Page 49 of This Christmas

The bed dips and the covers rustle, and I’m hit byhis manly scent of sandalwood and bergamot washing over me. I close my eyes and inhale, committing his cologne to memory.

“Look at me,” he says in a hushed tone. I roll onto my side to find him staring.

“Hi.”

“Thank you for letting me stay.”

“You’re welcome.” Having him here feels right.

Zane reaches for my hand. Our fingers lace together and rest on the pillow. “I’m going to work my tail off to prove to you that I’m worthy of your time. I want to earn your attention and hopefully, your love again.”

I know he will and there isn’t a doubt in my mind he’ll achieve what he sets out to do.

“Can I ask you about New York?”

Zane nods.

“I’m curious about some of the things you’ve told me about your time there, especially early on. When did you meet Caryn’s dad?”

“Do you remember in the fall of our third year of law school?”

I nod.

“I went to the job fair at Harvard. You already knew what field you wanted to specialize in and had done your internship. I was still so up in the air, so I went. It was nothing but corporate, big law stuff. Each company tried enticing you with massive salaries. They’d promise you’d make enough money to get out of debt. That sort of thing.

“So, I’m walking around, looking lost and confused,and I stop at Bamford Associates’ table. That’s where I met Mr. Bamford and Serena, although I didn’t know she was Serena until I got to New York. He told me about the company and how great the city is. I said I wasn’t interested, and that you were looking more in the Albany area so we could stay close to our families.

“He understood that family came first. It was their motto, too, apparently. I gave him my info because why not and moved along to the next table. By the end of the fair, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Then, a few days later a wine basket showed up at the apartment. The guys were thrilled because it was free booze. It was Bamford. I thought it was odd, but the guys told me it wasn’t and to enjoy the perks of being wined and dined by a top firm in New York.

“That’s all I thought it was. Then around finals, he started texting me about going to New York. I didn’t think anything of it because Bamford Associates wasn’t even on my radar, and then he started calling. Just to check in, he said. He asked if got this or that—things he’d sent over. And I said ‘yeah, of course, thanks.’ I told him about you and how we had these plans, and he told me not to worry, he’d take care of it all when I got there.

“But I never agreed. The next thing I knew, he was dangling the paid internship in my face. The salary was more than I could ever think of earning while still in school. The only issue was you wouldn’t go. I initially told him no thanks because we had a plan, and I still had a semester left of school. The day I told you about the offer, he called and doubled it. Offered topay off my loans because he had so much faith in me, and I came highly recommended by the school. He fed me everything I wanted to hear.

“Then I got there, and I hated it. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, and I told him as much. Enter Caryn. She was there all the time. Smiling and bubbly. She offered to take me out, show me the city. Every time I tried to come home to you, something urgent needed my attention. Interns shouldn’t have any responsibility and yet I had my own office.

“The day I came back and couldn’t find you, I left after lunch and went back to New York. He knew something had happened because I was whisked to the Hamptons, and was hanging out on their yacht, and stranded during a hurricane with his daughter.”

I take a moment to process everything Zane’s told me. The fact that Bamford chased—hounded him, actually—to take this internship is unethical at best. Zane didn’t even go through an interview process which itself is shady. But, manipulating Zane to stay in New York when he had plans, suddenly introducing him to his daughter, giving him the high-profile clients. It all boils down to one thing. “He groomed you for her,” I tell him.

“What?”

I nod and sit up slightly. “I’ve listened to everything you’ve said and processed it, and there’s only one explanation. You fit the mold of what he wanted for his daughter. Think about it. He’s at Harvard for a job fair—the owner of this mega law firm—and he handpicksyou? No offense, but you didn’t go to Harvard or Yale. Why not pick someone from there?”

“Because . . .” Zane looks lost in thought. “Whoa. It’s all fitting together like a jagged puzzle piece. How did I not see this earlier?”

“Because he manipulated you into what he needed you to be. A husband for his daughter.”

Zane rubs his free hand over his face. “I was so stupid.”

“Money does that to people. Especially when you don’t have much to begin with. He found your weakness and exploited it in the worst possible way.”

Zane pulls me into his arms. It feels good being there, with my head in the crook of his neck. I wiggle and squirm until the pillow is removed from the middle of the bed and relax in his arms.

“I think you’re right and I’m so angry I didn’t realize it sooner,” he says, placing a light kiss on the top of my head. “Can we sleep like this?”

“No funny business.”

Zane chuckles. “Believe me, anything I want to do to you isn’t funny.”

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