[Holiday Encounters 01.0 - 03.0] Boxed Set

by Amy Lamont

  “I don’t know how you keep that schedule,” I said. Paige had been on the go almost twenty-four seven since she started med school this fall. “But I still don’t see what my writing has to do with our bet.”

  “Patience, my friend.” Paige jumped up and ran into the kitchen, then into our bedroom and back to where I sat. When she returned she had a pad and a pen and a baseball cap. She spent a few minutes alternating between flipping through my pages and writing furiously on the pad. Then she ripped strips of paper off the pad, folded each one and threw them one by one into the hat.

  “Okay,” she said as she stood and came over to me. “I put some of your most fun Brandi adventures in the hat. You’re going to close your eyes, reach in the hat, and choose one.”

  I shook my head and looked back and forth between her and the hat. “Okay. And what’s the point of this exercise?”

  “Put your hand up.” She modeled for me, holding up the hand not holding the hat, palm out.

  Um, what? I raised an eyebrow at her, pressing my lips together.

  “Come on, Emma. Raise your hand and repeat after me.”

  An uncomfortable twisting started in my stomach. Whatever she had planned, I wasn’t going to like it.

  But I also knew Paige was like a dog with a bone. She’d sit here all night until I gave in. And my friend needed sleep. I weighed my fear against my need to help her take care of herself.

  With an ungracious huff, I put up my hand. I might want her to get some rest, but I also wanted her to know I caved under duress.

  She grinned. “Awesome. Repeat after me. I, Emma, do solemnly swear to do everything in my power to win our bet.”

  Not totally unreasonable. I repeated her words.

  “And,” she went on, “I promise to start by following through on whatever adventure I pull out of the hat to the best of my ability.”

  She shook the hat full of papers in front of me and my heart sank. All of Brandi Silver’s sextivities raced through my head.

  Brandi was no wallflower.

  “Please, Emma.” The note of pleading in Paige’s voice caught my attention. “Live a little before life passes you by while you sit on this couch. The closest you come to anything exciting is writing about a fictional character’s sex life. You’re twenty-two. This is when you’re supposed to be getting wild.”

  The air left my lungs as she held my gaze. Her voice, the look in her eyes, everything about her told me she was worried about me. She was really concerned. And it didn’t take much soul searching to know she was right. This was my fifth Friday night in a row sitting on this couch in these same flannel PJs.

  I didn’t look away when I answered her. “I promise to follow through on whatever adventure I pull out of the hat.”

  She jumped up and down with a little squeal. “Yay! Your life is about to get interesting, Em. I can feel it.”

  She shook the hat in front of me again, every bit of her body radiating with anticipation.

  I took a deep breath and held it, and then plunged my hand into the hat.

  I grasped a slip of paper and pulled it out, staring at it while a knot of dread formed in my chest.

  “Open it.”

  I unfolded the paper.

  Sex with a stranger.

  Well. Shit.

  Chapter 2

  Standing in front of the mirror, I almost didn’t recognize myself.

  Good. That’s exactly what I was going for. I may have promised Paige I’d follow through on whatever I picked out of the hat. But I found a loophole.

  I wasn’t going out to meet and hook up with a stranger. Nope. Instead, I was sending in reinforcements. Since there was no way I’d be able to slip an actual other person out to fulfill my obligation, I decided to send out my alter ego.

  So right now, as I stared in the mirror, it wasn’t Emma Glover, writer, homebody, and lover of flannel PJs looking back. It was Brandi Silver, sex columnist and self-proclaimed wild child.

  I twisted one of my crazy curls around a finger. Even my hair said uninhibited.

  “You look gorgeous.” Paige appeared in the mirror behind me, eyeing me from head to toe.

  “Thanks.” I managed a tiny smile and looked down, smoothing a hand over my too-short dress. I held in the sigh that wanted to escape. I felt like I was playing dress up.

  Not too far from the truth since everything I had on, with the exclusion of the underwear which Paige and I had made a special shopping trip for on Sunday, came from my roommates’ closets. Katelyn and I wore the same size, so it was her sparkly black dress that hit a little higher than mid-thigh the girls voted on me wearing tonight. And the shoes—higher-than-high heels, black and strappy—came from Jade’s extensive collection.

  And now, in addition to the cute, yet perfectly functional, cotton bras and panties that took up most of my underwear drawer, I owned a black, lace demi-bra that barely covered anything but did manage to lift my cleavage to new heights; a teeny, tiny matching black lace not-quite-a-thong that left the bottom of each cheek of my ass bare; and silky black, thigh-high stockings and a garter belt.

  Seriously. A garter belt. I closed my eyes for a second and focused on the lacy belt around my waist and the straps running the length of the tops of my thighs. I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. I’d never worn anything like this before, and I had to admit there was something sensual about the feeling of this made-for-sex lingerie against my skin.

  I opened my eyes and fought the urge to sigh again. I might have put on clothes and makeup and underwear and shoes to transform into Brandi. But when I looked closely in the mirror, I saw the truth. Underneath all that, it was still me, Emma, peering back.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “You can.” Paige gripped my shoulders. “You can totally do this, Emma. You look beautiful. And you said it yourself on the train, you’re ready for a little excitement in your life.”

  Why on earth had I voiced that thought out loud to my friends? After all these years, you’d think I’d know better.

  I turned to face Paige. “I know what I said. But can’t we start smaller? A drink with a stranger? A conversation with a stranger? Why do we have to go straight to the sex?”

  “The idea is to think big.” She laughed and pulled me in for a quick hug. “You don’t actually have to have sex with a complete stranger, silly. If you decide to just have a drink or a chat, that’s fine. But thinking bigger puts you in the spirit of things. Doesn’t it feel more exciting imagining the night could end with you horizontal between the sheets with some hottie whose name you just learned?”

  Butterflies took up flight low in my belly, their wings tickling my insides. Was that excitement? “I’m not sure if it sounds exciting or nauseating.”

  She laughed again. “That’s excitement. From here on out you should get used to it.” She threw an arm around my shoulder and turned us both to face the mirror. “Besides, don’t forget, you won’t be alone. I’ll hang at the bar to make sure you’re okay.”

  I stared at the two of us pressed so close together. And I couldn’t help the comparisons that formed as I examined us. Where Paige was tall and willowy, I was short and curvy. Her dark red hair fell in a sleek wave over her shoulder. My dark blonde curls hit the middle of my back, but stood poised waiting for the first sign of humidity to shrink into a poufy frizz. The little black dress she wore looked like a designer made it just for her. Mine…well, I had to admit, the dress wasn’t terrible. It clung to the parts that were supposed to be ample and skimmed over the ample parts I most wanted to hide.

  “Tell me you’re not totally smokin’ hot.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I had to smile. I didn’t look half bad. I still might not catch anyone’s attention with Paige by my side, but, hey, who said I couldn’t have a drink, or a chat, or…other stuff, with one of the guys Paige shot down?

  “Let’s just go before I totally lose my nerve.”

  Before I could change my mind, Paige grabbed my hand an
d yanked me out of the bathroom.

  When we stepped through the revolving door into the lobby of the Hotel Wynter, the butterflies took up residence in my belly again. But this time I recognized the excitement. The feeling came over me every time I stepped into this place during the holidays. My parents met here during the Christmas season. They brought me here for the first time when I was a toddler and every year after. For a few years after their deaths, I didn’t come. But as soon as I was old enough to hop on a train from New Jersey into the city, I came back every year during Christmas.

  The magic seeped into me the moment I stepped into the hotel, leaving me breathless.

  The Hotel Wynter took its name very seriously. Every year they turned the lobby, ballrooms and restaurants into a winter wonderland. There were tall evergreens with snow-covered boughs, white twinkle lights, snowflakes and ice sculptures. Different rooms had different themes.

  I especially loved coming here when it snowed. A wall of windows and a skylight took over an entire wall and part of the ceiling in the lobby. When snow fell outside, as it did now in fat, lazy flakes, the winter landscape of New York City became part of the indoor scenery.

  “Wow.” Paige’s voice came out on a whisper, letting me know she shared my wonder. “This is beautiful.”

  I nodded and then turned my head, trying to take in every whimsical detail. “One of my favorite places in the whole wide world.”

  Paige pulled me around to face her, her eyes wide and worried. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

  I blinked. “Seriously? After all this,” I waved my hand down my body, “and all your lectures about getting off the couch? Now that we’re finally here, you’re having second thoughts?”

  “No, not exactly.” She bit her lip and her gaze wandered around the spacious lobby. “It’s just…I know this place is special. I don’t want anything to take that away from you.”

  I pressed my lips together. Did she mean she thought I’d crash and burn? “Why would you dress me up and drag me out if you didn’t think I could pull this off, Paige?” I couldn’t help the hurt that crept into my voice.

  “No,” Paige rushed in to assure me, “I don’t believe for a minute that you can’t pull this off. Honestly, I think if you gave yourself even a tiny bit of credit, you could pull this off in your sleep. You’d have guys lining up with a twitch of your little finger.”

  I snorted. “Okay, let’s not get crazy. I get it. You’re still thinking we should stick with Plan A.”

  She nodded and smiled. “Well, Plan A with a modification. Just maybe move it to a new location. Somewhere not so special to you.”

  I closed my eyes tight and felt a warm glow grow in my chest. My friend loved me. I was standing in one of my favorite places in the world with one of my favorite people. It didn’t get much better. I opened my eyes and leaned over to give Paige a squeeze. “I think this is the perfect place. I’d feel uncomfortable anywhere else. At least here I’m not intimidated by the surroundings.”

  She looked at me hard for a long moment before nodding decisively. “Good point.” She swung around only to sling an arm across my shoulders. “Where can we get a drink in this place?”

  I laughed and slid away, grabbing her hand to tug her behind me, stopping just long enough to check our coats. As we stripped off our jackets and piled them on the counter, I remembered what we were doing here. I zoned out for a second, staring into space.

  “Um, something wrong, Emma?”

  Yes, of course there was something wrong. I’d gotten so caught up in being in the staged winter wonderland that I totally forgot to be scared out of my mind about our purpose here. Hell, I’d even convinced Paige we should stay when she tried to give me an out.

  I raised a hand and rubbed the bridge of my nose with two fingers. What was wrong with me?

  “Emma?” Paige asked again.

  “I’m fine,” I muttered, turning to face the lobby so she wouldn’t be able to see I felt anything but fine.

  As I attempted to keep my mind off the reason for our trip to the hotel, my gaze caught on a figure stepping off the elevator in the corner opposite us.

  Everything in the room went still, as if I actually stood in the middle of the silent winter forest the hotel tried so hard to create. The only two creatures who existed in my forest were me and the man striding in my direction.

  I couldn’t pull my gaze from him--his chiseled jaw, the dark brown hair that just touched his forehead, the mouth turned down in a grim line. His dark suit jacket and gray shirt looked like they were made for him, fitted perfectly to his broad shoulders and trim waist. Though it wouldn’t have seemed out of place for him to wear a suit of armor or some sort of medieval ensemble considering the secluded, wintry landscape my imagination built for the two of us.

  I couldn’t get enough air to fill my lungs, and my skin tingled as an odd tension coiled in my belly. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him as he continued on his path headed straight to me.

  But as my gaze tracked him, he suddenly veered off, moving toward the doors that led to the street. My heart plummeted and the reality of the Hotel Wynter lobby snapped back into place. The sights and sounds left me breathless as they rushed back to me.

  As I waited for him to push through the revolving doors and out onto the busy city street, a fist gripped my chest, squeezing tightly. The thought of him walking out the door and disappearing forever left me bizarrely bereft.

  But he didn’t leave. Instead he raced forward and snatched the tiny hand of a toddler who was about to step into one of the sections of the revolving door.

  The little girl looked up at him, obviously startled, her lower lip quivering. But before she could scream or cry, the man crouched to her level and pulled a phone out of his pocket. He slid a finger over it a few times and then turned it toward the child. A smile bloomed on the tiny toddler’s face.

  I think I felt my ovaries throb. Something was definitely tingling in that vicinity. Seeing his classically handsome face with his lips tipped into an almost smile, next to her smaller face with her big eyes and pursed lips, did something strange to my insides.

  My eyes stayed riveted to the scene while Paige dealt with the coat check guy. As I watched, the girl’s mother bustled up to the pair, thanking the man profusely. His mouth flattened to a hard line as he stood and waved to the little girl before turning and walking toward us again.

  I held my breath, hoping the same indefinable something that held me spellbound pushed him in my direction. But disappointment curled through me as he moved right past us and through the entryway of the hotel bar, never catching my eye.

  Without a conscious decision to do it, I turned and followed him. In a daze, I stepped through the doorway, moving my gaze over the room, waiting for another glimpse of him.

  Chapter 3

  Two things happened at once to pull me from my daze. Paige called my name and something cold and soft touched my cheek. Startled, I shivered and looked around. A sense of unreality overtook me. It was like a dream within a dream—following a stranger who captivated me with his mere presence and then stepping from one winter wonderland into another.

  And to top it all off, it was snowing.

  I raised my face. Sure enough, several more flakes landed on my cheeks and eyelashes. Snow.

  “This is incredible.” Paige’s breathless voice pierced my shroud of wonder.

  “It’s beyond incredible.” I tried to take it all in, gaping at all of it. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  “And I thought the lobby was magical. For this, I have no words.”

  I nodded as I tried to take it all in.

  The Hotel Wynter had somehow made it snow indoors. Light, fluffy flakes fell from behind white drapes hung around the perimeter of the room’s ceiling. The snow only fell along the sides of the room, leaving small drifts around the edges of the lounge.

  Adding to the magic, midnight blue fabric draped the walls with white trees cut f
rom wood lining the walls in front of it. White, gauzy cloth covered the windows and tables, pooling onto the floors like drifts of snow. Strings of tiny white lights hung from the ceiling, reinforcing the feeling of standing in the middle of a snowfall at midnight. A cozy fire in a big stone fireplace and candlelight from tall pillar candles illuminated the room.

  I moved my hand backward, grasping for Paige. Her hand met mine and we stood together in wonder, taking in every detail of the incredible scene in front of us.

  It was only when my gaze moved over the bar that I remembered what pulled me into the room in the first place.

  A pair of extraordinary, fathomless eyes pinned me to my spot, unwavering in their intensity. His eyes.

  I barely managed to tear my gaze from his to turn to Paige. “Is this real?”

  Paige looked around the room and I knew exactly the moment she saw him. I glanced back over my shoulder for a quick glimpse only to find his piercing stare still fixed in our direction.

  “Damn,” Paige said.

  I twisted my head back around to face her. “What?”

  “I don’t think you need to go looking for adventure,” she said, her lips twisting into a smirk. “I think it found you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She grabbed my elbow and tugged me out of the way of a couple coming through the door. I gave an absent-minded smile when they paused and had the same reaction we had just moments ago, gaping in awe at the winter scene.

  “The man. The one at the bar who can’t take his eyes off you. That’s what I’m talking about.”

  Should I play dumb? I ventured another peek over my shoulder, biting my lip. I was presented with his profile as he handed some cash across the bar to the bartender. Something about the set of his jaw held my gaze. I had an overwhelming urge to trace the strong line with my finger. When he turned and his eyes met mine again, I whipped around with a gasp, squeezing my eyes shut. Suddenly, I was back in middle school, afraid of getting caught staring at the cute boy I had a crush on.