Holiday with a Twist

by Shannon Stacey

  She had her back to him, head tilted back as she looked at the shelving, and he was going to sneak up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. But his body cast a shadow and she turned before he could reach her.

  “Oh, there you are. Jo asked me to grab her a box of placemats and they’re on the top shelf. And really, even if I could find a small stepladder, the box is too heavy to be up that high.”

  “Lucas usually gets them, so he probably didn’t think of that.” Croy looked up at the box, frowing. “So you really do need my help getting something off a high shelf?”

  “Yeah, I...oh.” She stopped talking and after a few seconds, her lips curved into a smile. “You thought that was code for ‘come make out with me in a storage closet in the middle of the dinner rush’?”

  “When you put it like that, yes. That’s exactly what I thought.” She laughed until he moved closer, backing her up against the shelves. “It’s been too long.”

  “It’s been about nine hours.” But that didn’t stop her from running her hands up his arms to rest at the back of his neck.

  She’d surprised him with a morning quickie, stealing far too few minutes from an errand for her mom, which was a damn good way to wake up. “That was quite the appetizer, but I’m ready for the main course now.”

  “We’re in the storage closet at work. That’s less main course and more a package of oyster crackers to keep us from whining until it’s time for the entrée.”

  Croy knew they only had a few minutes and he didn’t want to spend them talking. As his mouth covered hers, Leigh curled her fingers against his neck, her fingernails scratching over his skin. He shuddered and it took what little self-control he had around Leigh to keep from pressing his body hard against hers, which would jam the shelves into her back.

  Instead he forced himself to slow down, savoring her mouth and the feel of her hands on his neck and in his hair. Keeping his hands on her waist so he wouldn’t be tempted to untuck her shirt or free the row of tiny black buttons, he kissed her until they reached the point of stopping or risking being caught in a very compromising position.

  But he wasn’t letting her go without a plan. “You know, it’s almost Christmas and we haven’t wrapped those presents yet.”

  “I was hoping if I pretended to forget, you’d take pity on me and wrap mine when you wrapped yours.”

  “Oh, and bring them to you here?” He chuckled. “Not a chance.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “We’re running out of time, but both of us calling in sick would be pretty rude.”

  “I was thinking maybe we should wrap them tonight,” he said. “If you leave when the dinner crowd thins out, you can go home and change and already be at my place when I get home. We can wrap some presents. You can unwrap me. In any order, of course.”

  When she smiled, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip, hoping nobody looked at her closely enough to guess she’d just been thoroughly kissed in the storage room. Not that he cared who knew, but once again the pretense she was keeping with her family reared up in his mind.

  “Presents first,” she said. “If I get you naked before we wrap gifts, I’ll be handing my family presents in shopping bags on Christmas morning.”

  He kissed her again, wanting to drown out the resentment they’d be rushing again because she’d have to get home. There was no good way she could explain spending the night at Croy’s house, childhood friends or not.

  “Hey, Croy,” she said when he started to walk away. “Can you get that box down for me?”

  He drew a blank for a few seconds and then remembered the real reason she’d texted him the invitation in the first place. “Right. Placemats. I swear, kissing you makes me forget everything.”

  Everything except the fact he couldn’t make her his while she was pretending to be with somebody else.

  * * *

  “Can’t you just slap some tape on the paper and be done with it?”

  Leigh shook her head as she measured out just the right length of curling ribbon. “I’m not shortchanging Christmas gifts because you want to get naked. Put your finger here.”

  “That’s not where I want my fingers right now,” he grumbled, but he put his finger where the ribbon crossed so she could get a piece of tape.

  “I don’t remember you being this horny when we were younger.”

  “Because I didn’t know how amazing sex with you is when we were younger.”

  “That would have been awkward and probably not as amazing.” She taped the ribbon down and reached for a bow. “Okay, this one’s done. How many more?”

  “Too many. And all yours.”

  She rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t count as wrapping when you slap on paper and just enough tape to keep it from falling off.”

  “Maybe you need a break.”

  “No.” She knew if they stopped now, she’d be trying to wrap the remaining gifts in the wee hours of Christmas Eve. “Talk to me about something other than sex. Besides buying this house and opening a restaurant with your family, what have you been up to?”

  He laughed and handed her the roll of wrapping paper she pointed to. “You’d be surprised how much time fixing up a handyman’s special house and starting up a business eats up. I’ve done a lot of fishing. Hung out with friends, though not as much as they got married and had babies. I spend a lot of time with my dad. Dated some. A few times things even got serious, but it was never right, I guess.”

  “I can’t believe women have been letting you get away.”

  “So you think I’m a keeper, huh?”

  He said the words easily enough, but when Leigh glanced up at him, she saw the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and her stomach clenched.

  Yes, Croy Dawson was a keeper and she couldn’t see how any woman wouldn’t see that. He worked hard, loved his family, and was funny and handsome and sexy. Very sexy. Leigh had thought her hunger for him would fade away each time they were able to steal time to be together, but it hadn’t. She thought about him constantly when they weren’t together and her body practically vibrated with anticipation when it was time to see him again. And when he looked at her, it still took her breath away.

  Yes, he was a keeper. And for a few crazy seconds, she thought about calling her mother and telling her she’d been single for months and she was spending the night at Croy’s house and not to worry.

  But she’d worry. And fret. And quite possibly show up at Croy’s door demanding answers. And it didn’t change the fact Leigh had pieces of her life waiting for her in Houston and she had no idea if Croy was just fishing for compliments and saw their relationship as catch-and-release.

  He was waiting for an answer, though, so she flashed him a saucy grin. “You know you’re a keeper, but you keep wriggling off the hook.”

  For a few seconds, he held her gaze and she willed him to let it go for now because she didn’t know what to say to him anymore. Then he shrugged and forced a smile. “Maybe I’ve been waiting for the right bait.”

  Leigh laughed and forced her attention back to wrapping the blinged-out earbuds she’d bought for Jenna’s stepdaughter. “Between food metaphors and fishing metaphors, it’s a miracle I ever know what we’re talking about.”

  “No matter what the metaphor, there’s a better-than-average chance it has to do with me wanting you.”

  “Then help me get these presents wrapped and we can skip the metaphors.”

  That got him motivated, though he still spent more time looking at the action movie he’d put on in the background than at the ribbons and tape. They ended up talking about favorite movies, most of which they had in common, and books and music. He talked about baby Emily, his face lighting up in a way that made her ache, and she talked about her sisters and their families. But she didn’t stay on that topic long because she could see by the s
hift in his expression he didn’t like thinking about her family.

  He was a good guy and he didn’t like the feeling they were sneaking around behind her parents’ backs. She understood that, but she had to weigh his feelings against blowing up her family’s Christmas. And for what? She had to go back to Houston soon.

  But she didn’t have to stay there. That idea had been creeping up on her a lot and it scared the crap out of her. The thought of leaving behind the life she’d made for herself had her stomach tied up in knots, but her family was here. And a lot of people she’d known forever. Hope hadn’t been wrong when she’d pointed out Leigh could work online.

  The real unknown was Croy. He had to be the reason she was even considering it, since she’d been very happy in Houston, and that did nothing but tighten those knots in her gut. Falling for him hadn’t been part of her home-for-the-holidays plan.

  “Hey. Leigh.” When Croy said her name, she looked up to find him staring at her. “That’s a big frown considering I was telling you a funny story. Or a story I thought was funny, anyway.”

  “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about... Aimee. Whether she’ll like those earbuds or if I should have just gotten her a gift card.” Please believe me, she thought, not wanting to ruin the short time they had left tonight.

  “It’s too late to do anything about it now. And I’m sure she’ll love them. Though not as much as I love that gift you just wrapped.”

  She looked down at the box that held shearling-lined slippers for her dad and laughed. “You love slippers?”

  “No, I love the last gift in the to-be-wrapped pile.”

  She hadn’t even realized the presents were all wrapped. “Now to get them all in a big bag without crushing the bows.”

  Croy groaned and threw himself down on the floor with an exaggerated flair. “I’m dying here, Leigh.”

  Laughing, Leigh left the presents where they were and crawled over to straddle him. “You really are impatient.”

  He reached up to cup her breasts, making a low sound of appreciation deep in his throat. “I want you constantly. I can’t help it.”

  His words stoked the fire in her that never seemed to burn out when she was with him, and she leaned forward—bracing a hand on either side of his head—to kiss him.

  They’d get through Christmas, she thought. After the holidays, she could untangle the feelings she had for Croy and worry about how she was going to go back to her regularly scheduled life without him. Or if she even wanted to.

  Just like with her parents, she’d hide the messiness of her life—or in this case, her emotions—until after the holidays and just hope it didn’t blow up in her face.

  Chapter Eight

  On Christmas morning, Leigh was rousted out of bed by a very grumpy Hope, who was holding an even grumpier baby.

  She didn’t want to wake up. She wanted to go back to sleep and maybe dream about Croy a little more. Between working at the pub and a few stolen hours at his place over the last few days while trying to hide the truth from her family, she was exhausted.

  “Wake up, Leigh,” Hope insisted. “It’s TJ’s first Christmas and I don’t want to suffer—I mean celebrate—alone.”

  “He’s a baby. He’s not going to remember if we slept in on his first Christmas.”

  “Trust me, I tried. He wants to be up. It’s like he knows today’s a big day.”

  “Maybe it’s all those Christmas movies Mom’s had on for background noise.”

  Hope snorted. “Sure. Come on. I have to feed TJ, so you have to make the coffee. I really need some.”

  Because it was Christmas and she knew her sister would stand over her with the fussy baby until she surrendered, Leigh threw back the covers and shoved her feet into her slippers. If there was one good thing about being an adult on Christmas, it was getting to stay in your pajamas the entire day, and she intended to do just that.

  They were on their second cups of coffee and TJ was playing with his baby gym while watching the lights on the Christmas tree blink when their parents came downstairs. There were Christmas hugs and kisses, and then the traditional pancake breakfast, with all of them helping. They would put off opening gifts until Jenna and her family arrived, but other than that, it was like every Christmas they’d had growing up.

  “Have I mentioned how glad I am you put your foot down about having one last Christmas in this house?” she asked her mom while they were washing dishes. Another point for the condo: it came with what would be Dianne Holloway’s first dishwasher.

  “I am too, honey. It’s a little bit sad, but mostly I’m just happy to have all three of my girls back under my roof for the holidays.”

  Once Jenna arrived with Randy and Aimee, there were more hugs and kisses. Leigh hadn’t seen her sister since her wedding, but it was obvious marriage agreed with her. She looked happy and it was apparent she and her husband were very much in love.

  Once they were all gathered around the Christmas tree, their mom took TJ from Hope. “Why don’t you go in the kitchen for a few minutes and I’ll let you know when you can come out.”

  “Um, what are you doing with my baby, Mom?”

  “It’s a surprise. Just go.”

  Hope looked at Leigh, but she just shook her head. She was saying nothing. Once Hope went to the kitchen, they all watched in fascination as her mom took two little sweaters out of a small box. They were incredibly gaudy with a lot of red yarn shot with silver and gold strains and really bright green and yellow. The pattern of Christmas bulbs had been knitted with shimmery yarn and the overall effect would have been blinding if the sweaters weren’t so small.

  After she’d buttoned TJ’s sweater over his pajamas, she worked Atticus’s front paws into his and did the two buttons that held it closed under his belly. After convincing the dog to sit next to the baby, she called Hope back into the room.

  When she turned the corner into the living room and saw the two of them on the blanket, she froze and her eyes widened while the rest of them—except their mother, of course—tried not to laugh.

  “Wow, Mom.” Hope paused and Leigh could barely stand the wait to see what words would come out of her sister’s mouth next. “Those are super cute! The best...really.”

  The best if she was hoping to go viral on an ugly Christmas sweater hashtag, maybe. Leigh leaned over so she could get a good shot of her nephew and his weird dog in their matching sweaters. Once she’d checked to make sure the full patterns were visible, she texted it to Croy with the caption Merry Christmas.

  A few seconds later, she got a response. Wow. Those are...festive.

  There was a comment bubble with dots, indicating that he was typing more, so she waited.

  Merry Christmas back at you. That was immediately followed by a photo of Croy in a Santa hat. He was also wearing a strand of glittery red garland like a feather boa, and he was holding his tiny newborn niece. The red blanket covered in a candy cane pattern was folded back from her face, and she was awake and staring up at her uncle.

  With Croy’s assistance, the baby was clutching a little sign. Emily’s First Christmas.

  It was such a cute and funny picture, but the look on Croy’s face made Leigh’s heart ache. He wasn’t looking at the camera. He was looking into his niece’s wide eyes, and there was so much love and pride and wonder in his expression.

  She wanted to be there with him.

  Here she was, surrounded by her entire family, but she wanted to be with Croy. It felt as if she was missing out somehow—as if she should be with him to celebrate the holiday just because...because she was falling in love with him.

  “Dammit.”

  Only when everybody turned to stare at her did Leigh realize she’d said that out loud. At least she’d only said the one bad word and not the entire thought.

  Her
phone buzzed at that moment and she looked down. Can you sneak away for a little bit later?

  She smiled at her family. “Sorry. I was thinking of something I forgot to do.”

  “Who texts on Christmas Day?” her mother asked. “People should call and talk to each other on the holidays.”

  “Just a coworker,” she lied, trying not to wince at how easily it rolled off her tongue. And she deliberately didn’t look at her sister, who would probably smirk at her. “She always sends out group texts on holidays.”

  “Oh, I guess that’s nice, then.”

  Leigh couldn’t be expected to ignore a friendly coworker, so she bent her head to type out a response. I want to, but probably not. Mom’s making us do the full day, with dinner and dessert and board games.

  I miss you. How about tomorrow?

  The restaurant would be closed, since they didn’t see much point in being closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas, open on Monday and then closed again on Tuesday. After the last two weeks, they’d all decided to take the bonus day.

  Definitely. What time’s good for you?

  As early as you can get here. The door will be unlocked, so if I’m asleep, feel free to wake me up.

  She smiled, imagining all the ways she could wake a sleeping Croy. I’ll keep that in mind.

  In fact, she’d be lucky if she could get her mind to focus on anything else for the rest of the day.

  * * *

  On Christmas Day, the entire Dawson family gathered at their dad’s house. Nobody even questioned it, even though Jeff and Carrie’s house was nicer, with a big kitchen and more bathrooms. The house on Center Street was the heart of the family and it probably—hopefully—always would be.

  This year, Carrie was the queen of the holiday. She was lounging on the couch in brand-new fleece pajamas, with the baby sleeping in her arms. She’d been forbidden from doing a single thing other than relaxing, and she looked tired, but happy. Jeff was never far from her, and he already changed little Emily’s diapers like a pro. Even Lucas looked happy, since he’d picked his boys up from his ex-wife’s house at noon. Hunter and Parker were mostly engrossed by their phones and whatever game they were playing, but they were there and it was enough.