[Holiday Encounters 01.0 - 03.0] Boxed Set

by Amy Lamont

  Maybe Jade, Katelyn, Emma and I were onto something with this bet. We’d all gotten a little stuck over the last few years. But suddenly, my life stretched out in front of me as one wild adventure after another. And I couldn’t wait to meet each new challenge.

  “Thank you,” I whispered to Jared.

  “For what?”

  “For not giving me the boot when I showed up here. For showing me how much fun work can be. For always being exactly what I need.”

  His face softened and he shifted so our eyes were on level. “Don’t you know I’m crazy about you?”

  “I’m beginning to get that.” I searched his eyes, seeing the truth of his words and wondering how I’d missed it before. “I’m pretty crazy about you, too.”

  “I never doubted the crazy part,” he teased.

  I smacked his chest playfully. “I’ll show you crazy.”

  “Promises, promises.”

  “That wasn’t a promise. It was a threat.” I yanked the comforter up over our heads and pressed my mouth to his chest. And I spent the rest of the afternoon showing him crazy, knowing it was only the first of the wild adventures life had in store.

  Read on for an excerpt of Jade’s story: Summer with the Soldier (Holiday Encounters Book 4)

  Excerpt: Summer with the Soldier

  Holiday Encounters Book 4

  Chapter One

  Jade

  I stepped out from the dark, cool house onto the sunlit deck, pulling the slider shut behind me. My eyes drifted closed and I inhaled salty ocean air. A breeze played through my hair, sending strands dancing against my cheeks and shoulders.

  Summer. Everything about it made me happy—sunshine and the scent of suntan lotion, lazy days and sand between my toes.

  “Jade, get your cute butt down here. We have to do our toast before everyone gets here!”

  My eyes flew open and a laugh bubbled up inside me. Paige, Emma, and Katelyn stood on the beach below, all three of them in bikinis and sarongs, holding shot glasses filled with amber liquid, a bottle of tequila stuck in the sand at their feet.

  With a giggle I kicked off my flip-flops and ran down to the edge of the ocean to meet them, maneuvering around tables, waiters, and DJ equipment. Paige held a glass out to me and I snatched it up.

  “What should we toast to?” I asked. “It has to be something good. Who knows if we’ll get to do this again next year.”

  I fought off a wave of sadness. Since we were fifteen years old and stole a bottle of vodka from my parents’ well-stocked liquor cabinet, we’d been ringing in our summers with a toast on the beach. Through high school and college, the tradition held.

  But now, a year after graduation, everyone had new jobs, new boyfriends, new lives. Who knew if we’d make it back to kick off the summer at my parents’ beach house next year?

  “Sacrilege!” Emma said. “There’s no way we’re missing this. We’ll be coming here when we’re old and gray.”

  I slid my gaze over my friends, the three women who’d been there for me every time I needed them, and warmth unfurled in my chest. I hoped with all my heart Emma’s words were true.

  I shook off the serious thoughts. “Sounds like a plan. Count me in. I’ll be the old broad with the young stud pushing my wheelchair over the sand.”

  Paige laughed, leaning into me. “Oh God, I can totally see that.”

  I shrugged one shoulder and tossed her a smirking grin. “Of course. Beach, boys, and booze. I should have that tattooed on my ass.”

  Paige snorted out a laugh. “I so dare you.”

  “Hmm, do you think that might win Jade the bet?” Emma tapped a finger against her bottom lip.

  “No way,” Paige said and tossed her long red curls over her shoulder. “The bet’s mine.”

  “Hey,” Katelyn protested, “what about me? Getting stranded in a snowstorm with the hottest biker on earth is nothing to sneeze at.”

  Paige shook her head, pressing her lips together in mock pity. “I won’t argue that your guy’s hot, Kate. But seriously? I bagged a rock star. Women throw their panties at him every night. You can’t compete with that.”

  “Ladies, no arguing,” Emma said.

  “Easy for you to say. You’re the one who gets to decide who wins. You don’t even have to try anymore,” Paige reminded her.

  I had to grin at my friends. Our bet had started off as a scheme I proposed to Paige and Katelyn to drag Emma out of her rut. And to get her off our couch. I loved her, but if I had walked into the living room of our apartment one more time to find her camped out in her ratty old pajamas, I would not have been responsible for my actions.

  After Emma met her billionaire boyfriend, she'd challenged us all to take up the bet for real. Come to think of it, I guessed it was time I got off my rear end and did something about winning. I loved Paige and Katelyn with all my heart, but they were going down. No way I'd lose a bet I came up with in the first place.

  The sound of the sliding glass doors and men’s voices drifted down the beach, pulling me from my thoughts. I grinned as Hunter and Jared, Kate and Paige's boyfriends, stepped out onto the deck. Nate Wilder, the love of Emma's life, followed behind them.

  I twisted and caught the soft look on Emma's face as her gaze landed on Nate.

  I did that. I couldn't help the pride that flooded me knowing my scheme had worked better than any of us ever expected.

  But right this minute we had more important things to worry about. “Okay, ladies, looks like guests will be here any minute. We better get to toasting. What’s it going to be?”

  Emma kept her eyes glued to Nate as he took the steps down to the sand. How the man managed to keep that look of casual elegance even in board shorts and a T-shirt was beyond me. No wonder Emma looked so poleaxed every time she caught sight of the man.

  As if we shared a brain, Emma raised her shot glass. “To true love.”

  Paige, Kate, and I grinned at each other before we raised our own glasses and repeated Emma's words in unison. “To true love.”

  We downed the tequila.

  Katelyn gasped and leaned heavily against Paige. “Oh my God, how do I let you guys talk me into this every year?”

  We all laughed together as Emma bent to scoop the bottle of tequila from where it rested in the sand and refilled our glasses. “Come on, Kate, the next one will go down easier. You make the toast this time.”

  Katelyn eyed her shot of tequila, her eyebrows pulled together in doubt. She shrugged and her gaze searched out the guys. The threesome had landed near the bar the caterers set up under a tent close to the house.

  Kate’s eyes lit up as Hunter’s gaze met hers as he lifted a bottle of beer to his lips. He winked at her and her cheeks turned pink.

  “Ahem, earth to Katelyn,” Paige said. “We’re not getting any younger while you ogle your hot guy.”

  Katelyn turned to us with a wicked grin and held her glass up. “To bathroom quickies.”

  My shoulders shook as laughter bubbled up inside me. I managed to lift my glass along with the other girls and repeat Kate's toast. “To bathroom quickies.”

  We downed our shots, managing to swallow them past our giggles. Emma quickly topped off our glasses again. “Your turn, Paige.”

  Paige wasted no time. She threw one hand into the air with pinkie and pointer sticking up and middle fingers folded down, her shot glass held high in the other. “To rock and roll!”

  “Rock and roll!” We downed our third round and as if on cue, the DJ flipped on the music. The four of us burst into a gale of giggles and collapsed against each other at his song choice—one made popular by Sliding Violet, Paige’s boyfriend’s band.

  A few waiters slid unobtrusively onto the beach holding trays of munchies. Some of our friends came around the side of the house, walking down the beach toward the tent.

  “Looks like we’re wrapping up just in time. You better do your toast fast, Jade.” Emma filled my glass to the brim.

  I glanced up to the
three men still standing by the bar. All of them had their gazes pointed toward where we stood, each with lazy, possessive looks and smirking grins turning the corners of their mouths up as they stared at their bikini-clad women.

  Yup. I did good.

  I knew exactly the toast I wanted to make. I held my glass up high. “To the bet!”

  My friends squealed and there might have been some screeching before they repeated my words. “To the bet!”

  We clinked our glasses and downed our shots. Warmth, not totally due to the alcohol, flowed through me as I stood shoulder to shoulder with my best friends, knowing each of them were happier than they’d even been in their lives.

  And if I hadn’t quite gotten my happily ever after yet, well, I was still young. I’d have my chance. “Let’s get this party started!”

  The beach filled up fast with old friends and new. As night fell, the tent was lit with strands of white twinkle lights and tiki torches. Wait staff in casual beach gear kept everyone fed and happy with never-ending trays of tempting munchies. Drinks flowed liberally with a bar at one end and more staff circulating with trays of fruity cocktails.

  I leaned a hip against a table just under the tent. My gaze traveled over the mass of people who came to kick off the summer and I blew out a contented sigh. I’d managed to collect most of my favorite people in one spot.

  My eyes rested on Jared and Paige swaying together much more slowly than called for by the song the DJ currently played. I couldn’t fight off a grin even if I wanted to. I had a feeling those two were dancing to music only they could hear, totally into each other and lost to the outside world.

  Over by the bar, Katelyn, Emma, Hunter, and Nate chatted together. Hunter had his arms looped around Kate from behind. Nate had Emma pressed close, her front to his side, one arm thrown over her shoulder.

  It was all I could do not to break out into a happy dance. My best friends were crazily, happily, deliriously in love. Seeing them like that, and knowing my bet had a hand in getting them there made me feel like I could burst out of my skin, my body too puny to hold the excitement that coursed through me. Nothing was as awesome as seeing my friends so happy.

  “Jade, there you are.”

  I twisted around and smiled at the duo walking towards me. “Hey, guys! I’m so happy you made it!”

  “Are you kidding me? We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Anna, a tall blonde I’d met in Intro to Art History my freshman year of college, leaned in and hugged me.

  She was pushed out of the way by Jenna, a petite brunette who Anna met in our junior year. They’d been happily joined at the hip for the last three years.

  “You’ve outdone yourself, as usual,” Jenna said.

  “Thanks. What have you two been up to?”

  We spent the next few minutes chatting about their jobs. Jenna filled me in on the trials and tribulations of dealing with corporate America, and Anna shared her relief at having her first year of law school behind her.

  I laughed as Jenna finished off with a tale of how she’d snatched a cup of coffee from her boss an instant before he lobbed it at the V.P. of their marketing department.

  “Wow, who knew a job in an office could come with so much angst?” I laughed.

  “What about you, Jade? What have you been up to?” Anna snatched a mini lobster roll from the tray of a passing waiter.

  “Not too much. I temp for the most part, and I’ve been working on a few photography projects.” I shrugged. “And you know, the usual, hanging out with Emma, Kate, and Paige. Having fun.”

  “Same old, Jade.” Anna sent me a good-natured grin. “I’d kill for your life. Law school is kicking my ass.”

  For a tiny instant, a weird pang hit my chest. Was it strange that at the ripe, old age of twenty-two, I was happy to sort of stumble through life without much direction?

  I lifted a shoulder, shaking me head. “I definitely have no interest in law school. I don’t know how you do it.”

  And I didn’t say that I had no idea why she did it. The Anna I knew in college was passionate about art. She’d have been happy spending the rest of her days backpacking through the world visiting art museums and galleries. But somewhere along the way her parents and maybe even Jenna had convinced her she needed to be more ambitious. Her announcement senior year that she planned on going to law school came as a surprise. Judging by the shell-shocked look on her face when she told me, it might have been a surprise to her, too.

  “Well, we aren’t all lucky enough to be born with a trust fund.” Jenna’s sweet smile took any possible sting out of her words.

  I grinned back at her. What can I say to that? It’s the truth. My parents spoiled the heck out of me. I didn’t ask for it, and I tried not to take advantage of their generosity, but it was what it was. My father, a lifelong tech geek, struck gold with something he developed back when I was little. He soon found the only thing he liked better in life than playing with gizmos, gadgets, software, and apps was spoiling the two women in his life—my mother and I.

  And I was super lucky that it meant I got to do what I wanted to with my days—working a variety of temp jobs so I never got bored with what I was doing and wandering New York City and the surrounding areas with my camera. Not to mention hanging out with my friends and throwing parties like this one.

  I had to admit, I took after my dad. I loved nothing more than making sure the people I cared about were living their lives to the fullest. What more did I need?

  Again, a tiny twinge tweaked somewhere in the vicinity of my chest, but I ignored it, shrugging it away. “I am lucky. But lucky for you guys, you have me around to remind you how to relax and have a good time.”

  We chatted a few more minutes before wandering off to mingle. I headed toward the bar, ready for another Sex on the Beach. As I made my way down the sand, the music caught my attention. The DJ had slowed things down a bit, and now Bono crooned to me, reminding me that I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. Ain’t that the truth.

  I changed my mind an instant later when someone slid up next to me at the bar. Turning my head, my breath caught for a second.

  Will Canter stood next to me. Right here standing at the bar right behind my parents’ Hamptons beach house. Pinch me.

  Will. Canter.

  I fought to get my breathing under control and at the same managed not to squeal like the fangirl I was.

  Maybe Bono had it all wrong. I might have found exactly what I was looking for.

  Chapter Two

  “Hi, I’m Will.” His lips twisted into a self-deprecating grin.

  Of course he was well aware I knew who he was. As the drummer of Sliding Violet, he had one of the most recognizable faces on the planet.

  I did my best to play it cool.

  I stuck out my hand. “Hi, Will. I’m Jade.” I squinted at him. “You look a little familiar.”

  I made a snack out of my bottom lip in an effort to hide the smile that wanted to break free when a flicker of uncertainty caused his smile to waver.

  He took my hand in his. Oh. My. God! Will Canter was holding my hand. I barely managed to stop myself from jumping up and down in glee.

  “Nice to meet you, Jade.”

  God, his voice sounded as amazing as he looked. Deep and warm with just enough gravel mixed in to send a few tingles up my spine.

  “I don't think we've met before. I’m sure I’d remember a woman as gorgeous as you.”

  I squeezed his hand an extra second before letting him go. And then I couldn’t help it. I let go of my cool and laughed. I rolled my eyes and leaned in closer, and...

  Holy moly! I was inches from Will Canter! I could smell him as I inhaled, a subtle mix of leather and suntan lotion.

  “I have to come clean.” I looked up at him from under my lashes, pulling out every flirting skill in the girl arsenal. “I know who you are.”

  “You do?” His cocky grin told me he knew it all along.

  “I do. You’re Jared’s frie
nd.”

  The cocky grin slipped a little and he groaned. “Please tell me a beautiful girl like you has more sense than to be a fan of Jared’s.”

  “A fan?” I tipped my head toward my shoulder and wound a strand of my dark hair around a finger. “Oh, you mean of his band. What’s the name of it again? Purple something?”

  He grinned, his eyes warm and knowing. My teasing wasn’t fooling him for a second. “I think it’s Sliding Violet.”

  I nodded and ran my tongue over my lower lip. “That's right. Sliding Violet.” I paused for a second and widened my eyes at him. “Hey, are you a fan?”

  He threw his head back and laughed. When his laughter died down, he grinned and leaned in closer to me. “You’re pretty cute, you know that?”

  I somehow managed not to fall to the ground. The drummer of Sliding Violet thinks I’m cute! All I could manage was a wide smile that I feared had a bit of edge to it. I was totally fangirling over this guy.

  I searched my mind for a coherent thought, something, anything, to say. But before I could conjure up word one, girlie squealing from the deck caught my attention.

  I turned towards the commotion, and at first I couldn’t see anything except a bunch of people crowded onto the deck. But then the crowd parted and I could see Hunter shaking hands with a tall, muscular man.

  I squinted, trying to make out the person everyone was so excited to see. Heck, the guys from the band hadn’t caused this much of a stir.

  The guy stood in profile to me. My gaze traveled over his short-cropped dark hair and the sharp slashes of his cheekbones. A small grin tipped the corner of his lips and my heart lurched in my chest.

  I continued my exploration, dropping my eyes to his strong chin and broad shoulders. As I took in the chiseled muscles of the arm he held out to Hunter, my mouth went dry. My breath came in shorter pants, and a churning started low in my belly.

  What the heck? I had no clue who was standing up on my deck, but my entire body sure seemed to recognize him. Every nerve ending felt stimulated and sensitized to the point of almost pain. Without even realizing it, I took a step forward.