Holiday Encounters Books 1-3 Omnibus

by Amy Lamont

  “Um…maybe?”

  A grin tilted the corners of his lips up. “Well, I'll be damned. I don't think I've ever seen you insecure. Not for even a minute.”

  My eyes darted around the room, refusing to make contact with his. “Yeah, well, I don't usually have days as rough as this one.”

  “Paige,” he called.

  I refused to look at him, embarrassed to be called out on my moment of insecurity.

  “Paige, look at me.”

  “Eating here.” I dropped my gaze to my plate, scooped up a giant bite of noodle, sauce and cheese and shoved it into my mouth. There, now I had a good excuse to keep my mouth shut.

  He chuckled and shifted. His movement made me raise my eyes from the plate to him. He stood and closed the distance between the couch where he'd been sitting while we enjoyed our dinner to the overstuffed chair where I'd set up shop. He snagged my hand and tugged me up. In an instant he'd dropped into my spot and pulled me down onto his lap. I held myself stiff, but refused to humiliate myself further by struggling to get out of his arms.

  And okay, if I were being honest, even when I was feeling insecure and off kilter, I didn't exactly mind being draped across Jared Sloane's lap and held close to his chest.

  “Beautiful girl, I would not in a million years have invited you to come with us next week if I didn't want you to come. In fact...”

  His failure to finish the sentence made my spidey senses tingle. I finally looked up at him, my gaze roaming his face, searching for clues about what he was obviously reluctant to share.

  But if I was going to be embarrassed, he sure as hell wasn't going to be allowed to hold out on me. I narrowed my eyes on him.

  “In fact?” I prompted.

  He shook his head and turned his face up toward the ceiling.

  “I don't think the answers are up there,” I said. "Finish your sentence, please."

  He turned his eyes to me without moving his head. “There she is. I knew my Paige was in there somewhere.”

  I squashed down the surge of pleasure that shot through me when he called me “my Paige.” I wasn't going to let him get away with trying to distract me.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Hey, buddy, my delicious, melty, ooey-gooey lasagna isn't getting any warmer while we sit here. I suggest you spill before it gets cold, ‘cause you won't like me when my food gets cold.”

  He burst out laughing and buried his face in my hair. I loved the feeling of his chest vibrating with his laughter. But I still wasn't budging.

  I gave a lock of his dark, in-need-of-a-haircut hair a tug. “Please finish your sentence so I can move past my mortifying lack of self-confidence and get back to my lasagna.”

  His shoulders shook some more, but he managed to look at me, his blue, blue eyes brimming with amusement.

  “Fine. God forbid I keep you from your food.”

  I gave a sharp nod. He wasn't kidding. Since most of my meals were protein bars scarfed down between classes or on a quick break at the hospital, I didn’t like for anything to come between me and a good meal.

  The amusement dropped from his face and another emotion entirely flickered for an instant. It came and went too fast for me to identify it.

  I could feel his chest move underneath me, as if he took a long breath to brace himself for whatever he was about to say. My stomach did a somersault, an attack of nerves returning. Maybe the “in fact” was a bad thing. Maybe I shouldn't have encouraged him to finish the sentence.

  “In fact,” he said, making me hold my breath, “I've never invited another woman on tour with us before.”

  I blinked up at him. “Never?”

  He shook his head. “Not for the summer, not for a week, not even for an overnight show.”

  My lips parted as I stared at him. The look in his eyes told me this meant something important to him. The nervous feeling in my stomach turned into a squishy, mushy one I don't remember ever experiencing before. Every cell in my body urged me to melt into him and divulge every emotion he dredged up in me, unlike any feelings I'd ever had for another man.

  I almost snorted at the thought. It's not like I had time between working and studying the last few years to do anything but date in the most casual sense of the word. But what was even more amusing was the comparison of the feelings I had for Jared to those I'd had for my casual dates in the past.

  A warmth grew in my chest, but I took a deep breath of my own and worked hard to squelch it. I couldn't possibly have any kind of real, strong feelings for Jared. He asked me to come on his weeklong promotional tour, but I couldn't read too much into it.

  He probably meant he never asked another woman before because someone else would have thought it meant he was getting serious about her. But with me, he knew what he was getting—casual, no strings attached.

  And no matter how many times my heart squeezed at the thought of whatever this was between us coming to an end, at some point, that was exactly what would have to happen. Jared's life, the touring and parties and celebrity that went along with all of it, that wasn't real. And at some point my feet would return to earth and my real life, the life I'd planned for years, would get back on track.

  But that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the hell out of every last moment until then.

  “I guess we have that all settled then. Can I get back to my lasagna?” I arched an eyebrow at him.

  He narrowed his eyes at me, and scrutinized my face as though he'd be able to read my mind. After a long moment, he nodded wordlessly.

  I slid off his lap and walked over to where I'd dropped my phone on an end table. “First things first, though.”

  I thumbed through my contacts until I came to what I was searching for.

  “Yes, hello,” I said when the person on the other end picked up. “This is Paige Jordan. I need to take a leave of absence for the next week or so. I know it's short notice, but I have a family emergency so I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem for me to use my vacation days.”

  I listened to the lecture from the human resources person at the hospital as she outlined the hospital's policy on sick and vacation days.

  “I understand, but if you check, you'll see I've never missed so much as a day. I've filled in extra shifts when needed and I've never called out sick. I wouldn't ask if I didn't need the time off.”

  The truth of the words slapped me as soon as I spoke them. Never before had I felt the need to get a break from my life more than I did right this minute. Just one short interlude to help me restore my energy and drive so I could return to work ready to move on with my life.

  I raised my eyes to Jared's. How long would he be part of my life after this interlude was over? I dropped my gaze to a spot on the paisley pattern on the carpet and forced those thoughts out.

  Instead I focused on the phone in my hand, willing the woman on the other end to tell me I'd get these few days that I needed so desperately. I could hear the clicks of a keyboard in the background before she spoke again.

  “Well, Miss Jordan, it does look like you've had an impeccable record for the time you've been here with us. I don't usually make exceptions, but if you promise this isn’t going to become a habit and you'll go through proper channels next time, I can grant you the time off until a week from Monday.”

  Relief, excitement, and about a thousand other emotions I couldn't name made me almost dizzy with giddiness. “Thank you so much. I promise, it won't happen again.”

  I tapped the phone to end the call and tossed it back onto the end table. I pulled a long shuddering breath in through my nose as I fought not to do something as embarrassing as the happy dance I was longing to do. I think my insecurity had caused me enough mortification for one night.

  I somehow managed to keep my composure as I stole a glance at Jared. His lips quirked in amusement and he raised an eyebrow at me. Obviously, I wasn't fooling him for even a second. That didn't mean I'd give in to him.

 
I stuck my nose in the air and walked as haughtily as I could manage, moving as if I were in a ball gown instead of a robe, back to where my food waited for me.

  I settled down on the floor in front of the table and dug into my lasagna, sending him my best peeved look. “Lukewarm.”

  But then I scooped another mouthful, shrugged and shoveled it in my mouth. I'll take lukewarm lasagna over stale hospital coffee and protein bars any day of the week.

  Behind me Jared burst into laughter. I ignored him and continued to eat my dinner as if I hadn't just done the unthinkable.

  Holy shit. I just took a break from reality so I could go on tour with a rock band.

  Chapter Six

  My eyes snapped open as if my alarm blared out its usual foghorn alerts. But no sound met my ears. I blinked the sleep from my eyes, and just like yesterday a sudden awareness of the warm body behind me crept in. I resisted the urge to snuggle back into him. I needed to get up.

  I reached out for my phone where it sat charging on the bedside table. 5:03.

  Huh. Same time I woke up yesterday. I yawned and shoved my heavy hair off my face and dreaded having to leave the toasty bed to head out into the cold March day.

  The arm over my hips tightened and yanked me back into the bed.

  I giggled. “Jared, I have to get up.”

  “Too early,” he mumbled sleepily near my ear. “More sleep.”

  “Maybe too early for you, but I have to get going.”

  Jared's body went rigid against mine, putting me on high alert. I glanced over my shoulder to find two eyes wide open and pinned on me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Did you change your mind again?”

  I blinked at him and the fog of sleep finally started clearing from my muddled brain. “I'm on vacation from the hospital, aren't I?”

  He grinned at me. “Yup.”

  I snuggled back under the covers and wiggled my backside teasingly into his front. “I can't remember the last time I didn't have to get up at the crack before dawn and start running. Whatever do people do with all this extra time on their hands?”

  His arms held me more firmly to him, and one hand moved up to cup my breast. He slid his hips forward until there was no mistaking the fact that while Jared might still look sleepy, parts of him were wide awake and ready for action.

  “I think we might be able to find a way to while away the hours.” Sleep and desire made his voice gravelly.

  I shivered in response, but couldn’t help but tease him. “Oh, really? What did you have in mind? A brisk morning jog?”

  His shoulders shook as he rubbed his erection against my backside. I bit down hard on my lower lip to keep a moan from escaping.

  “No,” he said. “A jog wasn't what I had in mind.”

  “Band practice?” The breathless quality of my voice gave away how much he affected me, but I wasn't ready to give up on pestering him yet.

  “No, we don't need the whole band here for what I have in mind.”

  I giggled again, but bit it off as his deft fingers found my nipple and rolled it between them until I had to fight to keep from squirming. Desire, molten and liquid, wound its way through my body.

  “Hmm.” The sound came out of me more as a moan than a word. “Brunch? I haven't had brunch in months and months.”

  In one swift move he shifted me until I was pinned beneath him as he loomed over me.

  “You and your food,” he said.

  I laughed up into his disgruntled, still sleepy face. “Brunch is really good.”

  “I'll show you really good.”

  I couldn't contain my giggles as he yanked the comforter up over us and made good on his promise. He definitely showed me really good. In fact, it was so good it might even qualify as spectacular.

  ***

  Jared also made good on brunch even though he hadn't promised it to me. I felt completely decadent. Lasagna last night, and this morning, after he'd finished showing me really good and we'd both showered, he ordered more food than I could eat in a week.

  We had a buffet of pancakes, eggs, bacon, muffins, fruit and coffee. I'm a girl with a healthy appetite, but even I couldn't put a dent in that much food.

  “I think if we're going to keep this up, I really am going to have to start my day with a morning jog.” I shuddered even as the words left my mouth. I counted on the fact that I rarely had more than five seconds in a row to sit down to keep me at a healthy weight. Jogging or spinning or yoga or any form of real exercise was against my religion.

  “Don't worry. I promise to keep you well fed this next week, but I'll also provide plenty of ways to help you burn it off.” He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively.

  I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you will."

  He grinned and used his fork to push his last bite of pancake around his plate, sopping up every bit of maple syrup before raising it to his mouth.

  I shook my head. “How do you manage to eat like that? I can't imagine you jog. You'd have hordes of women chasing you down the streets of the city.”

  He offered me a sheepish grin. “Personal trainer works me out in the building’s gym five days a week.”

  Of course he had a personal trainer willing to drop everything and come here at Jared's whim. Aside from him being totally hot with rock hard abs, Jared was so normal all the time. Since we spent most of our time together alone, either in his apartment or in a private dining room in a restaurant, I hadn't really given his celebrity lifestyle much thought before now. We'd been pretty insulated from it in the time we'd been together.

  But that was about to change. I wondered how I'd feel about Jared a week from now when I'd seen him in action. I mean, I'd seen him on television and heard his songs on the radio before. But there’d been a disconnect from the guy singing on the podium in Times Square on New Year's Eve and the guy I'd hung out with and gotten to know in the last few months.

  “You spend so much time in New York, I'm surprised you stay in the temporary apartment instead of getting a permanent place.”

  Jared’s gaze darted down toward his empty plate and if I didn't know better, I'd say the tips of his ears were turning pink. “Oh, yeah, we haven't spent as much time here as we have in the last six months or so.”

  He looked up at me and brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. I narrowed my eyes at him. Obviously I was missing something here.

  “Would you rather not be in New York?”

  “No,” he said a little too quickly. “I mean, I’d always rather be in New York. Just for a long time the studio insisted we record in L.A. Now we have a little more say in how things get done, so we decided to record this next one here.”

  I tilted my head. I still had the feeling I was missing something, but when he didn't offer any further explanation, I shrugged. Made sense.

  “So how much longer will you be here recording?”

  His hand dropped back to the table and his shoulders seemed to unknot. “Another couple of months. We've got most of it wrapped, which is why the label's sending us to start doing a little promo. But we have a few cuts that still need work.”

  I nodded, ignoring the surge of happiness in my chest at the thought of having Jared around for at least a few more months.

  “And you go on tour after that?”

  He nodded.

  “How about the next album? Will you be back on the West Coast for that?” I couldn't help but ask the question. Even knowing anything more than casual was impossible between us, I wanted to know if once he finished this album, he'd disappear.

  “Depends.” He gazed at me with an intensity that was almost disconcerting.

  Before I could question him anymore, he changed the subject. “Do you have classes today?”

  Well, shit, there went my happy bubble.

  “My shift at the hospital was supposed to have been over at ten. And then my classes start at noon. Tomorrow they start earlier.” I hel
d back a sigh. I should be grateful I didn't have to go to the hospital this morning. Taking the time off from classes would be too much to ask.

  Or would it?

  Suddenly the memory of Katelyn, one of my best friends and roommates, popped into my head. A couple of months ago she'd had her fill of her lazy boss, and she'd taken off to hide out in a secluded cabin with the hot guy who was now a permanent fixture in her life. She’d managed to take a break from her life. Why couldn't I?

  I mentally weighed the merits and problems with skipping two days of classes.

  I'd learned quickly that sleeping through my morning classes in medical school was not in any way, shape, or form the same as skipping them in college. I wasn't one in a sea of many students. Nor was making up a couple of classes the same as trying to borrow a few pages of notes from a classmate. But it wasn't impossible.

  “Paige?”

  Jared's voice pulled me from my mental musings. From the look on his face, I'd dare to guess he'd called out to me more than once.

  “Sorry.” I shook my head. “My mind was wandering. I was sort of toying with the idea of taking a day or two off from classes, too. To be honest, I could use the break.”

  I knew my mental state should be in question when the thought of dealing with only the two more days of school left before spring break seemed almost too much to bear.

  “Can you do that?” Jared asked.

  I shrugged. “It'll be a bitch to catch up. But I can call a friend today and ask her to keep me updated on anything I missed.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “Does that mean I'll get to keep you locked up here with me for a few days before we leave on tour?”

  I blinked at him, startled. I hadn't really thought about how I'd spend my days off until we left with the rest of his band on Monday. But the more I thought of it, the more I loved the idea of holing up here with Jared.

  “Don't you have to work?” I asked.

  “I'll have to run into the studio for a few hours today and tomorrow. And I'm sure I'll be fielding calls from my manager and a few others about the last minute details of our travel arrangements.” He slouched back in his chair, cool and cocky, his legs straight out in front of him. “Other than that, baby, I can be all yours if you want me.”