The Billionaire Princess (25 page)

When the car pulled up to the security gate at Christopher's house, she held her breath for half a minute. Carolyn had promised to alert security prior to Sara's arrival, but she feared Christopher’s sister might have had a change of heart.  But like so many times before, security opened the gate leading up to Christopher's property.

"Christopher went straight to his office when he came home," Caroline informed her when she greeted Sara in the main foyer. "I'm just warning you he looked miserable, so don't be surprised if he's in a bad mood."

Sara sighed inwardly. Convincing him to give them another chance might be difficult, but with him in a bad mood the task may be next to impossible.

"You know where his office is, right?"

"Yes." Sara took a step then stopped. "Thank you for your help, Caroline."

Caroline held her gaze for a moment. Sara sensed the woman wanted to say something but nothing ever came. Instead she nodded and headed off toward another part of the house.

Blood pounded in her ears as she followed the marble hallway toward Christopher's office. On the plane she'd rehearsed several apologies, but none sounded quite right so she'd have to wing it now. Assuming of course he didn't ask her to leave the minute she walked in. Stopping in front of the door, Sara readjusted her ponytail, wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans, and knocked.

"I told you Caroline, I don't want to talk," Christopher's voice called through the door.

The sound of his voice brought tears to her eyes. Blinking them away, she turned the doorknob and entered without saying a word. At first she remained silent. Her eyes soaked up the sight of him after so many weeks apart. Seated behind a sleek ebony desk, he faced his computer screen. He'd rolled up the sleeves of his light blue dress shirt and a tie hung over the back of his chair. From the doorway she could only see his profile, but his voice told her plenty about his current mood.

"Caroline, if you came in here to…" Christopher's voice trailed off when he turned and discovered her standing there. In the blink of an eye his expression changed from annoyance to confusion. "Sara, I thought... What are you doing here?" Christopher stood but remained behind his desk.

Being so close yet unable to touch him made her heart ache. More than anything she wanted to press her body against his, wrap her arms around him, and tell him how much he meant to her. Thanks to her insecurities, she'd lost that right. If she was lucky though, she would earn it back. Sara took a tentative step forward, her hands clasped behind her back. "I came to talk to you." All the rehearsed speeches went straight out of her head. "All you need to do is
listen, okay?" Sara closed the gap between her and the desk, her fingernails biting into her hands behind her back.

Nodding, Christopher sat back down, the expression on his face changing to curiosity.

“Before you, my last relationship was with Phillip Young. You met him at the fundraiser in Providence."

"I remember he was giving you a hard time that night." Christopher's eyes met hers and for a moment she felt like he could see her every thought.

"We met right before my father received the party's nomination for president. Things got serious very fast. I actually thought he might propose. Anyway about eight months before the election, I learned the truth about Phillip. He worked for Governor Richardson. His goal was to dig up anything to use against my father. I don't know if Richardson hired him directly or if someone in Richardson's camp hired him, but it meant the same thing. He had no real interest in me. He was using me to get close to the family."

Sara paused. Talking about the past and how gullible she'd been brought on a rush of anger. "Around the time that relationship ended, my father learned about Callie. For a long time I didn't trust her. I figured she must want something too."

"You've known me for a long time, Sara. How could—”

She knew what he was about to say. "I didn't at first. Then I saw Miriam Walker on The Brown Report and the things she said had me thinking.  Everything sort of went downhill after that." Sara shifted her weight from one foot to the other. So far he'd given no indication how he felt about her and her explanation. "I admit, when I get emotional I'm not the most logical person."

"When we were together, it was always about us.  I'd never do anything to hurt you." The affection in his voice sent hope through her heart.

"I know, and I'm sorry. If I could go back and change the things I said that night I would." Sara choked.

Christopher stood and came around the front of his desk. "Since you can't change the past, where does that leave us now?"

Sara fought to hold back a smile. He hadn't agreed to anything yet. "I hope we can go back to the way we were before I screwed up." She moved closer to him. "I've missed you so much," she said softly reaching for his hand.

With one sharp tug, he pulled her against him, his body solid and warm next to hers. Burying her face against his shoulder, she took a deep breath, inhaling the combination of his cologne and soap. "I love you. I'm so sorry I hurt you." Sara managed to get the words out around the lump in her throat.

"I love you too.” With his lips pressed against the top of her head, the words were a little muffled but she could easily understand them.

Christopher feared his chest might burst with happiness. Not only was Sara in his arms again, but she'd told him she loved him. He tilted her face toward his and kissed her, keeping the kiss gentle and short. If he gave in to the desire surging through his body now, he'd never say what he needed to.

Bringing the kiss to an end, he pulled back to look at her, his arms still wrapped around her waist. "Before we move forward, I need you to promise me something. The next time anything bothers you talk to me, okay? No matter what it is. Even if you think I'll consider it ridiculous, talk to me." Christopher paused giving his words a chance to sink in. I don't want something like this happening again between us."

Sara's tear-filled eyes looked back at him and his throat tightened with emotion.

"I can do that," she said.

Satisfied with her answer, he captured her lips for another kiss. This one was more urgent and demanding as he allowed all his pent-up emotions free reign. Digging his hands into her hair, he used his mouth to show how much he'd missed her.

“Maybe we should continue this reunion upstairs,” she said.  Sara pulled back when his hands slipped under the hem of her shirt and settled on her back.

Christopher kissed her again.  “I like the way you think.”  With lightning speed he grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the room toward the staircase.

***

Christopher propped himself up on one elbow and studied the woman sleeping next to him. When he first woke up he thought he dreamed it all, but here she was sound asleep in his bed. Even with the proof next to him, it seemed like a dream. When he turned around in his office earlier that evening and saw her standing there, he feared for a second he'd started imagining things. Dressed so casually in jeans and no makeup, she'd looked the way she did in his dreams.

Reaching out he ran his fingers down her arm. Her skin was warm and solid. Definitely not an image his mind conjured up. Yet even with all the evidence pointing toward the truth, it almost seemed too good to be true. He not only had Sara back, but she loved him. She'd told him that more than once since she walked into  in his office hours earlier. Unable to stop himself, he leaned down and kissed her. Slowly Sara's eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him.

"Hey," she
said, her voice still groggy with sleep.

"Hey yourself," he said joining their hands.

"For a second there I thought I was dreaming." Sara brought their joined hands toward her lips and kissed his hand.

"Trust
me, we're both wide awake, sweetheart."

Sara dumped her bag on the floor next to the full-sized bed pushed against the wall. She could picture Christopher growing up in this room, sitting at the desk near the window studying or playing on the braided rug in the middle of the room. Unzipping her bag, she began to unpack while waiting for Christopher to come up. When she’d left the kitchen, he'd still been deep in conversation with his mom about the preparations for his sister’s birthday party. He wanted to have it catered, but his mom insisted on preparing all the food. After seeing their disagreement, Sara knew where his stubbornness came from.

Since getting back together four months earlier, she'd seen that side of him on numerous occasions. Not that she was complaining. After all, she had a stubborn streak of her own, a fact that occasionally caused them to butt heads.  In the end though they always managed to reach some kind of compromise no matter the issue.

In search of some clothes hangers Sara walked to the closet door and pulled it open.  A few long-sleeved shirts and a winter jacket hung in the closet, items she guessed Christopher left when visiting his parents.  The shelf above the clothing rod was stacked high with old board games and science kits as well as models of space shuttles and science fair trophies.  From the looks of it Gail Hall had held on to many mementos from Christopher's past.

Careful not to knock anything down, she reached up and lifted one of the models from the shelf.  The name Discovery was painted on the side of the shuttle and was an exact replica of the photos she'd seen of the real thing.  How many hours had he spent constructing this?  An image of a young Christopher carefully gluing together the pieces made her smile.  Before any damage could come to it, Sara replaced the model and grabbed a handful of empty clothes hangers.

Behind her, the bedroom door opened and closed as she hung up her robe. "She won," Christopher said sounding like a little boy who'd just been told he couldn't go out and play with his friends.

Sara closed the closet door and turned around. "She's the one that has to do all the work. If she doesn't mind neither should you."

Christopher frowned. "I guess. I just wanted to make it easier for her. There's no need for her to do it all."

"I was going to wait to tell you, but since you look like you need some cheering up I'll tell you now." Sara moved closer to him. "Last week Governor Campbell contacted me about coming to work for his administration. " Sara continued referring to the governor of California. "I accepted the position on Monday.  Starting next month, I'll be a California resident." As much as Sara loved living in DC, she hated being so far away from Christopher. So far they'd managed to make things work by visiting each other on weekends but every week it got harder and harder to part again.

Instantly Christopher's face lit up. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you." She brushed a light, gentle kiss across his cheek.

"Goal accomplished," he said with a laugh. "I guess that means you'll be looking for a place to live.”

“Any suggestions?” She wanted to move in with him, but she didn't want to ask.

Christopher wrapped his arms around her. 
“How about with me?”

“I hoped you'd ask,” Sara admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck and showing him just how much she loved him.

THE END

Coming Soon
: Book 4 in
The Sherbrookes of Newport
Series

Go to
http://www.christinatetrault.com
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Now read ahead for a sample from
A Highland Heist
: a contemporary romance by Cali MacKay

Excerpt from

By Cali MacKay

Chapter One

On all fours, Maggie ignored the footsteps coming up behind her, with no more than a fleeting thought to her rear end which was sticking up high in the air as she struggled with a stubborn bolt, the front half of her body wedged behind the wood paneling.
  Her fingers cramped as she felt around to try and loosen the connection, working blind in the near dark of the enclosure.  Nearly there… and then the last of the stuck bolts twisted free.  She finished and pulled herself out of the opening in the wall only to find her new client standing there with another man at his side.

Perfect.
  She hauled herself to her feet and dusted her hands off on the legs of her jeans, trying to ignore the raised eyebrows on her client and the analytical look of the stranger, whose eyes drifted past her face to somewhere just above her head.  Casually, she reached up and tried to smooth her hair.  Uncontrollable to begin with, it seemed to have picked up a miscellany of cobwebs and dust.  She managed to keep her groan from escaping.  Nice first impression.

Iain
MacCraigh’s lips quirked into an amused smile.  “I’m sorry to be bothering ye when ye’re working, but I wanted to introduce ye to Conall Stewart.  He’s in charge of computer security for all my businesses and home, so ye’ll need to integrate the work ye’ll be doing here on the museum with his existing systems.”