A Heaven Hill Christmas
Nine Novellas of the Heaven Hill Series
Laramie Briscoe
Copyright © 2016 Laramie Briscoe
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
Edited by: Meg Weglarz
Cover Art by: Kari Ayasha, Cover to Cover Designs
Proofread by: Dawn Bourgeois
Beta Read by: Keyla Handley & Danielle Wentworth
Formatting: Paul Salvette, BB eBooks
Also by Laramie Briscoe
The Heaven Hill Series
Meant To Be
Out of Darkness
Losing Control
Worth The Battle
Dirty Little Secret
Second Chance Love
Rough Patch
Beginning of Forever
Home Free
Back to The Beginning
Shield My Heart
A Heaven Hill Christmas
The Rockin’ Country Series
Only The Beginning
One Day at A Time
The Price of Love
Full Circle
Hard To Love
Reaper’s Girl
The Red Bird Trail Trilogy
Flagger
Collision
In Tune
Stand Alone
Sketch
Sass
Coming Soon
Moonshine Taskforce Series (2017)
Remy & Tatum (2017)
Trick (2017)
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Dedication
To everyone who loved the series and wanted it to keep on going. I hope you love these peeks into the guys and ladies lives once their stories ended!
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Also by Laramie Briscoe
Dedication
Note from the author
Layne & Jessica
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Steele & Christine
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Jagger & Bianca
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Liam & Denise
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Dalton & Mandy
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Tyler & Meredith
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Rooster & Roni
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Drew & Charity
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Remy & Tatum
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Excerpt from Renegade
About Laramie
Connect with Laramie
The Heaven Hill Series
Note from the author
These Christmas Novella’s are in no particular order – they aren’t even in chronological order of the series. It’s just one Christmas I picked out of every couple’s lives and wrote about it.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Layne & Jessica
‡
Chapter One
Layne O’Connor parked his bike in the back of his wife’s downtown office. It was dark, but the snow falling against the brick building and the accumulation that had already gathered on the pavement, lightened up the night considerably. Wanting to make sure he wasn’t too far off-base on what he was about to accuse her of, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Twenty-two hundred hours. This was getting fucking ridiculous – especially since it was the fifth night this week. Using the keypad lock Travis had installed, he entered his code and waited for the dead-bolt to disengage. He ducked inside, out of the cold, and gave himself a moment to acclimate to the dim light of the stairwell. The soft glow was still brighter than the muted gray of the winter night. Shaking the snowflakes off his shoulders, he took the steps two at a time, hoping he wasn’t making too much noise. His boots sounded loud to him as his steps echoed in the empty corridor.
Reaching the top, he congratulated himself for not being out of breath, put in another code, and opened the door to Jessica’s office slowly. He didn’t want to barge in and scare her. When she got deeply into a story, it was very easy for her to forget everything else going on around her.
“You’re in trouble,” his tone a warning as he entered through the doorway.
Jessica’s head snapped up from where she bent over her laptop. The office looked like a studio apartment, having everything there she’d need to be comfortable. Tonight she sat Indian style on the bed, MacBook in her lap. “Jesus, Layne,” she put her hand up to her chest, breathing deeply. “What time is it?” she squinted, just now realizing how dark it was, how late the night had gotten.
“Twenty-two hundred hours.”
“You know I hate military time,” she frowned at him as he walked into the room and kicked the door shut behind him.
“It’s ten o’clock. Time for you to wrap up the writing for the night,” he approached her slowly, turning on lights as he went.
“But I’m at a really good part,” she argued, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and gesturing at the screen of the laptop. “My two main characters are about to get it on after thirteen chapters of slow sexual build up.”
Turning on the light closest to her, he stood over her, his eyes meeting hers. “Unless it’s us about to get it on, I don’t think I really wanna talk about it.”
She huffed, pushing her hair out of her face, and shoving her glasses further up on her nose. Two motions that he found undeniably sexy, but underneath it all, he could see the dark circles under her eyes and the fatigue she tried desperately to hide. He hated when she pushed herself this hard, but he also knew once she got on a roll, i
t was hard for her to stop. She was scared of losing the words, the flow, and that her mindset would somehow change, not letting her stay in the scene.
“I need to finish this chapter to stay on deadline, Layne,” her voice rough with frustration as she tried to make him understand.
“Gorgeous, I know, but have you looked outside in the past few hours?” he pointed to the window that looked out high above the coffee shop on the square.
“No. The last thing I remember is going to get a hot chocolate around noon,” she admitted.
Layne grabbed the laptop. “Have you saved?” He’d learned the hard way that closing her laptop before she saved could send her into a meltdown of epic proportions if something went wrong and she lost all her work.
She nodded, watching him closely, her eyes following him around the room.
He walked over to her desk, closing the laptop as he set it on the flat surface. He let himself look out over the snow-covered square, trying to calm his irritation. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself, gorgeous,” he tried to make his voice light as he walked over to the bed and had a seat.
“I have a real deadline now, Layne. It’s not like when I was publishing on my own.”
Layne tried to be understanding, tried to really listen to what she was telling him, but all he could see was that his wife was absolutely exhausted. All he could focus on was the fact he’d gone to bed without her for the past two weeks, while she came to bed as the sun was coming up. “Not good enough.”
“You’re pissin’ me off, Layne.”
He grinned at her, letting her see the fire in his gaze. “You’re pissin’ me off too and you know what happens when I get pissed off. Did you change that Pinterest password yet?”
Her lips twitched as she tried to keep a stern face. “You wouldn’t do that again.”
“Oh, wouldn’t I?” He reached down, taking his boots off, before he situated himself across from her, sitting cross-legged on the bed. “Try me.”
“Layne,” she protested. “My Pinterest is supposed to be hot guys and stuff that reminds readers about my stories.”
“You mean I wasn’t supposed to pin mediocre shit like plain cupcakes on there?” he tilted his head to the side, playing dumb with her.
“Unless they take a minimum of three hours to make and require homemade buttercream frosting, as well as edible glitter? No,” she did her best to keep a straight face, but dissolved into giggles thinking about what he’d done the last time they argued. “It took me over two weeks to find all the stuff you’d pinned in random places. And newsflash hotshot, on no planet should new exhaust pipes for your bike be put under the label of Sexytimes.”
“You haven’t seen me sitting on my bike with new exhaust pipes yet. How do you know it’s not sexy?”
Jessica sighed, leaning forward, wrapping her arms around him. “God, I’ve missed you.”
He closed his arms tightly around her, pushing her hair out of her face. “I miss you too, which is why I’m here. Plus, it’s kind of dangerous outside right now, and I didn’t want you trying to drive home with that fucking front-wheel drive car you insist on having.”
“Has it snowed that much? It was just spitting a few flakes here and there when I went downstairs to get my hot chocolate.”
He grabbed her hand, pulling her up, before he walked the two of them over to the window. He heard and felt her gasp as she looked out over the square. With the Christmas lights up for the season, it looked like something in a snow globe.
“See now why I came to get you?” he ran his hand up and down her back before pushing up into her hair, massaging her scalp.
“But can we even get home now?” she questioned as she turned to look at him. “If town looks this way, how does it look out towards the clubhouse?”
“When I left it was slick,” he cupped her hip with his other hand, pulling her back to his front. “By now? Probably impassable. Good thing you have everything here we’ll need.”
“Do you think we’ll still be here on Christmas?” she asked softly.
He thought about the question. Christmas was in twenty-four hours, and while Bowling Green was much more prepared to handle a weather event like this than it had been in the past, he also knew it would probably take longer than two or three days before roads far out in the country where they lived to become drivable. It also depended heavily on when the snow stopped and how many inches they ended up getting. It was always best to be honest with her, he’d learned the hard way what happened if he wasn’t. Going on four years of marriage now, he’d learned a few things.
“It’s a good possibility, Jess,” he pulled her closer to him. “I’m sorry.” She loved being with their friends and family on holidays. He didn’t care where they were as long as they were together.
“I think I’ll actually be okay if it’s just you and me. I’ve been too busy lately.”
He didn’t want to lay a guilt trip on her, but if they were stuck in this space, alone, for the next few days, he’d definitely be having a talk with her about working too hard. First though, he hadn’t eaten and he knew she hadn’t either. “C’mon, let’s find something to eat in case we lose power.”
The thought made her shiver in his arms.
“Don’t worry, if we lose power, I’ll keep you warm; don’t you worry about that. You seem to forget I was in the military, too. If anyone can keep you safe during times of extreme weather– it’s me.”
She tilted her head back, resting it on his shoulder. “Trust me, I’ve never felt safer than when I’m with you.” Circling her hand around the forearm he rested against her chest, she gave it a squeeze. “It’s hot how you take care of me.”
He grunted as he turned them away from the window. “Then what I’m fixing to do should have you panting and positively dripping with arousal.”
She wrinkled her nose, laughing at him. It’d taken him a long time to show this side of himself to her, and she loved it beyond words. Her heart sang when he teased her. “Oh really? Let me prepare myself.”
“I’m about to make you the best grilled cheese known to man. I know how much you love those because it’s the one thing you keep ingredients for around here at all times.”
Grasping him around the waist, she leaned into his ear, whispering seductively. “You make me a good enough grilled cheese, and I might show you exactly what kind of sexy scene I was writing.”
She sure enough didn’t have to tell him twice, Layne turned on his heel and went right about making their dinner.
‡
Chapter Two
“This is really good,” Jessica moaned as she tore into the second half of her sandwich. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was, but forgetting to eat wasn’t unusual when she got deep into the flow of her story and hated to let it go. Seeing and hearing her characters wasn’t always the easiest part for her – she was more of a storyteller – so, when the characters spoke to her, she had to run with it as long as she could.
“I’m glad to see you actually eating something.”
Layne’s condescending tone caused her to stop chewing and lift her eyes to his. They were shadowed in the muted light of the studio, and she didn’t necessarily like what she saw there. Where she normally saw love and understanding, tonight there was barely leashed anger and possibly a little fear and frustration.
“I eat,” she defended herself.
“Not when you’re holed up in here for days at a time,” he raised an eyebrow, daring her to argue with his words.
Confronted with a truth she didn’t really want to face, she shifted her eyes from his, down to her plate. The sandwich lost a little of its appeal, but she still forced herself to eat the rest of it. She was hungry and appreciated the fact he’d cooked for her, even if it was the most kindergarten of meals. Layne used mayonnaise on the outside of the bread instead of butter and the sandwiches were always grilled to perfection. She kind of hated him for the fact he could cook it so well but it was the perfect co
mfort food for her.
She was quiet as she finished, washing the crumbs down with a large swallow of Sprite. The two of them didn’t argue much in their marriage, but she could feel when Layne was ready to read her the riot act. She could feel it tonight, had felt it the minute he came through the door earlier. There had been a chill in the air not caused by the weather outside. “Obviously you have some things you need to get off your chest, so I’ll sit here and take it,” she sat back in her seat, daring him to say what was on his mind.
His eyes flashed and the face that had been a semi-relaxed mask changed in an instant. He clenched his jaw together so tightly she could almost hear his teeth crack together. Whatever she’d said had set him off. “Don’t be cute, Jess. I’m not in the mood for it tonight.”
“I’m not, I’m telling you to let me know how you feel. You obviously want to say something, and I’m giving you carte blanche.”
She watched him closely, knowing he hated confrontation with her. The both of them were so passionate about what they believed and how they felt – sometimes it was like a powder keg going off. It was necessary though; they could only let things build up for so long until the situation exploded.
He opened his mouth and closed it a half a dozen times before he ran his hand over his chin. “Fuck it,” he breathed. “I’m just gonna lay this shit straight out for you. You’re working way too fuckin’ hard. You sat here for almost twelve hours and didn’t even eat. Why are you doing this to yourself?” his voice was hoarse as he questioned her. The hand he’d had on his chin was now clenched in front of him as he waited for his answer.
She knew he hated to make it seem as if he didn’t support her, they’d had this conversation before, but he’d never come right out and asked her. “I love what I do, babe,” she smiled over at him, hoping to soften him up a bit. “There’s a million stories running around in my head every day and I get to take these two awesome characters, break them up, and put them back together again. It fulfills something in me I didn’t even know was missing and I can’t help but get carried away. It’s like there’s a whole group of people and they want their stories told. Sometimes I can’t even sleep at night because I have these thoughts running around,” she frowned. “I’m not sure if I can even explain it to you or anyone else.”
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