This Christmas: Bestselling Author Duo J.L.Beck & C. Hallman writing as

by Jenna Reed

  Because the blinds are closed, I can’t see who it is, so I get up, cross the room and pull the door open. Opening my mouth, I attempt to say something, anything, but I’m too shocked to make my tongue work.

  What? How? I don’t understand…

  Right there standing in front of me, is none other than the girl I’ve been thinking about every day since I left the cabin. She smiles, her beautiful eyes pierce mine, and I swear, if she is here to hand my heart back to me, I won’t survive a second round.

  “Ah… hi…” She wrings her hands in front of herself, nervously.

  “Hi…” Is all I can manage to say at this moment.

  “I umm…” She blows out a long breath, “I came here to tell you that I’ve changed my mind. When I got home, I realized that people make mistakes, they do bad things, but that doesn’t always make them bad people. We were just kids back then, and you’ve grown up since high school. You showed me that week at the cabin that there is more to you than our past. You can be kind, sweet, and tender. I really didn’t believe you at first, but I guess you really do like me, and I kind of do like you…like you a lot.”

  I lift a hand to my cheek and pinch myself. “Is this real?” I speak out loud, which causes Hannah to giggle softly.

  “Yes, it’s real.”

  I can’t. This has to be a dream. I’ve fallen asleep at my desk, and my boss is going to come into the room at any second. I seriously cannot believe that she is standing here, right outside my office, confessing her feelings to me.

  “I… I’m sorry. I’m shocked. I didn’t think you would…” I’m flabbergasted, and my shock shifts to something else when Hannah pushes up onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. Everything in the world fades away. It doesn’t matter that we’re at my work, or that I’ve screwed up in the past. All that matters is that we’re together, that she is here, and willing to give us a chance. A chance that I know, given our past, I don’t deserve.

  Pulling away, I cup Hannah by the cheeks and whisper against her lips, “I promise to make this work. I might mess up, but I will never hurt you again. Never.”

  “I know you won’t, Jonas, you aren’t the same dumbass you used to be, you’re a gift, the Christmas present I secretly wished for this year.”

  Grinning, I ask, “Did you just call me a Christmas present?”

  “Yes, it’s either that or a hunk of beef, which would you prefer?”

  “I’d prefer to be yours, only yours.” I shove a strand of hair behind her ear. This is it, we’re doing this, we’re going to try. I can’t believe I thought this year was going to be a crappy one, turns out, Santa might just be real.

  He did end up giving me the best gift of all...

  * * *

  THE END

  Whats next from Jenna Reed

  Coming January 2020

  A Friends to Lovers Romance

  Everyone knows the rules of friendship, right?

  * * *

  Rule #1: Don’t kiss your best friend.

  Rule #2: Don’t have sex with your best friend.

  Rule #3: Don’t pretend like it didn’t happen the next day.

  * * *

  Bailey Renshaw is my best friend.

  Kind. Sweet as a peach, and so beautiful it should be a crime.

  Since we were kids, I’ve wanted her, and one time when we were nothing more than teenagers, I kissed her. It was the first mistake I ever made in our friendship. Giving her my heart and hoping she felt the same were my second and third.

  That night she broke me, ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it. Anyone else would’ve hated her for it, but it only made me value her more, and realize that I would do anything I could to keep her in my life even if it was only as a friend and nothing more.

  As a permanent resident of the friend zone, I promised myself that I would never cross that line again no matter how badly I wanted to, and I wanted to, badly.

  Every time she smiled at me, licked her pink lips, or flashed her doe eyes my way, I came a little closer to breaking the rules again… but I didn’t. I couldn’t do that to us. Until one night when we decided to break the rules together.

  One earth-shattering night together and I knew nothing would ever be the same.

  Friends or lovers? I don’t know what we are anymore. The rules no longer apply to us.

  Now the only question is, can we fix what we had before it’s too late or is our friendship over for good, and all because

  Keep reading for a sneak peak…

  Kissing & Telling Preview

  Chapter One

  Bailey

  * * *

  The big twenty-one. I’m twenty-one-years old today and somehow I held onto my virginity. No, somehow wasn’t really the word to use. I held onto the damn thing with an iron grip because of the person I wanted to give it to.

  See, I have a secret. A secret that I have kept for a long time, since first grade to be exact. A secret that if it ever comes out, could ruin my life. That secret has to do with Elijah.

  My best friend, my crush… Elijah Westbrook. Polar opposites in every way. Like water and oil, by all social standards we should have never mixed, but surprisingly we do. People could never understand how we became friends, let alone stayed friends for so many years. I like reading and writing. Drinking coffee and snuggling on the couch. The simple things.

  He loves parties, drinking, sex… lots of sex, which left him with a reputation, one that has landed him as a bad boy in more than one woman’s book. He’s the love em’ and leave em’ type. Never staying the night and never dating.

  Basically, I’m the eternal nerd, while he is the jock, the alpha. Men want to be him, women want to be with him, kind of guy.

  Still, I want him in my life and not because he is the good-looking guy that everybody else sees and wants. I want him for the things that people can’t see. I want him because he is sweet, and smart, and funny. And above all, I want him to be my friend. That’s why I never told him about my crush. Hell, I’ve wanted him to have my virginity since I learned what sex was. It was always going to be Elijah for me. I knew it back then and I know it now. That’s why I’m doing what I’m tonight…I’m finally going to see if I can free myself from him. There are many things wrong with the situation we’re in, us being best friends is simply the icing on the crap-tastic cake.

  Is there something wrong with me? I ask myself, as I eye my reflection in the mirror. Big green eyes look back at me, a smoky eye painted over each of them. Erin, my other best friend, and the only other person in the world who knows my secret, has done my makeup and hair for tonight’s operation. An operation she calls: Twenty-one-year-old-virgin no more.

  Tonight I’m going to turn into the seductive woman that is supposed to be hiding beneath my usual yoga pants and t-shirts.

  “You look gorgeous, Bailey,” Erin purrs in my ear, her eyes meeting mine in the mirror. Erin is a natural beauty with red hair and big blue eyes. Where I have curves, she is skinny. I’m jealous of her body, and in turn, she always claims to be jealous of mine.

  “This isn’t going to work.” I huff, putting the lip gloss on the marble vanity. “He only sees me as a friend. It’s been this way for years. I don’t think a little makeup, some curls, and a tight ass dress is going to change that.”

  My confidence is already lacking. I know I’m pretty, but I’m not the kind of girl he sleeps with and that kind of worries me. Maybe I’m not his type. I almost laugh. Who am I kidding, anything with a vagina is his type.

  Erin grabs me by the cheeks and turns me so I’m facing her. We’re both about the same height, but in the heels she’s wearing she’s gained about three inches on me.

  “It’s all part of the package. First we draw him in, get his attention, make him see you all over again. Then you tease him, flirt with him a little bit.”

  “It’s like, you don’t know me at all.” I roll my eyes. “I don’t flirt, Erin.”

  “Well, you do tonight
, so shut up and let me finish,” she states matter-of-factly, flashing me a grin. “You flirt, get some liquid courage, tease him a little, and then you kiss him. Give him a little taste. Tell him you want him.”

  “That’s the secret?” I ask with a thick brow lifted.

  Grinning, she says, “Of course that’s the secret. As soon as he knows you want him, he’ll cave. Thus far, you’ve never crossed the line. Tonight, you will. Tonight, he’ll see you want more than friendship. That stupid promise you made him make all those years ago won’t mean shit. He’s a man, he gets more pussy than a toilet seat, but he’s never had your pussy, and that’s all that matters.”

  I blink slowly, digesting what she said. I don’t really believe her. Not completely. Elijah often went for the things that he knew he couldn’t have. Like any man, he loves a good challenge, but I don’t want to be a challenge. I simply want him. I don’t want to be a conquest. I want to drop my V-card and move on with my life. Maybe I’m stupid for wanting Elijah to be the man to take that one single thing... I don’t know. All I know is that I crave him. My fingers burned to touch his skin. My lips puckered to kiss his.

  Every time I think about having sex with someone else, all I can think of is him. I had plenty of opportunities to lose my virginity, but I never went through with it and that’s all because for some stupid reason I can’t imagine doing it with anybody besides him.

  Releasing me, Erin smooths a hand over my mousy brown hair, and untangles a few of the curls that cling together on my shoulders. Things are about to get complicated, very complicated, and yet, I’ve never been more excited.

  I don’t want to ruin my friendship with Elijah, but I’m tired of being hung up on him. I just need to lose my virginity to him so I can finally move on.

  He doesn’t do relationships. I know this, as does every other woman in Chicago, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want him to be my first. I promised myself years ago that he would be the one to do it and for some stupid reason, I can’t let go of that thought.

  At first it was just a childish choice, something I decided when I found out all my friends were having sex. But then something changed… our friendship changed. Elijah changed. He looked at me differently, he treated me differently and as we got older, I told myself if I was going to give myself to anyone it was going to be to the one boy, now a man that I had known my entire life.

  And so the stupid promise to myself stuck. Which leads me to tonight. I tell myself that I’ll just do this and then I can get over being a virgin. Then I can find someone who actually wants a relationship, someone that might actually love me. Someone I can be happy with, get married to, and eventually start a family with.

  I pretend that I don’t care that he’s a manwhore, that has a mean streak and is notorious for leaving women the morning after. It’s easier if I don’t think about it. Because in my eyes I’ll never just be the morning after girl, the walk of shame one. Unlike the girls he meets and takes home to screw, I know him. I know him unlike anyone else.

  He’s my best friend, my protector, my partner and crime. He was there for me when I lost my mother, he was my first kiss, and now he will be the man to take my virginity.

  If anyone is going to claim me, it’s going to be him. I know it, and I’m sure some part of him knows it too. My gaze moves down the tight little red number that Erin made me put on. It clings to me like a second skin, showing off my curves and a good bit of cleavage. Oh god. This is a bad idea. A very wicked, most likely going to work, bad idea.

  “What about our friendship?” I blurt out as Erin finishes doing her own makeup. Nervous knots start to form deep in my gut. I’m going to need a drink before we even make it to the club at this rate.

  Erin shrugs. “I guess we’ll see where tonight leads. Friends with benefits? Lovers?” She smacks her lips together. “It’s not like you guys could ever stop being friends. The man can’t even go a day without talking to you.”

  She’s right, but sex changes things. I know that and I haven’t even done it yet. Emotions get involved, and then people get hurt. This is exactly the reason we need to keep feelings out of it and concentrate on the sex and nothing else. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? Holy hell, I was already second guessing myself. God, this was a bad idea. What if I liked sex with him? What if he proved to be everything I expected and more?

  “Maybe I shouldn’t do this…” I tug at the hem of the dress. Suddenly the thing feels too short. I’m out of my element here and if I can see that, then he will too.

  Erin turns away from the mirror and stares me straight in the eyes. Aside from Elijah, she’s one of the only other people that know me, really know me. Nothing but excitement and joy reflect back at me as I stare at her.

  “Tonight, you’re making Mr. Westbrook realize what he’s been missing. You’re going to walk into that club, shake your ass, drink some drinks, and tease the fuck out of that bastard. Then you’re going to tell him to take you back to his place and fuck you. In the morning, you can figure out what happens next, but right now, you need to live for the moment. Don’t think about the consequences, Bailey. Think about the goal, about his cock entering you, about the toe curling orgasm he’ll give you.”

  I grin, and so does Erin. “You’re a bad influence,” I mumble, shaking my head before exiting the bathroom. Gathering up my wallet and cell phone, I slip into a pair of heels.

  “And you’re not, and that’s why you need me,” Erin hollers after me. I exhale deeply, my lungs constrict and my heartbeat pounds in my ears.

  You can do this, Bailey.

  All I’ve got to do is push away the fact that he is a notorious player and my best friend. All I have to do is see him for the sweet-hearted guy who kissed my boos as kids and beat the crap out of guys who got too touchy-feely at prom. All I have to do is pretend this is a one-night stand and not the biggest complication of my life.

  My cell vibrates in my hand in the next second and I turn it over, Elijah’s name flashing across the screen. Fuck. It’s like he knows. My body hums, my insides tingle, and I nibble on my bottom lip as I swipe the screen and stare at his text.

  The text read: Elijah: Happy Birthday Bailey! Can’t wait to see you tonight.

  He has no idea. He’s more than going to see me tonight.

  He’s going to feel me.

  Inside and out.

  Sinful Secrets

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  About the Authors

  J.L. Beck and C. Hallman are an international bestselling author duo who write contemporary and dark romance.

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  Did you love This Christmas? Then you should read Runaway Bride by Cassandra Hallman and J.L. Beck!

  Ivy Young is doing everything she can to keep it together. Forced into an arranged marriage by her cruel parents she knows she has to escape. Escaping the church is easy, but figuring out where to go from there is impossible. And then she runs into him, a ruggedly handsome man with eyes that pierce her soul. Instantly, she's drawn to him.Bishop Williams is a bad boy with tattoos and a history of being a player. He doesn't believe in love—until he helps a runaway bride escape her parents and soon-to-be groom. One look and he knows he can't just leave her there. One taste, and he's head over heels. Neither of them have ever been in love. Not until now, but happily ever afters are hard earned, and with Ivy's parents searching for her, theirs may not get a chance to bloom. Will this runaway bride finally find true love? A runaway bride looking for love, and a bad boy who doesn't believe in it, what happens when the two clash? Oh, you bet your bottom this one's good.