This Holiday Magic. Celeste O. Norfleet
“Don’t ‘Janelle’ me!”
“I understand your feelings. I just need you to know that I...” He paused.
“That you what?” she said slowly. “Tell me—what could you possibly say to me that would change what happened between us? You see, silly me, I believed you back then. I believed in you, and you turned your back on me. So, no, sorry, I’m not that naive person anymore. You tore my life apart once before, but never again. You walked out on me. You don’t get to just walk back into my life now like it was no big deal. Like I said, I got over you a long time ago.”
He nodded slowly and lowered his head. “Why don’t you just ask me what you really want to?” he said softly. When he looked back up at her, his eyes were piercing. “How could I leave you?”
She looked at him, hurt. All of a sudden the old pain became fresh again. With one question, it had all come back. Yes, she’d wondered about the answer to that one question, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of asking what it was. She had vowed a long time ago that he would never affect her again. But right now, just seeing him standing there, brought up feelings she had thought long buried.
“Janelle...”
“Where is my father?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed in mistrust as she planted her balled fists on her hips.
“He’s unavailable.”
“You’re starting to sound like a broken record. Where is he?” she repeated.
“He’s getting coffee in the break room.”
She looked around her father’s office. It was usually neat, but now there were half-open boxes, files and paper everywhere. It was a cluttered mess. “What’s going on with my father’s company? Is this your next acquisition?”
He looked hurt. “Do you seriously think that little of me?”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
He smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I guess I deserved that.” The raw, intense hunger she saw in his eyes made her take a step back. Her stomach shuddered. She swallowed hard, needing to regroup quickly. “Janelle...”
“You need to leave.”
“I can’t. I promised your father I’d do what I could to help him, and I will.”
“He doesn’t need your help anymore. He has me now.”
“Yes, he does. But you can’t help him with this.”
“Tyson, leave now or I’ll call security and have you physically thrown out of here—your choice.”
“Janelle, this isn’t about you and me. This is about your father, his company and his freedom.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“I’m asking you. Tell me.”
“He needs my help and I promised him I’d do whatever I can. Your father is a brilliant businessman, but sometimes solely focusing on winning at all costs causes you to lose everything in the end.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. He didn’t reply. “You’re not going to tell me? Fine.” She marched over to the desk, reached around him and grabbed the office phone from the cradle. Before she could lift it, Tyson quickly covered her hand with his to stop her.
Just inches apart, their eyes locked. Intense emotions slammed into her like an anvil falling at high velocity. Her heart thudded in her chest as she held her breath. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. She wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything, but yet she was. She was over him and he wasn’t going to get to her again. “Save it. I’m immune. Your bad-boy charm doesn’t work on me anymore.”
“Doesn’t it?” he asked quietly.
She glared at him, holding her ground. They both knew he was lethal to any woman. But she wasn’t going to back down. “Move your hand now, Tyson,” she warned through gritted teeth.
“I left for a reason.”
“I don’t really care about your reason.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Understand this, Mr. Croft. You don’t know me anymore. You knew that quiet, shy, young woman right out of medical school more than two years ago. She wore rose-colored glasses and thought there’d always be a happy ending in her life, no matter what. Well, she was wrong and she’s long gone.”
“I hope not. I missed her. I missed you,” he whispered gently.
Janelle’s heart lurched. His voice was too tender and his eyes were too sincere. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.
He looked away and gently squeezed her hand. “Because I can’t stop thinking about you, because I can’t stop wanting you and because I can’t stop loving...”
“Stop! Enough! I don’t want to hear it.” She raised her voice.
“Janelle, is that you?”
Janelle turned around quickly to see her father standing in the doorway, holding two coffee cups. A radiant smile instantly spread across her face. She snatched her hand away from the phone and ran over to him.
Setting down the cups, he met her halfway and they embraced long and hard. Moments later he pulled back and gently held her face in his hands. He stared closely, then nodded. “Yes, you’re okay?”
She smiled and nodded as tears rolled down her face. “Yes, I am now.”
“God, I missed you,” Ben said.
She laughed, half crying for joy. “I missed you, too, Dad.”
Janelle and Ben hugged again, and then he held her close as he turned to Tyson, smiling. “My little girl’s back.”
Tyson grinned. “Yes, she certainly is. I’m gonna fax these letters out. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Dad, you look so tired.”
Ben eyed his daughter happily. “Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you. When did you get here?”
“Just now,” she said.
“No. I mean when did you get back from Africa?”
“About three hours ago. I was stuck in Customs for a while. It feels like I’ve been on the road forever. I left Dar es Salaam over twenty-five hours ago.”
“What? It doesn’t take that long to get here from Tanzania.”
“I know, but I grabbed the first flight, and unfortunately, the last-minute plans made travel a nightmare.”
“Well, you’re here now and that’s all that matters.”
“Dad, tell me what’s going on. Why, of all people, is Tyson Croft here in your office? He said he was working with you.”
“It’s nothing for you to be concerned about, sweetheart. He’s working a few things out for me.... Just some minor business matters.”
“Dad, you know Tyson can’t be trusted. You know what he does for a living. The man gobbles up businesses and breaks them apart and sells them to the highest bidder. There’s no way he’s here to help you.”
“I am,” Tyson said, standing in the office doorway.
Janelle turned and glared at him.
“Janelle, you’re going to have to trust me on this. He is here to help. I know you and Tyson have a strained past and, from the sound of it when I walked into the office earlier, a questionable present, but I’m going to need for you to put all that aside, at least for the time being. I need Tyson, I need you and I need a truce,” Ben said.
She