reached out and placed a hand on Bree’s arm as she turned away.

‘What aren’t you telling me …?’ He looked down at her searchingly.

She laughed lightly, dismissively. ‘I don’t believe we’ve ever had the sort of relationship where we’ve confided about our private lives to each other, Jackson!’

No, they hadn’t, Jackson acknowledged with a frown. And he had always been grateful for Bree’s silence on the subject before today; he

couldn’t abide women who wanted to fill you in on every minute detail of their lives. Yes, in the past Jackson had always been glad that Bree kept her own counsel. Until now.

There was something different about Bree this afternoon. A brittleness. An air of recklessness he had never seen in her before. Almost as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff, about to jump over—

What the hell …?

As Bree had already pointed out, she was a grown woman and could do exactly as she wished in her free time. And if her dinner date this evening meant that Jackson couldn’t go out after all, then that was just too bad. Hell, Bree was as entitled to a social life as he was.

Except she’d never had one until tonight …

He gave a tense, irritated shrug. ‘I feel a sense of responsibility for you—’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Jackson!’ Bree snapped with irritation. ‘I’m not your daughter!’

‘You live in my house …’

‘I live in the basement apartment as part of the wages you pay me—not in your house.’ She shook her head impatiently. ‘And if I were a man you wouldn’t be asking me these ridiculous questions!’

If Bree were a man Jackson wouldn’t have felt that stirring of physical interest in her earlier either!

‘Come and play with me, Bree.’

Jackson had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed Danny joining them until he spoke at his side. Looking down, he saw that his son carried the now-panting puppy in his arms. It had been love at first sight for both of them when Danny had come home from school and rushed into Bree’s office to see his Christmas present from Granny.

Jackson took great delight in seeing the way his mother cringed every time Danny called her that; only her deep love for the little boy kept her silent on the subject. Jackson found that he could forgive his mother for a lot of things when he saw the genuine love she had for her grandson.

‘Bree can’t play right now, Danny, because she has to go and get ready to go out this evening.’ Jackson sank down on his haunches beside his son.

Danny looked up at Bree with guileless blue eyes. ‘You’re going out?’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ Jackson heard her mutter under her breath as she shot him an irritated glance before forcing a smile for Danny. ‘I’ll only be gone for a little while,’ she reassured him lightly.

‘Don’t worry, Danny, I’ll wait up and make sure that Bree arrives home safely,’ Jackson drawled smoothly.

Bree narrowed her eyes at him. ‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary, thank you.’

‘No problem,’ he dismissed lightly, straightening up. ‘Be sure and come into the main house to let me know you’re back, won’t you? Otherwise I’ll only worry.’

Bree wasn’t fooled for a moment by those innocent blue eyes Jackson levelled on her—he was enjoying himself now, damn him. At her expense. And all because she had impulsively accepted a dinner invitation from a man she didn’t even have any real interest in!

It had all seemed so romantic eighteen months ago, when she and David had decided on a pre-Christmas wedding. An occasion and a time of year that would always have special significance for them both. As it turned out that Christmas had been nothing but a nightmare for Bree, lost in a haze of crying and heartbreak, of family rows and the slamming of doors, until she hadn’t been able to stand it any more and had moved into the anonymity of a hotel in order to escape it all. Which was the very reason she had been so desperate and homeless when she’d come for her interview with Jackson almost a year ago.

Bree had so wanted it to be different this year, had so wanted to be able to enjoy Christmas again—and had been sure that she could do so with Danny’s help. There was something about children and Christmas that no adult could resist.

And Bree had almost managed to fool herself—until she had realised earlier that it should have been her first wedding anniversary today. Not that Bree had even a residual ounce of love for David left inside her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still grieve for her own lost hopes and dreams.

To now find herself the butt of Jackson’s warped sense of humour was just too much!

She gave him a sweet, insincere smile. ‘Of course, Daddykins!’

Danny gave a giggle. ‘Did you hear that, Daddy? Bree called you Daddykins!’

As Bree had hoped, Jackson’s mocking blue eyes were now totally devoid of humour. ‘I heard what she called me,’ Jackson bit out tersely, glaring at Bree over Danny’s head. ‘Just make sure you let me know you’re back so that I can be sure everywhere is locked up after you.’

When he put it like that it was a reasonable request; there were security gates at the end of the driveway that Bree would have to come through, and an alarm system fitted in her apartment as well as in the main house. Human safety apart, Jackson had some very expensive photographic equipment in his studio, as well as several original paintings in the house.

‘Will do,’ she breezed flippantly. ‘Have a pleasant evening, you two.’

Jackson knew he should have wished her the same, and yet as he watched Bree leave something held him back.

It was that recklessness he sensed in her, perhaps, and the image he’d had of her earlier, standing on the edge of that cliff …

CHAPTER FOUR

IT WAS almost midnight when Bree quietly let herself into the darkness of Beaumont House, moving softly through the silence to the kitchen and out into the entrance hall, before making her way to the sitting room, where she could hear the low murmur of the television. Jackson had evidently waited up for her to return from her dinner date as promised.

Or not, Bree realised with wry amusement as she entered the sitting room and observed Jackson, sleeping peacefully in one of the armchairs. The fire in the hearth had burnt down to just a few hot coals; only the flickering television and the coloured lights on the Christmas tree illuminated the comfortable room.

Bree crossed the room with the intention of switching off the television, only to hesitate beside Jackson’s chair. She had never seen him asleep before—there was no reason why she should have—and she couldn’t help noticing how much younger he looked without that mocking glint in his eyes and that cynical twist to those sensual lips. His golden honey-and-molasses hair had fallen untidily over his brow, which only added to that illusion of boyishness.

Because it was an illusion, Bree told herself sternly; Jackson was both mocking and cynical. And sarcastic. And rude. And completely impossible. And—

And quite possibly the most sensually handsome man Bree had ever set eyes on.

She had been both hurt and hurting when she’d first come to work for Jackson almost a year ago. Totally disillusioned with all men. And the often outrageous, too-handsome Jerome Jackson Beaumont was a man who enjoyed the constant stream of women coming and going in and out of his life—and his bed. Or rather the woman’s bed; Danny’s presence at Beaumont House meant that Jackson never brought women back here to spend the night with him.

All that had only served to confirm Bree’s belief that men simply weren’t capable of faithfulness and love for one single woman.

Which didn’t mean that she couldn’t appreciate what all those other women saw in Jackson!

He was certainly a handsome devil—if a devil could have long golden hair and mocking sky-blue eyes. And a wicked sense of humour. And a lean and muscled body that had to be every woman’s deepest fantasy …

Exactly when had Bree stopped feeling so hurt by David’s betrayal and become so aware of all those things about Jackson? Was it only today? Or had she noticed these things before but just never acknowledged them?

‘What the—? Bree, is that you?’

Bree had been so lost in thought as she gazed down at Jackson appreciatively that she hadn’t noticed when he awoke. Now he was gazing up at her—not with cynical or mocking blue eyes, but with the slow, lazy appreciation of a man who liked what he saw. Which happened to be Bree!

She took a couple of wary paces backwards. ‘Well, of course it’s me!’

Of course it was, Jackson acknowledged sardonically as he heard the familiar sharpness in Bree’s tone. But this was a Bree he had certainly never seen before …

In the office Bree wore businesslike dark tailored trousers or skirts, usually teamed with jumpers in the winter and blouses in the summer; the soft, silky black dress she was wearing this evening could never be considered even remotely businesslike!

It was a sheath of a figure-hugging dress. Strapless and knee-length, it showcased a large expanse of her bare shoulders and the soft swell of the tops of her breasts, along with the shapely length of her legs, and her feet, tiny and slender, in black strappy three-inch heels.

Very, very nice. And yet, despite all the femininity on show, it was Bree’s hair that held Jackson’s fascinated gaze. Earlier today he had wondered briefly how long her hair would be when loose, and now he had his answer: it was so long and thick and curly that it almost reached down to her shapely bottom, and it was the rich colour of sable!

She looked, Jackson realised as he sat up slowly, like a woman out of a Renaissance painting, with the softness of her skin appearing a pearly and lustrous white against the darkness of that long, flowing hair and the fitted black dress. Hers was skin that tempted a man to touch and taste it. As for those incredible sexy smoky-grey eyes and the long dark lashes that framed them …

‘Jackson?’

Bree had no idea what thoughts had been going through Jackson’s head during the past few moments, but whatever they were she had become increasingly aware of the deepening tension that crackled in the air: a physical awareness that she sensed was no longer just her own …

‘What have you done with Beau this evening?’ she prompted, as a distraction from that awareness. ‘I didn’t see him in the kitchen earlier when I came through, and he obviously isn’t in here, either …’

A rueful smile curved Jackson’s lips as he saw the concern in Bree’s face. ‘Well, I haven’t sent him to the stray dogs’ home, if that’s what you’re imagining!’ He grinned.

She gave him a reproving glance. ‘I’m pretty sure Danny wouldn’t have allowed you to do that!’

Jackson arched a mocking brow. ‘Well, for your information I tried putting Beau and his basket in the kitchen when Danny went to bed, but he cried and whined so much—Beau, that is,’ he explained drily in response to Bree’s questioning look, ‘that I eventually brought him in here with me. Where he continued to cry and whine.’ Jackson frowned at the memory of that piteous sound.

Bree nodded. ‘Obviously he’s grown as attached to Danny as Danny has to him.’

‘Obviously,’ Jackson snapped.

Bree eyed him quizzically. ‘So where’s Beau now?’

Jackson grimaced. ‘I put his basket upstairs in Danny’s bedroom. Normally I wouldn’t approve of allowing dogs in the bedroom, but it was the only place where he would stop whining,’ he explained defensively.

Bree was having trouble holding back a smile. ‘Of course it was,’ she said, humouring him lightly.

‘If you dare to laugh—’ Jackson broke off the warning as Bree did exactly that. ‘It isn’t funny, Bree,’ he muttered gloomily, but she seemed unable to contain her amusement at his expense; those velvety soft grey eyes were glowing with humour.

‘Of course it is,’ Bree chuckled finally. ‘Big, strong, I-don’t-want-a-puppy Jerome Jackson Beaumont, worn down by the cries of that same little puppy!’

‘You would have done the same in my position,’ he muttered gruffly.

‘Undoubtedly.’ Bree felt herself softening at the realisation that beneath his gruff exterior Jackson was as tender-hearted as she was when it came to a defenceless, cute little puppy like Beau.

Jackson sighed. ‘I told Danny to make sure Beau stays in his basket.’

An instruction that Danny—and Beau—had probably completely ignored, as they were both well aware. The puppy was no doubt curled up fast asleep on the little boy’s bed at this very minute.

‘You really are just a big softie!’ Bree smiled at him teasingly.

Jackson’s gaze, glittering brightly, continued to hold hers and a derisive smile curved those sensuous lips. Bree took another step backwards.

Her eyes widened in alarm as Jackson countered that movement by taking a stealthy step forward, standing so close now that Bree was able to feel the heat emanating off his body.

‘What are you doing …?’ she breathed softly.

‘Nothing …’ he murmured.

She swallowed hard. ‘That’s goo—’

‘… yet,’ he added huskily.

Bree had been aware of the stillness of the house when she’d first come in, but now that silence was charged with something else: a tense expectancy much like the loaded pause before a predator pounced on its prey!

She moistened lips that had gone suddenly dry. ‘I only came in to let you know that I’m back.’

‘And did you have a nice evening?’ Jackson asked softly.

‘Very nice, thank you.’ Bree answered warily, not fooled for a moment by the casual pleasantry when she could still see that speculative gleam in Jackson’s eyes as he continued to look down at her so unblinkingly.

It was a wariness that Jackson’s next comment proved was completely warranted.

‘Did you go out in that dress?’ he enquired as his gaze swept over her from head to toes.

Bree swallowed. ‘I … Yes, of course.’

It was one of the dresses Bree had bought a year ago to take on her honeymoon to Paris. Bought but for obvious reasons never worn—before this evening …

‘It’s … very nice.’

‘Thank you.’

The speculation deepened in Jackson’s eyes. ‘Did you come home alone?’

‘Well, of course I came home alone!’ Bree snapped, glaring at the impertinence of the question.

Jackson shrugged the wide and muscled shoulders that were clearly defined in the fitted black T-shirt he was wearing. ‘Just checking.’

Bree still frowned her irritation. ‘Why?’

‘Before I do this.’

Jackson took the single step that separated them, sliding his arms about her waist and pulling her into the heat of his body before his head lowered and his mouth claimed hers in a searingly hot kiss that totally took Bree’s breath away.

She clung to those wide shoulders as her knees buckled slightly. Not that there was any possibility of her falling when Jackson’s arms were clamped like steel bands about her waist. His hands stroked the length of her spine, his fingers a hot and arousing caress against the bare skin above her gown as his lips continued that plundering exploration, his tongue moist against her lips as he parted them before thrusting deep into the heat of her mouth.