This Holiday Magic (15 page)

Inside was a ten-carat, perfectly cut white-diamond solitaire in a platinum setting. She really started crying then because she could see the care with which Adam had chosen it for her. It wasn't twenty or more carats and gaudy like some of the engagement rings she'd seen on celebrities' fingers. Undoubtedly he'd chosen the purest color and cut. It was a ring he'd known she'd be proud to wear.

Her first inclination was to put it on, but she didn't. Adam should be the one to slip the ring onto her finger. He had obviously anticipated their making love tonight, and that was why he'd slipped in here earlier and put the Tiffany bag on the nightstand.

But what could she do about it now after that argument? If she went next door to his room and threw herself into his arms, wouldn't he think she'd changed her mind only after discovering the ring?

One thing was for sure: she wasn't going home tomorrow. She was going to see this out to the end, whatever that might be.

Why did life have to be so complicated?

Chapter 9

S
age knocked on Adam's room door. There was only one thing to do: tactfully give him the ring back.

Adam opened the door wearing only his slacks. Sage momentarily lost her train of thought, so riveted was she by his naked chest. He was cut. His arms, chest and stomach muscles were clearly defined beneath his brown skin. She smiled. The teen whose chest had been practically hairless now boasted a profusion of hair.

He was smiling at her as he stepped aside for her to enter. “Did you change your mind?” he asked pleasantly. He hadn't seen the ring box in her right hand.

Sage stepped inside, he closed the door and they faced one another. Sage handed him the ring box. “It's a beautiful ring, Adam. Gorgeous, in fact, and I would be proud to wear it someday,” she said, smiling and pleading with her eyes for understanding.

He accepted the ring in resignation, but his smile had faded. “Do you know what this does to a man's ego, Sage?”

“The same thing that was done to mine when you broke up with me?” she countered.

“Is that what this is about?” Adam asked. “You want revenge?”

“Nothing so childish.” Her eyes flashed in defiance. “It's about wanting to wait until we know we're in love and we aren't caught up in what might have been, Adam.”

She breathed deeply and exhaled, shedding the defensiveness. She hadn't come here to argue. She went to him and touched his arm. When he didn't recoil from her touch, she moved closer until he relented and pulled her into his arms. Sage lost herself in his masculine scent and the feel of his body wrapping around hers.

After a couple of minutes, during which both of them relaxed and allowed the acrimony to drift away, he let go of her, and Sage peered up at him. “I still love you in that teenage-girl way I used to. Part lust, part romantic ideal, and now I want to love you like a woman would—completely. That's worth waiting for, isn't it?”

Adam nodded. “Yeah, that's definitely worth waiting for.”

He walked her to the door and kissed her on the cheek. They didn't say good-night again; Sage just left.

* * *

As Adam turned and walked back into the bedroom, the ring box felt burdensome in his hand. He didn't regret jumping the gun and asking Sage to marry him. He simply regretted she hadn't said yes. But he wasn't going to let that discourage him. He'd give her more time to think about them.

* * *

When Sage woke the next morning it was snowing. She noticed it when she went to the curtains and opened them to allow the sunshine to spill in. Her room was on the second floor, and the windows opened outward and didn't have screens. She opened one of them and held her hand out, capturing snowflakes in the palm of her hand as they drifted downward.

She sighed. The grounds, the other buildings nearby and the surrounding woods were covered with a mantle of snow. This was how Christmas was supposed to look.

Momentarily, she brushed the snow off her hand and closed the window. Adam would be knocking on her door in half an hour and she still had to shower.

A few minutes later, as she was coming out of the shower, the room phone rang. She sat on the edge of the bed in her bathrobe and answered it. “Hello?”

“Sage, it's Trudi. Have you been online this morning?”

“I brought my laptop, but I've been so busy I haven't even taken it out of its bag,” Sage said.

“Well, I wanted to warn you,” Trudi went on, “that when Adam kissed you yesterday, someone recorded it and put it on YouTube. It's gone viral.”

“You've got to be kidding me!” Sage said. “Adam told me there weren't any reporters at the summit.”

“I don't think it was a reporter. Whoever did it bragged that they captured the moment using the new Benson Electronics phone,” Trudi noted.

Remembering the phone's capabilities, Sage wasn't surprised.

“Am I identified?” Sage asked, hoping for a negative reply.

“No,” Trudi told her. “The caption reads, ‘Is electronics wizard Adam Benson in love?'”

“Has Adam seen it?”

“I have no idea,” Trudi said. “I was just looking out for you, girlfriend. Actually, I'm kind of surprised that Adam let his guard down like this. He's never been photographed with anyone he's dated in the past. Did you know that? In fact, he didn't even date anyone who didn't sign a confidentiality agreement. I suppose you've signed one, too?”

“No, he never brought up the subject,” Sage said softly, with a note of caution. She wondered why Trudi was asking so many personal questions, but assumed that if she and Ethan were Adam's best friends, it was safe to confide in her.

“Anyway,” Trudi continued, “Adam has a thick hide where invasion of his privacy is concerned, but you're a newbie, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up.”

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Trudi.”

“No problem,” said Trudi. “See you tonight at the awards ceremony.”

“All right. 'Bye, Trudi.”

“'Bye, Sage.”

After ending the call, Sage went to the closet where she'd stashed her computer and grabbed the black leather case she kept it in. Taking it to the desk in the bedroom, she sat and plugged it into the wall socket, realizing that after all this time without turning it on, the battery probably needed recharging.

While she was sitting at the desk, she looked around for the brochure that explained how to operate the TV and how to get an internet connection. Finding it, she turned to the page with instructions pertaining to the internet. Five minutes later she was online.

Two minutes after that she was looking at the YouTube video Trudi had told her about. She blushed when she saw the passionate manner in which she and Adam were kissing. It was easy to see how a moment like that would be hard for anyone to resist capturing. You couldn't fake those emotions.

The picture was so sharp, she could see the expressions on both their faces. Adam looked...well, he looked as though he adored her. And the tender way she touched his face as he bent to kiss her made her heart skip a beat. They looked like a couple very much in love. She was getting warm just watching the two of them.

As a testament to Adam's popularity, there were already more than a million hits. She calculated the time that had passed since kissing Adam yesterday. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet. She moved down the page and read a few of the comments. Most were positive, but some were disrespectful to Adam. She supposed she was saved from their vitriol because no one seemed to recognize her.

And then she had a horrible thought. If AOL had posted the video on their site, her mother had probably already seen it. Patricia Andrews treated AOL like her morning coffee. She didn't come fully awake until she'd logged on.

Sage minimized the YouTube page and opened her email. There were emails from her mother, Jim and several other friends. She opened the one from her mother first.

Sweetie, Millie and I are so happy to see that you and Adam are a couple again. That was some kiss!

The one from Jim she read next.

Wow, Sage. I guess the wunderkind has more going for him than a giant brain. Looks like you two are really into each other. Sha-Shana and I were grinning from ear to ear when we saw you on YouTube. We're happy for you and Adam.

Sage found herself smiling as she read their messages. It was heartwarming to know she had family and friends who wanted to see her happy. Was she being too cautious about letting Adam back into her life? Did she, as he'd accused her last night, subconsciously want revenge for his breaking her heart? She didn't want to believe she could be so petty. She'd gone on with her life. She hadn't been pining away for Adam for nine years. So why couldn't she trust her own emotions and let down her guard?

She didn't have time to dwell on it because someone knocked on her door and she knew it had to be Adam. She hurried over to the door and opened it. Adam took one look at her in her bathrobe and laughed.

“Am I early?”

“No,” she said, pulling him inside and closing the door. “I'm late. I got distracted right out of the shower.”

They kissed briefly. “It shouldn't take me long to get dressed,” she continued as he followed her into the room. She gestured to her laptop on the desk. “Have you seen it?”

Adam frowned when his gaze fell on the laptop. “I was hoping to be the first to break the news to you,” he said regretfully. “Who told you?”

“Trudi phoned. But, Adam, I'm not—”

“Listen, Sage,” Adam interrupted her, a grim expression on his face. “You don't have to worry about this. I've already taken care of it. They're taking it down as we speak.”

Sage looked at him in amazement. “Adam, I wasn't about to complain. I was going to say I don't think whoever uploaded the video did it out of malice. They just couldn't resist their fifteen minutes of fame. You're much more experienced with this sort of thing. So if you think it needs to come down, okay. But I'm not offended by it.”

Adam brightened. “You're not?”

She smiled up at him. “Of course not,” she said. “My first time on YouTube could have been a lot worse than being caught kissing a hot guy.”

Adam laughed as he pulled her into his arms. “You've got a good heart.”

Sage peered up at him. Smiling sexily, she said, “You're my hero. You were ready to defend my honor.”

“I've already tracked down the culprit,” Adam assured her. “But if you don't want me to take any further action, I won't.”

“Let the poor guy off with a warning,” Sage said. She
was
curious as to who was behind the video, though. “Who was it?”

Adam grinned. “Trudi.”

Sage burst out laughing. “That little sneak!” she cried. “Why would she do that?”

“She said she thought Cupid needed a nudge,” Adam said, laughing, too. “To quote her—‘Adam, you've never been caught kissing anyone in public. If this isn't proof enough for Sage that you love her, I don't know what is.'”

He gently kissed her mouth and then raised his head to look her in the eyes. “She meant well, darling. Can you forgive her?”

“‘Forgive her'?” Sage asked. “She can be my matron of honor.”

* * *

Adam, for all his intelligence, had to allow her words to sink in a moment. “You mean you'll marry me?” he asked excitedly.

Sage was nodding and smiling. “I love you, Adam. I was a fool not to recognize that I avoided you for more than a year because I didn't want to risk having all those feelings rush back and then find out you didn't feel the same way about me. I was afraid of getting hurt again.”

Adam rained kisses on her beloved face. “But I do feel the same way! You don't know how frustrating it's been seeing you every day and not being able to talk to you, hold you and make love to you. I've been in misery!”

“I believe you,” Sage told him. “Because I've been going crazy wanting to hold you, too. But I've got to apologize to you first.”

“You don't need to apologize...” Adam began.

Sage smiled indulgently and interrupted him with “I do, Adam. So please be quiet and listen. I let fear of getting hurt again harden my heart to you, instead of going on faith and opening up to you after everything you did to be with me—moving back to New Haven, all the messages, flowers, jogging by my office practically every day. You were right when you said I wanted to exact some kind of revenge for dropping me. It was a childish attitude. And I'm ashamed for behaving that way.”

Adam pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, inhaling in her essence and exhaling. He could finally breathe again.

“You're not the only one who was afraid,” he said softly in her ear. “After realizing I still loved you, I was so scared that I'd never be able to convince you of that fact. What finally won you over?”

“You never asked me to sign a confidentiality agreement. I gave it some thought after Trudi mentioned you usually ask women you date to sign one. I'm a lawyer, and I know how people in your position have to conduct their personal affairs nowadays, just to protect their privacy. But either you trusted me implicitly, or you simply didn't care if I talked about our relationship.”

Adam laughed. “Honestly, it never even occurred to me to ask you to sign an agreement. We've known each other since childhood.”

Sage was smiling at him, her love for him reflected in her eyes. “And you can trust me until the day you die.”

“Which will hopefully be years from now, after we've been married forever and have many, many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Adam said with a grin.

Sage took a step back, but Adam held on to her hand, reluctant to let go of it. She pried her hand free, though, and smiled seductively, her hands going to the sash of the robe she had on.

Adam's gaze was riveted on her. Sage didn't immediately doff the robe. She untied the sash and exposed one naked shoulder and then provocatively stuck one long leg out.

Adam's heartbeat quickened and a certain part of him started hardening. He removed his jacket and let it fall to the floor. He kicked his shoes off next.

He began walking toward her. Sage smiled saucily as she slowly backed away. Her large brown eyes lowered to the bulge in his pants. “What about the summit?”

“They can manage without me,” Adam said huskily. He had removed his tie and was unbuckling his belt.

Sage didn't reply. She simply let the robe fall from her shoulders and pool at her feet. Adam paused in unzipping his pants. He'd been waiting for this his whole life. He was still as a statue as he drank her in, every inch of her. Her tall, fit, golden-brown-skinned body exceeded every fantasy he'd ever had about her, and he'd had many. She had breasts that were full and firm and a tapered waist with a flat stomach. Her butt was high and round, like a juicy peach, and curved into a pair of legs that were long and shapely.