Unholy Nights: A Twisted Christmas Anthology (23 page)

"Nah," Cabot said easily. "Hoot thinks life has always come too easily to me."

"Hasn't it?"

"No. It may look easy on the outside, but on the inside, you have to have determination to go after what you want."

Cabot smiled wryly. "So when Hoot saw that I was determined to come after you, he decided he would help." He stopped the video and looked at her. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to follow Hoot's wishes?"

She was smiling again when she leaned over and their lips met. She fell into the kiss instantly, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Their tongues tangled and his hands moved to her breasts.

Even as she moaned with delight, he pulled away. "I may have to replay that clip over and over," he said.

She laughed. "We may get to the point where we can kiss even without Hoot's help."

He grinned at her. "Count on it." He held up his phone again. "But there's more I want to show you. Elizabeth had something to say, as well."

His twin stood in front of the huge Christmas tree that decorated the cathedral ceilinged family room. Her hands were fisted on her hips. "Dakota," she said, "I chased down the woman who gave you the silver bean."

Elizabeth held up a small silver object between her thumb and her forefinger. "She told me the love charm can't be broken. Don't make a colossal mistake, Dakota. Cabot is the best guy on the planet."

"Hey, what about me?" Their brother Steven stuck his head in the frame from the side.

"You?" Dakota cuffed the top of his head. "You'll chase anything in a pair of red cowboy boots. Cabot has taste."

A red cowboy boot popped up in the lower left corner, tapping away as if it were at a country line dance.

Then a teenaged girl with long, curly hair danced across the room, between Elizabeth and the Christmas tree. She carried a homemade sign which she angled back and forth like a rowboat riding choppy waves. The sign said,
Merry Christmas, Dakota
.

"That's my other sister," Cabot said. "Sarah."

Dakota laughed. "What in the world is this all about?"

"I wanted you to know that if you take me, you're taking a whole family and a bunch of friends."

"Elizabeth wasn't exactly friendly to me at the party."

"Elizabeth knows me. Once she knew I wanted you, she'd do anything to make it happen."

"Your other siblings are the same?"

He grinned. "Mostly, they just like to have fun."

"How in the world did Elizabeth find the woman who provides the silver beans? I don't even know where she lives."

"Brenna told her. When I got up on the morning you left, I found her and Elizabeth plotting in the kitchen."

"Elizabeth said," he continued, "she needed to find out if I was doomed or not and if I was, she was going to get herself some of the magic that had infected you and me and Brenna and Joe, and apparently everyone she knew. Except for Steven, who was still young enough to be satisfied with a miniskirt and a pair of cowboy boots."

Dakota giggled. "She'd better watch out. The love charm doesn't necessarily send you what you think you want."

Cabot frowned. "You don't want me?"

Dakota's heart began to pound. "I just had you. And I'm hoping to have you again in the very near future."

"That sounds good. But it's not enough. I have another surprise for you." He grabbed his pants again, and this time he pulled out an engraved box. He flipped it open. A beautiful diamond set in platinum sparkled at her.

Dakota gasped. "Cabot! That looks like an engagement ring." She raised her eyes to his face, struggling to maintain her composure. "How very gothic of you."

He shrugged. "I'm traditional. What can I say? This was one of the things I had to do before I came after you."

"Oh my God." She clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a shriek. "You planned all this!"

He raised his brows. "And you didn't?"

She giggled. "What was your first clue?"

"The panties, of course." He set the box on the nightstand and lay down beside her again. He began to fondle her butt as if the topic of conversation had reminded him of that part of her anatomy.

"The panties?" she repeated.

"You left them for me to find." He squeezed gently.

She blew him a kiss. "You're pretty cocky." But his hand was doing wonderful things to her, and she was beginning to tighten up again.

"I know an invitation when I see it."

"They were just a lever. If you hadn't been attracted to me, they wouldn't have motivated you to come after me. You would have tossed them in the trash."

"True. But, as you can see, I
am
attracted to you."

She giggled. "I can feel it, anyway."

"Good. But the first time was your freebie. This one is going to cost you."

"Cost me?"

He picked up her hand, and folded it within his, and her heart swelled at the feeling of belonging that swept through her. He was right. She'd let a lot of insecurities get in her way, but she'd known right from the beginning that Cabot was the man for her.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

Dakota swallowed the lump in her throat. There had to be times when being impulsive was the way to go.

"Yes." She threw her arms around him. "Yes, I will marry you."

"Good. We've got that settled."

She hesitated. Other changes would have to be made if they were going to be together. She might as well address them now.

"I left your house in fear," she said slowly. "I didn't know how I could settle down to one place, one person. It will mean uprooting my life, you know?"

His eyes were solemn as he rested his hand on her head and smoothed down her hair. "I know. I'd prefer not to have you based in London, but I know that's selfish of me."

"I don't know if I could be transferred to Boston now that I work at an international carrier. It's a scary prospect to me," she added slowly, "to think about leaving my job."

"If I may be politically incorrect, you know I will always take care of you."

She smiled. "But it's scarier to think of life without you than life without my job."

He smiled. "That's all I needed to hear."

"You don't need to hear that I love you?"

He gathered her close. "I'd much rather you show me."

~

A
Note from the Author

Love Charm for Dakota is the fourth in the Love Charm series. Brenna and Joe are featured in Love Charm for Brenna, which takes place mostly at a masquerade ball.  Dakota's friend Ashley is the heroine of the first in the series, Love Charm for Ashley.

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About The Author

Carly Carson lives near Nantucket Island, where the Christmas Stroll is an annual event.  Having found her own Prince Charming at a young age, she's never needed a love charm, but please join her as she tells the tales of other women who've used a bit of magic to find true love.

––––––––

O
verture

The police swarmed the Strand Theater. Tossing costumes aside, dusting for fingerprints, dousing the floors with Luminol—desperate to find any sign of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Cambridge Ballet’s principal dancer, Svetlana Sokolova, had simply vanished—absconded into the night after last night’s performance of
The Nutcracker
.

She left nothing behind—except her ballet slippers.

I observed the chaos from stage left. The police had asked everyone who had performed with her to come in for questioning. Since I had played Clara and was on stage for the entire ballet, the police had interviewed me for hours—hoping any little detail that I noticed was significant. The Cambridge Ballet always lured the audience to
The Nutcracker
by casting principals from the company as Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier instead of the students from the ballet school like me who danced the other roles. As a member of the pre-professional school, being on stage every night, mesmerized by Svetlana and her Cavalier’s
pas de deux
during “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” had been the biggest thrill of my life.

My cheeks felt wet from my tears. What if Svetlana had been kidnapped or murdered? Or a serial killer was on the loose? Was she safe? Would the Cambridge Ballet survive this scandal? I couldn’t imagine life without my pointe shoes.

The
Boston Globe’s
newest dance critic Mikhail Radetsky approached and handed me a tissue. “Come, now. I’m sure Sveta will be fine.”

I dabbed my tears. No way was I going to cry in front of the hottest ballet dancer who had ever graced our stage. While other girls my age obsessed over the cutest member of the latest boy band, Mikhail was the only star of my dreams. “Thank you. I hope you’re right. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Twenty-two year old Mikhail embraced me, and I could feel my heart thump. “Likewise. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you last night. Your feet, your musicality, your stage presence enraptured me. You have a big future ahead of you. With your light blue eyes and platinum blonde hair, you will make the perfect Snow Queen.”

My eyes widened. Was Boston’s most famous dancer complimenting me? It was well known that he was a perfectionist and found fault with almost every dancer in the Cambridge ballet. “Are you serious? That means so much coming from the best dancer who ever lived! I saw you and Sveta dance Snow King and Queen four years ago. Your partnering made her dancing look so effortless and beautiful.”

Mikhail’s mouth softened and I saw a glimpse of kindness in his eyes. “You will be a star. How do you say your name?”

“It’s Nieves Alba. Nee-A-bays.” Though I had a poster of him in a
grand jeté
plastered on my bedroom wall, being in such close proximity with him rattled me. “Mr. Radetsky, I’m so sorry to ask you at a time like this, but would you sign my pointe shoes?” I motioned toward my broken-in, blood-stained Bloch slippers.

Mikhail raised his eyebrows and pulled out a pen to sign the soles. “Please, call me Misha. I want to show you something.” He reached into a bag and pulled out a white box. Lifting the lid, he pushed back the crinkly purple tissue paper and removed a beautiful antique snow globe. Inside was a dancer, the Sugar Plum Fairy. Mikhail wound up the globe and she began twirling to “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”

My fingers trembled as I grasped the globe. The figurine looked lifelike. “It’s beautiful. She looks just like Sveta.” I shook it and flurries of snow sprinkled on the dancer. I thought for a second that I saw the Sugar Plum Fairy clasp her hands together, ballet mime for begging, but the figure must’ve not been attached tightly enough.

His eyes shifted. “Funny, I know. Maybe the artist who had sculpted the figurine based it on Sveta’s picture. Anytime you want to see it, you can come visit me at my office at the
Globe
.” He handed me a business card.

I placed it in my shoes without taking my gaze off the globe. It was breathtaking. The dancer almost seemed alive.

A detective signaled to Mikhail. They were probably glad to have had a reporter on scene last night covering the ballet. Maybe his photographer even captured a clue. “It was nice meeting you, Nieves. I must go. They need me.”

He wrapped the globe up in the tissue and placed it back in the box.

“I’d like to follow your career and write an article about your training. Please, stay in touch.” Mikhail gave me a kiss on the cheek, his stubble scratching my face, and walked toward the officers.

Evan Stonestreet, who had played the role of Clara’s brother Fritz, came from behind me. “What did he want with you?”

“He just wanted to compliment me dancing as Clara. He said I’m destined to be a star. The Snow Queen!”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Lucky you. He hates my guts. Wrote in his review that I had the musicality of a mouse.”

“Well, maybe you need to practice more instead of playing video games.”

He motioned to the Sugar Plum Fairy’s empty costume hanging on a rack, now wrapped in a plastic bag, marked as evidence. “Sveta practiced all the time and now she’s missing. And Misha had all the musicality in the world. What did that get him? He tore up his Achilles and ruined his career. Then Sveta left him. Now he’s just a critic. He’ll never dance again.”

“You don’t know that. He’s doing physical therapy. This critic gig is probably just something to keep him busy. I’m sure he’ll stage a comeback.” But Evan had a point. Mikhail had dedicated his life to ballet and one bad fall in last year’s production of
Giselle
had destroyed his life. Getting injured and being forced to quit dancing was any dancer’s biggest fear.

But I didn’t want to think about that possibility. I just prayed that Svetlana was safe. I closed my eyes and vowed that one day I would be able to have as perfect of a
passé
as the ballerina had in the globe.

Five Years Later

Act I Scene I

The halls of Cambridge Ballet were filled with dancers of all ages, crammed around a blank corkboard, silently waiting for the sound of the secretary’s footsteps. The list would be up today.

The list.

For as long as I could remember, that list had controlled my life. When I was a little girl, it had been an honor to be given any part in my hometown’s production of
The Nutcracker
. My first role had been lamb—and when I had been chosen as the only black lamb, I had felt like a star. Stepping onto the stage for the first time with all the pretty ballerinas made me forget all the yelling that had swirled around me at home.