The Billionaire's Christmas Proposal (Billionaire For Christmas #2) Read online

  “Looking for something?”

  Allison jumped, the paper falling onto the desk, and looked in the direction of the voice. Ethan, standing in the doorway, sweat clinging to every perfectly sculpted muscle. She quickly wiped the tears off her face and grabbed the paper, dropping it into the box, fumbling to shut the lid. She looked over at him, very aware that he hadn’t made a sound but was watching her.

  He was holding a towel, wearing only his running shorts, still breathing deeply from his run. After her sad lack of discipline in staring at his body, she finally raised her eyes to his and they were devoid of the usual sparkle. Or heat. Instead, they were sharp, accusing, not an ounce of warmth in their brown depths, or in him as he strode across the room, stopping inches from her. She tried to keep her eyes on his, but she couldn’t take the anger there. She focused on a small freckle on the top of his well-developed shoulder.

  “What are you doing?”

  She cleared her throat, trying to stop the panic that was filling her. Panic at being caught? This wasn’t normal panic. This was…

  “I took you and your sister in, Allie, with only one stipulation: stay out of my office.”

  “I know, I don’t know what…” Her voice trailed off because the only answer she had would have been pure crap. She had been nosy, and then curious, and then concerned. None of those would have been the right answer. Under normal circumstances she would be able to talk her way out of this, but nothing was normal about what she’d uncovered.

  She glanced at his face, and her stomach stirred with dread. His mouth was drawn into a tight line, and he looked as pissed as she’d ever seen him. Ethan was never angry. He never lost his cool. Except now. Her gaze went to his hair, thick and mussed up. Then she thought of the picture, the little boy without hair, and she wanted to cry. He must have sensed her sympathy because his jaw began that clench that indicated he was still pissed.

  “It’s, um, a really nice office.”

  His gaze went to the picture on the desk, and she cursed herself for walking around with it. “I, um, just, I was looking and this kind of fell into my hands.” She tried to back up a step from him and ended up bumping into his desk, and then sitting on a stapler. She yelped and jumped up, only to crash into him. Good grief. Then she made the mistake of placing her hands on his hot, tight skin. He was strong. He was healthy. Ethan was fine.

  “You should probably go shower and, uh, I’ll just—”

  “Not be nosy?”

  She frowned. “I get you’re mad at me, but I wasn’t nosy, I was concerned for you.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded, not getting why he was still engaging her in conversation when it was clear he was so royally pissed at her. She tried to concentrate on his eyes and not the body that was almost naked in front of her. “Yes, you’re a good friend.”

  “Ah, yes, because we can never be anything more.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Really, ’cause I thought you said that. On at least three different occasions.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you’re setting me up here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t want anything to do with me. If you did, you wouldn’t be standing here being all scary,” she said, waving her hand around.

  He ran his hands down his face, moving away from her. “Just do me a favor and get out, okay?”

  She winced at the carefully controlled rage in his deep voice and nodded repeatedly, walking across the room. She stopped at the doorway and turned around to look at him. His head was downturned, staring at his desk calendar. His broad shoulders looked stiff, the muscles in his arms taut. She should say something, anything to lighten the mood. Or apologize. “I’m sorry,” she said. And then waited. But painfully awkward seconds went by and he said nothing, so she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

  She had blown it, had completely invaded his privacy. They probably never should have stayed with him. It was time for them to leave. This was the second blow of the day, Ethan shutting her down, making it clear that they were nothing more than casual friends. She couldn’t even fault him, but she could leave.

  He was the worst kind of asshole. He was the kind that made no sense. He wanted Allie—had wanted her for years—and then he’d treated her like shit. But he couldn’t deal. He could not deal with the idea of sharing his past. He heard people in real relationships did that kind of thing. Allie would expect that kind of thing. The look in her eyes replayed in his mind all afternoon. She had been all soft and compassionate, and maybe at one time in his life he would have welcomed that, but not now. But where the hell did that leave them? Things were about to get worse, too, because he knew he was going to cancel on tonight’s plans with her.

  Right now he’d drown his issues in scotch with his friends. They were sitting in a booth in one of the city’s restaurants. He hadn’t been there before, but they’d decided to meet there because it was beside the hotel Hayden was staying in. Dark, leather booths lined the perimeter. The lighting was dim, the music was soft, but the people were loud. White Christmas lights were strung across the front windows and large, dark green, square wreaths were hung throughout. Allie would have loved it.

  “So, you want a condo proposal like yesterday?”

  Ethan tried to smile at his old friend, Hayden Brooks, but he was going through the motions. He was happy to catch up with his old university buddy, but he couldn’t go through with this project without destroying Allie. Yeah, he wanted to beat his brother, but now there was the problem of Allie and her shelter. He was a damn liar. Promising her that he’d help her save it and then going behind her back to bid on the property. “We don’t own it yet. I need a conceptual project to present to my father. I’m going up against my brother.”

  Hayden smiled and then signaled the waitress for a refill of his scotch. “Nothing like strong familial bonds.”

  “Yeah. Shackles is more like it.”

  “Okay, well, I already have the details you sent over. I’ll get a team on this right away. Do you have a vision?”

  “No,” he said flatly. The only vision he had was of Allie, telling him he was an asshole.

  “I hate to ask personal questions when I’d really rather be talking about business, but you don’t exactly sound like you’re excited about this possible acquisition.”

  He leaned back in his chair, absently watching as the waitress brought his friend another drink. “I’m not. The circumstances changed, and now the last thing I want is to buy this land and build the damn condo.”

  Hayden leaned forward, lowering his voice in the loud restaurant. “Why?”

  He scrubbed a hand down his face. “There’s a shelter for teens in there right now. The landlord wants to sell out, knowing he’d make a helluva lot more to sell to a builder instead of collecting rent from them. I feel…”

  “Like an asswipe for evicting kids out of a shelter?”

  Ethan frowned. He didn’t remember Hayden being this irritating. “Yeah, something like that. When are you going back to Vancouver?”

  His friend laughed, except it sounded forced. That’s when he noticed the guy had dark circles under his eyes, and he didn’t look like his usual kick-ass self. He looked…stressed out or something. “I don’t know. Right now I’m up shit creek, actually.”

  Ethan motioned to the waitress for a refill. “What’s wrong?”

  Hayden let out a groan and then rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re not going to believe it, but I hooked up with some random woman one night. It was stupid and not something I’m in the habit—”

  “You don’t need to justify it.”

  “I can’t believe what an idiot I was. Anyway, a couple of months ago she appears on my doorstep, out of the blue. I didn’t even recognize her, out of sight out of mind, you know—it was years ago. Anyway, she says I got her pregnant.”

  Ethan tried his best not to choke on his glass of scotch. He didn’t say anything
as his friend sat there looking like his entire world was crashing down around him. He guessed it probably was. Maybe he’d be looking as shitty as Hayden in a few weeks if he didn’t find a way out of this mess and Allie found out what he’d been up to.

  “And what happened?”

  Hayden rubbed his eye sockets with the back of his hands. Jeez, this guy was in bad shape. “She said she gave the baby up for adoption.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah, and then she tried to blackmail me.”

  “What the hell?”

  “The thought that I have a kid somewhere who thinks they have no parent, or no parent that wants them…shit…” Hayden choked for a moment then downed the rest of his scotch. Hell. He didn’t know what to say so he ordered them another round.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “That’s why I’m in Toronto. I’ve been working with a PI who’s tracked her down to some little town called Still Harbor.”

  “I don’t know what to say, man. I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah. It…the baby…well, kid now, is a little girl. I might have a little girl out there.”

  “When do you go?”

  Hayden clamped his hands around his empty glass, staring at the ice. “Tomorrow.”

  “Well…good luck.”

  Hayden shrugged his shoulders, slammed his glass down a little hard, and then looked up at him, his features looking more normal. “Thanks, but never mind all that, we’ll get this proposal done for you. My team is on it.” He glanced down at his watch. “Isn’t Jackson supposed to be here?”

  “Speak of the devil,” Ethan said, just as Jackson joined them. He slid into the booth beside Hayden. After they’d exchanged the appropriate back slaps and greetings, they looked over the menu.

  “Hell, Jackson, why do you look so happy?”

  Jackson gave one of those irritating grins he’d seemed to sport ever since getting married. “Because I am happy.”

  “This is a far cry from the jerk I remember from university.”

  Ethan threw back his head and laughed.

  “That’s funny, very funny. So why do you look like hell?” Jackson said, obviously just noticing how crappy their friend looked.

  Hayden’s face fell. “I can’t talk about it again.”

  Ethan filled him in. “Some random chick had his baby, put it up for adoption, and is now blackmailing him.”

  Jackson gave a low whistle. “Hell.”

  “Thanks. I’m living it right now.”

  “And what’s up with you? I leave town for two weeks and suddenly you look like the grim reaper?”

  Ethan scowled at his friend. “Why are you even in town?”

  “We’re leaving again in the morning. Em has an ear infection, and I didn’t trust those country doctors, so we decided to bring her in to the city.”

  “She feeling better?”

  Jackson nodded. “Are Allie and her sister driving you insane?”

  Yes. They were. Except he liked the insanity. He liked having Allie in his house…and Dani…and even Hook. But what he liked even more was how close he was to Allie now. Well, was. Before he shut her down.

  “Or is it Hook, is he driving you nuts? Charlie doesn’t like Hook.”

  Hayden scowled at Jackson. “Hell, man. Are you actually discussing two dogs?”

  Thank God Hayden wasn’t married and could relate to the insanity that was now his best friend. He was about to agree when he caught sight of a hideous figure rounding the corner and walking toward their booth. “Shit,” he said under his breath, “my brother is here.” Seriously, a city of millions and he had to run into him?

  Carson pulled up to their table like a slimy salesman. “Hello, gentlemen.”

  His friends tried to give his brother a civil welcome. “Carson.”

  “Ethan, I’m surprised to see you out tonight.”

  Ethan let out a ragged sigh. He didn’t have time for this tonight. He took Jackson’s full glass of scotch and took a long drink. His friend didn’t even complain. “Why are you surprised?”

  “Well, it’s just that Mom was talking the other day—”

  “I don’t think Jackson and Hayden want to hear about our family business.”

  “Speaking of family business, how’s that proposal coming along? Dad was asking about it the other day.”

  “Can’t wait to do the presentation,” Hayden interjected. He gave Carson one of his infamous, nasty smiles that had the ability to send chills down a person’s spine. “How do you like the hotel?”

  Ethan paused, his glass on his way to his lips, watching Carson squirm.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I could have sworn I saw you checking in just as I was leaving.”

  God, he loved his friends.

  His brother’s smile dipped a notch. “Right. Well, good to see you.”

  “I think your wife’s leaving with another guy,” Jackson said, tilting his head in the direction of the door.

  His brother ran off, and the three of them laughed. His phone beeped, and he glanced at the text message. Running late. Wait for me. Ethan cursed and looked up at his friends.

  “Looks like Nick is running late. Settle in.”

  They motioned to the bartender and Ethan knew he had to call Allie, if she’d even pick up the phone. He had to cancel on her.

  Chapter Six

  Ethan entered his condo, not really knowing what to expect. Hook came running up to him; at least the dog still liked him. It wasn’t the dog he was worried about, though.

  He hung his coat up and loosened his tie, noticing with a frown how quiet it was in the place. Had Allie finished wrapping everything already? And usually Dani made a racket. He walked down the hallway and stopped. He’d been planning on going into the living room, but a trail of wrapping paper led down his corridor.

  He followed it and stopped at the threshold of his bedroom door. This was a sight he hadn’t expected: Allie was sprawled out on his bed, sort of like a starfish. She was surrounded by gift wrap and ribbons. And wasn’t he an ass? He was supposed to help her wrap all the presents for the kids, but instead he was plotting to get rid of her beloved shelter and obtain his father’s company.

  She gave a little moan and turned on her back, crinkling Grinch gift wrap with the movement. Amazingly, guilt didn’t prevent him from admiring the woman in his bed, the only woman he’d wanted in his bed in a long, long time. Her hair was all splayed across his pillow and a few strands on her face. Her baggy reindeer bottoms hid what he knew to be an exceptional pair of legs, but her tank top revealed full breasts and a flat stomach. He ran his hands through his hair. He should leave the room, his room, which made him wonder what she was doing in here anyway, not that he was complaining.

  His gaze went to his nightstand—there was a bottle of rum and a carton of organic eggnog. He smiled, and then felt guilty again. He should have been with her. She shouldn’t have been wrapping presents and drinking spiked eggnog by herself.

  He sat on the bed beside her. He probably should have tried to wake her and apologize, but instead he enjoyed looking at her for a moment. He’d always had an idea of the kind of person Allie was, had always been attracted to her. But living with her and really knowing her only made him want her more and want to know every little thing about her.

  He lay down beside her, moving a clump of hair off her face. “Allie, it’s Ethan.”

  She frowned but didn’t open her eyes. She was probably still pissed at him.

  “I’m sorry, Allie.” One eye opened, looked at him, and then shut again. He smiled. “Allie, about what happened earlier…”

  She waved a hand but ended up whacking him in the face. That got her attention, and she propped herself up on her elbows, her shirt stretching tautly over her breasts, which happened to look as though they would spill out of her bra at any moment. God. That was his punishment for the condo. “Sorry,” she whispered, her voice husky and her words slurred. Great. Not the comb
ination he was looking for.

  “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I’m not used to sharing.”

  “It’s okay, you won’t have to anymore,” she said in some sort of sexy-yet-inebriated slur.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think we’ll crash at Jackson and Hannah’s for a week, and by then I’ll be able to find us a new apartment.”

  His gut turned, and he looked at the only woman he’d truly wanted and felt like shit. He was driving her out. “Allie—”

  She did the arm wave again, and this time he ducked in time. “No, no, I totally imposed. It’s okay, I make it a policy to always have a plan B. Seriously, what was I thinking? Me, a teenager, and a disabled dog.”

  “I love having you guys here.” She shook her head, and for a second he thought he saw tears. Hell no, he was going to make her cry? “Allie, sweetheart, trust me, you don’t want to stay with Jackson and Hannah. They have kids. You know what people with kids are like. They go to bed early, their kids wake up in the middle of the night with runny noses and ear infections, and they invite people over for brunch instead of dinner.”

  That earned him an adorable half-smile. “You’re very charming. Have I ever told you that?” she asked in that throaty voice. Her arm went up and for a second it looked as though she was going to touch his face.

  He stilled. “How much did you have to drink?”

  “I used a measuring cup. I’m not usually a drinker, so it doesn’t take much. But I’m totally not drunk or anything. That being said, I’m finding myself desperately needing to touch your face, Ethan,” she whispered. He sat there as her arm waved slightly but then found its way to his face. Her hand clutched his cheek. He held it there, because he wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold on, and he was sure he didn’t want her to let go. But before he did what he’d wanted to the moment he met her, he needed to know just how drunk she was. “Also, I need to tell you that I think you’re really hot in this get-up.”