by Chey M. Burn
Christmas Secrets
Longing, 1 (Levi & Katie)
A Holiday Romance Novella
Chey M. Burn
Copyright 2018 © Chey M. Burn. Vicktor Alexander Presents, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews, promotions, and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed: “Attention: Copyright Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below:
Vicktor Alexander Presents, LLC
Chey M. Burn
5101 Williamstown Blvd
Lakeland, FL 33810
http://www.vicktoralexanderpresents.com/CheyMBurn
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s creative imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Series Blurb:
Longing: (n.) a strong desire especially for something unattainable.
Craving.
“I don’t know what they are called, the spaces between seconds– but I think of you always in those intervals.”
― Salvador Plascencia, The People of Paper
The couples in this Longing series aren’t supposed to be together. Whether it is due to age, promises made to others, religious beliefs, opposing career paths, familial obligations, or even something like race, these men and women will find themselves battling forces from outside—as well as those from within—that do not want to see them together. But longing for someone, for something, is a powerful thing, and the couples in this series will not stop fighting until they are together.
Forever.
Blurb:
Kathryn “Katie” Faulk has been in love with Levi Stroud for as long as she could remember. He is the man she compares every other one to, and they all come up wanting. And while he is everything she wants, to him, she is only his best friend’s little sister.
Or so she thinks.
Levi Stroud has been in love with Katie Faulk for as long as he could remember. She is the woman he compares every other one to, and they all come up wanting. And while she is everything he wants, to her, he is only her older brother’s best friend.
Or so he thinks.
A Christmas party brings these two together and in the midst of a fatal situation, secrets are revealed, lives are changed, and two hearts become one.
Acknowledgments
To my love who encouraged me to write and publish and even gave me the name to publish under. I could never thank you enough and yes, you were right, don’t rub it in.
To Jackie, Kim, V, and Anna for your tireless support and encouragement. You all rock!
To my babies: Mommy loves you and always will.
Chapter One
I’m an idiot and I’m going to be alone forever.
Kathryn “Katie” Faulk stood at the window of her apartment looking down at the grey slush of the melting snow trying hard to remember why she’d said no to her ex-boyfriend’s proposal to move with him to Texas and become his wife. She’d told him it was because she wanted to stay in New York. Because her life was just beginning. Her new job. Because she wasn’t sure that they were necessarily meant to be together. But it was a load of horseshit and Mason had called her on it. Because her job was one she could do from anywhere. And, while she loved New York, she hated living in New York City. She’d told him so a number of times.
She loved the hustle and bustle of the city. The excitement. The people. The resources. The opportunities. The nightlife. But the weather? Yeah, she hated that. With a passion. A fiery passion deep within her soul. She missed the slow-moving pace of Savannah, Georgia. The camaraderie. The people.
Oh god. The people. Or rather. One person in particular.
Levi Stroud.
Her brother’s best friend and the only man that Katie had ever truly loved.
The reason she’d said “no” to Mason’s proposal.
They’d never dated. Her and Levi. They’d never even kissed. As far as Levi was concerned, Katie was the annoying little sister of his best friend. The one who used to follow them around everywhere, asking questions, getting them into trouble, and basically being a pest. She was the one who’d told her parents when her brother, Kevin, and Levi had snuck out of the house to go to the party at an older girl’s home when they were only sixteen. Kevin had been grounded for two weeks and Levi had been prevented from coming over for just as long. Neither one of them had talked to her for a month.
Katie hadn’t understood why the two boys had been mad at her. She’d only been doing what her father, a former FBI agent, had always told her and Kevin to do. Look out for each other. Prevent each other from doing anything dangerous or harmful. Guard each other’s “six.” At the age of twelve, four years her brother’s junior, Katie hadn’t understood the appeal of a party filled with girls and guys aged eighteen and older, where there would be liquor and probably drugs, and definitely sex. All she’d known was that her brother was trying to leave the house after dark. Without telling their parents.
And he was taking Levi with him.
Truthfully, it was that last bit that had caused young Katie to leap from her bed and race to her parents’ room, shouting about Kevin and Levi’s plans to sneak out. She hadn’t wanted Levi to leave. Not to go to some party at some girl’s house. Some girl that Levi had described as, “smokin’ hot”. No, she wanted Levi to stay right where he was. In her house—okay, her parents’ house—and sleep with her—okay, in her brother’s room.
Same thing.
Katie sighed and turned away from the depressing sight that greeted her outside of her living room window. She walked to her kitchen, her mind moving over the list of things she had to do that day. There was a Christmas party at her job in three days and she still didn’t have anything to wear. Plus, she would be leaving to visit her parents in Savannah just a few days after that and she had yet to pack. She needed to contact a housekeeping service to come and water her plants while she was away for a week and there was her dog—Bruce, the white Maltese that her brother had given her when she’d moved to NYC three years ago. Bruce was her buddy. Her pal. Her best friend—next to her actual, human best friends: Anna, Heather, and Cassie.
Katie’s mother was allergic to dogs—or so she said—so every time Katie went home to visit, she had to leave Bruce behind. Usually she would leave him with one of her girlfriends but, they were all headed out of town themselves. Either to visit family members, or in Cassie’s case, to go and visit in-laws.
At the thought of Cassie Katie smiled, inhaling deeply as her Keurig™ began to brew a delicious cup of French Roast coffee. Cassie was the only one of their foursome from high school who was otherwise attached or married. A tall, curvy, voluptuous, dark-brown skinned, African-American woman, Cassie worked as the Chief of Neurological Surgery at New York Presbyterian which was ranked one of the best hospitals in the country in the past fourteen years. Though Cassie often told her friends that it wasn’t only attributed to her skills and efforts, her department was ranked number five in the country and had never scored any lower since she’d taken over it. In Katie’s book, that meant she was something special.
Cassie and Katie had met in Chemistry class their
junior year of high school. That was also the year she met the man who would become her husband. Kevin Faulk, Katie’s older brother. Katie had been happy for her best friend and her brother when the two of them had gotten married. She’d been even happier when the two of them had begun having children. Giving Katie not one, not two, not three, but five nieces and nephews: three boys and two girls. Her brother Kevin was over the moon and had been since the first time he’d met Cassie at his old high school while coming to pick Katie up from drama rehearsal.
Which was where she and Cassie had met Anna and Heather. The two girls had been auditioning for the lead role of Calamity Jane, and Katie had stood in the wings with Cassie as the two of them argued about who could “realistically” portray the badass sharp-shooter woman (whom they’d learned the truth about when they’d all gotten to college at NYU). Heather had pointed out that Calamity Jane was white, and that she—as a white person—should be Calamity Jane, while Anna, who was Asian, would not be able to do the part justice.
Katie had been embarrassed by Heather’s words but hadn’t known why, and when Cassie had muttered angrily beside her, she’d definitely known that something… wrong had just occurred but again, she couldn’t quite put her finger on what that was. It wasn’t until their drama teacher, Mr. Fritz, had given the part to Anna—who was the better actress and singer—then sat them all down to explain about creative license, historical accuracy, racism, and when it was okay to push the boundaries of who could play what role, that Katie had recognized why she’d been affected and bothered by Heather’s statement. That experience had so affected Katie that it set the course for her life, her college studies, and her future employment.
Katie worked as a civil rights lawyer for the ACLU. She couldn’t say that everything she did for the company was all sunshine and roses. There were times when she wanted to turn a client away because she didn’t agree with their lawsuit, but everyone in the country had certain unalienable rights and it was her job to make sure they were not infringed upon. Even if doing so sometimes made her want to vomit.
She lifted the mug of hot, freshly brewed coffee to her lips and took a sip, hissing as the hot liquid scorched her tongue. She probably should have waited for it to cool down before she started to drink it, but she couldn’t help it. Her love for the stuff was bordering on an obsession.
The ding of a notification alert on her phone caused her to sigh. She knew who it was without even checking.
Walking over, Katie picked up the phone and smiled in spite of herself at the text message displayed brightly on the screen.
Cass: So, you really did it?
Katie laughed and carrying her mug of coffee and the device went over to her plush maroon loveseat and sat down before responding back to her sister-in-law and best friend.
Kate: I told you I would.
Cass: But he was sooooooo hot!
Kate: Don’t let my brother hear you fawning all over another man.
Cass: Pssh, Kev knows he’s the only man who really gets my motor running.
Kate: Ew. I don’t want to know that.
Cass: What? It’s not like I told you about his dick size or anything.
Kate: AND I DON’T WANT TO KNOW! ☹
Cass: LOL.
Kate: So, what are you and my dear brother doing today, anyway?
Cass: Taking the kids to go and get a Christmas tree.
Kate: ALL of them?
Cass: Yes, K, all of my children. It’s not like I’m going to pick and choose.
Kate: But if you could…
Cass: Oh, that’s easy. I’d leave Junior behind with the baby. Both of them are annoying.
Kate: Hey! Those are my nephews you’re talking about!
Cass: You set me up, you bitch. LOL.
Kate: I sure did. Ha!
Cass: Hey, did Kev tell you who was in town?
Katie’s heart started to pound in her chest with Cassie’s question. She wasn’t sure why, but she had a feeling that whomever it was had the potential to upend her entire day.
Kate: No. Who?
Cass: Levi.
Katie gasped and with a shaking hand put her mug of coffee down on the coffee table in front of her.
Kate: Levi’s here? In NYC?
Cass: Yeah. I’m surprised Kev didn’t tell you. Especially since Levi’s in town for you.
Kate: For me? Why?
Before Cassie could respond, Katie’s doorbell sounded. She let out a tiny squeal and jumped, her phone flying up into the air. She looked over at the front door, her breath coming in fast, hard pants. That couldn’t be him could it? No. Why would he be there? At her condo? Levi?
The doorbell sounded again, and Katie slowly rose and made her way over to the front door, suddenly wishing she looked a little more presentable. She was wearing nothing but her pink cotton shorts, the waistband rolled up, the ends barely covering her ass, and a white tank top with the word: Naughty scrawled across the front in pink.
Oh god. Please don’t let it be Levi, she prayed silently, as she opened the door without looking through the peephole. If she’d done so she would have been disappointed either way.
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight that greeted her.
Leaning against the doorway, his dirty blond hair slicked back from his forehead, blue eyes twinkling, leather, motorcycle jacket hooked over his shoulder, thick biceps on display, showing beneath his white t-shirt, jeans riding low on his hips, and wrapped snugly around his thick, tree trunk-like thighs, motorcycle boots on his feet, was Levi. The one and only. The man of her dreams. The man she could never have.
God, he looked amazing.
“L-Levi,” she stammered out breathlessly.
“Good morning, Gorgeous. Can I come in for a cup of coffee?” Levi asked, his lips turning up into a sexy smirk.
Chapter Two
God, she looked amazing.
“L-Levi,” Katie stammered out breathlessly.
“Good morning, Gorgeous. Can I come in for a cup of coffee?” he asked, his lips turning up into a sexy smirk.
Stupid, Levi. That was the absolute worse pick-up line, greeting in the history of the world, he chastised himself.
“Um… sure,” Katie responded, a look of disappointment crossing her face for a moment before it disappeared so quickly, Levi might have thought he imagined it. Too bad for Katie he’d been watching her closely ever since they were kids. She was the reason he’d even started being interested in girls in the first place. When thirteen-year-old Katie had started to develop, seventeen-year-old Levi had noticed, then promptly felt like a pervert for doing so. When Katie had decided to grow her blonde hair to the middle of her back, Levi hadn’t been able to resist tugging on it whenever he came over to visit. And when she’d announced to everyone that she was attending New York University, Levi had discreetly asked for a transfer from the Georgia FBI office to the New York branch.
He wasn’t a stalker, not by his estimation, he was merely trying to look out for his best friend’s little sister.
Levi rolled his eyes at himself once Katie’s back was turned. Who was he kidding? He’d been in love with “Little Kate” for as long as he could remember and as long as he could be close to her. In the same state, if not in the same neighborhood or home, had been enough to ease the tightness in his chest and the soften the blow to his gut.
“So, Levi, what brings you by?” Katie asked as she led him down her hallway to her kitchen.
Levi smiled as he noticed Katie’s coffee mugs stacked next to her Keurig ™, just like her parents. When he noticed there was one particular mug off by itself in the corner, he stepped closer to check it out.
“Your case with the ACLU. The one about the mother being arrested for breastfeeding in the school parking lot?” he murmured as he reached out to pick up the mug. He widened his eyes at the picture of himself, his arm around a beaming Katie, displayed on the white mug. It had been taken at her graduation from NYU. Katie didn’t know it, because Le
vi hadn’t told her or even her brother, Kevin, but he hadn’t simply been “in New York” on the day she’d graduated, he’d specifically requested that weekend off so that he could attend. He was pretty sure that if they had known he’d taken leave just to watch Katie graduate they would have suspected his true feelings.
And that was something Levi just couldn’t countenance.
When he and Kevin had been younger, they’d made a pact. Levi wouldn’t try to date Kevin’s sister and Kevin would stay away from Levi’s younger cousin, Anna, whom he loved as if she were his sister. The two of them had made their agreement after watching two varsity football players, Trent and Mark, fight over Mark dating and then dumping Trent’s sister. It was a fight the entire school had known about and weighed in on and the two boys had been shook by the level of violence the two former best friends had displayed towards the other because of a girl. Not even a girl the both of them wanted to date. Their pact had been one of necessity. One to make sure their friendship survived. And yet…
Levi had never expected to fall in love with Katie.
“What about it?” Katie asked as she went to pour him a cup of coffee in the kitchen. Levi accepted the mug with a smile when she returned, taking a healthy swallow, not surprised that she’d given it to him exactly as he liked it. Cream, no sugar. Katie noticed everything and her need to care for others meant that she remembered the preferences and aversions of everyone in her life. Levi was happy and humbled to be included in that group.
“Well it seems that the young woman you defended has ties to a known drug cartel and you’re on their radar,” Levi told her after finishing the aromatic brew. He watched Katie’s face carefully to see if there was any change in her expression. While he was almost one-hundred percent sure that Katie had no ties to the cartel whatsoever, ninety-nine point five to be exact, it was that point five percent chance that had his supervisor sending him over to the condo of the woman he loved to see if perhaps she’d gone the way of some other lawyers and been bought into the seedier side of the legal system.