Page 21 of All I Want For Christmas Is You

“Oh, forget about my heart. My ex broke my trust, which is so much harder to repair. But no, I was able to shower and wear a bra.” She cupped her breasts and gave them a shake. “My boobies are my one form of vanity.” Releasing them, she laughed. “I actually do pushups every day to keep them perky.”

Sensation burst inside him, releasing a wave of lust so powerful he went hot and hard. He wanted to fill his hands with her plump breasts, feel the heavy weight of them. He wanted her beaded nipples on his tongue.

Holy shit.

He didn’t recognize himself. He’d seen plenty of women naked. He’d had lots of sex in his lifetime, but no one had ever excited him the way she did from just a jiggle of her tits.

“Anyhow, no, it wasn’t the empty sleeve of Girl Scout cookies that worried her. I think she saw my fear. She sat on the edge of my bed and said, ‘You’re in a terrible season, my sweet girl, and I hate that for you.’ And then, she got up to leave and said, ‘I can’t wait to see you shine in the next one.’ And the idea that this inescapable pain was just a season. That it would be gone and replaced by something new…that there was something better up ahead…it literally changed my whole mindset.”

“That’s a great way to look at it. Where’s your ex now?” He watched her expression, looking for traces of hurt and anger, wondering if she’d really let him go.

“He’s living his best life with Petra.” Nope. Not a single trace of either.

He settled back in his chair. “Can I ask what happened?”

“Sure. I’ll give you the quick and dirty version. My ex was a master of the universe. He went to Harvard Business School, got a job on Wall Street at an investment bank, and then clawed his way to the top of a very competitive industry.”

“What kind of dad was he?”

She cocked her head. “What a great question. I love that. You weren’t wondering how big our house was or what kind of cars we drove. You wanted to know how he managed a successful career with raising his kids.” Her hand landed on his arm and squeezed. “You’re such a surprise.”

The hard-on he’d tried so hard to suppress came roaring back. Just from a simple touch.

Fuck my life.

When she reached for the tape, letting him go, he looked at his arm, marveling at how much he missed the warmth of her touch.

“He was a good dad. I mean, he obviously worked long hours, but when he was home, he was there for the kids. No matter what he did to me, I’ll never speak badly about how he parented.”

“You’re a good person, Margot.”

Her cheeks turned pink, and all it did was make him want to kiss her. “Oh, well, thanks. Anyhow, over his career, he’d lost his job four times. The first three, he was young, and the market was sure to rebound, so he was able to jump back in. The last time, though, it had shriveled up, and he never recovered. He did the right thing, though. He put the house on the market, sold the cars, and we stopped spending.”

“So, you’re living off savings?”

“Ha. No. He blew through that on bad investments. People stopped returning his calls. He tried putting up his consultant shingle—like every other unemployed titan—but no one wanted his advice or experience. He had lots of meetings and lunches, golfed with his old colleagues, anything to stay in the game. And when they mentioned sure-thing deals in their portfolios, he’d want a piece of the action. He was desperate for something to take off.”

“And nothing did?”

She shook her head. “We lost everything. I was a stay-at-home mom, so I didn’t have much to offer the workplace, but I got a job as a barista, and we found a small apartment in another town.”

“You lived off your income?”

“Yes. It wasn’t much, but—”

“No.” He placed his hand over hers. “It was everything. Did he do it, too, though? Get a job like that?” Because it sure sounded like she took over paying the bills while he tried to reclaim his glory days.

“No. He couldn’t bear the idea of serving someone he’d once worked with. And that was okay. I understood that. He never stopped trying to get a job, and he always came up with business ideas—good ones—but for whatever reason, nothing panned out. Until Petra.”

Ah, fuck.

“She found his résumé online and reached out to him. He was so excited at first, imagining himself as a CEO of her new company, but she was offering potential, not income. Still, he ran with it. He’s a very determined man, and he was sure he’d get her the venture capital money she needed. He went from long hours napping on the couch to going back to the gym and being excited about his future.”

“If you tell me he cheated on you with Petra, I’m going to flip this table.”

“Why, because it’s such a cliché?”

“No, because he got you into this situation and then abandoned you.”

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