Page 11 of A Fortunes of Texas Christmas (Fortunes of Texas)

“Okay, lovely,” Kate replied.

“I know I’m running a little behind schedule,” she said. “The cypress I ordered wasn’t available in the right size, so I had to find another farm to get the—”

“Robin,” the older woman said firmly, cutting her off, “I know you’ll have the house looking wonderful, just as you did for Thanksgiving, and for last year’s Christmas celebrations. Sterling and I have the utmost faith in you, and you never let us down. Now, come into the lounge.”

Robin stalled. “Is everything all right?”

“Perhaps you can tell me the answer to that.”

Concerned, Robin followed her employer through the doorway and then stopped dead in her tracks. She hoped everything was okay. Kate looked serious, and that alarmed her.

“Ms. Fortune, I’m not sure what—”

“Perhaps you can explain this,” Kate said and waved her hand in an arc, motioning toward the long buffet beside the fireplace.

Where she saw a pumpkin.

The biggest and brightest orange pumpkin she had ever seen in her life.

“It arrived half an hour ago,” Kate said and pointed to a box beside it that was wrapped in white paper and had a silver bow attached to it. “Along with this. And there’s a card with your name on it.”

Robin approached the buffet and stared at the pumpkin and the box. She knew immediately, of course, that Amersen was responsible. The relevance of the pumpkin wasn’t lost on her. She fingered the bow on top of the box and then slowly lifted the lid, gasping when she pushed aside a couple of layers of tissue paper and saw what lay within.

“Oh my goodness,” Kate said, peering over her shoulder. “Are those what I think they are?”

Robin nodded and pulled her hand away. “Yes, I think they’re exactly what they look like.”

Glass slippers.

They were exquisite. She picked one up and held it up to the light, mesmerized by the way it shimmered. It was ridiculous. And at the same time, utterly romantic. Perhaps the

most romantic gesture of her life.

“Are you planning on wearing them?”

It was so ridiculous that Robin couldn’t stop laugher from bubbling low in her throat. “He’s out of his mind.”

“He?” Kate echoed. “So you know who sent them?”

She nodded and grabbed the card, pulling out a small square of cardboard and reading his dark, sexy scrawl.

I’m not a prince... I’m just a man who knows what he wants. Have dinner with me?

“Robin?”

Kate’s voice jerked her back from fairy-tale land and forced her to regather her wits. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Would you like to tell me what’s going on?” Kate asked.

Robin sighed. “It’s Mr. Beaudin’s idea of a joke, that’s all.”

The older woman’s frown disappeared, and then she chuckled. “Amersen, I see. Looks as though you made quite the impression.”

“He thinks he’s too charming to resist.”

“And is he?” Kate inquired, brows angled.

“In his dreams, maybe. I’m really sorry about this,” she said, embarrassed and increasingly uncomfortable. She didn’t want her personal life intruding on her work. And she didn’t want Kate Fortune to think that she was in any way involved with Amersen Beaudin. “I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.”

---