Page 9 of His Christmas Gift

“Holy crap Missy,” Jenny said spotting her the second she was through the door.

“Dang girl, don’t you clean up well?” Zack teased dropping a kiss onto Jenny’s cheek as she tensed slightly at his appreciative tone. “It’s true babe, but you know you’ve got me,” he added to his girlfriend making Melissa smile at the two.

“Just wanted to see how we’re going in here, we’re waiting on four to arrive,” she warned her friend who nodded.

“We should be good to start right about seven-thirty. Zack’s heading back out to the bar, so as soon as you all head to the dining room, he’ll let me know and we should have the soup out in about three minutes. While you’re all eating, we’ll switch appetizers out for the dessert trays,” Jenny assured her. “Now tell me, how’d the big boss take the digs?”

“He looked quite surprised and something I’m not sure I want to know as well.” The aroma of food got to her making her stomach growl.

“Geesh girl, haven’t you eaten anything today? No, you skipped lunch and have probably been hobnobbing it so much that you haven’t had the chance. Here, eat before you pass out,” she added passing over a few tiny appetizers.

“Mmm, you’re the best Jenny.” She sighed, the flavor of the tiny little fish pâté unmatchable in her long experience of sampling appetizers. The Asian meatballs were her favorite, reminding her of the nights the two of them had vegged out watching a movie and drinking wine late into the night.

“I know, now go snare that man so I get to do this all the time,” Jenny joked letting her head back to the others with a smile on her lips.

She slid the dining room door shut behind her, Jasper’s tall muscular frame catching her attention as she turned slightly. She smiled seeing two individuals moving into the party space. That likely left just Callum and his date to go before she could get more than just tiny little bits into her stomach. She had forgotten to have lunch in her rush to get things organized and she was starting to regret it now.

“Ah, there you are, everything set?” Jasper asked slipping to her side, settling his hand on her elbow making her body tingle all the way through.

“We’ll be ready as soon as we get to the table,” she said with a nod allowing him to move her back into the fray and keep her beside him as the minutes edged closer to seven-thirty.

Just before it, she heard a trilling laugh and cringed inwardly, oh heavens she hated women who purposely made themselves seem dingy and silly to land a man. She felt Jasper let out a sigh hearing it as well and he turned them slightly to see that it was indeed his brother and his date finally there.

“You decided to finally join us I see,” Jasper said in greeting, keeping a gentle hand on Melissa’s arm when his brother recognized her. “Shall we head into the dining room to enjoy our meal?” he suggested to the crowd who all seemed eager for more after the appetizers. He moved to the doors, opening them to reveal the magnificent set up that Melissa arranged.

Jasper slid around the table to their spots as the others filled the room, taking in everything around them. No one seemed put out by having specific seating arrangements beyond his brother who shot him a dark look as he settled Melissa into her seat.

Luke was seated beside her, his wife Karina on Luke’s other side. Ella was beside Jasper and Micah on her other side, guaranteeing that those closest to Melissa would behave.

The wait staff moved out with trays of soup and Melissa watched as the guests took sips of the golden goodness. The flash of approval up and down the table made her fight a grin and she glanced towards Jasper to see his reaction to it. Her eyes caught his and she knew that the flare of heat that flashed through them wasn’t due to the spice or temperature of the soup, and it made her flush lightly.

“You must tell me the name of your caterer and planner, Jasper,” Karina said leaning around her husband to see him. “This is divine.”

“Melissa can help you with the caterer. As far as the rest, she was gracious enough to arrange it for me yesterday when it came out that the contract with my usual caterer wasn’t executed,” Jasper said lifting his glass of white wine towards her. “It is more than I ever imagined possible to manage in a day.”

“You must give me the caterer’s name,” Karina said, her eyes wide at the news of the swiftness of the event arrangements. “I can never get one last minute.”

“Jenny is new to the catering business but as you can tell she won’t be new for long,” Melissa stated with a smile at her. “I’d be more than happy to pass along her information.”

“You know the caterer personally?” Ella asked and she nodded.

“She was most likely my first friend in the city. She supplements her catering by working in a café and we quickly became friends when I went in for a tea latte.”

“Which I am very thankful for,” Jasper stated watching her as the evening went on. The salad even more appetizing than the soup, and when their main course arrived, he saw the looks of bliss on all of the faces at the table.

No one could fault the menu or the presentation of it. The wine choices enhanced the flavors fully and he could hardly imagine how dessert could top any of this. He led Melissa back to the main room once they finished and the sight of little petit fours made him hungry despite having consumed the most delectable meal in ages.

The women stole Melissa from his side, and he reluctantly moved to discuss business with the others while keeping an eye on her movement throughout the room. He smiled behind his wineglass seeing the rapture on Danielle’s face as she spoke to Melissa, and he wondered what she was saying to the dingiest woman he’d ever met. No one could last more than five minutes with her at a time beyond her husband. Melissa had been speaking with her for at least ten now.

“What sort of game is this?” Callum questioned bringing his attention back to his brother rather than enjoying Melissa’s obvious ease in his world.

He wondered how she would handle an evening at the ballet or theater or at a charity event where everyone would be attempting to boast their accomplishments. He’d love to see her dressed up even more at one of those, to be the one to have claim to her for the entire evening.

“I’ve no idea what you mean, Callum,” he said taking a long sip of his wine watching thoughts and plots playing through his mind.

“No? What the hell is that stupid intern doing here?” Callum shot at him.

Had there not been a full room of guests, he would have strangled his brother.

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