The Billionaire's Gamble Read Online Free PDF Page B

opening the door.
     
“Ms. Charmichael?” the man asked, taking off his hat graciously.
    “Yes,” she answered, still not sure what he was doing here. She desperately hoped it wasn’t to call Sid back to the hotel. Surely they could do without him for one night, couldn’t they?
    The man smiled and waved his hand at the boxes. “These are for you, compliments of Mr. Matthews, ma’am. If you’ll move to the right, I’ll bring them inside for you.”
    Sabrina had no idea what was going on, but since they were from Sid, she moved to the right and allowed the man to walk into the house. He deposited three boxes, then doffed his hat again and walked away.
    Sabrina opened the top box and gasped. The boxes were filled with wine. Very expensive wine, she thought as she glanced at the labels. Different types of whites and reds. Something for every occasion, she thought with a smile. Turning toward the kitchen, she saw him leaning against the counter watching her while the others chatted away, oblivious to what was happening in the foyer. Sabrina smiled her thanks, hoping her face wasn’t too red as she slipped two bottles of white wine out of the boxes to put into the refrigerator.
    She walked up to him and smiled, forcing her eyes to meet his as she said, “Thank you for the wine. It was very generous of you.” She cleared her throat and went on, “I’ll bring back whatever we don’t use.”
“Nonsense. Enjoy it,” he replied, his deep voice melting over Sabrina like a warm blanket.
    Finally, all the food was ready and the crowd moved into the living room where the table was set up. They sat down and it was chaos for a long time while everyone dug into the delicious food, piling their plates high with creamy potatoes, ham, asparagus with a tangy lemon sauce, crisp green beans, salad, biscuits and a rice dish loaded with cheese, sesame seeds and raisins. The laughter was flowing as well as the wine and Sabrina smiled contentedly as everyone enjoyed the food and the conversation.
    And if she glanced at Sid too often to make sure he was okay, well, that was to be expected, she told herself. She was the hostess and it was her job to make sure everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves. Bob and Jim were in a heated discussion over the best way to put up crown molding when Bob turned to Sid and asked him what his opinion was. Sid, very diplomatically, turned to Janice and asked her what she thought. The very idea had the women laughing and clapping at the same time. Bob and Jim even chuckled, knowing that he’d scored several points.
Sabrina was thrilled that he felt comfortable enough to join into the teasing and smiled her pleasure across the table at him.
    “Ho! Hold up everyone!” William said a few minutes later and everyone froze in their tracks. Sabrina stopped in the process of bringing two new bottles of wine in from the kitchen and waited, wondering what William was going to say.
“Sid, I think you need to do something about the fact that Sabrina is standing under the mistletoe.”
    Everyone clapped and Sabrina’s face turned red. She immediately tried to step out from the branch but no one was having any of that. “If you don’t do it, I will,” Bob said and started to get up. But since Sid was sitting right in front of Sabrina’s current position, it was easy for him to stand up in front of Sabrina, trapping in her under the mystical plant.
    “I’m sorry,” Sabrina whispered as soon as Sid stood in front of her. “You can just ignore them,” she said and tried to walk around his large frame. She had intended to laugh off the mistletoe but Sid stopped her by putting his hands on her waist.
    “Why are you apologizing?” he said for her ears only. “I’ve been wanting to do this all evening,” he said and his head dipped quickly as he gently took her lips with his. The kiss was supposed to be just a small kiss, but for Sabrina, the sensuality of his firm lips gently caressing hers made her