An Unexpected Christmas

by Shannon Richard

  All of that anxiety from moments before was gone and it left her chest hallow in its wake.

  “Maybe you cheating didn’t mean anything to you, but it meant something to me. Troy, I don’t know what your version of love is, but it’s not the same as mine, and I don’t want it. Whatever this was between us, it’s over now. I don’t trust you, and I never will. Not after this.”

  “Are you seriously breaking up with me right now? You’ve got to be kidding.” And back was the anger in his voice, the inflection in his words clear that no one dumped him.

  “You ended things the moment you cheated.”

  A low cruel, laugh filled the speaker. “God, the last few months were such a waste of time. You were a waste of time. Have fun being alone, Adele.”

  There was so much bitterness and resentment coming from him that she felt it crawling across her skin like bugs. She wanted to shower again.

  “Wow. You know what, Troy? You can go fuck yourself.” She pulled the phone from her ear and hit the end button.

  Adele had no idea how long she stared dazedly down at the phone, his words replaying inside her head. But it wasn’t until she blinked and a few tears landed on the now black screen that she realized she was crying.

  That whole conversation had been a maze of lies. She had no idea what way was up…or what had been the truth. But she was sure of one thing. Troy had been right when he’d said the last few months had been a waste of time.

  After getting dressed, Jace walked down the hallway, passing Adele’s closed door and heading through the living room and up to the loft. The upstairs was divided into two parts, about sixty percent was the gym, and forty was the attic…which was where all of the Christmas decorations were stored.

  He knew there was an eight-foot artificial tree, a collection of ornaments, stockings, lights, and everything else Christmas related up there. And he was about to pull all of it down. This was step one in Operation Make Adele Want to Celebrate Christmas Again. It was the decision he’d made the previous night while holding her in his arms, the fire lulling them both to sleep.

  They were going to decorate and celebrate Christmas. He was going to break her Grinchiness if it was the last thing he did. As he’d stated before, Adele without Christmas just didn’t make sense.

  Besides, this benefited him too. Maybe there was mistletoe in some of those boxes. Only one way to find out.

  As Jace headed up the stairs his mind was on Adele and this constant need that had possessed him for the last twenty-four hours or so. It had been a long time since he’d craved a woman this much. On second thought, he’d never craved a woman this much.

  Sure, he wanted women, enjoyed their company, and strived for mutual satisfaction for the time they were together. But he’d never been invested like this. Had never actively worked for their happiness. He cared about Adele in a way he hadn’t ever cared for anyone before. It was something that hadn’t manifested because of the sex either. He’d always cared for her, but he’d be lying if he said the sex hadn’t intensified the feeling.

  How could it not? He’d been inside of her, no barriers, absolutely nothing between them. And she trusted him. He couldn’t get that moment out of his head. It kept replaying over and over again. The plain truth right there in her words and in her eyes. It was something he’d never experienced before, and something he wasn’t done experiencing with her.

  This feeling was unlike anything Jace had ever known. He was pretty sure he’d never know this feeling again. Not with somebody else. Not with anybody except Adele.

  What did it matter though? They were going by Vegas rules. What happened at the cabin, stayed at the cabin.

  Pushing the unsettling thought to the back of his mind, he opened the door that led into the attic.

  When Jace walked into the space, he immediately spotted the box with the tree sitting off to the side. Deciding that was the best place to start, he carried it to the stairs before carefully maneuvering his way down to the living room.

  Katie was lying on the dog bed by the fire and Adele was still in her room with the door shut. Deciding to go ahead and start, Jace pulled all of the tree pieces from the box and laid them out on the floor. It didn’t take him very long to figure out what was what and what order they went in. Once the feet were all snapped into place on the base, he started to put the rest of it together. It was right as he got the last piece on and stepped down from the ladder when Adele came out of her bedroom.

  She stopped in her tracks when she saw what he’d done, taking in a shallow breath before she looked from the tree to him.

  “Now don’t get mad. I know you banned Christmas, but I veto. We’re celebrating.”

  He had this whole speech prepared, but that was all he got out before she burst into tears.

  So much for Adele getting her shit together and staying in control.

  She’d just gotten a handle on her emotions when she’d walked out into the living room to find that Jace had put up the Christmas tree. Annnnnnd all of that hard-fought control had gone straight out the window.

  That phone call with Troy had put her totally through the ringer. Then she’d come out to find that Jace had done this. It was all too much for her to keep it together.

  There was barely enough time for her to comprehend the look of horror that overtook his face before he was crossing the room and pulling her against him. When he wrapped her in his arms she started to cry even harder.

  “I’m sorry, Del.” He whispered in her ear as she sobbed into his chest, and they were those full body-wracking sobs too. “I should’ve listened to you. I shouldn’t have pulled out the Christmas stuff. I’ll put it back. Please stop crying.”

  “No, it’s not that,” she said when she was finally able to speak again.

  Jace pulled back far enough to where he could look into her face but still keep her in his arms. “Then what is it?”

  “I called Troy.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the main reason she’d lost it. She’d lost it because of that tree, because he’d known exactly what she needed.

  Jace’s arms tightened around her, his face going hard for a second. “Why?”

  “I turned my phone on to call my family, and I had a number of missed calls and texts from him.”

  “New ones? From when after you shut it off two days ago?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded slowly, biting down on her lip. “I wanted everything to be done with. And I knew calling him was the only real way to do that.”

  Jace reached up, running his fingers beneath her eyes and wiping away the tears. “What did that prick say to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head as she looked away.

  He brought his hand down the side of her face, his fingers gently gripping her chin, before he pushed her head back and looked into her eyes. “You’re upset, Del. It does matter. What did he say to you?”

  “He thought we could fix things.”

  “So he apologized?” His hand at her waist tightened almost possessively.

  A laugh bubbled up and out of Adele’s mouth before she could stop it. “Apologize?” She shook her head. “He didn’t say he was sorry for what he did.” Her eyes went unfocused for a second, thinking back on their time together before she focused on Jace’s face again. “Troy has never said he was sorry. About anything. Ever. He seemed shocked that I was breaking up with him. And when he finally realized I was done, he got mean, and turned everything on me.”

  “Are you kidding me?” There was barely controlled rage in his voice.

  “No, I’m not,” she shook her head, feeling those tears burning at the corners of her eyes again.

  “Del, I’m sorry.” The anger on his face receded, those aquamarine eyes of his going all soft with care and concern for her.

  Adele couldn’t keep looking into his face without losing it again, but she also didn’t want to move from his embrace, so she rested her head against his chest. “I was such an idiot for taking a chance o
n him. I should’ve known better.”

  Jace’s mouth moved over her temple, kissing her gently. “He didn’t deserve you,” he whispered against her skin. “You aren’t the idiot, Adele.”

  Yeah, except she spent four months with someone who said she was a waste of time…and now she was sleeping with someone else who she didn’t have a prayer of a future with…someone who knew her better than most…someone who’d gone and set up a Christmas tree for them to decorate…someone who wanted to make her happy, even if just for a moment.

  “Thank you for putting up the tree. I do want to celebrate.”

  “You sure?” His hands moved up and down her back in that soothing way that made her body want to melt into his.

  “Yes.” She tilted her head up so that she could see his face. “I’m not going to let Troy, or anyone, take Christmas away from me.”

  A smile turned up Jace’s mouth. “That’s my girl.”

  Adele’s heart kicked up hard in her chest, because there was a small part of her that wanted those words to be true. Okay, fine, it was a big part of her, a really big part of her that she was just going to have to ignore.

  Yup. She was an idiot all right. But Jace made her stupid happy, so what else was she supposed to do?

  “You ready to start decorating?” His mouth split into a grin.

  “Yes, but there are a couple of things we need to do first.” She grabbed onto the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to her while she stretched up for a kiss.

  It was a couple of minutes before they pulled apart, Jace going up to the attic for more decorations, and Adele heading for the kitchen. If they were going to do this whole celebrating Christmas thing, they were going to do it right, which meant that she needed to make some Nutella hot chocolate. She also needed to get her head on straight before she called her mom.

  The last half hour had been filled with a lot of stuff for Adele to wrap her head around. Too much stuff. And the majority of that stuff wasn’t even that phone call with Troy. Nope, it was what had happened with Jace.

  One little act of him putting up that Christmas tree and she’d fallen to pieces. That was probably because it wasn’t a small act at all. It was a huge freaking act. How did he know her this well? How was it possible? It wasn’t fair.

  Her mind wandered as she went through the motions of getting all of the ingredients down. Wandered to him. To the man upstairs. To the man who wasn’t hers.

  That’s my girl.

  Those three words repeated on a loop in her head, a loop she couldn’t stop while she made the hot chocolate. The rich, brown liquid steamed from the pot as she continued to whisk it together, inhaling the sweet smell that warmed her from the inside out. It was already giving her a sugar rush…or was that Jace?

  This was just her crush rearing its ugly emotions in full force. It made sense given the circumstances. She just needed to keep things under control. It was just too bad for her that control hadn’t really been a part of her morning…or the last twenty-four hours really.

  Adele waited for that first sign of a roiling boil, and the second she saw it, she turned the burner off and moved the pot from the heat. Opening the cupboard with the coffee mugs, her eyes drifted up and to the top shelf where the Christmas stash was kept.

  Stretching up on her tiptoes, she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the red Rudolph mug before grabbing the scarf-wearing penguin. She rinsed both out, setting them upside down on the dish drainer by the sink before heading to the pantry in search of marshmallows. There was an unopened bag of mini ones sitting on top of cans of pumpkin puree…

  For Adele, pumpkin pie went beyond being a Thanksgiving Day dessert. It was appropriate for the whole holiday season. And again, if they were going to celebrate Christmas, they were going to celebrate right. Plus, Jace had requested a pie the night before.

  To be completely and totally honest with herself, she was excited about celebrating. It was clear that her attitude had done a complete one-eighty since she’d gotten to the cabin. Well, besides that minor blip a little bit ago. Her bah humbug demeanor was now replaced with genuine holiday cheer. Or was that the post-orgasmic glow? She didn’t know, nor did she really care. She was just going to enjoy things as they came, staying in the moment and doing her best to not think about when this all ended.

  It wasn’t that hard to do, mainly because when Jace was in the same room as her—strong, firm hands on any part of her body—it was difficult to focus on anything besides him. He was the best sort of distraction. And really, it didn’t even matter if he was in the same room as her or not. Case in point, her mind had been so focused on the man in the attic that she’d completely gone through the motions of putting the hot chocolate in the mugs and adding the marshmallows without even realizing it.

  Grabbing both mugs, she headed for the living room where Jace had already stacked a number of boxes. She set the mugs down before grabbing her cell phone from where she’d set it on the coffee table. Katie was stretched out on one of the sofas and she rolled over as Adele sat down next to her, clearly wanting a belly rub.

  She always wanted a belly rub.

  Katie’s back paws started to kick against the sofa as Adele lightly scratched with one hand and pulled up her mom’s number with the other.

  “Hey, honey!” Edie’s greeting almost sang through the phone, filling Adele with even more warmth. “Everything go okay last night?”

  Okay wasn’t exactly the word Adele would use, but all right. “Yeah, it was fine. Jace and I played cards to while away the time without power.” Not a lie even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

  Speaking of Jace, he was just coming downstairs with another couple of boxes, and he looked over at her response, his eyebrows rising high on his forehead. Adele bit her lip, trying to stifle the laugh from his incredulous expression.

  “Just fine?” he mouthed to her.

  How was it that not thirty minutes ago she’d been sobbing uncontrollably, and now she was trying to stop herself from laughing. Jace, that was how. Adele stuck her tongue out at him before refocusing on the conversation with her mom.

  “What are you guys up to today?” Edie asked.

  “Decorating for Christmas.”

  “So you changed your mind about celebrating?”

  “Jace changed it for me,” Adele said as she watched Jace disappear back up the stairs for another load.

  “Well, good for him.”

  Adele chatted with her mom for another couple of minutes before ending the call. Setting her phone down on the coffee table, she grabbed the remote and started to scroll through the movie options.

  “How was everyone in Jacksonville?” Jace asked as he set down two more boxes.

  “Good. My mom told me to tell you hello from everyone.”

  “Well, hello back to them. So what are we watching first?” He nodded to the TV screen.

  “Elf.”

  “Excellent selection.”

  “Thanks,” Adele said as she found the movie and hit play. “Glad you approve.” She set the remote down, giving Katie another good scratch before standing up and grabbing the mugs of hot chocolate that were now cooled enough to drink.

  “I do indeed.” Jace took the reindeer mug she handed him.

  “Cheers.” She grinned as they clinked their glasses together.

  “Cheers,” he repeated before they both took a sip. “Mmmmm, that’s good.” He took another sip before he set his mug down on the side table.

  Adele followed suit, setting her penguin next to his reindeer. She made to turn to the boxes, her mission on finding the one with the lights, but Jace grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him and pulling her in close.

  “I bet this is better.” And with that he covered her lips with his and proceeded to taste the inside of her mouth.

  Adele couldn’t stop the moan that vibrated in her throat…nor could she stop herself from pressing her body against his, arms wrapping around his waist.

  Cupping her j
aw in his hands, he gently pulled back, lightly nipping at her lips. “Yup…so much better.”

  And then he was kissing her again.

  Just over an hour and a half later, the tree was fluffed, skirted, strung with lights, and decorated to within an inch of its life. There was just one last thing to do and Jace held the ladder as Adele climbed up to put the star on top. He was more than a little distracted by the view of her ass in yoga pants, and would forever be grateful to whoever had invented them.

  Adele probably knew the answer to that, but before he could ask, she was stepping down. One of his hands automatically made its way to her waist, guiding her.

  Not all that surprisingly, he’d made every excuse to put his hands on her as they’d decorated. Brushing against her as he helped her wrap the strand of lights around the tree, touching her cheek to wipe the glitter off her skin, kissing the back of her neck as he reached over her shoulder to hang an ornament.

  He wasn’t the only one doing the touching either. Adele had pulled tinsel from his hair, grabbed his arm for balance as she stretched up to hang a strand of gingerbread men on the tree, and was now purposely pressing her yoga pant clad ass against his groin as she stepped down from the ladder.

  “Thanks for that,” she said as she leaned back against him. They both looked up at the tree, appreciating what they’d done.

  “Looks good.” He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

  “It does.” She nodded, placing her arms over his.

  “So what’s next?”

  Turning in his arms, she looked up into his face, happiness and excitement clear in her eyes. “The mantle. We can set up the Victorian village and then hang the stockings.”

  “Sounds good. We need another movie though.” He tilted his head to the TV where the credits to Elf were currently rolling.

  “We do indeed. Your choice.”

  “Oh, that’s a lot of responsibility.”

  “You can handle it.”

  “You think so?” He raised his eyebrows high.