A Kiss for Christmas

by Melody Grace

  “Hello, stranger.”

  I turn at the voice and promptly stop dead. The woman in front of me is a vision of slinky black silk, all luscious curves, red lips and glossy blonde hair. I blink in disbelief.

  “Zoey?” I ask, not processing what I’m seeing. The last time I saw my younger sister’s best friend, she was gawky and casual in jeans and tortoiseshell glasses. Now, she looks like she just stepped off a runway—and out of every man’s fantasy. “Holy shit, what happened to you?”

  Zoey arches an eyebrow. “Good to see you too,” she smirks, sashaying over to kiss me on both cheeks. “Sorry, Paris,” she says as an explanation, reaching to wipe away a smudge of lipstick. As she leans in close, I catch a breath of perfume, something spicy and intoxicating that wraps itself around my senses and makes me think of late nights, and intimate dinners, and the slide of silk on naked skin.

  I struggle to focus. “Uh, hey, welcome back. Is it just a vacation visit?”

  Zoey gives me a mysterious smile. “It depends.”

  “On what?” I blink, still feeling like someone smashed me over the head with an anvil. This is Zoey, she’s been running around with Tegan since they were teenagers, she’s like a little sister to me.

  At least, she used to be.

  Now, I can’t help my gaze from drifting lower, over the tight slinky dress she’s wearing, and the sexy curves of her body, all the way to her shoes: red peep-toe sandals that lace all the way up her calves.

  They’re the sexiest shoes I’ve ever seen.

  “Uh, depends on what?” I drag my attention back up to her face, and find Zoey watching me with a curious smile.

  “You’ll see,” she says cryptically. “But, yes, I’m back.”

  “Tegan will be happy, I know she missed you.” I steer the conversation back to a safe topic: my sister.

  “Me too,” Zoey smiles. “I missed all of you,” she adds. Her eyes meet mine, an unreadable expression in her gaze.

  I find my mind is blank; I try and think of what to say. She’s been out in Europe for over a year now, working at some magazine. Tegan reports back, but I never paid much attention to the details.

  Now, I wish I had.

  Zoey takes a place beside me, leaning out over the railing to watch the dark beach, and the ocean crashing beyond. I try not to notice how her body arches, giving me a heart-stopping view of her low-cut neckline.

  “So what’s your resolution?” she asks, a flirty note in her voice.

  Her dress strap slips lower on her shoulder. Her body is close enough to touch.

  I suddenly feel light-headed.

  “I guess…make some great movies this year,” I reply. “Not screw up and wind up waiting tables again to make a living.”

  She laughs. “No way. We all knew you had the talent, it just took the world a little while to catch on.”

  “You haven’t seen me act,” I point out.

  “Sure I have,” Zoey gives me a mischievous grin. “I remember a certain show you did one Christmas…”

  “No!” I burst out laughing, remembering that year. I took fifty bucks to dress up and play a scene from A Christmas Carol on the 3rd Street Promenade. “God, why would you remind me about that?”

  “Come on,” Zoey teases me, “you were the hunkiest Ebenezer Scrooge that Santa Monica ever saw.”

  “I swear, that wig and beard gave me a rash.” I shake my head at the memory. “How do you even remember that?”

  She shrugs, still smiling. “I told you, we all knew we had a star on our hands.”

  I groan. “It’s only a matter of time before the tabloids drag up those photos.”

  “I leave the country for one year, and you get hounded by the paparazzi.” Zoey shakes her head, looking amused. “Mr Big Shot.”

  “It’s not like that. They just love the whole angle with Dex too,” I explain.

  “‘The Hottest Brothers Since the Hemseworths,’” Zoey quotes.

  “You saw that?”

  “Are you kidding?” she laughs, “Tegan wants to get it framed. You must hate it,” she adds. “I know Dex could never stand the attention.”

  I shrug, self-conscious. “It’s not so bad. My agents all tell me it’s part of the game. Play it right, and it can help me win the big roles.”

  “And that’s what you want? Total world domination.” Zoey’s tone is still light, but I can tell there’s a deeper edge to the question.

  I pause again. I know it’s not cool to talk about ambition. We’re all supposed to act like we just woke up one morning and decided, “Hey, I’ll be an actor.” Either that, or talk about the love of the craft, like all that matters is your acting, even if it is in some run-down dump in the Valley playing Shakespeare to an empty room.

  But the truth is, I want this. So much it scares me sometimes. I want to walk down the red carpet at my big premiere, and see crowds screaming my name. I want to be blown up to twenty feet tall on the big screen in every movie theater in the country. I want Emmys and Oscars, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I want to be the best.

  “Yeah,” I tell Zoey, admitting the truth out loud. “I want it all.”

  I turn to meet her eyes. They’re bluer than I remember, smudged with dark liner, glowing in the night. I get that light-headed feeling again, like a weird electricity is crackling between us: hot and vivid.

  Dangerous.

  “You better get back inside,” I tell her, resisting the urge to slide that loose strap all the way down her arm. “You’ll miss the party.”

  I see a flash of disappointment in Zoey’s eyes, but I force myself to turn my back on her. There’s no way I should be out here, lusting after my little sister’s best friend.

  I lean out over the railings and watch the dark ocean glitter under the moon. I deserve a prize for my self-control, I figure, listening to the tap of her footsteps head away from me. The door slides closed, muffling the music from inside.

  Self-control, or stupidity?

  I block the pang of regret. Zoey is, well, Zoey. Just because she’s looking hot enough to burn the house down, that doesn’t mean I’m going to take advantage. She’s like a kid sister to me, for Christ’s sake!

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, I feel a soft hand on my arm. I jerk around, and find Zoey standing back in front of me with a weirdly focused expression on her face.

  “It’s the New Year,” she says stubbornly.

  “Not for another ten seconds,” I reply, confused. I can hear the chant from inside, starting the countdown.

  “Then I guess we’ll have to pass the time.” Zoey takes a deep breath, and then she’s reaching up on her tip-toes, pressing her lips against mine in a hot, hard kiss.

  What the—?

  I freeze, thrown by the heat of her lips and the soft swell of her body, the dizzying scent of her perfume. I know that I should pull away, but Zoey is determined: she loops her arms up around my neck, pulling me down against her as the countdown fades away and the world contracts to just the two of us, right here.

  “Nine! Eight! Seven…”

  The kiss deepens, fire and ice raging in my bloodstream, until finally, I snap. I let the burning lust take me over, sweeping her into my arms and spinning her back against the railings, crushing her against my body as I claim her mouth as my own.

  I kiss her deep and hard, with a sudden hunger that shocks me to my bones. I don’t know where this desire has come from, all I know is that it crashes through every nerve and atom, demanding more.

  I ease her lips apart and sink my tongue deep between her lips. Zoey moans against me, arching up, molding her body to mine. I can feel every inch of her, her gorgeous body burning hot through the flimsy silk of her dress. I slide my hands down her back, over the tight swell of her ass, grinding into her like a horny schoolboy. But dammit, I can’t hold back. Something about this kiss has taken me over, unleashing a primal, animal need.

  I want her, more than anything.

  The countdown is over, there’
s distant cheering inside, but nothing could stop me now. We kiss out this old year, and into the next, and beyond. I lose track of time, I lose track of everything except the taste of her mouth, the hot slide of our tongues, as my hands rove over her body and Zoey melts under my hands.

  Finally, she pulls back, breathless and sparkling. Her cheeks are flushed, and her hair tumbles messily round her heart-shaped face.

  I want to push it back, to knot it in my hands and pull her to me again. Claim her lips, her body; take this kiss way further than I have any right to do.

  Zoey’s lips curve in another mysterious smile. “That’s decided then,” she says, almost to herself. “Happy New Year.”

  I stand there, reeling, as she turns on her heel and heads back inside. The door slams shut behind her. I’m left alone with fire in my bloodstream and one question echoing in my mind.

  Who the hell is this woman?

  To be continued…

  Blake and Zoey’s story is just beginning. Find out more in the next Beachwood Bay love story: UNWRITTEN.

  Available now! CLICK HERE to download from your retailer of choice.

  The Beachwood Bay Series:

  1.Untouched

  2.Unbroken

  3.Untamed Hearts

  4.Unafraid

  5.Unwrapped

  6.Unconditional

  7.Unrequited

  8.Uninhibited

  9.Unstoppable

  10.Unexpectedly Yours

  11.Unwritten

  12.Unmasked

  13.Unforgettable

  Holiday Kisses

  A Sweetbriar Cove Love Story

  Welcome to Sweetbriar Cove: the small town where happily-ever-after is guaranteed.

  Holiday Kisses

  Hot British director Dash Everett needs inspiration - and fast. He’s hoping that a Christmas vacation in Sweetbriar Cove will give him everything he needs to break his writer’s block: a deserted cabin, his laptop, and his old friend Jack (Daniels, that is). But it turns out, isolation isn’t nearly as inspiring as the beautiful spitfire behind the front desk...

  Ellie Lucas isn’t crazy about spending her holidays catering to the arrogant (and sexy) guest in Cabin 4 -- and she really doesn’t have time to play muse. She’s ready to leave her small-town behind for a fresh start, but when an unexpected snowstorm sends both their plans awry, she finds that a dash of Hollywood magic is exactly what she needs to see the joy in one more Sweetbriar Cove Christmas…

  The Sweetbriar Cove Series:

  1. Meant to Be

  2. All for You

  3. The Only One

  4. I’m Yours

  5. Holiday Kisses (A Christmas Story)

  6. No Ordinary Love (April 2018)

  Chapter 1

  It was three days before Christmas, and Ellie Lucas was up to her elbow in raw sewage.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” the guest in cabin four fretted. Mrs. Atkins was in her sixties, with salt-and-pepper hair and a bright orange windbreaker. “It’s an heirloom, passed down from my grandmother. I just don’t know what I would do if we lost it.”

  “Uh huh.” Ellie tried to keep a cheery smile on her face as she held her breath and reached a little deeper into the toilet. Even in sturdy rubber gloves, she couldn’t ignore the squishing sensation as she rooted around for the beloved ring – or the gross smell. She didn’t even want to know what she was touching right now. “And you’re sure it fell in?”

  “Oh yes.” Mrs. Atkins hovered in the tiny bathroom. “I heard it drop.”

  “Like a splash?” Ellie asked, trying not to gag.

  “No, more like a clatter,” she said. “I was standing right here. It’s a pink gemstone,” she added. “It’s not worth much, but the sentimental value…”

  Ellie leaned down further, searching the floor until she saw a glint of metal from underneath the vanity.

  “You mean, like this?” Ellie freed her hand from the bowels of the toilet, and used the long pipe of the plunger to knock the ring free. It rolled into the middle of the floor.

  “You found it!” Mrs. Atkins scooped it up. “Oh, you angel. Thank you!”

  “All part of the service.” Ellie straightened up, getting light-headed now from holding her breath, and replaced the toilet fixtures. “You, umm, might want to air out the room a while. Just saying.”

  She stumbled outside and inhaled a lung full of crisp New England winter air. It was a bright, blue-skied morning and the snow was still soft on the ground on Cape Cod. The woods were white and frozen around the cabins, and through the bare branches, she could see glimpses of the flint-colored waves down by the shore. Walking in a winter wonderland…

  A stinky, sewer-scented wonderland. Ellie peeled off the stinky glove and discarded it in the trash as she crossed the courtyard and let herself back into the main lodge. She breathed in the scent of pine trees and cinnamon cookies with relief and went to rinse her hands, slathering on plenty of soap, but somehow, the smell still lingered.

  She sighed. The really gross part was that wasn’t the first time she’d been down on her knees rooting around in a guest’s sewage, and she was guessing it wouldn’t be the last. Ellie Lucas, the sewer queen of Sweetbriar Cove.

  The front desk phone rang. She picked it up with a bright, “Sweetbriar Inn, wishing you a happy holidays!”

  “How’s it going?” her older sister, Charlotte, asked.

  Ellie trapped the phone under her ear and spritzed some pine-scented room freshener around. “I’d be better if you hadn’t abandoned me.”

  After working the holidays every year that she could remember, Ellie’s parents had finally decided to take a much-deserved break—thanks to a sweepstakes cruise vacation they won in a radio contest. Her sister already had plans to spend the week in Boston with friends, and since they couldn’t afford to turn away business, Ellie had been left running the inn alone.

  “I’m sorry,” Charlotte apologized.

  “No, it’s fine,” Ellie lied. “Are you having fun, at least?”

  “Tons. And Mom and Dad called this morning, they’re setting sail at noon. They said to tell you bon voyage.”

  “Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?” Ellie asked.

  “They’re new to the cruising life,” Charlotte laughed. “She was worried they wouldn’t have cell reception out on the water.”

  Ellie smiled. “You should have seen how many wet-wipes she packed. I tried telling her the ship would have toiletries for sale, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “Hey, at least if they get stranded, she’ll be the cleanest person around! What about you?” Charlotte changed the subject. “How are you handling things?”

  “It’s non-stop, as usual,” Ellie quipped, looking around the quiet reception room. “Lost rings, a missing paperback book. Some guests saw deer in the woods, there was nearly a riot.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got it handled.”

  “I’ll let you know if there’s an emergency,” Ellie reassured her, “like running out of eggnog, or forgetting to restock the mistletoe.”

  “OK, I’m going shopping with the girls.”

  “Rub it in, why don’t you?” Ellie sighed. “Have fun!”

  Charlotte hung up, and Ellie turned back to the front desk. Despite her teasing, she didn’t mind staying home to work that holiday season. More guests meant more tips—and she needed every last dollar if she was ever going to get out of Sweetbriar Cove.

  Not that it wasn’t a lovely place to live. Nestled in the crook of the arm of the Cape, with white sandy beaches in the summer, and bright leafy woods in the fall, it won “most charming New England small town” three years running. But visiting somewhere on vacation and living there 24/7 were very different things, and after twenty-two years with everyone knowing everything about her, Ellie was ready to see what else the world had to offer.

  If she could ever get around to leaving.

  “There she is!” The Atkinses bustled in, wrapp
ed up warmly in matching winter hats and ready to go. Denise beamed, “I was just telling my husband how you saved the day!”

  “It was nothing.” Ellie smiled. “Are you guys heading into town?”

  “That’s right. We thought we’d get a sneak peek at the square, and scope out the best spot for the carol service tonight.”

  Ellie grabbed some leaflets. “Well, be sure to check out the nativity. And I think…yes, there’s a gingerbread house contest at three. Just stop by the tearooms.”

  “Ooh, doesn’t that sound delicious?” Denise cooed. She tucked the papers away, and gave Ellie a smile. “I just love how everybody gets into the holiday spirit for the festival here in town. It’s a real treat.” She paused, looking around the room. “Well, almost everybody. You have a great day now!”

  They headed out into the snow, and Ellie cast a new eye around reception. Her parents had been too busy preparing for their trip to get into decorating, so they had left that to Ellie. There was a tree in the corner by the door, stockings pinned to the mantle, and mistletoe over the desk. By most people’s standards, it was perfectly festive, but this wasn’t just any small town. It was Sweetbriar Cove—home to the famous Starbright Winter Festival—and here, more was definitely more.

  Ellie went to dig around in the back until she found a box of old decorations. She knew they were lucky to have such a tourist attraction outside the summer season. Other inns and motels on the Cape saw their business disappear as soon as the weather grew frosty, but with the Starbright Festival, Sweetbriar was still the biggest draw around. A whole week of festivities, drawing holiday-lovers from across the country—and filling their cabins to capacity. She had one more guest due to arrive, and then they would be fully booked.

  The least she could do was sprinkle some more tinsel around.

  Ellie was balancing on the top of a stool, adorning the tree with another round of sparkly ornaments when the bell over the door beside her dinged a warning.