Her Christmas Mistake, His Secrets Sons

Marie's POV “Merry Christmas, Marie!” I heard the voice before I even saw who it came from. I didn’t bother turning.. I just lifted my hand a little and waved, the lazy kind of wave you give when you're dead tired and pretending to care. “Yeah… right,” I muttered under my breath. Merry Christmas, my ass. If there was ever a holiday built to ruin my life, this was it. All my worst days had fallen right around December.. breakups, lost jobs, Dad’s accident and the apartment flood... literally every disaster came wrapped in shiny red and green. If curses were real, mine definitely had a Santa hat. I took another drag from my cigarette and leaned against the stone wall outside the fancy hotel hosting the gala. I’d picked up the serving job right after my shift at the café. My feet were screaming, my back was begging for mercy and my whole body just wanted to melt into the pavement but bills were bills so here I was, wearing a black dress I didn’t even own, holding a cigarette like it was the only thing keeping me upright. The door behind me pushed open and shut again. I didn’t even need to look. “Found you,” Dana said in that sing-song voice she used when she was about to cause trouble. I rolled my eyes before turning. “Can’t I hide for five minutes?” “Nope,” she grinned, stepping closer. “You disappear like a criminal and I knew you were out here smoking without me.” Dana plucked the cigarette right out of my hand and took a long drag. She always looked like she belonged on a magazine cover with long blonde hair that somehow still looked perfect after hours of serving drinks, bright lipstick, curves for days. She was the definition of a baddie. Meanwhile, I looked like the exhausted side character who died in the first act of a horror movie. “You know,” she said, blowing smoke into the air, “for someone who said she quit smoking, you’re doing great.” “I quit when life stops trying to kill me,” I mumbled. She laughed like that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “Anyway, good news.” Her eyes sparkled. “I got invited to a party.” “Shocker,” I deadpanned. “You get invited everywhere.” “No, babe, listen.” She gripped my arm. “Some rich dude inside asked if I wanted to come.. it's a private party, fancy, booze and probably bad decisions. I told him I’d think about it.” “I’m already tired,” I groaned. “And we’re not even done with this job yet.” “Its tomorrow night and you’re coming with me.” I let out a snort. “The hell I am.” Dana blinked at me like I’d just slapped her. “Are you f*****g kidding me right now, sweetie? Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve!” “Exactly. Which is why I can’t. I’m… uh...” I waved my hand awkwardly, “busy tomorrow night.” Dana raised one eyebrow. “Busy doing what?” “You know… stuff.” “Marie,” she said flatly. “You’ll be home with your dad eating noodles and watching the same reruns you always watch. You don’t even like leaving the house on holidays.” “That’s not true,” I lied. “It is true.” I sighed, with my breath fogging the air. “Look, Dana… I just... holidays are bad for me, okay? Nothing good ever happens. It’s like the universe sends me bad luck packages every December.” “Sooo… exactly why you should come,” Dana said. “Break the curse. Have fun for once.” “I don’t know…” “Say yes.” “Dana...” “Say it.” I groaned. “Fine! I’ll come.” She squealed and slapped my arm with excitement. “Good girl!” I rolled my eyes but laughed a little. “You’re insane.” “And you love me for it,” she said, winking. Before I could answer, the back door swung open again, and our manager, Mr. Gordon, poked his head out. His glasses were crooked and he looked one irritated blink away from firing someone. “There you two are!” he snapped. “Get your asses back to work. Now.” “Yes, sir,” we both said at the same time like schoolchildren caught skipping class. Dana snuffed the cigarette against the wall, grabbed my arm and dragged me back inside. “Smile,” Dana whispered. “We’re tipsy broke elves tonight.” I let out a weak laugh and adjusted my tray of champagne flutes before heading toward a circle of guests chatting near a decorated pillar. I approached them with a polite nod. “Champagne?” I asked softly. Most of them barely looked at me, too busy talking in loud and dramatic voices about stocks or yachts or God knew what but one person did look and I noticed him the second my eyes swept across the group. He was tall.. dark hair and ridiculously handsome.. the kind of handsome that made your brain stutter. He wore a perfectly tailored three-piece suit and even though he held a glass, he wasn’t drinking it... just letting it linger in his hand like he didn’t really care about it but he cared about looking at me and oh, he was looking like he wanted to eat me alive. I blinked and looked away quickly and my heart did a weird jump. Okay, Marie. Don’t be weird. Just walk. I stepped to the next group of guests but curiosity tugged at me and I turned just a little, and... yep. He was still staring with his yes dark, intense and locked on me like I was the only thing moving in the room. I swallowed hard and busied myself adjusting the tray even though nothing needed adjusting but still… damn. As I moved along, I kept catching him watching me until Dana appeared beside me out of nowhere like a blonde ninja. “Psst.” “What?” I whispered. “Don’t freak out,” she said, “but Rhett Harrington is literally eye-f*****g you from across the room!” I stared. “Who?” Dana smacked my arm. “Oh my God. You live under a rock. Rhett Harrington? Son of Ray Harrington? Billionaire? Playboy? The guy who crashed a yacht for fun? The guy who dated a supermodel for four days then dumped her because he ‘didn’t vibe with her energy’?” I blinked again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dana groaned loud enough that someone turned to look. “Girl, he is like the hottest, richest, most problematic man in this entire building and he’s staring at you like you’re dessert.” “Well, he needs to stop,” I whispered, flustered. “It’s weird.” “It’s hot,” Dana hissed. “Take the win.” I shook my head and hurried off to hand out more drinks. Every time I turned, he was there with his eyes tracking me not in a creepy way... more like… focused, curious and interested and I hated that I could feel it like heat crawling up my spine. By the time the gala finally ended, my feet felt like they’d been run over.. twice. We cleaned up fast, grabbed our bags and said goodbye to the staff. Dana was still rambling about the party the next day and how I needed to wear something slutty. “You’ll thank me tomorrow,” she said, blowing me a kiss as we split ways. “I doubt it,” I laughed but she was already walking off. I wrapped my coat tighter, heading down the quiet street toward my apartment. The night was cold but my brain wasn’t thinking about the weather. It was thinking about him. Rhett Harrington… The man with the devil eyes who looked at me like I was the only thing worth seeing in that whole boring room. Why me? I wasn’t special, I wasn’t rich and I worked double shifts and forgot to brush my hair half the time. Maybe he wasn’t looking at me at all.. maybe I imagined it. Maybe... My thoughts cut off when I reached my apartment building. I walked up the stairs, rubbed my eyes and stood in front of my door, digging through my bag for my keys. “Where are you…” I muttered, trying to juggle my phone, my coat and the stupid keychain with a half-broken rubber duck Dana thought was funny. I finally found the key and pushed it toward the lock and then... a hand grabbed me from behind strongly and I screamed…!