Once Upon a Texas Christmas

by Katherine Garbera

He led the way down to the formal dining room, which had been set for two. There was a large silver candelabrum in the middle of the table and the candles had been lit. There were chafing dishes on the sideboard and Logan seated her before going to them.

  “I thought about having staff at our dinner but I wanted to be alone with you,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. I look forward to having the famous Logan Calloway waiting on me hand and foot.”

  “I intend to do all sorts of things for you tonight,” he said, arching one eyebrow at her.

  She just shook her head.

  He opened a bottle of Moët & Chandon Bicentenary Cuvée Dry Imperial 1943. “I got this bottle from the studio as a congratulation for my latest release.”

  “That’s a very expensive bottle,” she said, knowing that it was over a thousand dollars. “Are you sure you don’t want to save it for a special occasion?”

  “This is a special night,” he said.

  She nodded. She thought so too.

  He popped the cork and then poured them both a glass. He took a seat next to her at the table.

  “To winning bids and evenings to remember,” he said.

  She clinked her glass to his and took a sip. It was pretty good considering how old it was. Logan then went and prepared two plates of hors d’oeuvres and came back, setting one in front of her and the other at his place. He hit a button on his phone and Ella Fitzgerald started to sing.

  “No one would ever guess you grew up in the Barrels,” she said. “You are a very sophisticated man.”

  “Good. If there was a way I could erase the Barrels from my life, I would,” he admitted.

  “I know that the Barrels made you into the man you are. If you erased those years, you wouldn’t be my Logan.”

  “Your Logan?” he asked.

  She blushed. “You know what I mean.”

  “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Tell me more about it.”

  “Never mind,” she said, putting her hand over his, and turned the conversation to the party that was planned for the coming Saturday. “Thank you for hiring Rachel to cater the party.”

  “She’s good. You said we needed someone we could count on and Rachel is definitely that person.”

  “She is. I want this event to go smoothly. I’m sorry I can’t be there,” she said.

  “Me too, but I don’t want you to miss out on seeing snow and having a special Christmas with your parents,” Logan said.

  “Me either,” she said, but she was starting to wish she could have a special Christmas with Logan instead.

  *

  After dinner she and Logan retired to the living room where he wanted to show her the Christmas tree he’d decorated. He directed her toward the tree. She smiled to herself. For someone who had professed to not really liking the holiday he seemed to be getting into it.

  She noticed a Tiffany blue colored box nestled into the branches of the tree. She reached for it, moving the tag on the box around until she read her name on it.

  “Is this for me?”

  “It has your name on it, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes. But is it for tonight?” she asked. “I don’t have a present for you.”

  “You are my present,” he said. “And that is for you to open tonight.”

  She pulled the box from the branches and then turned to find him standing across the room near the fireplace, sipping a glass of Baileys and watching her.

  She moved closer to him and he gestured for her to sit on the armchair. “Open it.”

  She took the white ribbon off and set it on the table next to her own glass of Baileys and then opened the square box to find a bracelet made of sparkling rows of sapphires, aquamarines and diamonds dynamically twisted together in a platinum band.

  “It’s gorgeous.”

  “It’s nothing compared to you,” he said. She put it on and held her arm up, watching the gems sparkle in the reflection of the fire.

  “Thank you,” she said, standing up and going over to him. She went up on tiptoe and kissed him.

  Logan touched her hair. She knew he thought she looked like a Christmas angel, which always made her smile.

  He ran his hand from the crown of her head down her naked back to her waist, then dipped one finger beneath the fabric and teased the indentation at the top of her buttocks.

  She slowly undid the buttons of his dress shirt. Removing the studs that held it closed and slowly placing them on the table next to them. Until the fabric fell open and she could trace her fingers over his chest, moving slowly down over his abdomen to his belt. She let her fingers dip lower, brushing over the front of his dress trousers where his erection strained against his zipper.

  He lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the other side of the tree where she saw he’d placed a thick soft sheepskin blanket. He set her on her feet next to it and then drew the front of her jumpsuit down her arms. His breath caught in his throat as her breasts were revealed.

  He made her feel sexy. Just his reaction to her and her body made her feel like she was the most gorgeous woman in the world.

  She stepped out of the jumpsuit and stood naked in front of him, wearing only her pearl earrings and that incredible bracelet on her arm.

  He undid his trousers and pushed them down his legs and then lifted her in his arms and settled her in the center of the blanket. They lay on their sides holding each other and kissing. He shifted his hips and his erection brushed against her. She slid her hand down his body, wrapping it around him and stroking him from the root to the tip. On each stroke she ran her finger over the head and around to the backside of it where she noted that he shivered each time she touched him.

  He ran his hands all over her torso and she felt the rekindling of the fires that had been merely banked not extinguished by the orgasms she’d experienced with him. He cupped both of her breasts this time and she shifted around, keeping her grip on him but moving so that he could touch her the way she liked it.

  She pushed her shoulders back and watched as he leaned forward. She felt the warmth of his breath against her skin first and then the brush of his tongue. He circled her nipple with it and she tightened her grip on him as he closed his mouth over her and suckled her deeply.

  He gripped the back of her neck and brought her mouth to his, driving his tongue deep into her mouth. He tasted of Baileys and Christmas wishes, she thought. He reached under the tree skirt and pulled out a condom, smiling at her as he did so. He shifted his hips back and put it on and then he moved so that he was over her.

  He whispered dark sensual words in her ear, telling her everything he wanted to do with her and how much he wanted her. She arched underneath him. Shifting so she could whisper in his ear.

  “You feel so good,” she said. “I love…the feeling of you inside of me.”

  He shuddered before he thrust up into her, filling her completely.

  She rocked her pelvis forward trying to take him deeper but he was already as deep as he could go. His hands found her bare buttocks and he rocked her forward. He parted her cheeks and she felt one finger sliding along her furrow and she squirmed closer to him.

  Every particle in her being craved more of his touch. His mouth slid from hers, nibbling down her neck and biting her with restraint at the base of her neck and shoulder. She shivered and felt everything in her body reaching once again toward climax. But she didn’t want to come too soon. She wanted this to last as long as it could.

  She dug her fingernails into his shoulders as she rocked her hips harder against his and when he tightened his hand in the back of her hair and groaned her name, she melted. Her orgasm rushing over her as she kept thrusting forward.

  His hips moved faster and then a moment later she felt a gush of his warmth filling her. She couldn’t stop rubbing against him as she nursed a second orgasm from her body.

  His breath sawed in and out brushing over her sensitized nerves as she fell forward. He wrapped one arm around
her shoulder and the other around her waist. She shivered and he pulled her closer into the curve of his body, thrusting into her while they both came and then they collapsed together under his Christmas tree.

  *

  She’d spent the rest of the week at Logan’s every night. They’d gone to the Christmas caroling in town together. Logan had hired a private car to take her to Austin on Saturday for her flight to Colorado. She was excited to see snow, which she was pretty sure everyone in town knew.

  On Friday when she showed up at the Secret Santa lunch for the Women of Whiskey River her gift was a scarf and glove set. She immediately put the scarf on even though it was too warm for it. She’d get a lot of use out of it when she was at the ski resort.

  Avery was chatting with Rachel about seeing snow when Savannah came over and complimented her on her outfit. She’d ordered it online and loved it. It was just a frothy white blouse with a knee-length black pencil shirt and a black sweater with ruffles at the collar and cuffs.

  Savannah was clueless about Harlan and it had been cute to hear her worrying about if her present would please him or not especially since she and Rachel had already figured out that Harlan Sullivan was planning to pop the question at Christmas. Which was so sweet and perfect given their past history.

  Avery left the luncheon and went back to the office to wrap up a few last-minute details for tomorrow’s party at Logan’s. She checked her email and then she’d be heading home to finish packing.

  Her flight tomorrow morning was pretty early.

  There was an email from her mom with the subject change of plans and she opened it wondering if their flight had been changed.

  Avery;

  Sorry for the last-minute notice, but your father has had a breakthrough and can’t leave his lab. He said we could go on without him but it seems silly for just the two of us to go. I could use some extra time in the lab as well. Hope you will understand. I’ve mailed your present to you but it will probably arrive after Christmas. Sorry about that.

  Love,

  Mom

  She reread it three times before it really sank in. She balled her hands into fists and wanted to punch something or someone but that wasn’t going to do any good. She couldn’t believe she’d told Rachel and Savannah that it was definitely happening this time. She was going to see snow, see her parents, have the Christmas she’d always wanted…but no. Of course she wasn’t.

  This was exactly what she got for ignoring her gut.

  She didn’t bother emailing her mom back because the last thing she wanted to do was say it was okay when it wasn’t. Why had her parents even bothered to have her? She’d have to ask them sometime if they could make it to see her.

  She got up from her desk and locked the office door. She walked aimlessly through town toward the square but didn’t want to see anyone. Rachel was probably doing fun things with Katie. Being a mama bear to her daughter and Lord knew Savannah was getting ready for her evening with Harlan.

  She was alone.

  She thought about Logan.

  But he had obligations to the town and his brothers were flying back home. But she needed him. She admitted that to herself.

  She pulled out her phone to text him. What if he didn’t need her? This was the thing she’d been a mulling over about love. It was hard to be vulnerable to Logan not knowing if he felt the same way toward her.

  She looked at the gorgeous Tiffany bracelet she had on her wrist and knew that she meant something to him. But he was on the cusp of meaning everything to her.

  She saw Rachel through the window of the bakery and waved at her as she walked by. Trying to look like she had a purpose. Head down she ran solidly into a man. Her man, she realized as the scent of his aftershave registered and she looked up into his eyes.

  “Where are you heading in a hurry?” he asked.

  “Just doing a few last-minute errands before I go home to finish packing,” she said. She didn’t want to tell him that her parents had stood up her for Christmas. What did it say about her that her own folks didn’t want to spend the holiday with her?

  “Got time for one of those eggnog lattes you’ve made me love?” he asked.

  She smiled but her heart felt heavy. “Sure.”

  She’d commissioned a sculpture from a local artist for Logan’s Christmas present and it would be delivered to his house on Christmas Eve. She hoped he’d love it.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She stopped walking. “No, I’m not.”

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked.

  But then a group of teenaged kids noticed him and came over for autographs and selfies and Avery stepped back away from them. And as she stood there on the outside, feeling low and alone, she wondered if she’d ever really have a place in Logan’s life outside of the bedroom.

  She turned and walked away. Went back to her car and instead of going home, which was the first place Logan would look for her, she just drove toward Austin.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Logan was aware of when Avery ghosted and disappeared from the square but he let her go. He wondered if she’d seen that article in the Gazette about the family that his father had killed. They tended to run it every year around this time as a caution to people who were tempted to drink too much at a company party and then drive themselves home.

  But he knew that Avery already knew most of that. They’d talked about his father.

  He pulled out his phone and called her cell.

  “Sorry about leaving like that,” Avery said as she answered the call.

  “It’s okay. I was hoping to have some time alone with you before you left,” he said.

  “I can’t,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  “You wouldn’t understand,” she said. “I’m going to take some extra time off. I’ll be back in the office on January 3.”

  “No.”

  “What do you do mean no?” she asked.

  “Where are you? We need to talk,” he said.

  “I’m at that spot you took me to after we had dinner the first time,” she said.

  “Stay there. I’m on my way.”

  He hung up and hurried to his Lincoln, ignoring the townspeople who tried to get his attention. He had to get to Avery and he wasn’t going to worry about what anyone thought of him. He felt like he was losing her and he wasn’t even sure what he’d done.

  He drove quickly out of town and when he pulled up by the river he saw her car and then noticed her standing underneath the tree.

  “Avery.”

  She glanced over at him.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing. What did you mean when you said no I couldn’t come back on the third?”

  “Just that I wanted you to spend New Year’s Eve with me. You never said how long your trip with your parents was for. So I can come to you or if you’re back in town we can do something quiet—”

  “I can’t.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “I just don’t think I’m cut out for the whole relationship thing. I thought that maybe we’d figure out a way to make this work, but honestly you’re going to have to go back to Los Angeles and your life there. You’ll probably get that award nomination and be even more in demand and I’ll be back here—someone you wish you could break up with but I work for you so that would be awkward.”

  He shook his head. “Where is this coming from?”

  “Reality,” she said.

  “Not ours,” he said, going over to her but she took a step back from him.

  “Yes, ours. I’m your assistant, Logan. How clichéd is that? I should have been smarter but you are hot and you made me…well act like all the other women who throw themselves at you.”

  “You have never acted like anyone else, until this moment when you are talking crap,” Logan said.

  “Sorry but this is the real me. I can’t do this anymore,” she said.

  Where was this coming
from? It seemed like she was running scared again and honestly he’d done everything he could to show her he was solid, that he could be there for her.

  “Fair enough, I’m not going try to convince you otherwise,” he said, but then he’d never been a quitter and he felt that ball of tension deep inside of him and he took two steps toward Avery, leaned over and kissed her with all the love he had in his heart and then turned and walked away. She’d made it pretty clear she wanted him out of her life and he was happy to go.

  He got in the Lincoln and drove on autopilot back to town. He was mad at Avery for dismissing their relationship so easily but he couldn’t hate her. He loved her. He knew that. And he’d never loved another woman. So he parked the truck and went to Cookies and S’More(s) where Rachel worked and walked in. People stopped when he first stepped inside but he’d posed for pictures with most of the people who were busy running last-minute Christmas errands and really couldn’t be bothered to do the celebrity thing.

  “Hi, Logan,” Rachel said.

  “Hi,” he said. “Do you have a minute to talk to me privately?”

  “Sure, is it about the party tomorrow?” Rachel asked, leading him toward the back of the bakery to a quiet corner.

  “No, I’m sure you’re going to do great. It’s about Avery.”

  Rachel wiped her hands on her apron. “What about her?”

  “I don’t know. She was acting weird when I saw her a few minutes ago and then she disappeared while I was signing autographs.”

  Rachel’s brow wrinkled. “Maybe she just had to pick something up for her trip.”

  “That’s what she said but she drove off toward Austin,” he said. He wasn’t about to go into the fact that he’d followed her and she’d broken up with him.

  “Okay. What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “Just call her and make sure she’s okay,” Logan said.

  She nodded. Logan walked out of the bakery and then went home. The house was quiet and empty and he missed her. More than he wanted to admit. He went to the bar in his den and reached for the bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He poured himself two fingers in a highball glass and as he lifted it to his mouth, he remembered how many times his dad had started a night like this. He wasn’t going to do it.