Page 2 of Mistletoe Missus
Ice-cold water dumped into his lap.
Beau no longer knelt on the floor; he shot up like a bat out of hell with his face as red as a tomato. He was about to pop the question, and I spilled water as cold as an ice rink all overhis crotch! He looked like he pissed himself from the nerves of asking for my hand in marriage. I blew it!
“Oh, my God!” I fretted as I grabbed the server’s napkin and got on my knees to dab at Beau’s pants. “I’m so sorry! I—”
“I think we should see other people,” Beau blurted out.
“What?” I stopped dabbing midair, and my eyes shot up to his.
Beau answered as he peered down at me with certainty, and he huffed, “This isn’t working between us, and I think we should see other people.”
“See other people?” I whispered in disbelief. “Are you breaking up with me?”
Nervously, Beau glanced from left to right as I heard chatter breaking out around us, and I blinked with surprise. “Yes, I’m sorry, Tinsley, but—”
I punched Beau right in the balls.
Call the response an impulsive reaction, my catlike reflexes, I didn’t give a damn. Hell, I didn’t care who watched my nowex-boyfriendas he bent over, whimpering over his hurting nut sack.
“Sorry?” I questioned and tossed the napkin into the stunned server’s face. “You bring me to a fancy restaurant just to end our relationship?”
“Yes.” Beau winced in pain.
Suddenly, Beau’s cell phone made a sound on the table, and my gaze shot to it. I knew I shouldn’t, and everything screamed at me not to peek, because we were supposed to have a trusting relationship that would last a lifetime. But our time was through and to hell with trust.
I grabbed the phone from the table as anger turned to hurt, and I read through several text notifications.
Ainsley: Did you break up with her?
Ainsley: What’s going on? I’m starting to worry.
Ainsley! His secretary! That two-faced bitch!
“Tinsley, come on, I can explain—”
“Asshole!” I shouted and punched him right in the nose.
Beau’s head shot backward from the force, and he fell onto his ass. His face was in his hands as I threw his device at him. I was ready for a full-out brawl, but hands grabbed me. I cussed at the man I thought I once knew and cursed him for the rest of his life. Humiliation filled his face. He couldn’t bring himself to gaze at the woman he had deceived by crawling into bed with someone else.
Beau’s nose bled as a man pulled me away from the jerk I thought had loved me. But all this time, he’d lied straight to my face and never cared for me at all. There went my happily ever after as security hauled me straight out the front door.
TWO
Frozen Anguish
Tinsley
“Ican’t believe he did this to me,” I muttered under my breath as I stomped through the streets of New York City, hating the day I ever met Beau Kingston.
Dust of white flakes flew up with each step, and the sound of snow crunched on the ground. Security had been kind enough to get my brown coat, but I knew they wanted to keep me out of their establishment. Beau was in there licking his sore wounds, and I was sure he’d be on the phone with his lover. She’d eat up his words because that’s what he did best. Beau was a charmer. He had sucked me right into all of his lies, and I’d fallen for them. I’d stooped so low as to think he’d be proposing to me on Christmas Eve.
My big time, richex-boyfriendhad ruined Christmas in a matter of minutes. Any present wrapped nicely under the tree went up in flames after he lit the match and watched everything turn to ash—after he had cheated on me.
I wanted to cry, scream from the top of my lungs, and eat a full tub of chocolate mint ice cream. Tears should have welled up in my eyes, and I should have been a mess, but I wasn’t. I was numb, bitter, embarrassed, and heartbroken. The day before the most joyous time of the year, Beau dumped me in front of acrowd of people. He had taken me to one of the most desirable locations in the city to end our relationship. He had some nerve!
My brain screamed at me to turn around and give him hell. To stand outside of the restaurant and demand an explanation. The wires in my head wanted to understand his need to screw me around and take his secretary to bed when he had me—a devoted woman who knew herself, loved herself completely, and was fully ready to take the next step with him. To love him and cherish him for an eternity.
I was strong, independent, and career driven, but maybe I was too much for Beau Kingston or any man on the face of this planet. Maybe I would be alone forever because my strong will was too much for even a self-sustained man. I overpowered him, and he grew scared, scurrying away toward a woman who had far less than him. Ainsley could have my sloppy seconds, and I hoped she tasted my pussy on his cock.
