Spellbound Christmas

By Verity Irving

Jade and her two chums from uni are good time gals. Life is for having fun, bending the rules and breaking them when they have to. But when they gatecrash a Christmas ball at an upmarket hotel they find that high society is not at all what it seems. Jade picks up Max, her dream date, and they make out - to the delight of them both. But she soon discovers that there are mysterious powers in force determined to prevent them meeting again. In the spirit of Christmas the three pals fight back and they soon find out that Max has a past and a future that none of them could have foreseen. How can Jade overcome these huge barriers and land the only man she has ever met who fulfils all her dreams - and then some?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verity Irving
• Release date: Sep 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516398966

Verity Irving

Verity Irving writes short romance novels that are popular with contemporary readers. She came to writing late, after working in high-level business for many years. Her books have attractive characters and unexpected plots - and, true to life, include more than a few episodes of very explicit sex. Verity encourages her readers to provide their feedback and enjoys communicating with those who do.

Book preview

Chapter One

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Jade Baker glanced up from her compact mirror fully prepared to assert her opinion on the matter, but opted to refresh her martini instead. There was no sense huffing, puffing, and getting bent out of shape when the bottom line was that they would be going to the Snowflake Ball at the Grand Dorchester Hotel that night, end of story.

Our best bet is to show up at nine and go in with Daniel, said Zoey, a fiery twenty-eight year old red-head whose flaming curls and long legs could stop traffic. Daniel was a young waiter at the Dorchester who she secretly had a crush on.

We work at the hottest record label in town and you think we should sneak in the back door with your waiter friend? I love you, Zoey, but seriously? No way, said Grace, who was paying more attention to styling her ash blonde hair than the argument at hand. Her fair wavy locks were misbehaving in the face of every product Jade owned.

Zoey pursed her lips and glared at Grace.

Grace returned her gaze by way of the mirror’s reflection.

They would probably be a lot more upset with one another, thought Jade, if they weren’t dressed in undergarments and waiting, in full anticipation, to receive each other’s Christmas gifts a few days from now.

Jade approached the half-bar of her kitchen, ran all ten fingers through her midnight black hair, and observed her two best friends go at it like they did every Saturday.

Jade, Zoey, and Grace had been best friends since university when the office of campus life overbooked Sherborne House dormitory. It had been the only freshman dorm that was notorious for hosting artistic residents and wild parties, unlike the others that were quiet and well monitored. Despite being total strangers, the girls volunteered themselves to share a single student room rather than be assigned to dorms other than Sherborne. No one had wanted to give up the lifestyle that Sherborne House could offer, so the girls convinced the Dean that they would make it work with bunks and limited space. And make it work, they did. Though most nights the rotation of studying, cleaning, and fucking had been a glorified comedy of errors, the girls got everything out of the artists’ dorm they’d hoped and grew exceptionally close during that first year. So close, in fact, that for the remainder of their academic years they had roomed together as well, albeit in three-bedroom suites that were offered to the university’s upperclassmen.

Jade poured vodka and a splash of vermouth into a shaker and looked around her cosmopolitan one-bedroom apartment. She should have been considering the best course of action for their evening, but instead she was scrutinizing the holiday decorations she had put up around the apartment last week. Apartment accents were extremely important to Jade. She styled her place in a very specific way and felt that the environment a person lived in set the tone for everything else in their life. Besides, she never knew who she might bring back here.

She had chosen to adorn every counter top and windowsill with a three-tier candle arrangement set in a base of poinsettias, which happened to be her favorite Christmas flower. The dining table was festively preset with red dinnerware that featured a pattern of gold stars. Beside it were white cloth napkins encased in gold napkin rings. And in the far corner of the room stood an adorable five-foot fir tree. Jade had yet to decorate it for the holiday. She had told the girls things had been too busy at work to find time at home to get the Christmas tree set up, but that wasn’t entirely true. Deep down Jade was hoping to decorate her tree with someone special, if only someone special would come along, as opposed to all the nobodies she loved and left almost every weekend.

The Grand Dorchester Hotel is not the kind of place that’s going to let us near the ballroom, no matter how foxy we look, said Jade as she poured her martini and waited for every last drop to fall from the shaker. Considering that tonight is the Snowflake Ball, the cards are especially stacked against us.

Jade narrowed her hazel eyes, took a calculated sip of her drink, raised her brows at its exceptional taste, and then got back on track.

We need to walk in the front door since The Grand Dorchester Hotel doesn’t exactly trust their staff. And we need to prove we belong there, meaning I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder all night.

She certainly had Zoey and Grace’s attention, but Jade couldn’t yet tell from their expressions that she was making sense.

I say, she went on, We show up early, so early that we’re the first ones there. We state super common names at the door, names that are certain to be on the list. And we walk right in.

Jade, that’s insane, said Grace as she adjusted the ribbon tie of her red satin panties.

I don’t think we can pull that off, agreed Zoey.

Why don’t we flirt it up at the Blue Rock Bar across the street and see if anyone happens to be on the list? offered Grace.

That’s way too much of a time commitment considering we won’t have any way of knowing who has tickets to the ball and who doesn’t, countered Jade.

The girls looked between one another and racked their brains until their gazes lowered to their cocktails.

Let’s finish getting ready, Jade stated. Then head on over. It wouldn’t be the first night we’ve improvised, right?

Jade met Grace’s deep blue eyes, and watched as her fine-boned face slowly twisted into a sultry smirk. Good, thought Jade, she was up for the challenge.

She then looked over at Zoey who seemed nervous. Her freckled face looked slightly flushed and she was biting on her lower lip, trying not to make eye contact.

We do this all the time, Jade said in an effort to comfort her friend.

But we’ve never crashed the Grand Dorchester, said Zoey. This is the big time.

I know, said Jade.

We can’t fuck this up, Zoey said.

I’m with you, she said.

Jade held Zoey’s gaze for a long moment before Zoey finally softened and a ray of optimism shined across her impish face.

Just tell me what to do when you know what to do, Zoey said. Until then, I’m going to enjoy my drink and the holiday season.

Jade smiled at Zoey and nodded her head with determination. It was on. It was full on. And it was on Jade.

Every group of girls had a dynamic. Each girl had a role, a job, a way of functioning that served the group as a whole. Jade had always known that. But she never would’ve guessed that her role within this group would be that of the mastermind, the strategist. Namely within her circle she had come to be known as the enchantress.

At 5’10" and 120 lbs Jade Baker was drop dead gorgeous. Her shining black mane, hazel, angled eyes, and high cheekbones gave her an exotic look, which she often accentuated with black liquid liner atop her eyelids and apricot bronzer across her cheeks.

If that wasn’t deadly enough, she also dressed to kill. Her wardrobe featured scooping necklines that revealed her lacy undergarments, which always seemed to be black or red. And she wore short skirts, which cut at smoldering angles over her thighs, no matter how bad the weather.

All the girls had an effect on men, but Jade’s was enchanting. Everyone could see it, which was how her nickname came to pass. If she was sitting at a bar, there was sure to be a steady flow of free drinks coming her way. A fact that her girlfriends loved, but her dates didn’t appreciate. If she was waiting to cross the street, cars often stopped regardless of what color the traffic light, sometimes to the detriment of traffic behind that didn’t. And if Jade was hoping to get into the hottest restaurant, wine bar, or club without a reservation all she had to do was show up. They would not only get her in, but without fail seat her in front of a window so that all the passersby could see that beautiful women were inside. In short, Jade was good for business.

How did she do it? She had this look in her eye. It was wicked and vulnerable all at once. It conveyed to whoever she was looking at that they were being naughty together, and that she couldn’t do it without them, even