“We were almost done. I didn’t want to give up that close to the finish line.”
“I don’t get it,” Claus said. “Your family treats you like you’re nothing more than the ground they walk on, but you’re so much better than any of them. You’re stronger and more resilient than a lot of the shifters I’ve met in my life. I think they treat you like crap because they know how much better you are. They’re afraid that if they don’t punch you down, you’ll rise above them all.”
Holly didn’t look at him. She couldn’t while her vision blurred with tears. For once, they weren’t tears of pain and sorrow, but a reaction to the unfamiliar. Claus was too nice. Not that she didn’t appreciate it. Holly just didn’t know how to handle his kindness.
She turned away from him, grabbing her clothes. “If you think your sweet talking is getting you any closer to getting laid…”
“I’d be completely right?” The teasing note in Claus’s voice lightened the emotional moment.
All Holly could do was shake her head. Dry, she pulled on a loose tank top and a pair of athletic shorts. Her hair dripped water down her spine until she bound it in a braid to dry overnight. The chill from outside crept into the small apartment, tightening her skin with goosebumps. The futon would not be as warm or as comfortable as the bed in the other room. Though she regretted her decision to give in to Claus, she decided he wouldn’t need the comforter.
“Hey! What if I wanted that?” Claus called as she stripped the thick blanket from the bed.
“Aren’t you a shifter? What’s a little cold to a polar bear?” She wrapped it around herself and grinned triumphantly. “Good night, Claus.”
She lay down on the futon, putting her back to the room and the shifter as she listened to him. For a minute, he didn’t move. Then, finally, he huffed and retreated to the bedroom. The door didn’t close between them. She didn’t know why, but she appreciated his presence. With him in the other room, she fell into an easy sleep.
Chapter Six
Claus could see why Holly hated her family so much. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought them a pack of rabid wolves. He woke when the sun rose. Holly was still asleep in her comforter bundle, like a little caterpillar waiting to become a beautiful butterfly. He wanted to show her that she had been the butterfly all along before he had to leave.
Restless in the small apartment, he stepped outside. He figured a drive into town to get them both coffee would release some of the pent-up energy. Some of it was the torture of being so close to Holly without being able to touch her, but a part of it was the proximity to her family. He waited for Elise to appear again and try to steal him away from Holly.
That woman was petty, he decided. As long as it kept Holly beaten down, she would do anything. Even steal a man she clearly had no interest in. He kept an eye out as he made his way toward the Challenger, wary of the reindeer.
Instead of Elise, he caught another reindeer. A form was bent under the hood of the Challenger. Claus chuckled and slapped his hand on the hood. It crashed down, pinning the person. Robert cried out, flailing his arms, but couldn’t escape. Just to make sure, Claus leaned on it as he spoke.
“Look at what I found here.”
Robert’s response was muffled. Claus could have moved and let the man speak, but he decided Robert needed to listen first.
“You and I both know why I’m here, but I’m going to lay down how this is going to work and you’re going to listen very carefully. Got it?” Claus put a little more pressure on the hood, eliciting another shriek in response. “Good. I really like your cousin. She’s a whole lot better than your lot. So, I’m going to stick around for the holidays and give her the best damn time of her life. After that, you and I are going to go back to the boss and you’re going to apologize.”
Claus let go of the hood. Robert reeled back, staggering as he gulped down breaths of air. His eyes were wide and wild, full of panic before they narrowed at Claus. The bear shifter only shrugged, unaffected by Robert’s anger.
“You want me to apologize to that maniac? You realize Risa asked me for help, right? I didn’t just run away with her.” Robert threw his hands in the air. “The man you call your boss, Risa’s father, isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. He was controlling her. She felt smothered. All I did was help her out.”
“That’s not for me to decide, Robert. I’m just a peon doing my job.” Claus scanned the inner workings of his car before snapping the hood shut. “I’m not the judge or jury.”
Robert held Claus’s gaze. His jaw was tight and his spine rigid, hands clenched at his sides as if the scrap of a shifter could possibly fight back. Claus gave Robert points for spunk but took more away for being damn stupid.
“Where is Risa, anyway? I thought you lovebirds would be at the dinner last night.”
Robert gave him an incredulous look. “Do you really think Risa left for me?” He laughed in Claus’s face.
Claus took it on the shoulder. He would get his information eventually. Besides, he had wondered what Risa saw in Robert. The man was a number cruncher. He helped their boss move money and make it clean. He wasn’t anything great to look at and certainly wasn’t a protector, the kind of man who would have made a woman feel safe.
“Risa took off with her girlfriend the moment I got her out of there,” Robert confessed.
“I’ll admit, I didn’t see that coming. I guess I’ll pass the information on. That doesn’t absolve you, though. You still betrayed the boss.”
Robert raised his chin. “He’s not my boss anymore. I won’t do his work for him.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, kid. Once you’re in, you’re in. Do you want him to tell your family that you’ve been using their cheery businesses to launder money?”
Robert’s face blanched. Claus knew Robert couldn’t call him on his bluff. It was something Claus had done to others before. He wouldn’t do it unless he had to here. He didn’t’ want to shake up the Carter holidays that much. Maybe he would talk to Holly first. If she approved of the chaos, he would definitely throw Robert under the bus.
“What do reindeer do to traitors in the family? Is there some sort of challenge where they run you off a cliff? I’d pay to see that.”
Robert didn’t say anything.
“Now, if we’re both in agreement, I’m going to go get Holly four peppermint mochas. If you want to discuss this further, you’re welcome to come along. I’ll need someone to carry the coffee anyway.”
As he expected, Robert slowly backed away.
***
Holly was awoken by furious pounding on the interior apartment door. Her head throbbed from being woken before she was ready. Or, maybe that was the braid she’d left in overnight. Grumbling, she got up, yanked the tie from her hair, and shuffled toward the door. She braced herself, expecting Elise.
Instead, Robbie stood with his arms crossed. The moment Holly opened the door, he shoved in past her. He stood in the center of the room, eyeing the blanket she’d left on the futon. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to out her arrangement with Claus.
“I know you and I have never had the best relationship,” he began with a sneer, as if to prove he still hated her. “But that man you brought into our house is trouble. Do you know the kinds of things he does? What he’s paid to do?”
“You can tell he’s trouble with one look. He doesn’t even try to hide it.” Holly collapsed onto the futon, too tired to stand up and deal with Robbie’s harassment.
He was frazzled. His hair stuck up at every angle and there was a smudge of black on his cheek, like grease. She’d never seen him this unkempt before. Usually, Robbie was quiet and polished. He wasn’t about open threats like Elise. Instead, he knew how to ruin a person with numbers, having sunk quite a few rivals with good number crunching alone. A good accountant was dangerous, it seemed.
“He doesn’t love you. He can’t. He’s a murderer. The only reason he came here with you is because he
wants me.”
Holly felt affronted, even though she already knew all this. Just once, she wanted them to believe that Claus could love her. Not just lust after her but love her. Their act obviously wasn’t convincing enough.
No, that wasn’t it. No one in the manor could believe she was worthy of being loved. Each and every one of them would rather assume Claus had an ulterior motive.
Even if he did.
She hid her face in her hands, rubbing away the last of the sleep. That was when one of Robbie’s words sunk in. Murderer.
“I think you’re confused and need to leave,” Holly demanded.
All she wanted was to live in her fantasy world for a little while. She didn’t need her family bursting in to shatter it every few moments. Robbie had to be wrong. Claus wasn’t a great person, but he didn’t seem like a murderer. Her cousin was just scared and angry. He thought he could come and destroy her view of Claus and make her send the bear shifter away.
It wasn’t going to work.
“Get out of my apartment before I throw you out.”
Robbie scoffed at her. “You couldn’t.”
She could certainly try. It would be satisfying to hear him hit the wall outside her door. She was tired of her family. She was tired of all the parading she had to do to keep them away from her and how it hardly even worked. Sure, Claus kept many of them from outright confronting her, but that didn’t stop them all from coming to her from any other angle.
Before Holly could try to fight Robbie, the outside door opened. Claus appeared with a cardboard cup-holder in one hand, three coffees perched in it. He looked between Holly and Robbie, a scowl forming on his lips. Of course, the sight of an angry Claus sent Robbie scurrying for the door.
Holly fell back on the futon, laying down and pulling the comforter back over her.
“What did he want?” Claus dropped to sit on the floor beside the futon. He passed a paper coffee cup toward her, making her sit up again.
“He knows you’re here for him. What did Robbie do to piss you off anyway?”
“Ah, that’s not something I can talk about. Wasn’t me he ticked off.”
Holly studied her fake boyfriend, trying to find tics, or any kind of information at all. He kept his face carefully turned away from her. Again, Robbie’s accusation of murder crossed her mind. It wasn’t hard to believe his massive hands could take the life of another. She didn’t want to believe that he would do such a thing, though.
“Thanks for the coffee, but I think I need something a little stronger.”
Claus plucked the coffee from her hands and replaced it with another cup, seemingly the same. “Then you’ll be needing this one. Instead of peppermint syrup, I had them sneak in a shot of crème de menthe.”
“What would I do without you?” she said.
The day ahead would be long. It was close to Christmas. More family would be showing up, which meant family dinners would be getting larger and more elaborate. Holly would have to dress up, play the part of the quiet and invisible daughter.
“We should get you a tux,” she mentioned. “You’re going to need one for Christmas Eve.”
Claus looked offended. She shrugged, as if to say he’d agreed to this. The deal had always included the fancy dinners. They were the time when Holly needed the most shielding. Her distant family members would greet her and find ways to assert their power over her. There was a lot of pinching and grabbing that she had to endure.
“I have a better idea,” she offered. “How about we get a new tree to replace the one you burnt?”
Claus didn’t look convinced.
“Hear me out. We can wander the woods for hours, avoiding fussing with tailors or aggressive relatives. Maybe, if we look long and hard, we could even miss dinner.”
“You’re speaking my language now. Go get your warmest coat and gloves. We’re going tree hunting.”
He helped her up from the futon.
Chapter Seven
Holly knew they were just going to be walking through the woods, but that didn’t stop her from applying a bit of makeup and wearing her nicest sweater. Logically, she knew it wasn’t a date. They were going to cut down a tree to replace the one Claus had burnt down. That certainly didn’t sound like a date.
Yet, she enjoyed his company. As long as she could ignore the accusations of murder lurking in the back of her mind, she had a good time. They borrowed her father’s truck and took it deep into the woods, far away from the squabbling reindeer. Any reindeer they ran into out there would be in their deer form and unable to speak.
Unable to harass them.
Holly leaned back in her seat, breathing easy as a small smile touched her lips. The naked trees blurred past, skeletons of their former selves. She hadn’t seen them in full bloom in years. The only time she bothered to visit home was for the holidays. Any other time, she was hidden safely in Raleigh where she could be Holly Carter and not the daughter of the Christmas town.
Claus parked off a narrow side road. He mentioned that if they were lucky, they wouldn’t have to carry the tree far to put it on the truck, and by they, he meant himself. There was no way Holly would be able to lift a tree large enough to replace the one her parents had lost.
They walked in silence for a long while. She scanned the woods for a viable tree, but her mind wouldn’t let go of what happened earlier.
“I still can’t believe Robbie is the one you came for. I would have suspected Elise or one of the other cousins, but not Robbie.”
Claus grunted.
“He’s just so…” she tossed her hands in the air, trying to find the right word but failing. “Let me guess, he stole some money? Probably fattened his account while running numbers for your boss? Does that make you some kind of bounty hunter? Your boss must have brought a complaint to the police and they issued an arrest warrant.”
Claus scratched the back of his head, casting a sidelong glance in her direction. The gesture was enough to tell Holly the police knew nothing about this endeavor. It was being handled in house. The only kinds of institutions that handled things themselves were the illegal ones.
“Well, I never thought there would be a shifter gang, but I guess I was wrong. Is it like a pack? I’ve heard there are packs that aren’t just one family of beasts, but a mix of beasts. Is that what your gang is like?”
“You sure do ask a lot of questions.” Claus pushed aside a branch for her to step through.
She didn’t move, putting her hands on her hips. “You’re my boyfriend. These are things I should know.”
“Fake boyfriend,” he corrected.
Holly bit her tongue. That had been a slip. They both knew it. Still, it quieted her. She was wary of asking more and driving him away, or slipping up again and making him rethink this arrangement. If he thought she was getting too attached, he might run. She couldn’t’ risk him leaving her high and dry.
She groaned internally. What was she going to do next year? When Claus moved on with his life and they proved her parents right that it wouldn’t last, what would she say when she faced them again? Perhaps she would take Claus’s advice and take a holiday for herself. She would go somewhere warm. Maybe Santa Cruz or Los Angeles.
It wasn’t like she could afford an island vacation but putting an entire country between her and her family would make for an enjoyable time. She would have liked to keep Claus, if only for the day when she brought him back and shoved their relationship in her parent’s face. Maybe for the early morning coffee and confidence-boosting ogling, too.
She snuck a glance at Claus after she moved through the open path. He looked distant, his mind somewhere other than with her. He had a job to do, one that shouldn’t have included hunting for a new Christmas tree. He could have bagged Robbie and driven him back to his boss by now it if weren’t for her.
“Do you want to go get drunk and tell my parents we fell down a ravine and had to retreat?” Holly wanted to give up on the mission. Claus had burned down their tree
for a reason. Finding a new one felt a lot like apologizing and she didn’t want to do that.
“We came all this way. The least we could do is find a tree infested with squirrels to bring back for them.”
Holly nodded, appreciatively. “You’re totally right. Then drinks?”
He eyed her. “Am I going to have to hold your hair back while you throw them up?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Yesterday wasn’t so bad that I feel the need to die via alcohol poisoning.”
“How about we grab dinner instead. You get to order one frilly drink, the inhouse kind with the funny names. Is that a good compromise?”
“Be careful. That almost sounds like a date. A minute ago, you were reminding me that you were my fake boyfriend. If I accept this dinner, it’d be like admitting things could be real.” She teased, yet secretly hoped.
Holly stopped and let her head fall back. The sun had disappeared behind a veil of melancholy clouds. One by one, fat flakes began to fall from the sky. They drifted toward the ground, dancing through the sky on unseen winds. Holly stuck out her tongue, trying to catch one.
An impact sent her reeling. She staggered forward, and Claus’s laughter boomed through the woods. She looked down to find snow plastered on her coat. Had he really? Was he this much of a child? Despite everything, she found herself laughing. It bubbled out of her and escaped into the world, making everything seem a little bit brighter.
“I could have bitten my tongue!”
“Did you?” Claus stopped in the middle of forming another snowball, actual concern flashing across his face.
“Well, no. But…”
He finished packing the snow in his hands, a devious grin showcasing his sharp canines. Holly barely had time to jump before he threw the snowball. It whistled past her ear, making her heart race. It wasn’t fear, like she experienced with her family. It was exhilaration. It was joy.
Stumbling forward, she dropped to her knees to gather her own snowball before lurching behind a copse of trees. Claus growled while she hid. Her ears strained for the telltale crunching of snow that would tell her which direction he stepped. Her heart thumped inside her chest, but it brought a grin to her lips.
A Polar Bear Christmas Page 5
