For My Own: A Contemporary Christmas Anthology

by Alison Packard, Shari Mikels, Kinley Baker

  “Yep.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me?”

  “It’s hers to share. Nobody else’s. But let me tell you this—you hurt her in the least little bit, if she cries for you once, I’m going to kick your ass to a state on the other side of the country. Don’t do anything stupid and don’t act like you normally do around other women. I will come after you. Are we clear?”

  He recognized the line from A Few Good Men, one of their favorite movies to quote—Tim’s way of letting him know they were okay.

  “Crystal.”

  Kevin needed to call his mom and call Rachel. Rachel first, though. His mom would keep him on the phone forever once he got hold of her. Hopefully Rachel would be willing to give him the time of day and he’d be able to take her out in just a few hours.

  Chapter Nine

  “Celebration Station? Seriously? You drove me to Greensboro to what, play miniature golf in the cold?”

  Kevin pulled into the parking lot of the amusement center. “They have more than just miniature golf.”

  “Oh, I know. This is going to be awesome.”

  “You had me a little concerned there.”

  Rachel’s competitiveness kicked into high gear. “No way. This’ll be awesome. Although I might start feeling bad about beating you at everything as the night wears on.”

  “I don’t think so. How are you figuring that?”

  “With your arm out of whack, I’m a shoo-in for champion tonight.”

  “I think you have that wrong. Think about how great I’ll feel when I beat you at everything left-handed.”

  It had started with her brother sending her a text earlier with a heads-up—Kevin’s going to ask you out. I hope you tell him to jump in a lake.

  Immediately after that, Kevin had indeed called her, asking her out on a date. That was the only part of the call she really remembered. That and the “be ready at five” part. All other thoughts had turned to mush.

  Then there was yet another long phone call with Karen where she reiterated all the reasons Rachel should go on the date.—Oh my God. Of course you have to go out with him. Just because you do doesn’t mean you have to sleep with him. Give him a chance. This is your high school dream come true. Has he chased after any other woman? Ever? I don’t think so.

  Which left her sending a text to Kevin saying he could pick her up at six, because why on earth would she let him dictate what time she was to be ready? His response had been to “wear jeans and dress warmly,” and here she was, doing exactly what she’d told herself she wouldn’t do. Her brother really should learn to tell her to do the opposite of what he wanted, ’cause nine times out of ten she was going to do her best to defy him.

  Kevin had said he was different and wanted to prove that to her. Going on a date was definitely different. Especially when there were no cameras around to capture the moment. She’d seen him with too many different beautiful women on his arm at different events over the years. She knew all about his usual “dates.” An amusement center with miniature golf wasn’t close to usual for him.

  She’d already opened her door before she realized Kevin had wanted to open her door for her. It’d been too long since that’d happened and she was out of practice. He placed his hand on her low back, guiding her toward the building. She could’ve sworn she felt the heat of his touch through her coat.

  They walked inside and the place was as chaotic as she remembered it being. Lots of kids all over, way more than the somewhat empty parking lot hinted at.

  “Hey, one of the air hockey tables is open.” He pointed out a table away from the others. “Let’s snag it before the lines form.”

  Rachel wanted to let out an evil laugh, but refrained. He hadn’t played against her in a long time and was in for a rude awakening. “I really do feel like I’ll be taking advantage of you, what with your injury and all.”

  “Shows you what you know. I’ve got quite a bit of practice in only using my left hand. You’re going down.”

  The scoring of points remained much more even than she thought it would, and as the crowd grew around their table, she was more determined than ever to sink the winning puck. They were tied six-six, and she watched as the angle of his block was off just enough that the puck slid away from his paddle and snagged on the edge of the slot. The sound of the puck sliding into the depths of the machine had never sounded so sweet. Although the sound of the crowd cheering for her was almost as nice.

  She wasn’t sure what to expect from Kevin, especially with her winning in front of a bunch of witnesses. Grabbing her around the waist with his left arm, lifting her up and kissing her squarely on the mouth surprised her speechless. She could get used to surprises like that.

  A couple of the kids must’ve recognized Kevin. Several of them had napkins or the miniature golf score cards along with the score-keeping pencils, waiting for his autograph.

  “I’ll go place us an order for some pizza while you’re doing this. Okay?”

  He gave her a meaningful look. “Thanks for understanding.”

  “Not a problem.”

  Yeah, this wasn’t quite how she’d pictured the night going. So far, she was very pleasantly surprised...by everything.

  * * *

  Kevin made it over to the table she’d saved for them at the same time their number was called to pick up the pizza.

  “I’ll get it and be right back.”

  “You might be mugged again.”

  He grinned. “Then I’ll bring them back to the table.” He grabbed their number tent and headed to the counter.

  “Hey, Miss Tanner.” Rachel turned and saw four of her students at the opposite end of her table.

  “Well, hey, guys. How are y’all doing tonight?”

  “Fine,” one of the girls replied.

  “Are you having fun?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Carly is having her birthday party here so we get pizza and drinks and tokens.”

  “We can even play minigolf if we want.”

  Kevin returned with their pizza and a cup of tokens.

  “Hey, guys. I’m Kevin.”

  “Are you Miss Tanner’s boyfriend?”

  He slid a look her way and Rachel returned it with a glare of her own.

  “Not yet, but I’m hoping to be soon.”

  “What do you have to do to be one?”

  Great. Just what she needed the kids from school talking about. Hopefully they’d forget all about this by the time school started back in the new year.

  “I just have to convince her that I’m right for the job.”

  “Okay, kids, our pizza’s getting cold and y’all don’t want to waste possible video game time hanging out with us.”

  “I already used up all my tokens.”

  Rachel grabbed the cup of tokens Kevin had brought back. “Here you go. You all can use these. Make sure everyone gets some, though. I don’t want to hear about y’all not sharing.”

  The kids scampered off, back to the party, all hands on the cup as if it were a precious commodity.

  “You just gave away all my tokens.” Kevin graced her with a very pitiful pout.

  “Awww. Maybe if you’re a good boy, we can get you some more.”

  “I can be a very good boy.”

  “I just bet you can.”

  She pointedly ignored him while she ate a slice of pizza, although she might have noticed him devouring two slices before she’d finished one.

  Rachel looked up when two young women, possibly late teens or early twenties, stood at their table, but they weren’t looking at her. All eyes were for Kevin only.

  He looked up from his pizza. “Can I help you?”

  “The kid I’m babysitting says you’re Kevin Ganlin.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Can we get your autograph?”

  “Sure, I guess so.” He looked around. “What would you like for me to sign?”

  “Can you sign my shirt?�
�

  “No, I can’t sign your shirt and I don’t have a pen. If you go get the scoring pencils like the kids used, I can sign a scorecard or napkin.”

  One of the girls ran off while her friend continued trying to chat up Kevin. The thing was, he was just being himself. He was a nice guy and didn’t realize what he was doing to their fantasy lives.

  They finally left, and she looked at him and shook her head.

  “What?” He honestly looked perplexed. Poor guy.

  “You don’t even know you’re doing it.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Flirting with anyone who has two X chromosomes.”

  “I’m not trying to.” He still looked confused.

  “I know. That’s why I said you don’t even know you’re doing it.”

  “I can work on that.”

  “I don’t expect you to change who you are deep down inside.”

  “Hm.” He looked down at his plate and Rachel took another bite of her pizza.

  “Oh! I called my mom and told her I was in town. She talked for two solid hours.” He reached over with his napkin and wiped the side of her face, near her mouth. “Some grease.”

  Ignoring. Tingles.

  “Ha! I knew she’d talk your ear off once she found out you were back for good.”

  “That she certainly did. She had all sorts of ideas of what I could help her and Dad do around their house along with other kinds of projects she’s involved with. I wouldn’t have time to get a job or even work around my own house if I tried keeping up with all that she tried planning for me.”

  He wolfed down another two slices in the span of her second slice, and when she looked back over at the birthday party, she saw two more of her students, one looking back at her. Mindy waved at her, then hit Jackson on the arm and pointed at Rachel. He waved too, before bounding off toward the skee-ball machines.

  Rachel gave Mindy a huge smile before she, too, ran off. Seeing Mindy and Jackson be a part of a birthday party made something inside Rachel shift. Happiness and thankfulness brought moisture to her eyes that she quickly blinked away.

  Kevin reached over and took her hand, brushing her thumb with his. “Hey. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” She shook her head and blinked a few more times.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Just seeing two of the kids in that birthday party group makes me very happy.”

  “Happy tears I can deal with. What about those two kids?”

  “Mindy and Jackson. They’re not usually included in many activities with other kids, so seeing them here, so far away from their home, and having fun as part of a group, makes me a little teary. It’s just the season and kids and all that stuff. Ignore me.” She looked down at the table. “There are two slices left. Do you need both, Mr. Growing Boy, or am I allowed one more?”

  “Hey, it’s cool that nice things happening to your students makes you happy. That’s who you are.”

  He wasn’t letting her drop the subject. “Yeah, well, the biggest thing is I’m hoping they’ll make it to the Giving Tree holiday program on Christmas Eve. My mom asked me for recommendations this year and I specifically nominated those two.”

  “Of course you did.” He plopped one of the two slices left onto her plate and snagged the other for himself. “Mindy and Jackson, you said?” Rachel nodded. “Maybe we can go shopping for them before Christmas Eve.”

  She’d already planned on doing that, but another piece of her heart was stolen by him even suggesting going shopping. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Hurry up and finish eating. I have a minigolf game I need to win and tokens you need to buy me.”

  “I don’t think so. If you win the golf game, you’ll be buying your own tokens.”

  He groaned in mock disgust. “Fine.”

  “Also, if I win—sorry...when I win—you’ll be buying me chocolate ice cream.”

  “You want ice cream after freezing outside?”

  “Absolutely. I always get chocolate ice cream after winning miniature golf.”

  “Yeah, in the summertime. And you’re not winning tonight.”

  “You’ll be playing left-handed. I’m absolutely going to win.”

  He made her happy, and she was beginning to believe that maybe he had changed, or at least was different with her.

  * * *

  Rachel’s nerves were on high alert. She’d won their golf game and would probably never know whether Kevin had thrown the game or not. He’d driven her back to Winston—holding her hand the whole drive back—to get ice cream from the shop near her house, but the place closed at nine so the two of them couldn’t stay for long. Instead, her big mouth had opened, suggesting he come back to her house. Now she had him in her house and it wasn’t for some kind of televised sporting event or game night with her brother and their friends around.

  “You want me to find something on TV or find a movie to watch?” She had several streaming movie subscriptions she could access through her TV.

  “We can do whatever you want to do.”

  Not exactly helpful. She figured he was trying to put her more at ease, but it was having the opposite effect.

  “I’ll fix us something to drink while you check out the movie list.” She handed him the remote for the online programming and went into the kitchen.

  When she came back out, he’d brought up a season of one of her favorite shows. It was popular more than a decade ago, but she loved watching it over and over and ended up laughing so much at many of the episodes.

  After setting the glasses down, she sank into one of the couch cushions in a cross-legged position.

  Kevin brought his arm around her and pulled her to him. “Come here, you.”

  Could he hear her heart trying to beat out of her chest? ’Cause it was certainly making the blood pump loudly in her ears.

  She leaned against him, resting her head against his chest as he held his arm around her waist and propped his feet on the coffee table.

  After snuggling with him for two episodes, she couldn’t take the curiosity any longer.

  “Why me?”

  “Why you what?”

  “Why are you interested in me?”

  He paused the player and turned her in his arms to look at her.

  “Can I ask you a question first before I answer that?”

  “I guess.”

  “Why did you and David get divorced?”

  Panic shot through her like electricity. “Don’t you already know?” she squeaked out.

  “Nobody will tell me anything. Besides, I want to hear it directly from you. And I want the whole truth. Don’t skirt around anything.”

  Fine. He wanted to embarrass and humiliate her? That was just fine. At least she could get it over with early before her heart got any more invested in him. She’d already spent too many months having the scene play through her mind over and over. The one where the boss had his secretary, his employee, on his desk, pounding into her. She shuddered.

  “I caught him cheating on me with his secretary. Oh, sorry, his executive assistant, as she wanted to be called. She was the one who’d placed flower orders for me from him, and the whole time he was boinking her whenever he could. And then I found out he was actually boinking all sorts of women on all of his many business trips.”

  He crushed her to him, his arms going around her, and held her to his chest. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. If he were still anywhere around here, I’d kick his ass for you. I wish you’d told me back then so I could’ve done that when you first found out.”

  His reaction mollified her. She’d expected to feel shame just as she did any time she allowed herself to think of the incidents, but that wasn’t what she was feeling while being held so tightly to him. It’d been hard for her to get over the feelings of hurt and betrayal when she thought about catching... No. She was in Kevin’s arms, she could focus on him.

  “What did you see in him originally?”

  �
��He was smart, good-looking, took interest in me and liked sports.” She looked up into his eyes, hoping he didn’t hear what she wasn’t saying.

  “Wait. He was cheating on you during all of his business trips?”

  “Yep.”

  “This is why you’ve asked me about the number of women I’ve been with, isn’t it?”

  She let out a resigned sigh.

  “What else aren’t you telling me?”

  She gave in. She’d never told anyone this except her best friend. She dropped her gaze, unable to look him in the eye when she made her confession. “He reminded me of you. The entire package. I couldn’t have you, so I went with someone I could have.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “My thoughts weren’t exactly faithful to him during our marriage, and I feel guilty for that. There were some days when I felt like I deserved him cheating on me because I didn’t save my heart for him.”

  “I’m not your ex.”

  “No, but you have a reputation for having a woman in every port, so to speak, and so did he.”

  “I haven’t been with anyone since I found out—”

  “I understand that, but there were still pictures of you and whichever woman was lucky enough—”

  “Most of those pictures were recycled from earlier. Any pictures from events were staged to make it look like I was still playing the field. I wasn’t. My PR rep was in charge of setting those things up. Some of the pictures were even with her if she couldn’t set up someone else who understood my terms.”

  “What were your terms?”

  “No sex.”

  She had a hard time believing him, but he seemed incredibly earnest. Were the events during the last few months of his career really just staged publicity? If so, she needed to put the past where it belonged and let her heart go after the man she loved.

  “Why did you set those terms?”

  “When you first married your ex, I didn’t like him. I didn’t know why, but I knew I didn’t like him and I didn’t want to hear Tim talk about him. I couldn’t define why that was. But one night, while I was cruising online, I went back through some of the pictures your brother had posted over the last year.”

  She raised her brow at that.

  “Eh, I was homesick for some reason and was feeling sorry for myself.”