The Cinderella Deal (22 page)

“It’s Christmas,” she said, and he laughed and said, “It sure is.” He rolled away a little and pulled her onto her back, and he was beautiful in the morning sunlight.

He ran his hand up to her neck to cradle her face, and then he kissed her. “Merry Christmas, Daisy Blaise.”

Daisy snuggled against him, resting her cheek on his chest, still amazed that she finally had him naked in bed with her. “It’s so warm with you,” she said, and he said, “That’s you. It’s always warm wherever you are.”

“No.” Daisy raised herself up a little on one elbow so she was nose to nose with him. “I was really cold without you. You heat things up considerably.” She kissed him on the nose, and then on the lips, and then started down his neck. After months of wanting him, she wasn’t going to waste a minute.

“Your Christmas present’s under the tree,” Linc said, and his voice as breathless but happy. “You keep this up, you won’t get it for hours.”

Daisy stopped and grinned up at him, her chin resting on his stomach. “You’re right.” She rolled out of bed and headed for the stairs.
I’ll ambush him under the tree.

“Hey,” he said and reached for her, but she grabbed her lace robe and ran downstairs.

Linc grabbed a condom from the bedside table and went downstairs to seduce his wife. He found her cross-legged in front of the tree. Her warm skin showed through the lace of her robe and he wanted her; it was a very familiar, frustrating ache, and he’d automatically begun to fight it when he realized that he didn’t have to, that he had her, she was his, and if he went up and put his arms around her, she’d melt into him and they’d make love, and he’d never be cold again. He felt amazed and relieved and terrified and turned on all at the same time, and when he started to go dizzy, he took a deep breath and sat down beside her.

She was trying to rattle a very small package, but when he sat beside her, she stopped and tore off the wrappings. Inside were earings he’d sent for from the jewelry store in Pennsylvania, pearl and sapphire daisy earrings quivering on almost invisible gold wires, and he watched her face light up, and thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Oh, Linc, they match my ring,” she said, and turned to smile at him and took his breath away.

“I thought they’d be pretty against your hair.” He touched one of her springy curls where it lay against her robe, and then let his hand do what it had wanted to do a thousand times since he’d met her, thread itself through her hair and pull her head back. Her lips parted as she felt the tug, and she let her head fall back against his hand and gave herself up to him, and he kissed her, slipping his tongue into the sweetness of her mouth and letting himself melt into her.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth, and then she smiled. “Wait, I have to try these on.” She stood and went to the hall mirror and put the earrings on, and he felt bereft, watching her touch them with her fingertip to see them sparkle as they moved, so far away from him. “They’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever owned,” she called back to him, “next to my ring, of course.”

He followed her and put his arms around her from behind, feeling his throat catch as she relaxed into him.

He looked at her in the mirror; she was fresh and glowing, her eyes huge and dark. “You’re so beautiful.”

“That’s contentment.” Daisy laughed, and Linc felt her laughter against his body. “Hey,” she said, and tried to move away. “There was another box under there for me in your writing. Let go.”

“That’s nothing.” He felt embarrassed and held her tighter. “Really nothing.”

“Ha.” She squirmed out of his arms and went back to the tree, and he followed her again, feeling stupid because of the second present.

It was just a salt dough angel, except not very well made because he’d had to do it himself, clumsily topping it with curly dark hair and putting a paintbrush in its hand, dressing it in a yellow dress that went almost to its ankles. It looked stupid when she’d unwrapped it and sat holding it, not saying anything. “You didn’t make one for yourself.” Linc felt awkward. “It’s such a dumb gift, but I felt bad that you didn’t have one and there was some dough stuff left over after the kids left.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, and when he looked at her, she was crying, and he didn’t know what to do. She took a hook from the tree and hung the angel next to the Linc ornament. “This is my best Christmas ever,” she told him, and then she hid her face against his chest. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he just held her, and when she finally lifted her face to his, and he kissed her, she kissed him back with such passion and love that he lost his breath. She pulled him down underneath the tree, and the smell of the evergreen mingled with the perfume of her hair, and he barely remembered to wait until he’d pulled the condom from his robe pocket before he gave himself up to her and she loved him until he lost his mind. When he had his breath back, he laughed into her neck because he was so happy and so much in love with her.

“Hey,” she whispered, her voice thick with satisfaction. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” He kissed her hard, and then pulled her over on top of him so that his weight was off her, wincing as he felt the hard, cold floor under him. “We have two beds upstairs. We really should use them sometime. Not that I’m complaining, but these damn wood floors are hell on my knees.” He held her close, balanced on top of him, kneading his fingers into the lace on her back, and he tried to be nonchalant about the fact that he couldn’t bear to let her go.

“Poor baby.” Daisy flicked her tongue over his lips. She stretched lazily on top of him and then looked up and froze. “Oh, no.”

“What’s wrong?” He spilled her off him as he rolled to see what she was looking at, but he kept his arms around her to hold her close.

Jupiter was sitting in the doorway to the hall, staring at them with his one good eye, his tongue lolling out of the toothless side of his mouth. While they watched, his bad hip gave out, and he slid over onto one side on the polished wood floor and lay there like a drunken odalisque.

“He watched.” Daisy put her head on Linc’s shoulder, overcome. “We’ve probably scarred him for life. He’ll never have a normal sex life now. Other dogs will be interested in him, attractive dogs, sweet, kind, caring dogs, dogs that could fill his life with intense physical pleasure, but no. No, Jupiter will never be able to accept the love of any other dog because of this traumatic Christmas morning.”

I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth
, Linc thought, but all he said was “Jupiter’s been neutered.”

“You have no imagination,” Daisy said.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Want to bet? Get the chocolate syrup and the vacuum cleaner and meet me upstairs.” Daisy laughed, and he pulled her close to feel her body shudder with her laughter. “I love you, but you’re corrupting me. I told a story last night to get Julia into Evan’s bed.”

Daisy’s mouth dropped open, and then she grinned. “Julia slept with Evan?”

Linc snorted. “How should I know? Julia went home with Evan. I’d say it’s a fifty-fifty chance.”

She tightened her grip on him as her smile widened. “What kind of story? Tell me. Nobody ever tells me stories.”

“Big rats at the inn. It sounded better with eggnog.” Linc fell into her smile again and suddenly wanted her again. And he could have her. This was such an amazing thought that he kissed her until she was breathless and then pulled her to her feet. “Come with me, Magnolia. There are condoms upstairs I want you to meet.”

“Your present’s up there too.” Daisy smiled at him over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.

“Good. Get the syrup.”

“No, a real present. Making love isn’t a present.”

“It is if you do it right. We do it right.”

“Yes, we do, but that’s not it.”

She took him into the studio. “I finished it yesterday morning,” she said, and he stood, amazed.

The Linc in the portrait was solid, and strong, and successful, massive in bluish tones of black, white, and gray. He was turning, his right shoulder a mass of charcoal gray, his left a block of black, broken only by the slashes of grayed white that suggested strong hands holding an open book. But it was his face, rising out of the monolith that Daisy had painted as his body, that was riveting. She’d sculpted the planes of his face so they were strong and brooding, and his eyes were lit with intelligence. It was the portrait of a statesman, the portrait of a man of learning, the portrait of a man of substance and worth and intelligence and power. “Is this how you see me?” he asked, flattered beyond words.

“Well, it’s part of you.” Daisy glanced toward a canvas that was turned to the wall. “I’m sorry it’s so cold.”

He cupped her face in his hands and said, “It’s magnificent,” and then he kissed her.

I’ll tell him about the other one later
, Daisy thought, and then she just thought about Linc.

Julia came over in the afternoon for leftovers, and Daisy lured her into the kitchen with a request for her to carry things to the table.

“So you stayed at Evan’s last night.” Daisy pulled the plate of cold turkey from the refrigerator.

“Yes.” Julia grinned, remembering. “There are giant rats at the inn. I had to.”

Linc came in and picked up the platter of cold turkey. “Hi, Julia,” he said, and then he kissed Daisy full and hard on the mouth before he went into the dining room.

“Oh?” Julia said when he was gone.

“There were giant rats in his bedroom.” Daisy pulled the potatoes and gravy out of the refrigerator to hide her own grin. “So he had to sleep with me. Is Evan any less depressed?”

“No.” Julia found the cookies and bit into one. “He thinks I’ll forget him when I go back to Pennsylvania. Do you have any tea? These cookies need tea.”

“Will you forget him?”

“Maybe.”

Daisy stopped shoving food into the microwave and turned around. “You’re kidding.”

Julia stood up and went to the cupboard. “He was very sweet, and I had a very good time, truly, it was lovely, but I don’t think he’s the one either.”

Daisy blinked at her as she began to search the cupboards for tea. “That’s not the way the story is supposed to end. Didn’t Linc tell it right?”

“He told it right.” Julia stopped and grinned as she remembered. “You should have heard it. Rat snacks.” Then her grin faded. “It just wasn’t my story. I don’t think anybody can tell your story but you, you know?” She found the tin marked cocoa and took it down. “Would you hurry up with the gravy so we can nuke the potatoes? I’m starving.” Julia found the cocoa tin and opened it. “Daisy?”

Daisy pulled the potatoes out of the microwave. “What?”

“This cocoa tin is full of cocoa.”

“Amazing.” Daisy put the gravy in the microwave and swung the door shut. “What’ll they think of next?”

“You’ve changed,” Julia said.

Daisy leaned against the counter as the microwave hummed behind her. “Well, I had to. Linc couldn’t stand the chaos, and it’s not that big a deal.”

“When was the last time you told a story?” Julia asked her. “I haven’t heard you tell one for months. Not since you got married.”

“I told one this morning,” Daisy said. “To Linc. About Jupiter.”

“And before that?”

Daisy thought back. “I haven’t had much time,” she said, ignoring the little chill Julia’s questions were starting. “I’ve been painting. Really good stuff.” She thought about the bright painting of Linc that she’d turned against the wall and felt guilty, and then she realized she was feeling guilty about her best work, and the chill grew.

“Daisy, this isn’t good,” Julia said, and the microwave dinged, and Daisy pulled the gravy out with pot holders and handed it to Julia.

“This goes in the dining room,” she said.

“Daisy—”

“Stay out of my story, Julia,” Daisy said. “I’m really happy, so happy I can’t believe it, and I’m willing to pay a lot for that. It’s my story.”

Julia nodded. “All right. But I miss the way you used to be.”

“Julia says Evan’s not going to work out for her,” Daisy told Linc when Julia was gone.

“Very picky woman, Julia,” Linc said.

Daisy frowned. “I know, I can’t believe she dumped you. Which reminds me, did you ever do the chocolate syrup and vacuum cleaner bit with Julia?”

“I never took a major appliance anywhere near Julia. And since I never touched sugar until you moved into my life, I certainly never syruped her either. Do we have any Christmas cookies left?”

“I’ve ruined you,” Daisy said complacently. “They’re in the cookie jar. I want some too. We are out of chocolate syrup, however.”

“Well, make a note to get some.” Linc kissed her. “This sex stuff can get boring if you don’t stay innovative.”

“Right.” Daisy smiled at him and he sighed.

“Forget the syrup. The day I’m bored with you is the day I have no pulse.” Jupiter pawed at his leg and he looked down. “Who taught this dog to beg? This is disgusting.”

He fed Jupiter some turkey, and Daisy loved him so much, she thought her heart would break.
This is worth everything
, she thought, and pushed Julia’s questions out of her mind.

Linc came home late one day in January a week before Daisy’s gallery show and found her sitting at the bottom of the stairs, her face pale with shock. He dropped his briefcase and went to her, pulling her close to him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It’s my father,” she said dully. “My mother wrote him about the show. She was so proud I finally did something he’d like that she wrote him to brag about it. He’s coming. With my stepmother. And my stepsisters. He wants to meet you. He’s heard about your book.” She took a deep breath and looked at him. “He approves of me. After all these years.” She sounded bitter and hurt and Linc wanted to kill her father.

“The hell with him. Write and tell him not to come.”

“No.” She swallowed. “You have to meet him sometime. And if they come during the show, we’ll be too busy to have to spend much time with them. This is best.”

Linc took the letter from her and read the typewritten lines. It was cold and impersonal and ended with the hope that she had matured over the years and that her new husband, a man respected in his field, had had a beneficial influence on her appearance and behavior.