A Christmas to Believe In (45 page)

waiting to happen.

She heard one of them come closer.

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"Know s'it's here somewhere." Alex shuffled things around

on her desk.

"S'not here. Wait, wait, s'it's in my office."

She held her breath until little spirals of color and black

dots danced in front of her eyes. Zoe squeezed her eyes shut,

but it didn't stop her internal light show.

"Zoe?"

Busted. She let out the breath with a whoosh. "Yes?"

Alex came around the desk and perched his fine butt on

the edge. Tommy couldn't resist following Alex.

"Whatcha doing, Zoe Pie?" Tommy smirked.

Zoe ground her teeth. She disliked Tommy as much as she

loved Alex. How could he have such a stupid and offensive

friend? Being rich shouldn't give him a license to be an

asshole. In his mind, however, it did.

Tommy came up with the vile nickname. Alex told her he

liked it but hadn't known the real reason behind it. The nasty

barb resulted when Tommy once found her face-first in a

large piece of French Silk pie. Sending flowers to Alex's flavor

of the month always took its toll.

"Leaving." She threw the trash into the waste can and

picked up her purse. Her position made it hard to look

dignified, but she managed to stand. Her hands brushed

down over her loose brown slacks. "For good."

Alex jumped to his feet and wobbled. "Whoa, head rush."

He steadied himself by using Zoe's shoulder. His hand sent

little shivers of delight through Zoe's body, the tingling

sensation landing square between her legs. She closed her

eyes, trying to resist the pull Alex had on her. Maybe she

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should seek professional help. That's it, she planned to thumb

through the Yellow Pages as soon as she got home.

"Wait, wait, what do you mean?" Alex frowned. "You can't

leave me."

"Check your interoffice memo. Not only am I leaving the

firm, you, and your charming associates..." She gave Tommy

the stink-eye. "I'm moving to St. Louis. I've got a job there

starting in the middle of January and a new apartment."

"No, no, no." Alex waved his hand around as if trying to

wipe away her words. "I won't allow it." An edge of panic

crept into his voice. His eyes went a bit wild. "Who's going to

take care of me? You're my friend, why didn't you tell me any

of this?"

Zoe heaved a sigh. "It's already done, Alex. Your new

bride will take care of the house. A new PA as well. Her name

is Virginia Hamilton. She's very sweet, very efficient. Be nice

to her."

Tommy sniggered. "Wait, why don't you marry Zoe, win

the bet, and that way, she can't leave."

It took a millisecond for Tommy's suggestion to hit Alex's

alcohol-soaked brain. "S'it's perfect. You'll be my perfect bride

for Christmas."

"You're crazy and drunk." Zoe tried to go around Alex.

"No, Bianca dumped me, and we're pals, Zoe. Come on,

let's do it. The three of us," he nodded toward Tommy, "can

go to Vegas. We'll get married and have a great time. What

do you say? Hmmm?"

The temptation to say yes beckoned to her. She couldn't

say yes, could she? Could she? Maybe this was her chance. It

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might be so wrong, on so many levels... Screw it. She'd grab

for the golden ring while she could. She could change Alex. It

might take more than a few prayers in the process, but given

enough love, he'd come around.

Alex needed someone to guide him. That someone was

her.

"All right." She hitched her purse high on her shoulder.

"Let's go to Vegas."

[Back to Table of Contents]

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A Christmas to Believe In

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Want more of the King brothers?

Turn the page for a sneak peek

at Heath King's exciting Christmas return

in the second
Three Kings
novel from

romantic suspense author, Alicia Dean

* * * *

The Three Kings, Book II

* * * *

[Back to Table of Contents]

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A Christmas to Believe In

by Claire Ashgrove

Given a choice between smearing honey all over his naked

body and leaping into a bear cave, or returning to Kansas City

for Christmas, Heath King would have stripped off his clothes,

popped the top from a bottle of Cloverleaf, and asked for

directions to the nearest den.

But no one had given him a choice, so here he was, driving

along I-35, sixty miles north of Wichita, his dread ratcheting

up with every click of the odometer.

He looked forward to seeing his mother and his brothers,

Alex and Clint, but the memories he left behind were still too

raw. The last two trips he'd made to Kansas City had been for

funerals, his father's this past July, and his best friend's in

January.

His friend, Burke, was looking out for Heath's security firm

during his absence, so at least he didn't have to worry about

that. No, it wasn't concern over his company that had Heath's

stomach tied in a knot the size of Texas. It was the news he'd

received nearly two weeks ago.

Heath, we have a sister.

Just like Alex, to come right out with it, no softening the

blow.

Dad conceived a child with another woman. When he was

in Viet Nam.

Translated: the father Heath grew up believing could move

mountains, could part the sea, would be the one person he

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could always trust, the one he learned his values from, was a

cheating liar.

Loyalty schmoyalty.

What really pissed him off was that his mother seemed

okay with it. Well, maybe not okay, but accepting, forgiving.

She actually wanted to meet this woman, this mascot of

betrayal.

He'd done a background check on his
sister
, Keeley

Jacobs, and he didn't mind admitting he'd hoped to dig up

some dirt. His quest had been unsuccessful. She was either

on the up and up or good enough not to get caught.

He tilted a Pez dispenser to his lips and tapped a couple of

candies into his mouth. Out the windshield ahead, a few

snowflakes fell. It hadn't snowed at home in Oklahoma City

yet, but it looked like there was a good chance they'd have a

white Christmas in Kansas City, something he used to enjoy

and hope for. Now he could care less. He just wanted it to be

over.

The radio was dialed to a country station, the volume low,

but Heath still heard the start of "Blue Christmas" and

punched the power button to Off. He might have suffered

through the song in spite of his uncharacteristic Grinch-ness

had it been the version by Elvis. This one was by the

Chipmunks, and their squeaky voices grated on his already

frayed nerves.

His cell phone rang, and he checked the display, managing

a smile as he answered. "Hey, Jesse, what's up?"

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Jesse was a childhood friend who'd grown up with the King

brothers. She was more of a sister than some stranger could

ever be.

"Just checking on you," Jesse said. "How's the trip going?"

"The usual, long and uneventful, just enjoying the

spectacular scenery."

She laughed. "Yeah, the plains of Kansas are breathtaking.

What do you have planned for tomorrow night?"

Heath's only plan for the entire visit was to get through

each excruciating moment as painlessly as possible. "Nothing

yet."

"Great. Wasn't sure if you knew yet, but they're holding a

dedication ceremony tomorrow night to honor Rudy Morgan. I

knew you'd want to be there."

Did you now? Well, what would you think if I said it's the

last place I wanted to be?
The last place and the first,

actually, which he had to admit, was pretty fucked up.

"Heath, you there?"

"Yeah. I'm here. Thanks for letting me know."

"So you'll go?"

"I'll try."

"I'm sure Nicolette would love to see you."

And there it was. Nicolette. The person he both dreaded

and desired to see more than anyone else in the world. His

best friend's widow. The woman Heath had been in love with

since college.

He tried not to reveal his turmoil as he said, "Yeah. It'd be

great to see her."

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"I'll let you go so you can get your attention back to your

driving. See you when you get here."

He flipped his phone closed and turned the radio back on.

He felt marginally better after Jesse's call. Not because of the

news she'd delivered, not by a long shot, but somehow, just

hearing the voice of his childhood pal brought a small

measure of peace.

Now that the call had ended, though, the peace filtered

away like smoke in a wind gust. The only thing left was

silence. Unwelcome silence. Too much temptation to let his

thoughts roam...to Nicolette and to the new sister he hadn't

known about and didn't want.

The DJ finally played an Elvis Christmas song, but it was

"I'll be Home for Christmas" and again, Heath shut off the

radio.

He'd be home for Christmas all right, but
home
would

never be the same again.

Nicolette Morgan peered out the window, scanning the

street. She couldn't see the car now, but it had been behind

her when she pulled into the neighborhood. The dark blue

Crown Victoria had shadowed her, off and on, for nearly a

year.

The car didn't belong to her blackmailer. For one, his calls

hadn't started until August, four months ago. Besides, as long

as she did as he asked, as long as she made the payments on

time, he had no reason to follow her.

No. The tail she'd glimpsed on occasion had to be the

police. They wanted to monitor her activities and see if they

could gather enough evidence to file charges. And, even

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though they hadn't bothered her much since their initial

questioning almost a year ago, she was still the prime suspect

in her husband's murder.

The thought seemed like such an abomination, especially

here, at Louisa's home where Rudy had grown up. Memories

of Rudy were everywhere in this house. Rudy as a smiling

infant...Rudy in a peewee football uniform...Rudy graduating

from high school...Rudy and Nicolette on their wedding day,

faces smiling with an assurance that their life together would

be perfect, that nothing could touch them. Boy, what naive

fools they'd been.

Leaving her post at the window, Nicolette retrieved the

watering can from the utility room. After filling the can, she

made her way through the house, watering plant after plant

until she worked her way into the living room where Louisa

sat glued to the TV screen.

Nicolette's heart warmed at the sight of the sweet old lady.

Louisa was still lovely, even though the ravages of severe

osteoporosis had taken a toll. The disease had engraved deep

wrinkles in her once flawless skin and caused her stately

bearing to bow until she nearly doubled over. Most of Louisa's

waking hours were spent in a wheelchair.

Louisa still had a sparkle in her eye, still had a zest for life,

in spite of her condition and the fact that she'd lost her only

child less than a year ago. Which brought up a question

Nicolette hadn't really thought about before. Was Louisa still

considered her mother-in-law, when the connection, the tie

that bound them, the son, was no longer living?

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All that mattered was what they felt in their hearts, and

Louisa loved Nicolette as much as Nicolette loved her. They

would always be family. However, being around Louisa was

bittersweet, not only because of losing Rudy, but it reminded

Nicolette of the other things she didn't have.

Her own mother died when she was a teen. She hadn't

seen her father since she'd gone off to college. She had no

idea if he even lived in the same town. At the time, she'd

wanted to forget about everything that happened, forget

about the hell her family went through. Now she would give

anything to have her family again, even if her father was all

that was left of it.

Nicolette smiled, infusing her voice with mock irritation. "If

you had any more plants, your house could be declared a

rainforest."

Louisa spoke without pulling her attention away from the

episode of Dr. Lawrence, a talk show host/psychologist who

Louisa watched religiously. "Since you kill a few of them a

week, I thought I should keep back-ups on hand."