Page 53 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

RICK

T he house smelled like stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce.

A Christmas lullaby was playing on the sound system built into my home and our Christmas tree winked in the dark living room.

Night had long since fallen and Chessie was asleep in the middle of the living-room floor, nestled into a pile of red, green, and gold tissue paper.

Curls of ribbon shot out from underneath her and one sparkly gold strand was wrapped around her wrist.

She’d tuckered herself right out after a full day of eating and playing with her new toys. I couldn’t deny fatigue had settled upon me too, but I didn’t dare step away to go to bed already.

Nights like these were the ones I would remember with the most fondness when I was an old man.

Chessie would be a grown woman with children of her own.

Maybe they would rest on beds of wrapping paper like she was now while I sat and read a book on my favorite recliner in a much smaller, more manageable home.

Chessie would help clean up dinner while my grandchildren played and sang Christmas carols and we would build new memories.

This one would never fade from memory. I would hold tightly to this forever.

Verity moved up beside me and sipped her evening tea. It smelled like flowers and dirt and she’d been drinking it every night for the past four months—another trick to lose weight and stay slim to fit in her wedding dress. Apparently, it helped with regular bowel movements.

Not that I needed to know all the details.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close to my side.

She rested her head on my shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Rick.”

I sighed and leaned up against the archway leading from the kitchen to the living room. My gaze returned to my daughter. “I know I should bring her upstairs and put her to bed but she looks so peaceful.”

“She’ll sleep better in her bed.”

I nodded.

Verity lifted her head from my shoulder and nodded at Chessie. “Go ahead. I’ll wait for you down here. There’s something I wanted to talk about before we went upstairs.”

I pumped my eyebrows. “You mean before we went to bed?”

Verity rolled her eyes and padded across the living room. She wove through piles of wrapping paper and stepped over Chessie before settling into her favorite corner of the white leather sofa. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. “Just go.”

Chessie didn’t stir when I scooped her up in my arms, along with some stray tissue I couldn’t shake loose, and carried her upstairs to her bedroom.

There was a small lit Christmas tree in the corner by her closet and I left it on for her.

After I tucked her in, I sat down on the edge of her bed, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and wished her one last Merry Christmas.

“See you in the morning, kiddo,” I said softly before leaving the room and closing the door behind me.

When I returned to the living room, Verity was gazing at the tree, sipping her tea.

I made a quick round of the carpet and picked up all the loose tissue, wrapping, and ribbon and crammed it into an open garbage bag hanging off the back of one of the kitchen bar stools.

Then I returned to my bride-to-be and claimed a spot on the sofa beside her.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” I ran my fingers through her shiny dark hair. Her signature perfume overpowered the earthy aroma of her detox tea.

Verity shuffled herself around on the sofa so she was sitting cross-legged facing me.

She cupped her tea mug in both hands and drummed her long red nails on the ceramic.

A little reindeer with gold antlers peeked out from beneath her fingers and her engagement ring glittered in the winking lights of our Christmas tree.

“I called Kimberly a couple of hours ago,” Verity started. “There was something I needed to discuss with her and she got very rude with me, Rick.”

I blinked at her. “You called her on Christmas Day?”

“It was important.”

“What could have possibly been that important?”

Verity’s dramatic black eyebrows drew together. Her big brown eyes flicked back and forth between mine and then she looked away sharply. “She said you were apologizing to her.”

Shit.

“Apologizing?” I asked. “For what?”

Had Kim told Verity that I nearly kissed her on that bridge in the aquarium?

Verity sipped her tea again. “She claims you felt bad for making her sit on that rooftop with us in Hawaii when she wasn’t feeling well.”

I tried to hide my relief as a breath I was holding escaped me like air releasing from a balloon.

“I did feel bad,” I said. But that definitely wasn’t why I’d been apologizing.

I’d felt bad for putting her in an awkward position and for not catching myself sooner.

There was no excuse for how I’d behaved and I still hadn’t been able to make sense of the impulse myself.

Verity was my fiancée. She was the woman I wanted to be with.

Wasn’t she?

“I just find the whole thing off-putting,” Verity said. “I don’t like that the two of you are having conversations behind my back. I especially don’t like that she feels the need to be more open and honest with you than she does with me—”

“Verity, please. Kim isn’t playing favorites here. She’s just—”

“Don’t interrupt me.” Verity’s stare was hot and dark all at once. She eyed me coldly before setting her tea on the end table. “Kim prefers dealing with you over me because you’re easy to please. I’m not. I know what I want and I settle for nothing other than the best. I intimidate her.”

“Verity, I don’t think that’s the case at all.”

“Why are you defending her?”

“I’m not. I’m just saying. Kim doesn’t have anything to gain by playing favorites between us. We’re both her clients. And do you really think she’s foolish enough not to realize which one of us she needs to impress and pay attention to?”

“She’s foolish enough to hang up on me,” Verity spat.

“You called her on Christmas about personal matters,” I said flatly. “It stands to reason that she might feel annoyed or taken advantage of if you think she can drop everything and tend to your every need at all hours of the day, even holidays.”

“Rick,” Verity hissed. Then she was pushing herself up to her feet and turning to face me with her fists planted on her hips.

Her cheeks were turning a stormy shade of red.

“We’re paying her a lot of fucking money to make this wedding exceptional.

If I need to talk to her at nine o’clock on Christmas Day, you’d better believe I’m going to call her at nine o’clock on Christmas Day. ”

“Then you’d better expect to be hung up on.”

Verity’s plump lips pressed into such a thin line that they vanished. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“No,” I said. “I’m not. Just because we have money doesn’t mean every person we hire has to compromise—”

“I bet the check you wrote her was more money than she’s ever seen in her entire life.”

“Why does that matter?”

Verity rolled her eyes. “She works in the service industry, Rick! Service. And you know what her job is right now? To serve me.”

“Us,” I corrected.

“Why are you being such an insufferable asshole?”

I was on my feet now too. “Why are you throwing a tantrum over a phone call?”

Verity sucked in a sharp, furious gasp. “ Wow. Really? That’s how you want to play this thing?

You want to compare me to a child? I’ll have you know I’m the one who’s been spinning her tires trying to make sure this wedding is absolutely perfect.

I’m bending over backwards trying to get everything done in time and keep the perfect physique for you but that doesn’t even seem good enough! ”

Where was all of this coming from? When had I ever implied I expected everything to be perfect? Or that I even wanted that? And since when was I to blame for the vise grip she had on her body?

“Verity,” I said firmly. “Where is all this coming from? You know I don’t expect anything from you.

I just want you to be happy. And safe. I want to give you this wedding because I know you’ve been dreaming about it since you were a little girl, but don’t think for a second I’m the one putting the pressure on you. You’re doing that on your own.”

She shook her head at me. “Unbelievable. I knew there was no point in talking to you about this. I knew you would side with her.”

“Are we seriously talking about Kim again?”

“Who the fuck else would we be talking about, Rick?” Verity bellowed.

“Hey,” I barked, taking a step toward her. “Keep your voice down. Chessie is sleeping upstairs.”

Verity threw her hands in the air. “Big bad Rick. Always putting his foot down where it counts.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Never mind. I never should have brought this up. I knew you’d bulldoze me and make me out to be—”

“How am I bulldozing you?”

She marched around me with her nose in the air and her hands still planted on her hips.

“I don’t care anymore. I’m going to bed.

” She stomped over to the bottom of the stairs, put her hand on the railing, and looked over her shoulder at me, glaring daggers.

“But I mean it, Rick. I don’t want you and Kim having conversations behind my back.

She’s our wedding planner. From now on, I’ll be privy to all conversations. Got it?”

“Jesus.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “Part of me feels like you wanted to start a fight with me.”

She laughed like a movie villain. She full-on threw her head back and laughed at the ceiling with her eyes closed.

Then she shook her head at me as she began climbing the stairs.

“Oh, baby, if I wanted to start a fight with you, believe me you’d know it.

No. I’m just reminding you where your priorities and loyalties lie. And that’s with me.”

I watched her go as something cold, heavy, and familiar settled in my gut.

Doubt.

Was this what I wanted? Was this a snapshot of what life would be like when Verity wasn’t getting her way in the future?

What would happen when I wasn’t able to take as much time off work to plan the wedding?

How would she fare when we were hopping all over the country staying at the different properties I owned, not just holed up here in Nashville?

Was she going to resent me for having business meetings with female clients?

Was she going to throw a fit every time I had a call from a female colleague that I didn’t tell her about?

Suddenly, the Christmas tree didn’t look so sparkly anymore and my feet felt too heavy to pick them up and make my way to the stairs to follow her up to the bedroom.