The Texas Christmas Gift (18 page)

Eve attempted another adjustment, then sat down once again. The tilt was worse than before.

She swore, frustrated beyond measure.

Once again, Sasha walked out and sauntered back in. “Cheer up.” She tossed a stack of holiday sale catalogues on Eve’s desk. “McCabe’s probably got everything there is to have, so anything you get will be a duplicate, anyway.”

Eve groaned loudly and massaged her temples. “Thank you for pointing that out. And for the record, if he wasn’t still a client...”

“You’d already be hooked up with him?”

Guilt roared through her like a tidal wave.

Sasha gasped in shock. “
Have
you hooked up?”

Wishing she had a better poker face—when it came to Derek and her feelings about him, anyway—Eve lifted a hand and waved off any further questions.

Sasha’s grin widened. Eve noted that her friend hadn’t looked that happy and optimistic since she had fallen in love with the man of her own dreams and headed off down the aisle.

It was Christmas, that was all, a season that had so much romance in the air.

Belatedly, Eve realized she should have kept to her usual “Bah, Humbug” script.

After another considering look, Sasha quipped, “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re cute when you’re falling in love?”

This time Eve blushed fire-engine red. It was hot as blazes in here. “I am not.” She got up to check the thermostat. Seventy degrees! It could not possibly be seventy. It felt like ninety!

“You are falling in love,” Sasha insisted with a knowing wink. “You just can’t admit it yet. But have faith. In time, you will.” The happily married Sasha sauntered out, calling over her shoulder, “And good luck with your dress shopping tonight!”

The door shut behind her.

Eve groaned loudly and dropped her head down on her desk. The only good thing was that she wasn’t seeing Derek for several more days. She needed time apart—make that a lot of time apart—so she could come to her senses and keep from falling into bed with him yet again.

* * *

T
IME APART WAS
not the least bit helpful, Eve decided the evening of December 17, when Derek showed up at seven twenty-five.

Incredibly good-looking under normal circumstances, he was devastatingly handsome in black tie. He smelled heavenly, too. Like sandalwood and birch and cardamom.

She, on the other hand, was not at all ready. Her hair and makeup were done, but her dress was only half-zipped, and she couldn’t find one of her shoes. Or any of the jewelry she wanted to wear. Although why that was, she hadn’t a clue.

“Take it easy. We’ve got time.” He gestured for her to turn around. His hands brushed her bare skin as he tugged the zipper up. Finished, he paused to kiss the nape of her neck. “I like the dress.” He caught her hand and spun her around, eyeing her sparkly cranberry-red strapless gown appreciatively. Blatant desire tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You look good in red.”

Eve knew she might as well be honest. She paused to straighten his bow tie, then stepped back to make sure it was centered. Her glance caught his. “You look good, too.” Almost too good. Standing here with him, she was tempted to never even make it to the event.

Derek smiled. “Perhaps we should join a mutual admiration society.”

Noting he hadn’t brought any jewelry with him, Eve laughed and began to relax. “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?” She disappeared into the bedroom, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

When she came back out, Derek was sprawled on her sofa, flipping channels on the TV. He smiled when she glided toward him. Rose to his feet. “I knew you were worth waiting for.” Even as he admired the simple silver heart on a chain around her neck, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a slim velvet case. “And make no mistake, I have been waiting.” He pressed it into her hand.

Eve’s heart skipped a beat. Were they ready for this? She wasn’t sure, but apparently he was. She drew a deep, enervating breath. “What is this?”

He let his gaze drift over her slowly, before looking back at her face. “Open it and see.”

Fingers trembling slightly, she undid the ribbon. Inside was a beautiful garnet-and-platinum necklace, anchored by interlocking hearts. It wasn’t overly expensive by Derek’s financial standards, but it was gorgeous. She looked up at him. “What is this for?”

“The start of something wonderful,” he said simply.

* * *

D
EREK HAD KNOWN
it was a gamble, giving a woman like Eve a gift. But he had wanted her to know she was special to him, and since she wouldn’t let him say it, wouldn’t believe him if he did, he’d contented himself with this symbol of togetherness.

Looking as if she wanted to say so much but couldn’t, she drew in a jerky breath. “It’s beautiful.”

She removed the necklace she was wearing, and Derek helped her put the new one on. Eve sashayed over to the hall mirror with a rustle of shimmery silk, and checked out the effect.

“It really is perfect.” She hesitated, showing the doubt he had expected from her all along. “Although I’m not entirely sure I should accept it,” she finished softly.

Determined to win her over, no matter how long it took, Derek teased, “Consider it on loan, then. Until we officially start dating, that is.”

Eve chuckled. “Confident, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely,” he fibbed. Placing his palm at her back, he walked her out the door and escorted her to his Jaguar. He opened her door for her and waited while she got in. Hand braced against the top of the car, he leaned in to drawl, “Now, when we get to the gala, are you going to be all business or just a little bit of business?”

Eve wrinkled her nose apologetically. “A lot business. It’s a major opportunity for networking. I hope you don’t mind.”

He shook his head. “Not at all. As I mentioned the other day, I could do to expand my contacts here, too.”

No sooner had they walked into the ball than they each spotted people they knew: Derek’s brother Grady, and his wife, Alexis, and the architect that Eve had been playing phone tag with the past few days.

“Would you mind if I went to speak with Santiago Florres first?” she asked.

Derek gave his brother and sister-in-law the “one minute” sign, then leaned down and whispered in Eve’s ear, “No problem. I’ll go with you.”

With his hand at her spine, he escorted her through the crowd of elegantly dressed guests to the line queuing up at the bar. Eve made the approach as graciously as always. “Mr. Florres? Eve Loughlin, Loughlin Realty.” The two shook hands.

The architect, an affable-looking man in his late forties, got straight to the point. “I’m sorry I haven’t returned your calls, Eve, but frankly, after I heard what Red Bloom offered for the home I designed, I wasn’t sure what the two of us might have to say.”

She nodded empathetically. “I’m aware it was insulting.”

“Very.” Santiago looked tense.

“I think,” she continued, “that Mr. Bloom did not understand just how unique the home is.”

The architect shrugged. “What does that have to do with me?” he snapped.

“A lot, actually.” Her skill as a Realtor in full force, Eve smiled. “I think Mr. Bloom might change his mind about the value of the home currently for sale if you were to meet him and go through it with him, pointing out all the architectural features in that particular design that cannot be found anywhere else.”

Derek noted that Florres’s hostility had faded; the architect was now listening intently.

“Of course, if that should happen,” Eve continued, “if a deal were to be made, then that would likely inflate the price of what you could charge for future architectural designs.”

Florres considered that. Clearly, he felt his reputation had been harmed by the low offer. He moved nearer. “You’re saying Mr. Bloom wants to meet with me?”

Eve lifted a hand. “I’m still trying to reach him, but if I can get something set up, would you be amenable?”

Santiago nodded with a mixture of relief and interest. “Yes, I would. And thanks, Eve, for giving me a chance to defend my work.”

She handed him her business card. “I’ll be in touch.”

After chatting for a few more minutes, Derek and Eve walked off. She sighed. “Now all I have to do is get Red Bloom to come back to the house for another look, and I’ll be all set.”

Derek paused, not sure he’d heard her right. “Red Bloom, the Houston oilman?” he asked in surprise. That was the guy Marjorie and Eve had been chasing?

Eve nodded, distracted. She went on to refresh Derek’s memory. “He is the client who amasses unique houses the way others collect fine art.”

Derek slid a hand beneath her elbow and gave her a sidelong glance. “Do you anticipate having a problem getting Bloom to cooperate with your plan?”

She shrugged, then smiled at a colleague who caught her eye from across the room. “No way to say. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t had any luck getting him on the phone.”

Derek was about to suggest a solution to that when Eve stopped in her tracks. Looking abruptly ill at ease, she elbowed him gently. “There’s your brother and his wife.”

Hoping this meeting would go better than the first encounter between Eve and his siblings, Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close as Grady and Alexis came toward them.

* * *

“
I
’M GLAD WE
have a moment to talk,” Alexis told Eve sincerely, after the two men had gone off to get champagne. “I want to apologize for what you overheard that weekend at the house. Derek’s brothers were razzing him about his crush on you, so he pretended it was nothing, the way guys do. Which is when you showed up.”

Embarrassed, Eve felt heat rise to her cheeks. Derek wasn’t the only one with a crush. “It’s okay.”

“I figured Derek would make it up to you.” Alexis’s gaze drifted to the jewelry around Eve’s neck. “If that necklace is as new as I think it is, I see that he has.”

Eve’s hand flew to her throat. She felt even more embarrassed now, probably because whatever it was that they had was too new and fragile to stand up to scrutiny.

Wondering if the veteran matchmaker thought she and Derek would last much beyond the holidays, which were admittedly a popular time for fleeting hookups, Eve asked, “How did you know this was from him?”

“Because he’s my brother-in-law, and I know him.” Alexis grinned. “Even when he was trying to convince us that the two of you weren’t an item, for privacy’s sake, I had the sense it was more than that. And this necklace proves it.”

“I don’t understand.”

Gently, Alexis explained, “It’s a McCabe thing. All the men buy the women jewelry when they are getting serious.”

Eve wasn’t sure whether to be elated or nervous. The only thing she knew for certain was that once again things seemed to be moving way too fast.

Luckily for her, the rest of the evening flew by. She and Derek both did a fair amount of networking, together and apart. And it was only when Derek was walking her to her front door that the conversation became truly intimate again. “Did Alexis say something to you tonight?”

Eve had been afraid this would come up. She fished her key from her bag and unlocked the door. Well after midnight, the condominium was blissfully quiet and still. “Why would you think that?” Derek shrugged and followed her inside. He undid his black bow tie and slipped it into the pocket of his tux. “Just a sense I had when my brother and I got back to the table. You had a funny look on your face.” He peered at her. “In fact, it’s still there.”

“It’s nothing.”

He helped her remove her wrap, looking confident as ever. “It’s something. Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be so pensive.”

She started to turn away, but found she couldn’t. “Alexis thinks the fact you bought me a necklace is significant.”

“And that upsets you?” he asked huskily, inching closer.

His voice washed over her, warming her from the inside out. “Is it significant?” Eve pressed.

Derek moved closer still and took her in his arms. “This,” he said, lowering his lips to hers for a deep soulful kiss, “is significant. This...” he backed her toward her bedroom, leaving a trail of hot, fevered kisses over her throat, shoulder, breast “...is what we should be concentrating on.”

Yearning swept through her, as powerful as the sensations his mouth and hands were generating. Eve curled her fingers in the fabric of his suit jacket. “Sex doesn’t solve anything.”

Derek bent her backward from the waist. “It doesn’t have to.” Draping her over his arm, he kissed her again. “It’s a wonder in and of itself.”

Eve had to admit, as they undressed each other slowly and carefully, that he was right.

There was something incredible about being with him this way. Maybe it was the season. The fact she’d been alone too long, or he missed his daughter on the days and nights that Tiffany was with his ex and her new family. Or just the fact that he liked to say yes in his personal life whenever possible.

All Eve really knew was that when he kissed her and held her so intimately, the world narrowed to just the two of them and she felt treasured in that special man-woman way. And even if love wasn’t involved, everything else that mattered was.

He was gentle and kind, and tender beyond measure. More important still, they were becoming very good friends. The kind who would always be there for each other, she thought as they kissed passionately, and she surrendered to him all the more.

Able to feel how much Eve needed him, Derek lay down with her on the satin sheets. His own body throbbing, he kissed the hollow of her stomach and the soft insides of her thighs, then drifted lower still, to deliver the most ardent of kisses. Overcome with pleasure, her heart pounding in rhythm with his, she whispered, “Derek...”

Shifting position, she moved to explore him, too. Seducing him, urging him on, molding her body to his, until they were both on fire. It was all too much. He brought her upward, claiming her mouth, claiming her. She lifted her hips and then they were one, riding the wave, going deeper, more intimately still, and then she was his, really his. Not just for tonight, he thought, not just for the holidays, or until their mutual loneliness passed. But until they found a way to give each other everything, heart and soul.