Fairytale Christmas with the Millionaire

Frustrated, she turned away from him to stare out the window. With each passing block, the scenery became more familiar. If they made a right up here, she was certain where they were going.

And then they turned right. They were headed home—back to the Stirling. Did this mean he’d changed his mind about tearing it down? As excitement lifted her heart, reality brought her back down to earth. If he’d changed his mind, he would have told her by now.

So if this meeting wasn’t about the apartment building, was it about them getting back together? The thought tempted and teased her.

But to give in to her desires—to even consider getting back together—she needed more than he’d been willing to give her before. She needed a commitment that she—that their relationship—would come before business. She had to know he loved her. Anything less wasn’t enough. Anything less wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

And Graham had already told her he couldn’t make the commitment a marriage needed to survive. So this was all just a painful waste of time.

She turned to Graham. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

He stared deep into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

This was such an important question. Without trust they didn’t have any chance of a future. She didn’t have to debate the answer to this question because it was something she knew instinctively.

She nodded.

He smiled and reached out to take her hand in his. And that’s how they were sitting when the car pulled to a stop in front of the Stirling.

“Come on.” Graham opened the door before the driver could do it. He stepped out and then turned back to offer her his hand.

She stepped outside the car as a light snow started to fall. “Graham, I don’t understand. What can you say to me here that you couldn’t say back at the restaurant?”

“It’s not what I can say, it’s what I can show you.” His eyes pleaded with her not to fight him. “Just give me five minutes. If you don’t like what you see, I’ll go away and you’ll never have to see me again.”

Five minutes. In some instances, that was no time at all. But with her heart hanging on his every word, it was agonizingly long. And yet, she was dying to know what had him going out of his way. After all, if this was about the sale, he had everything he wanted. Every resident had agreed to move early.

“Okay.” Her heart raced. She didn’t know what he had planned but she hoped it was something good.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

WHAT WAS HE up to?

As they quietly made their way to her apartment. Alina’s stomach shivered with nerves. Graham was acting so strange and she had no idea what to make of it.

Once she stepped inside, she was surprised to find the Christmas tree lit up. Prince was stretched out beneath the tree, quietly observing them. Alina knew she hadn’t turned the lights on. The tree had been dark since the night of the ball. She stepped toward the tree to turn them off and saw two large Christmas presents sitting on the coffee table with a smaller package sitting in the middle.

She turned to Graham. “Did you do this?”

He nodded. His serious expression didn’t give anything away. It wasn’t like they’d parted friends, so why would he buy her Christmas presents?

Once their coats were off and they were seated in the living room, she turned to him. “You shouldn’t be buying me gifts.”

He stared at her with regret in his eyes. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure things out.”

What was he saying? Was he saying he wanted them to get back together? She tried to subdue her excitement when she reminded herself that it was going to take more than a present to fix things. Still, she wondered what he’d picked out for her.

He handed her the smallest of the packages. She stared down at the red-foil-wrapped box with a satin bow. It was very light, as though there was nothing in it. What was it?

The paper was so pretty that she wanted to unwrap it carefully to save it but her fingers were clumsy with nerves and her need to see what was inside had her ripping it off to find a plain white rectangular box. Her questioning gaze lifted to meet Graham’s.

“Go ahead. I promise it won’t bite.”

It was all the encouragement she needed. She lifted the lid and then pulled back the red tissue paper, finding a large gold key ornament. She lifted it by its thin red satin ribbon.

She held it in front of her. It was pretty enough. She turned her attention back to Graham. “I don’t understand.”

“You will.”