Mistletoe Magic (20 page)

With that in mind, Rafe was in a peculiarly mulish mood by the time Melissa entered the toy department, vaguely staring at her crystal throne as though she was determined to ignore him. Even so, one glance at her absolute loveliness and he dropped his Hasselblad before he could fix it to the, tripod.

“Hey, watch it!”

A large hand caught the tumbling camera and held it out to Rafe, who immediately snatched it back. “Don’t worry, Hux, I wouldn’t bill the store for my own clumsiness.”

“Good, because we wouldn’t pay for it. Say, I heard you and Melissa broke up a few weeks ago. That right?”

Disliking the sparkle of interest in his friend’s green eyes, Rafe growled, “Louise talks too much.”

“You really let a honey get away, but I guess I understand it. Getting too serious, right? What man wants to tie himself down to just one sweet, loving woman when he can go out on the town with a different party girl every night of the week? And isn’t it great you don’t have to feel guilty? I mean, you don’t have to worry about her being lonely, because there are plenty of men who’d like to keep that little fairy happy.”

Rafe scowled in response to Hux’s smirk of satisfaction as the other man strolled off toward the fairy in question. Was that a cynic’s way of telling him he was a fool?

He glanced at Melissa, now only several yards from his reach. Small kids crowded around her and Hux. She was so enchantingly beautiful in her costume that he could almost believe she really was a fairy. Hadn’t she enchanted him over and over again? His heart ached fiercely without her in his life. What did she think about working with him under the circumstances?

What would it be like to take her in his arms again?

Would she melt into him if he did?

Did she still love him?

Taking a deep breath, he decided he wasn’t going to get a chance to find out, not here, at least. But perhaps he could persuade her to see him away from the store where they could try to mend their relationship.

Although she greeted the children crowding around her, Melissa was well aware of Rafe Damon’s magnetic presence, making it difficult for her to get into her character of Melisande, the fairy she’d chosen to play since her name was so similar. Fool that she was, she’d never thought it would be this difficult to be near Rafe and not be able to smile at him naturally.

“We’re going to have a photographer taking pictures today,” she told the children, “but we’ll try to ignore him, won’t we?”

“I’m gonna be a photographer when I grow up!” shouted a boy.

“Me too!” a girl added. “I wanna watch him!”

“He wants to take our pictures as if it was any other storytelling hour. If you all watch him, who’ll be able to help me talk about the story?”

“I will, Melisande!”

“I will!” exclaimed another child who shoved the first.

“Hey, kids, why don’t you all sit down quietly?” Hux asked. “I’m going to steal your fairy for a minute.”

Angry little faces turned to him and the kids’ disapproval was immediately apparent. “You can’t steal her. We won’t let you!”

“No fair!”

“We’ll protect you, Melisande.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Melissa assured them, trying not to grin when she noted Hux’s horrified expression. “I promise I’ll be right back so we can begin our story. Why don’t you try to guess what it will be about?” The challenge worked, appeasing the kids easily. Smiling at their excited murmurs, she followed Hux away from small ears.

“I’ve got to give you credit for being able to keep control over all those little devils. They’re enough to strike fear into a heart braver than mine!”

“If I didn’t know you better, I might believe you hated kids.”

A reluctant smile lit Hux’s face. “How do you know I don’t?”

“Hux is a big softie, but don’t tell anyone or you’ll get me into trouble for ruining his reputation.”

Rafe
. Melissa’s mouth went dry and she suddenly found it difficult to breathe normally as she finally faced him. “Hello, Rafe,” she murmured as his dark eyes appraised her.

“Good to see you, Melissa,” he replied before hooding his eyes, sheltering his thoughts.

“Now that the introductions are made, can we talk business?” Hux asked dryly. “I’ve got a gorgeous creature waiting for me downstairs and I don’t believe in letting a
good thing
get away.”

Why did he look from Rafe to her as though they should get some significance from that statement? Melissa wondered.

“I just wanted to tell you that this session is really important. I’ve talked to a friend at
People
and she said we might get a feature if she likes the pictures.” Hux glanced at his watch. “Got to get going. You two can continue without my help. I have confidence you’ll figure things out eventually.”

Melissa frowned as Hux strolled away, a satisfied expression on his handsome face. Unless she was crazy he’d just set them up for a personal confrontation in the middle of a work session. She glanced at Rafe uncertainly.

“Umm, is there anything we need to discuss?”

“You tell me.”

Melissa was sure he wasn’t thinking of business, but his guarded expression was disconcerting. Perhaps now was a good time to bring up the subject of remaining friends. They could do so in spite of their differences, couldn’t they? She couldn’t bear the thought of having to see him professionally from time to time, both of them acting like mere acquaintances.

“Well, after all the time we spent together over the past few months, I thought…it would be a shame to…umm, maybe we still could be friends.”

“Friends?” His vehemence startled Melissa, making her think he didn’t even want that close an association if she couldn’t live up to his standards. Glaring, he added, “You mean like you and Terry?”

She glared back at him. “Terry and I are very close.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Have you been seeing a lot of that twerp lately?”

“Twerp? Hey, wait a minute!”

But before she could work up steam, a small voice called, “Melisande?” A freckle-faced girl stood only a few feet away. “Can we have our story now?”

How could she have forgotten where she was? Melissa wondered, following the girl back to the others. After allowing a few of the children guesses as to what kind of a story she would tell, all of which were wrong, she began. Frustrated by the aborted argument she’d been about to enter in defense of her loyal friend, Melissa took pleasure in creating a story especially to irritate the rotten photographer who was presently absorbed in his equipment!

“Once upon a time, there was a bad-tempered ogre who didn’t have any friends because he chased people away if they weren’t exactly what he thought they should be.” Carefully watching for Rafe’s reaction, she went on. “Well, this terrible ogre gave little children everything they wanted. He stuffed them with candy and gave them all sorts of toys, but it wasn’t for their own good. Someday, he planned to stuff them in a pie and bake them!”

If his stormy expression were any indication, Rafe had gotten the message, Melissa thought, grinning with satisfaction as she continued.

Back in the dressing room, Melissa had some cause to regret letting Rafe Damon goad her as he had. But drat the man, why couldn’t he have acted civilized? Didn’t he want to be friends? And what about his attitude toward Terry? He’d seemed jealous, for goodness’ sake! Sinking down to the bench in front of her locker, Melissa wondered if that weren’t significant—did it mean he still cared? Oh, she hoped so, for even as she’d offered her friendship, she’d longed for so much more. How would she go through life without Rafe Damon’s love?

Remembering Clarence had told her it wasn’t fun to be alone because of a foolish mistake, she thought of calling Rafe and suggesting they try to work out their problems. Having had weeks to think about it, she suspected his views about maturity and responsibility grew out of his negative experiences with Nicole. She’d convince him she wasn’t at all like his flighty ex-wife.

And yet Melissa was uneasy about making the first move. After all, he let her walk out of his life without calling to apologize or trying to resolve things between them. Should she wait a while longer to see if he came around? She did have to find an apartment quickly. Perhaps she’d better concentrate on that first. With both her work situation and living arrangements taken care of, Rafe wouldn’t be able to criticize her lifestyle so easily.

Then they could deal with the kids—if Rafe were willing. If he agreed they could talk to the children together. Gretta wasn’t heartless, and Melissa didn’t think Hank was, either. The positive thoughts lifted her spirits higher than they’d been in weeks.

“Aw, Dad, do we have to go to the museum
and
basketball game with you? Why can’t you take someone your own age?” Hank complained with a sour expression. “How about Uncle Hux? Gretta’s invited to a birthday party. And Pete’s got this neat new war game he wants me to try out with him.”

“I thought you liked doing things with me.”

“I do. But we haven’t seen our friends for a long time.”

“You see them every day at school.”

“Dad! That’s not the same thing.”

Trying not to be too relieved that he didn’t have to spend another entire Saturday escorting his kids around the city, Rafe said, “All right, fine. I won’t make any plans for this weekend then.”

He scowled as his son’s face lit sunnily and Hank ran back up to the third floor yelling, “Hey, Gretta, we don’t have to go to the museum on Saturday!” The kids didn’t have to be that thrilled they wouldn’t have to spend their free time with him!

Shaking his head, Rafe picked up his newspaper from its resting place on the plush sofa, but the words blurred together before his tired eyes, making reading impossible. How could his life have gone so sour in a few short weeks? He couldn’t be less happy. Not only did he not have the woman he loved in his arms because the kids came between them—due to her immaturity, he reminded himself—but Hank and Gretta were sick of his outings. Now that they’d secured his complete attention, they’d rather be with their friends than with their dad.

He was still staring at the newspaper when Louise came up the stairs humming a cheerful tune. “I’m going to pack lunches for the children, dear. Want a snack?”

“I’m not hungry,” Rafe returned grumpily.

Louise approached him, looking at the paper in his hands curiously. “Instead of trying to read an upside-clown newspaper, why don’t you call Melissa and apologize?” She ignored Rafe’s glare as he realized his mistake and quickly refolded the paper.

“I have no reason to apologize.”

Crossing her arms, she planted herself firmly in front of him. “I know I promised I’d mind my own business on Christmas Eve, but I can’t stand by and watch you wallow in your misery. Call me interfering if you want, but I
am
your mother!”

“I love Melissa, Louise, but you know as well as I do that it will never work out between us. I can’t help it if I’m mature and responsible and she’s not.”

“You and your phobia for responsibility! That girl has more than one job to survive, not because she’s irresponsible! Unless I’m crazy, you fell for Melissa because of her personality, her charm, and her loving nature, and now you want her to change.”

“Our lifestyles are too different to—”

“They’re not that different. You have more than enough money, she doesn’t. That’s the biggest difference. If only you hadn’t married so young you wouldn’t be an old dunderhead before your time.” Again Rafe glared and opened his mouth to protest. “Don’t give me that look!” she commanded before he could utter a word. “It’s the truth! You assumed too much responsibility too soon. You even started a family before you were dry behind the ears—merely because you couldn’t control your raging hormones.”

“Louise!” Rafe said indignantly, trying to rise.

“Don’t Louise me, Raphael Damon!” She pushed him back down. “You hear me out. God knows I love those kids as much as you do. But Melissa, with her unbiased vision as an outsider, recognized the truth—we’ve spoiled them badly, not only with presents. Now you’ve allowed them to blackmail you emotionally to the point of cutting the woman you love out of your life. Where does that leave you? They’ll have their own lives and loves in a few years. Whom will you have?”

“All right! I love Melissa, and sometimes I think I’ll go crazy without her. But love is a damn fairy tale, not reality. I know what’s best for my kids,” Rafe told his mother belligerently.

“No, I don’t think you do. They need discipline as well as love, Rafe. They need to learn the world doesn’t revolve around their every whim, because it doesn’t. It’s up to you to teach them they can’t have everything they want—like you and their mother together. Nicole plans to marry Simon this summer, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing for them. Having more than two parents can be a positive experience if you help them see it that way. It’s time Hank and Gretta accepted the fact that you need someone to love in addition to them. You need Melissa.”

“Are you through?” Too angry at himself to admit his mother was right—hadn’t he been coming to the same conclusions, using Melissa’s supposed immaturity as an excuse to avoid dealing with the results of overindulging his kids?—Rafe stalked by his mother. “I’m going for a walk.”