Holiday Treasure (Billionaire Bachelors #10)(32)
Author: Melody Anne

This wasn’t his life. He was happy with who he was outside of this alternate reality, living in his penthouse apartment, working day and night, and sporting a tuxedo when he consumed champagne and caviar instead of beer and hot wings.

This existence was beneath him. He didn’t consider himself a snob; he was just a man who had worked hard and liked the finer things in life. There was nothing wrong with that. Okay, he conceded, he did have a wealthy family, and he did seem to have the Midas touch.

When he reached the apartment building, Tanner’s imagination was running along so vividly that he could practically taste Kyla’s skin on his lips. And as he turned the corner to their end of the hallway, he wasn’t paying attention and ran smack dab into her, nearly making her fall back on her tush.

She was in an awful hurry.

“Oh, sorry,” she gasped before looking up and discovering who it was. “Hey, Tanner. Sorry, I don’t have time to chat. I’m running late,” she said as she attempted to get past him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, resolutely blocking her path.

“I have plans tonight.”

Vague, to say the least, and he wasn’t about to let her get away with it. “What plans?” he asked suspiciously. This was supposed to be their night together. She couldn’t possibly be seeing another man. He would know. Wouldn’t he? Maybe not. She’d been able to avoid him way too often for his liking.

“I just have plans.” She looked down, refusing to meet his gaze.

Instant jealousy slammed into his gut. Maybe she was seeing another man.

“I thought we’d have dinner together tonight. I ordered it in.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You ordered Christmas dinner? Doesn’t a holiday meal mean that you’re supposed to slave over a hot stove all day?”

“I don’t cook elaborate meals, just breakfast, and preferably after a night of working up a good appetite,” he said as he tried to turn her around.

“Yeah, my dad ‘helped’ my mom once or twice in the kitchen for elaborate dinners,” Kyla said, “but it was an utter disaster. Whenever he tried to again, she would end up chasing him away, telling him he would mess everything up.” A melancholy smile rose up on her lips.

“Besides, isn’t it better to have a nice meal without being exhausted from cooking all day and night?” he asked, trying to tempt her into changing her mind.

“No, Tanner. Part of the appeal of a great Christmas dinner is in knowing that it was prepared with love.” Even the little smile she’d had not so long before disappeared when she said those words.

This wasn’t good. He wanted her happy and carefree tonight, not sinking back into a happy past that she could never have again.

“I’ll have to remember that,” he said, but he wouldn’t — at least if he avoided family at big holidays as often as he did. Would he remember her? After tonight, they wouldn’t see each other again.

“I really do have to go. I’m very late.” She tried to get around him for the second time.

“Seriously, where?”

If she wasn’t going to stay in with him, then he damn well wanted to know where she was in such a rush to go.

She hesitated, then sighed. “I’m serving dinner tonight at a homeless shelter nearby.”

Whew. It wasn’t a date with someone else, after all. A date on Christmas Eve probably meant the relationship had to be going somewhere — like church.

“Why?” he asked before he was able to stop himself.

“Because I don’t have a family to celebrate with anymore, and I figure I can give something back. I know it’s what my mom would do if she were still here and all alone.”

“I’ll come with you.” Oh, no. What had he just said? The last thing Tanner wanted to do was hang out in some crappy kitchen and serve food to people who lived on the streets. Why were they homeless, anyway? It didn’t make sense to him why anyone would choose that kind of life. They were clearly too lazy to work.

“Um…you don’t need to do that,” she said, looking at him coolly.

Was his disdain so obvious?

“I want to.” He told himself it was just because he wanted to get her alone later. Surely, if he were to come with her to serve food to these homeless people, she would thaw enough that he’d finally get her into Santa’s sack again.

“I don’t know, Tanner. I don’t think it’s really your kind of place.”

Her lack of faith in him rankled. Granted, he was thinking the same thing, but to have those words come from her mouth didn’t make him happy at all.

“Let me just go and make a phone call. Promise not to leave without me,” he said, giving her his sternest look.

“I guess,” she replied, and she leaned against the wall. She didn’t look at all convinced that he’d come back from his apartment.

Tanner rushed inside and pulled out the card for the police station monitoring his ridiculous ankle device. Damn! He hated that he had to ask for permission to go anywhere. One more day, he told himself. He only had one more day. Actually, less than that!

His call was picked up on the third ring, and though the officer, who just happened to be the one who’d dropped him off on that first day, gave him permission to serve a meal at the homeless shelter, the guy actually had the audacity to laugh and tell Tanner, “Good luck!”

Still, Tanner probably needed all the luck he could get.

His second call was to his assistant. Het told Randy to have the meal set up and ready for when they returned. They might be starting later than Tanner wanted, but he was still going to follow through on his plans of seducing his little Christmas elf. That one night wasn’t anywhere near enough.

When he walked back out into the hallway, he was relieved to see her still there. She was looking at her watch with a frown on her face, but she’d waited for him.

“All set,” he said, with the best smile he knew how to fake. He took her arm, placing it through his. “How far away is this place?”

“It’s only about a mile, but we’re running really late, so we’d better get a cab,” she told him.

It took only a couple of minutes before a taxi drove by, and Tanner flagged it down with no problem. The cab driver talked nonstop, and Tanner had to fight his irritation when Kyla leaned over the seat and started to converse with the guy. She even sounded excited. Of course, Tanner had nothing to be jealous about, so why did it bother him to share her attention? Ridiculous.