A Christmas Affair (10 page)

“Hello, again,” Wahida said, cutting back through the crowd. “I hope you guys didn’t think that I’d abandoned my special guests.”

Lyfe pulled in a deep breath and looked down at the petite older woman. Though he’d been on his guard since he’d walked into this huge SoHo apartment, he added a few more bricks to his protective wall as the woman’s calculating gaze unabashedly sized him up.

“Lyfe, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, without bothering to smile.

“Interesting name.”

Slowly, Lyfe’s brows crept upward. Why was this little woman inspecting him like he was standing on an auction block?

“I’m sorry,” she said as if reading his thoughts. “I don’t mean to stare, but you really are a very handsome man. If I was younger … “ She winked.

Is she serious?

Tess slapped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from laughing and spewing out her champagne. She quickly covered it up by turning around and joining a small group behind her that included her parents.

“Thank you,” Lyfe said, downgrading his own laughter to just a small smile.

“I’m sorry, but I think that I missed hearing about your association with Chloe.”

He cringed. “Frankly, I don’t know a Chloe.”

Wahida perked up. “Oh, really?”

“I knew her as Corona Mae,” he clarified. “I grew up with the Bankses in Thomason.”

“I see,” she said. “So you two are just—”

“Friends,” Corona cut in, and then cast a look at Lyfe that asked him to back her up on this.

He refused to grant or deny her silent request. He just stood there on mute, willing to let her hang herself with this one.

Corona got the picture. “Uh, Wahida, will you excuse me and Lyfe for a moment?” She gently slid her arm underneath Lyfe’s and attempted to pull him away.

He remained rooted where he stood and casually looked down at how she was tugging him. It was a
gentle enough pull, but her touch felt like a firebrand burning through his clothes. His heart pounded so loud it drowned out the Christmas music.

“It will just take a second,” she pressed with a nervous smile.

Wahida lifted a brow at the tension between them.

“It’s okay,” Tess said, as she returned to the group. “I’ll wait right here for you.”

Corona’s parents joined them.

“Actually,” her father said, clearing his throat, “I was hoping to get a few minutes alone with you, Corona Mae.”

Corona’s hand tightened on Lyfe’s bicep.

There was also a look that flickered across her face that cracked the wall around Lyfe’s heart.
Damn. Am I even prepared to hear the answers to my questions?

“Here. You’re going to need this,” Tess said, handing him a drink.

He took the flute. “Thanks.”

Rowan eased into the circle. “Honey, you’re starting to be a little difficult to keep up with this evening.”

Corona’s hand slipped from underneath Lyfe’s arm, and he immediately missed it.

“Sorry about that, sweetheart. I was just … trying to catch up with my family and … “

“So you’re
friends?
” Wahida said, with her eyes narrowing and swinging suspiciously between Corona and Ly fe.

As if sensing her sister needed help, Tess cleared her throat and stepped closer. “Actually, he’s more than just her friend.”

Surprised, Lyfe and Corona’s brows jumped.

“Contessa, sweetheart.” her father cut in, with a warning look.

“Oh?” Wahida said, edging closer.

Ignoring everyone, Tess threw up her chin and eased her arm underneath Lyfe’s other arm. She was ready to tell the biggest lie of her life. “Yes. He’s going to be her brother-in-law. We’re engaged.”

Corona’s third champagne glass crashed against the floor.

“Y
ou’re … what?” Corona asked. Surely something was wrong with her ears. There was no way her sister had just said what she’d thought she said. She just couldn’t have.

However, Tess’s smile stretched wider as she leaned against Lyfe’s chest. “Surprise!”

Corona’s gaze flew to Lyfe’s face but, once again, she couldn’t read anything in his stony expression. “Excuse me. I … need to go … check on something.” With that she turned and raced through the crowd.

She was vaguely aware of a few people calling her name, but all she could think about was getting some fresh air. With no other recourse, she plowed out onto the snow-covered terrace and chugged in deep breaths. She didn’t even feel the cold.
Engaged?

She clutched a hand over her chest and hoped that it was enough to keep her heart from trying to pound
its way out. After a full minute, she still wasn’t sure whether the deep breaths were quite doing the job. “How could Tess do something like this to me?”

“Something like what?”

At the sound of Lyfe’s deep baritone, Corona spun around. “I, uh … “ What could she say?
How could Tess steal my man?
He was no longer hers—hadn’t been for a long time. As her gaze took another lap over his impressive frame, regret rose like a wave and crashed like a tsunami against her heart.

Lyfe closed the terrace door.

She panicked. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sure that it’s considered rude to try and freeze your guests,” he answered smoothly.

She guessed that made sense.

Lyfe slid his hands into his pockets and strolled toward her.

Corona backed up and ignored the fact that snow was sliding into her pumps.

He cocked his head. “I’m not making you nervous, am I?”

“Of course not,” she lied.

A corner of his lips curled. “Good. The last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.”

By the time he stopped in front of her, Corona was holding on to a frozen rail with her head tilted all the way back so that she could maintain eye contact.
Damn. He looks good.
It was hard to get any other thought squeezed into her brain. He completely blew away every actor and model she’d ever met or seen in the industry. There was so much power in his presence that it felt like
he was stealing all the oxygen—even though they were outside!

“What are you doing here?” she finally squeaked out of her tight windpipes.

“I was invited,” he said simply.

“You know what I mean,” she said with a little more courage. “It’s been … so long.”

“It has,” Lyfe said, but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to answer the question. In fact, he looked as if he was content to just drink her in.

And she was content to do the same.

“You’re freezing,” he noted and then quickly slid off his jacket.

“That’s not necessary.” Corona hunched up her shoulders, but Lyfe ignored her and swung his jacket around her like a cape. In the next second she was enveloped in both his warmth and his seductive scent.
What the hell is he trying to do to me?

“There. That’s not so bad, is it?” he asked, sliding his hands back into his pockets.

“What about you?”

Lyfe lifted a brow. “You’re concerned about my well-being?” He chuckled. “Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

The gibe was a direct punch to the gut.

“So I take it that you still hate me?”

The question hung between them for what felt like an eternity before he finally said, “No.”

“Very convincing,” she said, swallowing and glancing off. Normally the city view took her breath away, but tonight the holiday spray of lights just saddened her.

“Would you prefer that I hated you?”

Tears stung the backs of her eyes.
I’d prefer that you hadn’t come here.

“Or maybe you preferred that I hadn’t come?”

Corona’s head whipped back around. “Are you really engaged to my sister?”

“Would it matter?”

“Of course it matters,” she snapped, oblivious that she was teetering on the edge of irrationality.

He erased the last step between them until their chests bumped together. Suddenly, it was like being plugged into an electric socket. The jolt they experienced had their bodies tingling from the electricity between them.

Dizzy, Corona took another step back and unplugged from their powerful connection.

While she tried to get her bearings, Lyfe confessed, “I tried to hate you.”

She met his gaze.

He nodded. “For a long time, in fact. I never really pulled it off. I wish that I could understand why. I mean, I foolishly thought that, at the bare minimum, we were friends. But that couldn’t have been true. A friend would have at least left a note.”

It felt like her tears turned into battery acid. “I did what I thought was best. I did it for you—us.”

He shook his head. “No. You did it for you. You wanted out of that town and you wanted to get as far away from me as you possibly could. I get it. And look … “ He stepped back as well. “You’ve done real good for yourself. You’re running a big-time talent agency and now you’re about to marry the number one box office star. Life is good.”

“No. You got it all wrong.”

“What? You’re not a big success? You haven’t achieved everything that you’ve ever dreamed of?” There was a hardness that was slowly creeping into his eyes.

“Of course not.”
Because we’re not together.
“It’s … complicated.”

While that statement hung between them, the temperature seemed to drop another ten degrees.

“Complicated,” he finally repeated and then glanced off toward the scenic view. “I traveled all the way up here to New York just for you to tell me that it’s … complicated?”

Corona opened her mouth to respond, but all that she could manage to get past her lips were thin puffs of cold air.

“Well, that’s disappointing.” He drew in a deep breath and then reached over and removed his jacket from around her shoulders. “Good luck to you.” With that, he turned and strolled back toward the terrace door.

Icy tears trickled down Corona’s face as she watched Lyfe walk away. “What would you have me say?” she asked.

He stopped with his hand on the door. “That’s just it. I don’t know.” Lyfe glanced over his shoulder. “But it sure wasn’t some bullshit like ‘it’s complicated.’” He jerked open the door and strolled back inside.

Corona blinked and then tried to hold back her tears. It turned out to be a pretty hard task now that Lyfe’s mere presence was like an emotional nuclear bomb exploding in her heart. She had long thought that he was out her life—that they would never see each other again—that their paths would never cross.

And now he was here.

At long last, the night’s cold penetrated her bones, forcing her to go back into the apartment. This time, when she moved through the crowd, she had trouble painting on a smile. However, she had no trouble spotting Lyfe as he made it back to the small circle of Rowan and her family. She watched with her heart in her throat as he leaned down and whispered something into Tess’s ear.

Immediately, the two sisters’ gazes met from across the room. Lyfe started for the door, but Tess grabbed his arm and then rolled up on her toes to whisper something into his ear.

Jealousy rose like a dragon inside Corona’s heart. She had the urge to march back over to the group herself and snatching every strand of hair out of Tess’s head. Wahida may have laid this trap, but, for the first time, she noticed the calculating look on her sister’s face.

Rowan said something to Lyfe, but Lyfe shook his head. Whatever excuse he was giving, her fiancé wasn’t trying to hear it. The men went back and forth, and then Tess and her parents got in on it until Lyfe’s shoulders slumped and he nodded.

Rowan lit up and then gave Lyfe a one arm hug before spinning around and spotting her across the room. “Honey, come here.” He waved her over.

Corona groaned and, for a brief second, she thought about pretending not to have seen him. But with the whole family looking and staring her dead in the face, she tried to inject steel into her spine and give herself a pep talk as she made her way back through the crowd. As she got closer, she noticed that Lyfe averted his eyes and gritted his teeth.

“We have a great idea to swing by you, honey,”

Rowan said, slipping an arm around her waist and planting a kiss against the side of her head.

Lyfe finally glanced over.

“Is that right?” she said, leaning into Rowan for support.

Rowan nodded and continued, “What do you think about us being in each other’s weddings?” he asked.

She blinked up at him.

“Tess was going to be your maid of honor, right? I figured Lyfe here can be my best man and then when they get married in January—”

“January?” Corona whipped her head toward her sister.

Tess shrugged. “What better way to start off a new year than walking down the aisle?”

Corona clenched her jaw while another image of her yanking her sister bald-headed flashed across her head. “Perfect,” Rowan said. “They will be in our wedding, and then we’ll be in theirs. What do you think?”

Corona’s skittish gaze made its way back to Lyfe before she pushed up another painful smile. “I guess you’re right. It’s perfect.”

“S
o you think that this Lyfe guy is your father?” Amanda Hogan asked, twisting up her face as she leaned over Melody’s shoulder.

“He just has to be,” Melody said, flopping back onto one of Amanda’s fluffy pillows. She clutched two of her mother’s diaries to her chest and smiled dreamily up at the ceiling. “I never knew that my mother had ever been in love like this before. It’s soooo … unlike her.”

“For real,” Carrie Jones said dismissively. “I’ve always thought that it was more appropriate for her to marry her job.”

Melody sat up and felt the need to come to her mother’s defense. “All right. That’s not fair. She’s not completely a workaholic. She never missed a recital or school play. And somehow she still manages to check my homework and watch my every move like a hawk.”

Amanda and Carrie laughed. “Still sore that you got
caught sneaking out of the house to see Robbie back in August?”