Christmas Angel (26 page)

She eyed him, tamping down the conflicting emotions inside her. “I didn’t understand why I was brought here. Why I would end up under your protection and why…how I could have feelings for you when I was supposed to find someone else.”

He shut his eyes and paused a moment before he spoke. “May I ask what makes this guy so special?”

Angel smiled. “Have you listened closely to the words of his songs? All my life I’d only known men who treated me like one of your paper napkins used once and then tossed away. I’ve never known a man who could respect a woman and not be afraid to show her how much he loves her.”

Her statement hit Shado like a two by four. Could he deal with a woman with a past like hers? What if he wasn’t enough for her? Doubt niggled at his brain.

“They said they would play more of his music.” Angel jumped up and turned up the dial on the radio and sure enough, there was Billy Joel cranking out one of his love ballads. Her effervescent joy made him smile. If she could show a man like him love and compassion and make him feel ten feet tall after years of not feeling she deserved love, then certainly he could accept her. After all, this was the season of second chances, of miracles, and her arriving in his life—no matter how or why, no matter what she did or didn’t do in the past—was his miracle. He wasn’t going to allow her to slip through his fingers now, not when she’d traveled so far to find him. Oh he’d convinced himself quick he was what she needed, despite everything. He just needed to get his ego out of the way, so his heart could beat again.
“Come on, dance with me.”

He pulled her to him and encircled her waist, drawing her to the small patch of open space in his tiny living room. For a moment, he closed his eyes, breathing deep the scent of her hair near his face, appreciating how perfectly they fit together. What mattered most was this moment, holding her close to his heart. Right there in his arms was where she belonged. She just didn’t realize it yet.

He rested his chin on the top of her head and found himself humming along with the music.

“You can sing?”

Angel’s pleasant surprise bolstered his ego. He cleared his throat, having not attempted a single note outside of a shower since his choral group in high school. He sang a few of the words to the song then held her at arm’s length. “You know, you really ought to see what’s right under your nose, Angel. This guy is an entertainer. Granted, he can sing, but hell,
I
can sing—sort of.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Shado pushed on, determined to have his say. “He plays piano—big deal. I’ve been known to play a little acoustic guitar.”

“Really?” She regarded him with a curious smile.

Set on making his point using whatever means necessary, he continued, toying with the buttons on one of his dress shirts she wore. “The guy’s a legend in the industry, but honestly, Angel, you have about as much of a chance with him as—”

“As with you?” she interjected. Her challenging gaze was the final impetus for him to go all-in. “What are you trying to say, Shado?”

“I admit I’m no prize, Angel. I’m stubborn, a true slob of a bachelor. I have one toe that bends the wrong way.”

“You have one or two redeeming qualities, however.” She smiled, touching his cheek.

He raked his hand through his hair.

She reached up and grabbed it. “Tell me you’re the Billy I’m looking for. The
Billy
of my dreams.”

With trembling hands, Shado drew the small box from his pocket and opened it to show her a thin silver band with a simple diamond. He dropped to his knee and looked up as shock registered on her face. Blinking away emotions threatening his composure, he marveled at them, realizing how sequestered he’d become—how he’d not been living—until the day she walked into his life.

She held her hand over her mouth.

“So listen. This is how I see it. My full name is William Reynolds Jackson. They called me Billy when I was young—worse, Billy the Kid. I hate it. I always have. No offense to Mr. Joel. The name never worked as well for me.”

It was as though someone had turned a switch in his dark life and he needed to tell her everything. “When Danny and I worked together at the station, the guys could tell us apart by our personalities. Danny was the social one, into sports, loved being around people.” He rambled on. “He spent his free time on community basketball teams, doing charity events, going out with the guys. I wasn’t into the same things. I preferred being at home, reading, maybe catching a movie, listening to music. That’s when they gave me the name Shado— the silent guy, who hangs in the shadows, Mr. Non-social.” He blinked, realizing how the words had simply spilled out of him. He could only pray she understood—that it would be enough. “Wow, I realize that’s a lot to swallow in one night, but there it is.”

Her blue eyes welled. “I’m not proud of my past. But it was the only way I could survive being abandoned by my family.”

His heart squeezed, and he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. “Your profession isn’t who you are. You taught me that, Angel. That and so much more.”

“It is you, isn’t it? You’re
Billy
…you’re the one.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. “Somehow I knew. Deep down inside, I knew. I was afraid to believe it because I thought it was like you said, one of those things where the victim falls in love with her protector,” she said. “After I spoke to Burt, I realized it wasn’t enough for me to believe it—we both needed to. He said we were the masters of our own fate. That’s the true miracle in all of this.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been so stupid.”

She touched his mouth. “No you haven’t. You’ve just been waiting for me.”

He brushed his lips to hers and a fire sparked inside him, rushing through him, wanting more as he always did with her. He held her face between his hands. “Stay with me, Angel. This Billy loves you and wants to grow old with you. Have mercy on me. Tell me yes, you’ll stay.”

“Yes.” Her smile was wobbly. “Without question, yes.”

He slipped the sparkling diamond ring on her finger and hugged her tight. “Poor Billy doesn’t know what he’s losing.” He chuckled.

She leaned back in his arms and looked up at him. “We can still go see him, right? For the music, of course.”

“Sure, if that’s what you want for Christmas. We’ll go see Billy.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” He pulled out a card and handed it to her. “It’s from Madam Lee at the Imperial hotel. It’s a weekend package for two in the bordello fantasy suite. I thought maybe, with New Year’s coming up, we’d go see if the rumors are true.”

“Rumors?” She looked at him, her blue eyes curious.

“That you feel like you’ve been taken on a journey back in time to the days of the Sweet Magnolia.”

She chuckled. “Trust me. The Old West has got nothing over bubble baths in your claw foot tub.” Her hands snaked under his sweatshirt, drawing it over his head.

“Fair enough, I’ll give it to one of the guys at work.” Her lips touched his skin, and his body leapt to life. He held her face and claimed her mouth, even as he reclaimed his life and stepped over the threshold of his loneliness into a lifetime of adventure with Angel.

A strange rushing sound, like water spilling over a falls, caught his ear and he opened one eye in time to see the giant Fraser fir plummeting toward them. He turned his body, dropping to the floor to protect her and braced for the impact of the tree. A groan escaped as the full brunt of it landed on his back. He looked down at Angel and smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

A loud pounding sounded immediately from his neighbor next door. “Keep it down in there,” he yelled through the paper-thin walls.

“There’s the pot calling the kettle black,” Angel responded, with a short laugh.

Shado reached out and pushed the tree to the side laughing as it landed with a loud thud to the floor. “We could move, I suppose.”

Angel looked at him. “And leave Miss Brisbee? We can’t.”

He stood, pulled her to her feet and led her down the hall. “Then I suppose you leave me no choice but to make our neighbor’s life a living hell—starting tonight.” He grinned wickedly as he slammed the bedroom door behind them.

Dear Readers,

I hope you enjoyed Christmas Angel. And I hope that if you’ve enjoyed reading about the “tales” of the Sweet Magnolia that you’ll drop me a line. Look for more from this series in the future! Coming in 2016: A Knight at the Sweet Magnolia!

Amanda

~
ABOUT THE AUTHO
R
~

Amanda McIntyre’s passion is telling character-driven stories with a penchant for placing ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations. A bestselling author, her work is published internationally in print, E-book, and audio. She writes sizzling contemporary romance and erotic historical romance and believes no matter what, love will find a way.

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NEWSLETTER

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