Gift Wrapped for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance (3 page)

An attractive receptionist
greeted her with a smile. “May I help you?”

“I’d like to see Chase Drummond,
please.” Maddie knew that it was unlikely he would see her without an
appointment, but she had to try.

“Is Mr. Drummond expecting you?”
The receptionist’s gaze darted to a young girl sitting in the reception area,
then came back to rest on Maddie.

“No, he isn’t.” She watched the
receptionist key in something on her computer. “My name is Maddie LaRocque. I
understand that Mr. Drummond handles rentals in the building. We met
yesterday.”

Was that a flicker of interest on
the receptionist’s face? Maddie wasn’t sure.

“Mr. Drummond is in a meeting
right now, but you’re welcome to wait if you wish.”

“Thank you, I think I will.”
Maddie walked over to the waiting area and sank down in one of the comfortable
chairs. The young girl looked up, and Maddie could tell the child was going to
be a beauty when she grew up. Coppery red hair hung down from a straight part,
and eyes the colour of caramel looked at her gravely.

The child closed the magazine she
had been reading, but Maddie noticed that she marked her place. “Are you
waiting too?” the girl asked.

“Yes. I suppose it was foolish to
show up without an appointment, but I thought I’d try.”

“He’s a very busy man.” The young
girl let out a resigned sigh. “He wasn’t expecting me either. There was a gas
leak at school, and they evacuated us.” She pulled out a cell phone and looked
at it. “I called my uncle, and he sent Declan to get me. We’re going to have
lunch together.”

“That should be fun, but you’ll
have a long wait.”

“I don’t mind. My uncle takes me
to the neatest places, and in the meantime, I can read my magazine.”

Maddie tilted her head. The girl
was reading
Marie Claire
. “You like fashion magazines?”

The child’s smile lit up the
reception area. “I read them every chance I get. There’s so much to learn if
I’m going to make it in the fashion industry.” She opened the magazine.

Maddie had to work to keep a
straight face. “I understand it’s a very competitive business. What part of it
interests you?”

“I’d like to get into design.”
She looked intently at an ad for a couture dress, and her small finger traced
the lines. “I want to design clothes that people can actually wear.”

“You mean like Donna Karan?”

“I wish.” The eyes that looked at
Maddie were surprisingly mature. “I’d love to be as good as her some day.”

“I think she’s fantastic.” Maddie
settled back, aware that the girl was studying her.

“I like your outfit.”

The remark made Maddie smile.
“Thank you. You know, my roommate is in the fashion business. She has a
silk-screening studio out by the airport. For the first few years, she
concentrated on producing fabrics, but this year she’s branched into designing
and has come up with a line of resort wear.” She glanced at her watch. “As a
matter of fact, she’s showing a few of her pieces at the monthly fashion show
at Draper’s. You know, the store just down the street.”

The young girl edged closer to
the edge of her seat. “Are you going?”

Maddie gave her a wry smile.
“Afraid not; I have some other business after this. But I saw the show last
month, and her stuff was really popular.”

“What’s her name?”

“Lily Hsu.”

“Lily Sue?”

“H-S-U.” Maddie corrected the
girl gently. “Her father was born in Taiwan.” She stuck out a hand. “My name is
Maddie, by the way.”

“I’m Annie.” The girl shook
hands. “Annie Campbell.”

“And Mr. Drummond is your uncle?”
This must be the ten-year-old Chase Drummond had mentioned last night. She’d
been more accurate than she realized when she’d said that ten was the new
thirty. This child was definitely mature beyond her years.

“Yes.” Annie sighed. “I wish he
would hurry up.”

A man came hurrying out from the
offices and spoke to the receptionist. “Marilyn, could you please get
maintenance up here? One of the faucets in the men’s rest room won’t turn off.”

“Right away.” The man walked away,
and the receptionist spoke into her mouthpiece, nodding as she listened to the
other side of the conversation.

Annie slid off her chair and
placed her magazine carefully on the coffee table. “I’m going to go to the
restroom,” she announced. Her fingers lingered on the magazine. “Don’t let
anyone take my magazine, okay?”

“I’ll guard it.” Maddie watched
the child walk down the hallway. Annie was so different from Allan’s son,
Connor. Whereas Connor’s dyslexia had caused him to be insecure and a bit
defensive, Annie was quite possibly the most self-possessed child she’d ever
met.

She picked up the magazine and was
starting to leaf through it when the elevator pinged. A man stepped out,
carrying a worn canvas tote bag, and suddenly all the oxygen was sucked from
the room. Either the accounting office had never needed a maintenance call or
she had missed it, because she certainly would have remembered this man. From
the scuffed work boots to his sandy hair, she took in every inch of him in a
few seconds and liked what she saw.

He strode confidently to the
reception desk and motioned toward the back. “Back there, right?” His voice
went perfectly with the rest of him. It was a bit raspy, as though he’d been too
long in the cold outside air, and yet she suspected that was his normal sound.
She wasn’t quite sure how a few words could unleash a flood of desire, but they
did. Maybe she’d been buttoned up too long, she thought, as he disappeared
through a set of doors she hadn’t noticed before.

Maddie stared after him for
several long seconds. It wasn’t possible to be attracted to a man this quickly.
She knew that, and yet the sight and sound of him was indelibly imprinted on
her brain. The long, lean legs encased in faded jeans that had seen better
days, the strong forearms sprinkled with blonde hair below the rolled-up
sleeves of a faded denim shirt. The one- or two-day old beard that gave him a
wild, edgy, sexy look. She was surprised that he was allowed to work here,
looking like that and yet, based on the self-assured way he carried himself,
the question of his shaving habits probably never entered the picture. What
would that beard feel like against her skin? Would it tickle as his mouth
claimed hers, or would it be rough, tormenting her sweetly as his lips trailed
down her body?

“Excuse me, Miss LaRocque?”

Startled, Maddie needed a moment
to regain her composure. The receptionist was looking at her oddly. “Mr.
Drummond’s secretary just called. Something’s come up, and he’s going to be at
least an hour longer, perhaps more. But he promises that he will meet with you
if you’re willing to wait.”

Maddie glanced at her watch. “I
appreciate that, thank you. In the meantime I have something to take care of in
the building, so I’ll go do that and then come back.”

Annie appeared as she was picking
up her bag, and the receptionist relayed a message from her uncle.

“Okay.” The girl seemed
accustomed to waiting. She walked over to Maddie and held up her iPhone. “I
Googled your friend’s fashion show.” She showed Maddie the screen. “Is that
her?”

Maddie looked at the familiar
face, framed by some of Lily’s most popular fabrics. “Yes, that’s Lily.”

Annie stared at the image on the
screen. “She’s beautiful.”

“Yes, she is. Listen, I have some
business a few floors down, but I’ll be back. See you later, okay?”

“Okay.” Annie settled in to wait.

* * *

Maddie was grateful that the
Human Resources department of CCA Accounting was separate from the general
offices. She had nothing against her co-workers, but there wasn’t much left to
say, and she wanted to pick up her cheque with the least possible fuss.

The company had generously paid
her until the end of this week plus the two weeks separation pay, as required
by provincial law. It was a bit more than she had expected; she tucked the
cheque into her purse and left with no hard feelings.

The waiting area was empty when
she returned to the floor housing Drummond Enterprises. Maybe Chase Drummond
had completed his business earlier than anticipated. Maddie went to the
reception desk and waited for Marilyn to complete a call.

“Do you know where Annie is?” she
asked.

The receptionist’s gaze went to
the chair Annie had occupied for the past hour. “No.” She tapped a pen against
her teeth as though that would jog her memory. “She went to the restroom, then
came back.” She looked up. “You were still here then, weren’t you?”

Maddie nodded.

“After that, I’m not sure.” She
looked around as though Annie might materialize out of thin air. “Mr. Drummond
is not going to be happy about this.”

Maddie looked at the coffee table
in the waiting area. “I think she’s gone out. Her magazine is gone, and she
seemed attached to it.”

The receptionist reached for the
phone but Maddie stalled her. “Just a moment. I think I might know where she
is.”

“Really?” Marilyn turned hopeful
eyes on her. “Where?”

“I think she may have gone to a
fashion show over at Draper’s. We were talking about it earlier.”

The receptionist looked blank. “A
fashion show?”

“Yes. Annie is fascinated with
the fashion business.” Maddie thought quickly and pulled out her cell phone.
“Give me a number where I can reach you. I’ll run down there now and look for
her. If she’s there, I’ll call you right away.”

The receptionist adjusted her
earpiece, her other hand hovering over the keypad that controlled the phones.
“I guess that would be okay. It will only be a couple of minutes, right?”

Maddie nodded. “Five minutes,
tops. It’s up to you of course, but I’m quite sure she’s there, and you won’t
have to bother Mr. Drummond.”

“Okay then, and thanks.” She was
visibly relieved. They exchanged cell phone numbers, and Maddie went back to
the bank of elevators and was soon en route to the ground floor.

“David.” She stopped for a moment
at the concierge desk. “Did you see Annie Drummond go out a while ago?” She
paused. “Sorry, I mean Annie Campbell.”

“Sure did.” He looked down at
some notes. “Fourteen minutes ago. Came out of the elevator and was out the
front door quick as you please. She’s a bright little thing, that one, but I
was wondering about her being alone, so I wrote down the time.”

“Did you notice which way she
went?”

“To the right is my guess. She
went out the set of doors to the right of the revolving door.”

“Thanks, David.” Maddie was
outside and headed for the crosswalk in seconds. Fortunately, she knew where to
go for the fashion show and took the escalator to the second floor.

Annie’s flame-coloured hair made
her easy to spot. She had managed to find a seat at the end of the second row,
and was gazing raptly at the fashions when Maddie arrived. The shows were
popular but informal, and Maddie grabbed a folding chair and placed it beside
the young girl.

Annie didn’t look surprised to
see her. “I think Lily is next,” she whispered, her voice tense and excited.
“Her clothes are second to last.”

“I’ll be right back. Hold my
chair, okay?” Maddie stood up and walked away from the spectators and the
music.

“Marilyn,” she said into the
phone. “She’s here at  Draper’s, she’s fine.”

“Thank you for doing this. I’ll
have to have a talk with Mr. Drummond about my responsibilities when Annie
comes to wait for him. She’s never run off before.”

Maddie thought that was an
excellent idea, but didn’t comment. “Listen, Marilyn. I thought I’d take Annie
for coffee when this is over.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “Okay, the coffee
is for me, but I thought we’d go to that little place next door. Annie can have
hot chocolate or something like that.”

“Sounds good. Thanks again,
Maddie.”

“You’re welcome.” Maddie looked
back at Annie, who was watching the models like a veteran of the runway shows.
“She’s really enjoying herself. I’ll see you later.”

She sat down beside Annie and
watched the models parading down the runway in Lily’s clothes. As usual, Lily’s
astute business sense had been right on when she decided to start manufacturing
resort wear. Her designs were bold and vibrant, and it was obvious that the
models enjoyed wearing them. Maddie had as much fun watching Annie’s reaction
as she did admiring the outfits.

The show drew to a close about
ten minutes later, and Lily came running out to see them, not much taller than
Annie even in extravagantly high heels.

“I didn’t expect to see you
here!” She gave Maddie a quick kiss and drew back to look at Annie. “Hello,”
she said, sticking out her hand. “I’m Lily Hsu.”

“I’m Annie Campbell. Your clothes
are amazing. I hope to be a designer one day.”

“Excellent.” She shot a curious
look at Maddie. “I thought I knew most of Maddie’s friends, but I haven’t heard
her mention you.”

“Oh, we just met.” Annie smiled
up at Maddie. “She was waiting to see my uncle.”

Lily’s eyebrows shot up. “Your
uncle?”

Maddie stepped in. “Chase
Drummond. Apparently I have to see him about renting the space, but he’s in a
long meeting, and we came over here to pass some time.”

Lily nodded as though this made sense.
“I see. And what are you going to do now?”

“I haven’t asked Annie yet, but I
thought we’d go to that little specialty coffee place next door. I didn’t have
any coffee this morning and I could really use some.” She looked down at the
young girl. “What do you say? Could you go for a hot chocolate?”

Annie nodded. “That would be
nice. I’d better call my uncle’s office and tell them where I am.”

Lily acknowledged a compliment
from one of the departing spectators then turned back to Maddie and Annie. “I
have a few things to do here, but I’ll try to join you. Don’t wait for me
though.” She paused and looked at Maddie. “If I get tied up, I’ll call you, and
if you leave, you call me, okay?”