Free A Little Holiday Temptation by Janice Sims Page B

kitchen.
    She was just thinking she should start getting ready for her date when her cell phone rang. A quick glance at the display told her it was her mother phoning.
    “Mom!” she answered with a huge grin. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get in touch.”
    “I know, I know, sweetie,” said Natalie a bit breathlessly. “I saw all the missed calls. What’s up? You sound good. You’re not sick or anything?”
    Ana laughed shortly. “No, I’m fine. Well, not fine, exactly. I’m excited, a little scared, maybe. I mean this is such a huge step to take. It’s something I only want to do once, like you and Daddy…”
    “Ana Maria Corelli,” Natalie interrupted her, her tone frustrated. “What are you talking about?”
    Ana sighed, still grinning. “Erik asked me to marry him.”
    “Oh, my God. Carlo, get in here—your baby girl’s engaged!” Natalie yelled, laughter bubbling up. Then, Ana could hear her mother talking to her father in the background.
    “Erik finally popped the question! Okay, here, but I want to speak back with her when you’re done,” Natalie’s voice trailed off as she handed the phone to Carlo.
    Her father came on the line. “Is this true, bambina? You have accepted his proposal?”
    “Yes,” Ana told her father, her voice confident. “I love him, Daddy.”
    Carlo gave a resigned sigh. “Well, I suppose, your mother and I have a new son-in-law.”
    “You don’t sound too happy about it,” Ana said with a laugh to conceal the hurt. She had expected her father to sound as excited as her mother about her upcoming nuptials.
    Her mother must have snatched the phone from her father’s hand because hers was the next voice Ana heard, and she sounded miffed. “Honey, don’t pay any attention to your father. You’re the last daughter he has to walk down the aisle and he doesn’t think there’s a man alive who’s good enough for you. Erik is a good man. I like him, and your father will learn to like him, or else.”
    Ana smiled, and said, “Give Dad a kiss for me and tell him I’m sorry but I had to grow up sometime. I’d better get ready for my date with your future son-in-law now. Love you both.”
    “We love you, too, sweetie,” Natalie assured her. “Give our best to Erik.”
    A quarter after seven, she started counting down the minutes. A soak in the tub helped her to relax. Taking pains to smooth scented lotion over every inch of her body and making sure her nails were done kept her mind focused. Otherwise, she kept thinking about the last time she’d made love to Jack Russo and how she had thought of it as an act of love only to find out it had been a farewell performance. The next day she’d gotten a text saying, “Sorry, babe, this isn’t working out. I wish you much happiness in your future endeavors. Truly, I do.” It had been the longest text message she’d ever gotten from him. She immediately phoned him. He didn’t answer, of course. She left a message that was brief, to the point and only two words. After she’d verbally given him the middle finger, she felt better, but the feeling didn’t last long because she’d made the mistake of giving him her heart, one of the most worthless human beings to walk the planet. How could she have been so idiotic? She questioned her common sense. She questioned her ability to tell a decent human being from an indecent one. Most of all she questioned her taste in men.
    Tonight is going to be so much different from that other night, long ago she thought confidently.
    She had done her penance, suffered through the indignity of making a fool of herself over a man who wasn’t worthy of her. She had earned the right to happiness.
    When the doorbell rang, she was dressed in a short black dress that clung to her curves, and a pair of sexy, black Ferragamo sandals. Her wavy black hair was parted in the middle and fell down her back. Her lips were red and pouty, and her dark eyes were smoldering.
    She opened the