Free Christmas Miracle by Violette Dubrinsky Page A

Richard.”
    After a firm shake, Richard released his hand and acknowledged the guests. “You haven’t thrown an interesting Christmas Eve party in years, Cameron.”
    Lifting a brow, Cameron asked, “What will be so interesting about this one?”
    Chuckling, Richard replied, “I don’t know yet. I was told to either be here or miss whatever’s supposed to happen. To top that off, I was looking for a way to pass time before my flight home tonight.”
    Another glare was thrown at Addy, who only smiled and batted her eyelashes. So while his mischievous brat of a sister had promised to be nice to Melanie, she’d told everyone else that they should show up and badger her. It wasn’t even Christmas yet... There had to be at least three more hours to go.
    “Adeline—”
    “Cameron, I believe your party just became more interesting without any family fireworks,” Richard said in his low, British-accented voice. Cameron was too busy glaring at his sister to follow the direction of his cousin’s gaze until Richard said, “She’s a beauty, and in all that red…”
    Cameron turned to look in the direction of Richard’s gaze and felt as if everything stopped.
    Damn! He’d always known that she was beautiful. Hell, he’d seen that body naked, but that dress… How was he supposed to make idle chitchat until the end of the party when that dress hugged her like that? From where he stood, he could see that her hair had been combed away from her face and pinned back to display her long, graceful neck, now sparkling with diamonds lying just above her collarbone. Matching earrings hung from her earlobes.
    Richard was speaking again, and he only heard “introduce me,” before Cameron passed his cousin a hostile glare. In a voice that belied the murderous expression of his face, he replied, “Her name is Melanie Samuels. She’s mine. If you go over there, I will proceed to break as many of your bones as possible without killing you.” He only added the “without killing you” because Richard was the fourth-largest shareholder in his company. Like Cameron, Richard was a man accustomed to charming beautiful ladies. And to top matters off, he was easily what some considered “beautiful” for a man. In conclusion, there was no way Cameron was introducing him to Melanie.
    A hoot of laughter came from his stunned cousin before he easily took a champagne glass from a passing server, lifted it to his lips for a sip, and said in an amused tone of voice, “You were right, Adeline. This is going to be an entertaining night.”
    Cameron ignored him and headed toward his date.
    ***
    Although accustomed to fancy social gatherings such as this, Melanie felt a wave of discomfort as soon as she made it through the sea of paparazzi and into the brightly lit ballroom of the mansion. She had the distinct feeling that every eye was on her, which was silly as there were easily a hundred people there, and she was no celebrity to warrant that kind of attention. Shaking off her jitters, she looked into the crowd of formally attired businessmen and women, celebrities and socialites, for Cameron. The moment her eyes found him, she relaxed and smiled. He was easily winding his way through the crowd, dodging guests seeking his attention, as he moved to her.
    She met him halfway, thinking all the while that Cameron looked every inch the dashing host of this particularly popular event. Like most of the men, he was wearing a classic black tuxedo. His hair was parted and swept back, giving him a very refined and sophisticated look, and the slight stubble that had lined his cheeks yesterday was gone. Elegance, handsomeness, and sophistication...this man represented them all.
    Melanie was thinking of something to say when he leaned close and whispered in her ear, “You look lovely, Melanie, but I’m beginning to think I should have saved that dress for another night. It’s making me wish I could take you upstairs and act out every fantasy running