Submission Under the Mistletoe by Yvette Hines Page A

Year. However, that option was looking bleak
and she didn’t really want to go back to her previous online route,
she saw where that got here with Reel.
    “ I believe you all know our
evening’s bartenders.” Butterfly’s voice pulled Gabriella’s
attention back to her hostess.
    Glancing at the two behind the bar, Gabriella
smiled. “Delilah, it is very good to see you again.”
    The fair skinned black woman came from around the
bar stand and gave Gabriella and Jennifer a hug.
    “ Nice to see you, again.” Delilah
embraced Gabriella then moved to Jennifer. “Pepper, I heard you
make the best tamales and I need to get your recipe. Dom Steel
loves Mexican food.”
    “ How about we arrange a date for
dinner, then I can bring the ingredients and you can make some with
me. It’s my grandmother’s recipe and she only allows us to give it
out first hand,” Jennifer offered with a smile.
    “ You got it. I’ll talk to Dom
Steel about having you all over the week after the New Year. How
does that sound?”
    “ Perfect. Dom Meyo and I will look
at our calendar and confirm a date.” Jennifer’s eyes lit up with
excitement.
    Gabriella listen to her the ladies chat, feeling odd
and out of place. Everyone around her had a perfect match and was
pairing up to do couples activities. She knew if she said
something, they would include her in a moment. However, she didn’t
like being in places where she was a third or fifth wheel.
    “ Can I offer you all a drink?” Dom
Steel, Delilah’s husband, reached across the bar and shook Meyo’s
hand.
    Meyo ordered soda, because he was driving and gave
permission to Pepper to enjoy some spiked egg nog. Not having a
concern for a Dom to permit her in what she ordered, Gabriella
ordered a red wine.
    When Dom Steel handed it to her, she drank half of
it, but slowed down when she noticed the raised eyebrows of the two
Doms around her.
    They really had no authority to tell her to not
drink so much, but she respected them and lowered the glass.
    Turning to Pepper, she asked, “Can you come with me
into the kitchen so I can get a few bites to eat?”
    Jennifer looked at her with concern then spoke to
Meyo softly asking if he needed her to bring him anything upon her
return to his side. Meyo declined food, but permitted her to leave
with a lightly kiss and released Jennifer’s hand.
    Just as they were exiting the room, a big man
lugging a cooler passed by them and set it down behind Steel and
Delilah at the bar.
    “ Here’s ice, Ridge and Monica,”
the man said.
    Delilah didn’t catch more than the man’s side
profile, for a moment her heart stopped and she stumbled.
    “ Whoa, you all right?” Jennifer
reached out a hand to her arm.
    “ Um, yea…sure. I just.” The man’s
voice was off. Even though he looked a lot like Brad the timbre of
his voice was much deeper, the inflections not the same.
    “ Had a little too much holiday
cheer already?” Jennifer chuckled. “Get your sea legs under you,
girl.”
    “ Thanks, Brian,” Ridge, Dom Steel,
replied.
    “ I plan to.” Gabriella lifted her
drink and took another liberal swig and noticed that her hands were
shaking when they walked into the kitchen. She recalled that Brad
had said he had a twin brother. What were the chances that this man
was it?
    She hadn’t gotten a good look at him, but the
profile was telling. Same bald head and build. Gabriella was
standing at the aisle now, staring at the food with a loss of
appetite. The feeling she’d had the other day when Butterfly had
dropped off the invite and later as she was standing on the porch
ringing the door better, that something else was going on, was back
with a vengeance.
    Stepping to Jennifer, who was filling a small plate
with cookies and barbeque covered meatballs, Gabriella laid a hand
on her arm. “Maybe we should—”
    “ Brad, you can put that tray of
cocktail shrimp on that clear area on the table.” Butterfly’s voice
cut Gabriella off.
    Gabriella’s