The Christmas Girlfriend

by Taylor Hart

  She let go of Mike, and instantly she missed being so close to him. “This is breathtaking.”

  “Right? You can’t find views like this in Boston. At least, I haven’t.”

  “You were looking,” she realized. “That’s why you sent Lacey so many pictures.”

  “I’ve been looking for a lot of things for a long time.” He scooted and turned back, and his eyes met hers. “Maybe I’ve found one thing.”

  Another zing went through her. “Mike, you shouldn’t say that.”

  He leaned in and brushed his lips with hers. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it coming. She had, but she couldn’t stop this. So why couldn’t she stop it? Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned back, relishing the way his mouth still tasted like syrup. Their lips moved together like they’d known each other a lot longer than they had.

  He put his hand on the back of her head and deepened the kiss. A voice in her head yelled in approval, but the other voice piped up too—the voice that was always there. She pulled back. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Mike let her go, but a laugh came out of him. “Of course you should. I’m your boyfriend.” He cocked an eyebrow in challenge.

  “Mike, no. It’ll never be this way. I told you I gave Josh my heart, and it never came back from Afghanistan.” Tears filled her eyes.

  His face softened. “Zoey, I would never want to take your husband’s place. But tell me you haven’t been feeling something for me the past couple of days.”

  She blinked and tried to quell the emotion that had risen inside of her. Yes, she’d been a wreck the last year, but most of the time she was able to keep it controlled. “No, I haven’t. I’m sorry.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  Guilt plagued her. Yes, she did feel it. But wouldn’t it be betraying Josh to do this? “I’m sorry, Mike, if I—”

  He held a hand up, cutting her off. “Hey, it’s fine. This isn’t real. This is just …” He glanced back at her and shrugged. “Just a pity date.”

  “Hey, I don’t pity you.”

  “Right, it’s a paid date. I knew that.” He grunted, facing forward again. “This must be such a joke for you.” He turned on the engine and took off.

  She held to his back tightly and wished she’d never met him so she wouldn’t have seen the hurt in those eyes.

  Chapter 14

  Mike stood next to Dom and watched his sister walk down the red carpet in the tent that had been prepped for the wedding. He leaned over and whispered, “Take care of her.”

  Dom grunted and wiped a tear on his cheek. “Or what? You think you can break something?”

  Mike laughed and fought the emotion in the back of his throat.

  Lacey held their father’s arm, and tears ran down her cheeks as she walked toward them.

  Joy filled Mike, and he glanced to his mother on the front row. She was already clutching ten tissues. His father was proud, and there were tears in his eyes too.

  Sitting next to his mother, Zoey gave Mike a gentle smile. He nodded quickly in return, then focused on Dom and Lacey. He’d been polite, but he avoided thinking about Zoey too much. He’d been stupid to think all of this was something it wasn’t.

  His father gently kissed Lacey on the cheek as he put her hand in Dom’s. They’d grown up in a very traditional way, and Dom, God bless him, knew that. He was the epitome of faith, honor, and family. He would take care of his sister no matter what. Mike knew that.

  Lacey stared at Dom with the kind of look that told Mike everything. She would follow the man into fire. Yes, she was stubborn, and she’d made Dom wait while she danced in New York and lived out her dream. But Dom had been willing to wait.

  Pastor James went through the ceremony, and Mike couldn’t really focus on what they were saying. Truth be told, all he could do was try not to look at Zoey. Her red hair had been swept up, and that deep blue, slightly off-the-shoulder satin dress made her look like a model. She was gorgeous.

  His eyes surveyed the crowd. There were probably two hundred people here, and he knew more would show up at the reception. A Snow Valley wedding was an event.

  He grinned and caught the eyes of some of the town families. Next, he saw Nellie Bells, who was standing toward the back and to the side with her eyes on his. She put a hand on her hip and threw the other one up as if to say, “Really?” He could as good as hear it.

  A nervous feeling circled in his gut. Nellie might try to cause a scene later. She would wait until most of the wedding was through, but he knew she had a score to settle with him. She’d texted him a ton, and he’d finally blocked her. That had probably ticked her off the most.

  The ceremony ended. Dom and Lacey kissed, and everyone burst into applause. Mike joined in, loving Lacey’s smile. He hugged her and held her tightly. “Love you, Lace Base.”

  She kissed his cheek. “Love you too, bro. And—” She pulled back and winked at him. “—you do a pretty good job of fooling everyone, but I know she’s a fake.”

  His heart nearly stopped.

  With a laugh, she slapped his cheek playfully. “I’ll keep your secret. Don’t worry, Dom doesn’t even know.” She scrunched up her nose. “Kiss her more, would you? Maybe you’ll end up like me.” Having said that, she danced off to start hugging all of their relatives.

  Zoey caught his eye, and he rushed toward the table with his camera, thinking that this wedding day couldn’t get over soon enough. The best thing about having photography skills was that a person could really hide behind the camera.

  Mike had made sure Zoey was taken care of. After that, he’d been off to take a ton of pics. He’d paused for dinner and sat by Zoey and his family; then he was back to pics.

  People were dancing and talking. There was so much family: so many cousins, his dad’s dad, and his mom’s parents. He loved taking all of them in and getting them on film.

  To say it took him off guard when he turned and found Zoey dancing with Morgan, his best friend since high school, would be like saying it was unnerving to have a root canal. She leaned her head back and laughed, and Mike was jealous that Morgan had elicited that response.

  Standing there, he could only watch how Morgan said something else that was apparently funny and pulled her closer to him. The song was really slow.

  It was stupid, and he didn’t want a picture of her and Morgan, but he lifted the camera and snapped a shot of her. All he had been able to think about was how it’d felt to brush his lips to hers on that snowmobile, how fire had shot through him. Yeah, he would admit it: he’d been attracted to her since that first night at the storage shed. The attraction just kept growing and growing.

  “Want to dance?” asked Nellie Bells.

  Mike turned and noted that she had a pout on her face. She looked like a little kid who had gotten in trouble. “I shouldn’t.”

  Nellie took his hand. “Mike, you can’t stay mad at me. I had no idea you had a girlfriend when I kissed you.”

  Cocking an eyebrow, he scoffed, but he let his camera fall down his chest. It was strapped behind his neck, so it wasn’t as if he’d lose track of it. “You’re right. I can’t stay mad at you.”

  Nellie beamed. She wore a yellow halter dress and had her hair in long curls around her shoulders. She smelled like the same flowery perfume she’d always worn in high school. It really wouldn’t matter if he danced with Nellie. Of course, he didn’t want a relationship with her, but they had always been friends. This was just how it was.

  Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Zoey’s eye catch his, but he ignored her. She’d made it very clear she didn’t want to move on. Gulp. That was a lot. He knew that. But fine. Then she wouldn’t care if he danced with Nellie Bells. Nellie was persistent anyway. He knew she wouldn’t leave him alone unless he at least danced with her.

  “So, you really like her?” Nellie asked, looking over at her and Morgan.

  Mike sighed. “I do, but I don’t know if it will work out with her.”

  Nell
ie’s head sharply turned to meet his eyes. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It just feels like I might like her more than she likes me.”

  Nellie scoffed and pushed him in the shoulder. “I guess now you know how I feel. How I’ve always felt.”

  Mike’s heart sank. He moved to step away from her. “I’m sorry, Nellie. I shouldn’t even be doing this.”

  She held on to him, leading them into the next steps of the dance. “Wait, no. I’ve always known I liked you more, but it didn’t seem to matter that much because we were here, but—” She blinked. “—I can’t compete with out-of-town girls.”

  Feeling guilty, Mike hugged her. “Nellie, you’re amazing. You’re going to find someone who adores you and loves you. You deserve that.” He pulled back and stared into her eyes. “But I’m not that guy, and you shouldn’t want me if I’m not.”

  She sniffed and nodded. “Well, then, you should follow your own advice. If she doesn’t see you like that, then you should walk away too.”

  The words hit him like a gut punch. As Mike finished the dance with her, though, he couldn’t deny it. “You’re right. You’re definitely right. Thanks, Nellie. I gotta go take more pictures.” Tugging away from her, he picked up his camera and snapped a couple of some people.

  As he was focusing on another picture, he heard Zoey’s voice at his side. “It’s been a great wedding.”

  “It has,” he said, suddenly very interested in his camera. “Thanks again for coming. It’s made it a lot better to not have to answer all the questions.” Although at this point, with how he was feeling so intensely about her, he didn’t know if it had made everything better.

  “Do you want to dance?” she asked quietly.

  He paused and turned to her. “Why?”

  She shrugged. “It’s the deal. I have to sell it, right?”

  “No, it’s fine.” He picked up the camera to take another shot.

  “Mike. I’m sorry. Can’t we be friends?”

  He didn’t look at her. “Of course we’re friends.”

  “Please, dance with me.”

  After a long moment, he took his camera all the way off and put it on an empty table. He couldn’t stop his attraction for her, and he’d wanted to dance with her all day. “Okay.”

  A faster song came on, and he took her into some country dance moves. It was easy to dance with her. He even picked her up and twirled her to the side of him.

  She laughed, and it was the same happy laugh he’d seen her have with Morgan earlier. Putting her down, he smiled at her and took her into more complicated moves.

  By the end, he had gained respect for her dancing. A slow one kicked on, and he knew it was stupid, but he asked, “Want to keep dancing?”

  She nodded, easily putting her hand in his and her other on his shoulder. “I love this song. Do you know Cameron Cruz wrote it?”

  “Yeah. He wrote it when he was dating his wife. Sad story.” He thought of how the Storm quarterback turned Storm owner had lost the love of his life in a car crash last Christmas. “I feel bad for the guy.”

  “I do too.”

  That made sense. Cruz’s story would strike a chord with her. He sighed. “Look, Zoey, I know I shouldn’t be pushing boundaries with you like I did on the snowmobile earlier. I know I hired you to be here.” He whispered all of this into her ear, not wanting anyone to hear. “But I find myself having feelings for you. Unable to stop thinking about you and wanting to kiss you. I know it’s not part of the deal, and that’s on me.”

  She looked up at him, meeting his eyes, and hers were shimmering. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad earlier. I mean, I agreed to this.”

  “But you didn’t agree to kissing. That just happened.”

  Her face reddened and she leaned into him, putting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know what’s happening, Mike, but I do have feelings for you. I’m just a mess right now.”

  Maybe he would quit demanding answers and just wait for her to realize that she did like him. “It’s okay. I’m a mess, too.”

  She scoffed. “That’s for sure.”

  He smiled and let himself get lost in the music.

  Chapter 15

  It didn’t surprise Zoey when, after the pretty awesome toast Mike gave his sister and brother-in-law, his mother stood and announced that she wanted Ann Smith, their new friend, to read a poem. Zoey had worried over this all last night. Fortunately, this afternoon, she’d found the solution.

  On the way up to the front, she asked a band member if she could borrow his guitar. She’d spoken to him earlier, so he happily gave it to her.

  Zoey got to the front and smiled at the group. “First,” she said into the microphone, “I want to tell Lacey and Dom how excited I am for them.” Her gaze swung to the rest of them. “Second, I want you to all know that Mike bragged up this town, and he didn’t disappoint. You all know how to celebrate Christmas, and you know how to put on a wedding.”

  The whole place clapped and let out whistles.

  Her eyes turned to Mike, and butterflies went off inside of her like crazy. “The truth is, I love to sing. This afternoon—” She met Mike’s eyes. “—this song came to me, and I decided to sing it for you because that’s more my style.”

  She strummed the guitar. This tune had been so easy to write, so easy to put words and music to. “It’s called ‘Falling with You,’” she said. She played the melody for a minute, then closed her eyes and thought about Mike.

  “The night I met you, I can say … I hated it. I didn’t want to give you a second, but you made me.” She opened her eyes and found Mike grinning, such an intense look on his face.

  “When we jumped off that roof, you took my hand, and I was falling with you. And there was nothing like the feeling inside—falling with you, and I realized that falling with you was something that I just might like.

  “It was hard to let the past go, but you took my hand and told me I could trust you. I found myself wanting to trust you.

  “I found myself falling with you. Like I’d never really fallen before.

  “And there was nothing like that feeling with you. And I realized that fall with you was something … was something that I needed too.

  “Today I found myself so unsure. Just like the first day on that roof. But now I think I want to take your hand forever.

  “I want to … fall with you. There’s nothing I want to do but fall with you. And I need you beside me…because I’m falling with you. And together, when we fall, we fly!”

  Mike shot to his feet and clapped wildly, tears in his eyes. She had tears in hers too. In that moment, she did know that Mike meant something more to her than she had ever thought possible.

  The whole tent applauded. Lacey was suddenly next to her, crying and hugging her. Zoey held Lacey and wanted to tell her the truth.

  Lacey pulled back and winked at her, giving her a little kiss on the cheek. She leaned in and whispered, “I know you’re not Ann, but I think you do like my brother.”

  Stunned, Zoey just stared at her.

  Lacey put the microphone to her mouth. “Thank you. Let’s hear it again for ‘Falling with You’!”

  The band played the melody behind them, and Zoey was shocked when Mike stepped close to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her in front of everyone.

  Chapter 16

  Mike threw his last handful of rice at the four-wheel-drive truck that had “just married” written on the back. The crowd had finally sent off Lacey and Dom, and Mike was exhausted.

  “That was amazing.” Zoey was next to him, tossing one more handful. Her eyes met his, and suddenly, all the tiredness evaporated. He couldn’t get that song out of his mind, couldn’t forget the way she’d kissed him.

  “Hey,” he said, feeling like this was the first time he’d seen her since she sang. There had been the bouquet throwing and the garter toss and endless picture taking. Finally, here was a second to really talk to her.

/>   “Hey.” Her lip turned up.

  His mother and father approached them. Tears were sliding down his mother’s face. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” She hugged Mike, then hugged Zoey. “And that song, wow.”

  His dad gave him a hug too, then patted Zoey’s shoulder. “You’ve got some pipes on you, girl. You should try out for one of those shows—America’s Got Talent or … what’s the name of the other one?”

  Zoey and Mike grinned at each other.

  “Night, Dad.” Mike patted his shoulder.

  His dad yawned. “I’m just paying the crew to take this down for us, so you guys can call it quits whenever.”

  His mother leaned sleepily against his father. “Yes, I’m just having them stack all the decorations in the trailer. We won’t deal with them until the twenty-sixth. I need some sleep.”

  Mike waved them off, a nervous rustle in his gut. “Okay.”

  He and Zoey watched them both start walking down the path toward their house. Thank heavens it had been shoveled.

  “Mike, Ann.”

  Turning, he saw Nellie. He really didn’t want the Spanish Inquisition.

  Nellie’s eyes had tears in them. “I just wanted to tell you guys that—” She rushed at them, pulling them both into a hug. “—you’re beautiful. When I saw you singing up there, Ann, I knew that you were meant for Mike. I know I could never have with him what you have.” She pulled back. “You’re really good.”

  Zoey looked embarrassed but took the compliment. “Thank you.”

  “You should really go to The Voice tryout that’s coming to Salt Lake.”

  Zoey and Mike exchanged glances.

  “For real,” Nellie said, giving them a light wave.

  “Nellie,” Zoey called out before Nellie could walk away.

  Mike wondered what she would say.

  Zoey nudged him. “I think there’s someone great out there that will sweep you off your feet.”