A Merry Little Christmas (19 page)

“It was the
way
she did it, Donnie. She didn’t hesitate, she didn’t say I wasn’t her husband she didn’t say we were just friends, she just looked up at me like she was totally proud to be with me and we got in the car. She acted like being with me was the most natural thing in the world. That’s when I knew that no matter what happened I had to get to know her better. I had to take the chance. And when Angel and Paris decided to have their little matchmaking soiree, everything just fell into place and I’ve been a very happy man ever since.”

The doorbell rang and Warren smiled broadly. “There’s my honey now,” he said with evident pleasure and he went to open the door for her. They entered the kitchen holding hands and cooing at each other like newlyweds. Lisette looked pleased to see Donnie and went over to give him a quick sisterly kiss on the cheek.

“It’s nice to see you again, Donnie. How are you doing?” she asked.

Warren came up behind Lisette and wrapped his arms around her, bending down to give her a most
unbrotherly
kiss on the neck. “He’s miserable because he doesn’t have what we have, honey.”

Lisette’s tender heart melted at Warren’s words. She turned around in his arms and put her hand on his face. “Don’t make fun of him, sweetheart. You should be helping him like our friends helped us,” she said with a gentle smile.

Donnie looked from Warren to Lisette in amazement. “So you set out to shanghai him and you admit it?” he said to Lisette. Staring at Warren, he went on, “And you knew they were matchmaking and you went along with it? This was okay with you?” he asked incredulously.

Warren and Lisette both laughed at Donnie’s expression. “Cochran, man, I would have
paid
Angel to come up with this idea. Are you crazy? I was going to beg Lisette to go out with me anyway; they just made it easier, that’s all.”

Lisette looked up at Warren adoringly and said, “You never have to beg me for anything, Warren. I wanted to be with you, too. I always have.”

Donnie correctly surmised that now would be a good time to leave. Refusing their repeated invitations to join them for dinner, he insisted on departing. Warren walked him to the door while Lisette set the table for two.

“Listen, buddy, I do have one piece of advice for you. Whatever you do, don’t mess over Angelique. I’m not saying that you and she are going to end up in love like me and Lisette, but don’t play with her, man. She’s a very special person and she deserves better,” he said meaningfully. Donnie put on his suit jacket. “Warren, first of all, I’m not going to mess over anybody and I’m a little insulted that you’d suggest I would. And second of all, do you realize that you just said you were in love with Lisette?”

Warren held up his hands in supplication. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impugn your honor or anything, and I know you wouldn’t deliberately hurt her or anyone else. But I’ve gotten very fond of her; she’s like a little sister to me. And, yes, I did use the word ‘love’ in the same sentence as Lisette’s name. She’s also very special to me. Very, very special,” he said with quiet assurance.

As he shrugged into his topcoat, Donnie gave Warren a look of grudging admiration and envy. “Well, I guess you have it all together, man. If you’re happy, I’m happy.” Warren took pity on his friend. “You will be if you don’t fight it,” he advised. Donnie looked perplexed and Warren was happy to enlighten him. “I noticed that you’ve stopped called her Evilene and now you refer to her as Angel. When did that happen?”

Donnie didn’t have an answer for Warren as he left the house and got into his cold car. While waiting for it to warm up, he asked himself the same question.
When
did
that happen?

Lisette joined Warren in the living room just in time to see Donnie backing out of the wide driveway. She leaned into his side and breathed in his wonderful masculine scent as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Lisette, you know I’ve fallen in love with you, don’t you?” he said softly.

Without hesitation she turned in his arms so that she was facing him. “I love you too, Warren. And because I love you so much, I have to tell you something and I hope you’ll still be in love with me afterward” she said sadly.

***

Donnie was sequestered in his office, ostensibly looking over budget projections for the next quarter, but in reality he was doing what he’d been doing more and more of lately: he was thinking about Angelique. Over the past few days, Donnie had an opportunity to ask himself a great many more questions as he tried to make sense of his new feelings. Ever since the day he’d seen her in Matt’s arms and he’d gotten the lecture from Warren, Donnie had been in turmoil.
Part of the problem was that Angelique was just so inaccessible since Matt had come to town. Even though she was perfectly friendly to Donnie, she was also busy. They managed to have dinner together once, but even that wasn’t what he’d hoped for since Paris and Matt also came along. They’d shared an excellent meal at
Xochimilco
in the trendy Mexican Town section of Detroit and then gone dancing together at
Parabox
, one of Angelique’s favorite dance clubs. It was New Latin Generation night and she had danced all night with what seem
ed to be every man in the place. 
Donnie frowned as he recalled that part of the evening.

He didn’t know why he hadn’t remembered how well she danced but she was out there putting everyone else to shame with her moves. The only other time he could remember Angelique dancing was at her brother Marcus’s wedding, and to be honest, he’d been pretty busy meeting the flock of beautiful women who were in attendance. That night, though, Angelique had amazed him. She’d been wearing black leather pants and a red camisole with matching bolero-type cardigan in a bright red angora, and her hair had been curlier than usual. She was a graceful, sexy figure on the dance floor and she commanded every eye as she executed the intricate steps. What’s more, Matt danced with her several times and they made an exquisite-looking couple, something else that irritated Donnie.

Donnie took a couple of calls while he continued to peruse the figures with the help of his laptop, but his mind kept going back to that night. Paris had also deserted him to dance but she eventually came back to the table and drank copious amounts of club soda with lime. She’d eyed him curiously and then asked the question he was dreading.

“So why aren’t you out there dancing, Donnie?”

He’d tried not to cringe and surprised himself by answering her honestly instead of indulging in his usual
nonanswer
. “I hate to dance, Paris. I’ve always felt kind of gawky, to tell you the truth. When your head is as far from your feet as mine is, getting on a dance floor is just asking for trouble,” he’d told her.

Her eyes had crinkled with laughter and he’d shrugged. “Besides, I was watching my brothers doing the Electric Slide or something one night and it was just scary, if you
ask me. They looked like big ol’
giraffes bobbing for water. From then on I decided to protect the public by restricting myself to slow-dancing only.” He watched Matt and Angelique dance some more and asked Paris how Matt could dance so well if he couldn’t hear the music.

“Angelique says if the music is really loud, he can feel t
he vibrations. And he wasn’t born
deaf, he lost his hearing gradually. I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.”

Snapping out of his reverie, Donnie suddenly looked at his watch and realized how late it was getting; on impulse he decided to take a walk around the office to clear his head. After rising from his desk and stretching, he took his suit coat from the closet and headed out. He real
ly did try to stick to his plan;
he strolled around the executive floor, chatting with a few key employees, and dropped in on the lower floor that held the ra
dio station,
but continued his “walk” only until he’d reached the elevator and gone down to the first floor. His footsteps were deliberate and purposeful; he went right to Angelique’s studio. There was a computer-printed note on the door
that puzzled him: it read
Closed for Wedding.
He
stared at the note for a moment
and
then went to find Fanchon.

Fanchon Rencher was the highly efficient concierge of the building. She knew everything that went on within its environs and was quite fond of Angelique. If Angelique had taken the day off for a wedding, Fanchon would know.

He showed her the note and she immediately started smiling. “Oh, Mr. Cochran, you should have seen them,” she said warmly. “Angelique was so excited she looked like a little girl. She and that handsome man just about ran out of here and all she had time to tell me was, ‘We’re eloping!’ She said she’d be back next week.”

Fanchon was startled by the look of utter fury on Donnie’s face. “Is something wrong, Mr. Cochran?”

“Nothing to worry about, Fanchon, just something I have to check out for myself,” he muttered as he turned away.

***

Angelique was in the middle of a happy dance when the pounding started at the front door. She looked up in surprise and went to see who could be making
all th
at
racket. Excusing herself from her guests, she went to the foyer with curiosity all over her face. The face she saw at the front door increased the curiosity.

“Adonis, why are you beating on my door like that? Have you finally gone all the way crazy?” she asked as she held the door open.

Donnie didn’t answer as he burst through the door and stood over her like some kind of vengeful warlord. “What has all this been about, Angel? Have you just been playing with me because you could? All the time we’ve been talking on the phone, trying to get to know each other better, waiting for that so-called friend to leave town so we can spend some time, and you’re
eloping?
What kind of game are you playing with me?” His anger a
nd hurt were plain in his words;
his tone of voice was several decibels louder than Angelique had ever heard.

“How did you hear about the wedding?” she asked innocently.

“Fanchon, that’s how. I saw the note on your studio door and I asked her about it and she said you told her you were eloping,” he snarled. “How do you think that made me feel?”

Confused, she looked up into his furious face. “I’m not eloping with anybody. Who says I am?
Matt
is eloping, him and Nicole. Where’d you get the idea that I was eloping with anybody?”

By now Donnie became aware that there were other people present. Matt had entered the room and with him was a small, slender woman Donnie had never seen before. She had an exotic, startling beauty with golden brown skin and thick curly brown hair with golden highlights. She
had green eyes and a big port-wine birthmark that spread over her right cheek like a starfish,
marring her arresting features.  Actually
it should have
but
she was so pretty, it seemed like an enhancement of her beauty. She also seemed to have a good sense of humor as she was quite amused by the scene before her.

“So this is the great man, hmm? You’re right, Angel, he’s quite a beauty,” she said mischievously. “Adonis is definitely the right name for this one.” She was turned toward Matt as she spoke so he could read her lips. She also signed the words.

Donnie was taken aback as Angelique reached for his hand and led him into the center of the living room. “Adonis, this is Nicole, my other best friend. She and Matt are eloping. We’re going to Las Vegas tonight for the wedding. Now do you understand?”

“You said, ‘We’re eloping,’ ” he said stubbornly. “You didn’t say your
friends
were eloping.”

“I did? Well, maybe I said it wrong, who knows. What I meant was that we’re all going to Vegas to get hitched!” she ended with a happy yelp. She let go of Donnie’s hand and continued the happy dance with Matt. “We’re gettin’ married, we’re gettin’ married!”

Nicole hadn’t lost her smile; she walked over to Donnie and linked her arm through his. “And you’re coming with us, too, Adonis. This is going to be the best weekend of your entire life.”

C
hapter Twelve

Angelique came awake slowly, very slowly, due no doubt to the pounding in her head. She was burning up; her head felt like a marching band was going through it and she was sure she was suffocating. She tried to move
but her arms wouldn’t cooperate.  I
t was like she was restrained in some way. There was a low, rumbling noise like a machine vibrating in her ear, a steady sound that didn’t help the considerable pain in her head at all. She thought it was night, but she wasn’t sure. Maybe her eyes were closed. She tried to open them, and after several attempts was able to see a hint of light. Encouraged she rested a few seconds
and
then opened her eyes wider. Suddenly things were clearer, but not much.

The noise that was causing her such discomfort was the gentle snoring of Adonis Cochran and the reason she wasn’t able to move was because he had his arms locked around her. One of her arms was underneath his big body and the other one was around his waist and her face was buried in his chest. They were both fully dressed
,
thank God
,
but she had no idea where they were or how they’d gotten there
. 
All she knew for sure was that her head was splitting open and she had to go to the bathroom right then and there or risk permanent disgrace. She had to get him off her and quickly.
 
Immediately, she started moving around to the best of her ability; she couldn’t risk any sudden moves, due to the condition of her bladder.