A Billionaire Boyfriend For Christmas - Holly Rayner Page 0,51
he said wrong?
Or had it been something he didn’t say that angered her?
He set across the floor on a hunt for her, but instead of Adison, he found Thea instead.
“Ken,” she cooed, as she leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” He surreptitiously looked around for Adison.
“I haven’t talked to Adison yet. She looks like such the busy bee, though. I hope she’s getting a chance to enjoy the party.”
“She is.” In his pocket, his hands flexed and curled. He needed to get to Adison, before…
Before what? Before he lost her forever?
It seemed dramatic, but he worried that could be exactly the case. He’d never met a woman like Adison, and the chances of someone of her caliber walking into his life again were likely zero. Whatever he had done to anger her, he would fix it.
He would do whatever it took to make her happy.
“Anyway.” Thea fiddled with one of her hoop earrings. “I know that I said I don’t do business over the holidays, but…”
Could he even do whatever was necessary to make Adison happy? Was he capable of that?
A month ago, he would have said no without a moment’s hesitation, but he’d changed since then. At some point, without him even noticing it, his heart had opened up. He’d started to believe in possibilities again, in the inherent goodness in himself.
“Ken?”
“Hm?” He blinked Thea’s face back into focus. “Sorry. What was that?”
She wore an amused grin. “Are you feeling well?”
“Yes. I’m great.”
Her expression didn’t change. “Did you hear what I said?”
“Er, you don’t do business during the holidays.”
“Yes, but I do want to let you know that we’ve decided to go ahead and supply you with your full donation request.”
“Thea, that’s incredible! You and your company are very generous.”
A woman with light red hair moved behind Thea, and he stepped toward her. It wasn’t Adison, though.
Thea drummed her long nails against her hip. “If I might intrude…I saw you dancing with Adison, and now you seem pretty on edge. I know it’s none of my business, but if you’re having troubles I can listen, offer my female perspective…or say nothing at all.”
Ken sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always?”
That at least got a smirk out of him. “You’re good people, Thea. Thank you, but this is something I should deal with on my own. And thank you for the donation. You are going to help a lot of children and families with what you are providing.”
So why wasn’t he as happy as he’d expected? Sure, he’d gotten what he’d been chasing after, but without Adison to share the victory with, it wasn’t as sweet.
That’s when it hit him. He’d never even told Adison that Thea was a potential donor to the Montoya Foundation, had he? So of course she’d jumped to her own conclusions. When Simon came up and made a remark about the party making Thea happy, Adison had likely thought Ken was trying to impress the other woman—in anything but a professional way.
He was so dumb he wanted to face-palm himself.
“Enjoy the party,” he told Thea. “The Montoya Foundation sincerely appreciates you and your donation. Thank you again.”
He searched high and low for Adison, but she was nowhere to be found. Not at the bar. Not at the tree. Not in the kitchen, where the catering company was set up. It was as if she’d vanished into thin air.
She wouldn’t leave the party she’d worked so hard to bring to life, would she?
“Mr. Montoya, do you have a minute?”
It was Patrick Dodson, the man who owned several of the buildings surrounding the Montoya Foundation’s offices. He wanted to discuss a proposal to widen the main road closest to their buildings.
After Dodson, it was this person, then that person. It seemed everyone at the party wanted to talk to Ken. Everyone except the person he most needed to converse with.
It continued this way for the next two hours, until the guests began trickling out the front door. Despite keeping an eye out for Adison and sending her two texts asking to talk, he hadn’t seen or heard from her.
“Have you seen Adison?” he asked Jazzie as she passed by on her way out.
“I saw her in the kitchen not long ago.” She waved. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Montoya. Thank you for the party.”
He nodded absently. The kitchen.
Heart thudding, he made tracks for there. The catering staff