Holiday Hook Up: (Bachelors of Buttermilk Falls Book 4)

by Robyn Neeley

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Bethany glanced up to see a bundled Zoe standing in front of her in a puffy purple jacket with a matching scarf and mittens, white ice skates flung over her shoulder.

  “Sure.” Putting her camera down on her other side, Bethany patted the bench. Have a seat.

  Zoe did just that, setting her skates on the ground. “I knew my hookup would be late.” She laughed sarcastically. “He probably doesn’t want to risk falling and hurting any part of his precious face. God forbid he scrapes his chiseled chin.”

  Bethany chuckled because Zoe was probably right. “I heard about what happened this morning.” She was quick to add, “I mean, Adam was just so excited that he might have done the spell right that he blurted out the news. No one else was in the store when he told me.”

  “It’s fine.” Zoe blew out a cold breath. “I mean, I hate the thought of it, and even though I’d love to help Adam out so people will stop gossiping about him, he couldn’t have gotten it right this time. It’s not going to happen. Nopity nope, nope, nope.”

  Bethany felt for Zoe, but she also was fully aware of the gossip train that carried the ongoing news announcing Adam’s inability to cast the spell correctly. “He is trying, and it’s entirely possible he got it wrong again.” Bethany stopped herself. She wanted to be the friend Adam thought she was. The one that believed in him. “But let’s say Adam got it right. I don’t know . . . Will does have some appealing qualities.”

  “Really?” Zoe’s eyebrow couldn’t have stretched any farther up if she had tried.

  There had to be something endearing about Will Jenkins. Bethany thought for a second, working hard to pull out one high school memory. She finally snapped her fingers. “I got it. Senior year. Will washed and waxed my car for a month. How nice was that?”

  “What was in it for him?”

  Bethany knew her smile was sheepish, so she confessed. “Well, his main motivation was he wanted to have one of his senior pictures taken in it. It was my dad’s classic red convertible that he let me drive after I got my license.”

  “And did he get his precious picture?” Zoe asked with more than a little disgust.

  “Yeah, and it was so good that the Buttermilk Advocate ran it and that led to a national paper picking it up. He scored a modeling contract for a men’s sports clothing line shortly after we graduated.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding? Will modeled men’s clothes?”

  “Yep. He was in several magazines for a year or so right out of high school. Running shorts. Speedos. Tanks. I’m not sure what happened, but I don’t think his modeling career really took off. He started working for his dad’s auto body shop when he stopped getting gigs. Maybe that’s why he’s so preoccupied with his looks. He wants to make sure he’s picture ready in case he gets another fifteen minutes.”

  Zoe brought her hands to her face. “I can’t believe I have to date an ex-model for two weeks.”

  Bethany offered a supportive hand squeeze and looked out onto the rink. Rachel and Adam had finally arrived, and despite herself, Bethany’s heart fluttered. Adam looked so darn cute in his blue jacket and matching knit hat.

  He’d been rocking a five o’clock shadow for a few weeks that was incredibly sexy. Bethany grinned, thinking how awesome it’d been to brush her lips across that stubble.

  She moved her gaze over to Rachel who, of course, looked fabulous in her bright fuchsia ski jacket. She offered her hand to assist an unsteady Adam onto the ice.

  Bethany turned to Zoe, trying to ignore the live Rachel Wants Adam Back show going on in front of her. “I know how awkward this is, but remember it’s only three dates and the First Kiss Ball, and then you never have to spend time with your Holiday Hook Up again.”

  She sighed. That pep talk was more for her than Zoe. Would Adam make it through these two weeks with Rachel with his single card intact?

  Zoe kept talking, oblivious to how uncomfortable being here was for Bethany. “It was a stupid kiss. Stupid drunken kissing. One time. That’s all . . . And the next day, his name shows up in my batter. I should have never gone to the stupid eve—”

  Bethany turned to see why Zoe had clamped up. Will had arrived.

  “Hey, Will,” Bethany greeted her former classmate while Zoe whipped out her phone, immediately proclaiming that she needed to call her mother. Excusing herself, she jumped over the bleachers.

  Bethany shook her head at Zoe’s lame attempt to avoid Will. If these two were going to fall in love and validate Adam’s prediction, they would first need to talk.

  Yes, Will Jenkins was preoccupied with himself and did ooze arrogance, but no woman could deny he was totally hot—especially with the smudge of grease often worn across his cheek.

  “How’s your mom doing?” Bethany asked. Marilyn Jenkins had been traveling back and forth to Florida to spend time with her husband in Tampa. His dad had already moved down there, and Marilyn planned to do the same once she sold her shop. The talk around town was that they were going to be snowbirds, spending half the year in Florida and half the year in Buttermilk Falls.

  Will shoved his hands in his pockets. “Good. She just left for Florida this morning.”

  “She didn’t sell her business by chance to MR Wedding?”

  Will looked puzzled by her question. “No. She actually made the decision to hold on to it for a couple of years. She’s going to miss most of next summer’s wedding season because she and my dad have already made plans to take an extended cross country road trip, but she’s planning to be back in August.” He chuckled and then glanced behind his shoulder, no doubt looking for Zoe. “She’s holding out hope that she’ll be planning my wedding. That’s probably why she’s hanging on to the store.”

  Bethany grinned up at Will. Why Zoe was so turned off by him she didn’t get. If her own stupid heart would stop pining for Adam, she might consider him dating material.

  “Hey, if you know anyone looking for a store manager position, I’m sure she’ll be hiring in the new year.”

  “I’ll put on my thinking cap,” she said right as Zoe returned, and after a couple minutes of awkward chitchat, Will asked his Holiday Hook Up if she wanted some hot chocolate.

  “Go on.” Bethany gave Zoe an encouraging nod. “I’ll look after your skates.”

  Bethany couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched them walk to the refreshment line. Will hadn’t quite caught on that Zoe probably thought she was proceeding into her imminent doom.

  Some Holiday Hook Ups were, no doubt, harder to get through than others. Still, kissing him couldn’t have been all that bad for Zoe.

  Zoe’s words rang in her head. It was a stupid kiss. Stupid drunken kissing. One time. That’s all . . . And the next day, his name shows up in my batter.

  Bethany thought about that for a minute, glancing over at Pauline demonstrating to Evan how to turn on his blade in the center of the rink. Adam’s name had appeared in Pauline’s batter. A man she’d recently made out with in the Buttermilk Tavern.

  All of Adam’s bachelorettes—Wendy Prewitt, Annie Parker, Pauline Maycock, and now Zoe Mathews had recently kissed the men whose names appeared in their batter, whether they were into them or not.

  These guys weren’t soul mate material—at least not for these women. The only thing they seemed to be was the last man they’d kissed.

  Oh, my God. Bethany’s hand flew to her mouth. No! That can’t be.

  Could he be getting the spell half right?

  Adam wasn’t predicting soul mates; he was outing last kisses.

  She moved her hand from her face and gazed onto the ice. Is that even possible? She was the first one to admit she knew nothing about the laws of magic, but it was common knowledge that Abby could only cast the first letter of the intended soul mate. Maybe the blue mixing spoon could only go as far as revealing who the bachelorette last kissed.

  If her hunch was right, that would mean Adam’s name wouldn’t show up in Rachel’s batter. Bethany
wasn’t exactly sure whose would, but she’d put money down on Carter.

  Rachel would be crushed.

  Bethany didn’t want to see her best friend hurt, but on the other hand, what if Rachel managed to kiss Adam before he did the spell. They’d both falsely think they belonged together.

  Not wanting to go down that rabbit hole, she stood because she needed to tell Adam what she suspected he was doing, pronto. Just then, he and Rachel glided by, and he waved.

  Bethany gave a short wave back. Man, he’d been so over the moon excited earlier today when he’d thought he’d done the spell right. The last thing she wanted to do was tell him that he’d failed again.

  Son of an elf! He was going to be so bummed when he realized he wasn’t predicting soul mates. She sat back down, her foot accidentally touching Zoe’s skates. Glancing down at the white skates that appeared to be her size, a crazy idea popped into her head. She grabbed the pair and headed for the refreshment stand. “Zoe, you wouldn’t happen to be a size seven, by chance?”

  “Seven and a half.”

  Close enough. She held up the skates. “May I borrow these?”

  “Sure.” Zoe eyed Will who hadn’t brought his. “I won’t be using them.”

  “Thank you. I’ll stop by your shop and return them tomorrow.” It took less than five minutes for Bethany to put on the skates and shove her boots in one of the wall cubbies.

  She stepped onto the ice in the direction of Adam and Rachel, her camera strap around her shoulder. Armed with a plan, she glided over to the corner they’d been standing in as to not be run over by anyone. Adam’s hand was still in Rachel’s.

  “Hi.” She came up beside them, tapping Adam’s arm.

  “Hey, LB.” He grinned and let go of Rachel’s hand. That caused him to lose his balance and he grabbed on to Bethany.

  “I’ve got you.” Bethany latched on to his middle, the spicy smell of his cologne tickling her nose.

  “Thanks. I can’t believe how bad I am at this. It’s been a few years, but I thought it was like riding a bike.”

  Bethany laughed because it so was nothing like riding a bike. “You’ll get the hang of it again in no time.”

  “What are you doing here, Bethany?” Rachel asked, reaching for Adam’s hand.

  “Taking some pictures.” She pointed to her camera, ready to execute her brilliant idea. “Jason has some great news. The story is going to be even bigger than he expected and he wants me to follow one couple around on their dates. I suggested you two, and he loved it. So, we start tonight. I hope that’s okay.”

  “That sounds like fun.” Adam chuckled. “But don’t take any of me falling on my butt.”

  “I promise they will all be flattering.” Bethany spun on her skate so she was facing them. “Let’s start now.”

  She instructed them to pose for a series of shots. While Adam was game and did everything she requested, Rachel grew tired after twenty minutes of posing on the ice.

  “Adam, I’m getting hungry. Why don’t we go grab something to eat?” Rachel asked, reaching for his hand.

  “Great, I’m starving,” Bethany said, turning her camera off.

  “Bethany.” Rachel smiled through gritted teeth.

  “Right. You didn’t mean me.”

  Rachel didn’t answer her, but continued, “Adam, I was thinking we could split a pizza at Ralph’s. I’ve been craving one full of sausage and mushrooms all day.”

  Wow. And there it was. Rachel was reenacting how she’d asked him out on their first date. Words that Bethany had supplied her with that night on the football field. Words that led to their eventual coupling.

  Stop it. You have no right to be jealous over something that happened in high school, and Rachel is your best friend. She and Adam were happy once upon a time.

  Adam tapped her shoulder. “You should join us. My treat.”

  Bethany glanced at Rachel who tilted her head. Her expression clearly read, “Do and I’ll spike your gingerbread latte.”

  Rachel was not going to approve Bethany’s crashing her romantic plan to stroll down memory lane with Adam. She nodded in the direction of the pizzeria. “You two should go. I have leftovers at home, anyway, that I really should eat up. I’ll see you later.”

  Rachel brightened at Bethany’s excuse, interlocking her fingers with Adam. “We’ll see you tomorrow, Bethany.”

  Adam said good-bye, and Bethany sighed in defeat. Rachel was off to re-create her first date with Adam and then ask him to do the spell. If her hunch was right and Rachel snuck a kiss in there before he did it, it could be catastrophic.

  “Where is a Christmas miracle when you need one?” she asked out loud, looking up at the clear dark sky. There would be no miracles tonight. There weren’t any leftovers in her refrigerator either. She’d swing by the Star Lite and order a burger to go.

  Spinning around, a large body crashed into her, causing her to hit the cold ice. Her right knee was the first to make impact and now radiated in pain.

  “Bethany, I’m so sorry. I was going too fast.” Evan bent down to assist. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I’ll go get some help.”

  She closed her eyes, wishing she was anywhere but here. Could this night get any worse?

  “Bethany.”

  That masculine voice wasn’t Evan’s.

  “Are you hurt?”

  Her eyelids opened to see that Adam had skated back over and dropped to her side. He’d come back to check on her. Her Christmas miracle.

  “I’m okay. Really. Evan startled me more than anything.” She pointed to her knee. “I doubt there’s any damage, probably just scraped.”

  “Well, let me help you off the ice.” He stood and offered his hand, but when she tried to stand, she flinched.

  “LB, you are hurt.”

  “It’s fine.” She rubbed her knee with her free hand. “I’m just going to have a bad bruise.”

  “Why don’t I drive you home? Let’s get you out of those skates and into my truck.” He waved Evan over to help him.

  She glanced over at the edge of the rink. Rachel was at the edge with a concerned expression on her face. “What about your date?”

  “Rachel will understand.” He leaned in. “You’re probably doing me a favor.”

  “I am?” She wanted to ask him to elaborate, but Evan came over full of apologies. Instead, she draped one arm over Adam and one over Evan, her knee throbbing as they led her off the ice.

  Why did her Christmas miracle have to flippin’ hurt?

  Chapter 6

  “One large pie, extra sausage and mushroom for our favorite customer.” Ralph slid the hot-out-of-the-oven pizza in front of Adam and patted his back. “Or should I say elf?”

  Adam grinned and reached for the fountain Coke that had been dropped off by his waitress earlier. His green and yellow costume had gotten more than a few chuckles and wisecracks when he stepped into the pizzeria. “Adam the Elf needs to fuel up for a big night.” He tipped up his pointy felt green hat and pulled back his first slice, rolling some of the gooey mozzarella cheese off the side with his finger.

  Oh, yeah. This was so going to hit the spot.

  He’d stopped into Ralph’s Pizzeria for dinner before meeting Rachel at her flower shop. It’d been four days since their evening ice skating. For tonight’s Holiday Hook Up, they would be spending a few hours giving out Christmas gifts to kids in need at Sparkling Vines winery.

  Why the organizers had chosen the local winery to hold the event, he wasn’t quite sure. He loved dressing up as an elf, though. So what if he looked goofy in his green tunic with wide yellow sleeves? This grown man could put on green tights for a good cause. He liked that one of his hookup dates involved helping little tykes have the best Christmas they could possibly have.

  He’d gotten totally into his costume. Earlier today, Caitlin had helped him pick out everything he needed to transform into Adam the Elf. Her triplets had all giggled when he en
tered the nursery. At least it sounded like giggles . . . or maybe babbles . . . they weren’t even one yet.

  He glanced out the window in the direction of Rachel’s flower shop. So far, his Holiday Hook Up had been rather uneventful, and truth be told, that was fine by him. Before their first date, he wasn’t sure how Rachel would act toward him after months of keeping her distance.

  Sure, they’d shared some laughs on the ice rink, mostly over his bad skating, but it wasn’t like old times.

  The spark wasn’t there. He was pretty sure Rachel’s lack of communication signaled she hadn’t felt it either. He’d left her a message earlier about picking her up for tonight but hadn’t heard a peep.

  He’d been relieved when an excuse to make it an early evening had fallen out of the sky—or onto the ice. Not that he wanted Bethany to get hurt, but her being trampled on by Evan did give him a rather convenient out to bail on having dinner with Rachel.

  Ralph came over and placed a white bowl on the table containing some of his specialty garlic sauce. “I almost forgot how much you love this.”

  “Dude, you don’t even know.” Adam dunked his pizza into the yellow sauce and took an enormous bite. One taste was all it took for his eyes to roll back. “Freakin’ heaven.”

  “We’re always happy to see you.” Ralph gave him a playful slap on the back. “Glad your usual spot was available.”

  Adam nodded and watched the pizza owner disappear into the kitchen. This had been his table since he was fourteen. He’d come here on the weekends and would sit for hours, watching the Buttermilk Falls world go by.

  Not that there was much to see, other than the customers going in and out of the Majestic Theater, the Belle Bridal Boutique owned by Will’s mom, and the Christmas Corner.

  It always beat going home and sitting on his bed listening to his parents fight on the other side of the wall. Not only had their dad been cheating on their mother when he was stationed overseas, but when he came back to Buttermilk Falls, he had a hard time getting steady work. After trying to stay together for many years for his and his brother’s sake, they both threw in the towel and separated shortly after Adam’s fourteenth birthday. He and Tom continued to live in the house they grew up in with their mother.