Either way, he wasn’t sure this was the place for the conversation. This wasn’t just an ordinary date night at the skating-rink. This was the whole town witnessing the guy who got his heartbroken by Julia Smith taking a chance with yet another movie star. He’d be a fool not to see their curious looks. Several intentionally tried to catch his eye and make a face like “really, Nick?” and others avoided eye contact altogether. Yes, he was completely into Holly. But the looks from his friends in town had him on edge.
“What’s the rush?” he asked, taking a risk. “Maybe we can just enjoy this for a minute first.”
“A figurative minute, right? Not an actual minute?”
Nick chuckled, tucking her close against his side and kissing the top of her head as they skated. “Yes. A nice, long, figurative minute.”
“Fine with me.”
“So, you mentioned your birthday was in December, when is it?”
Holly cut him a glance. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
“And you were just going to let it pass on by without anyone knowing?” Nick asked, blown away by this revelation.
Holly shrugged. “Well, I’m here to work.”
“You have plenty of downtime. We should celebrate somehow.”
“What do you have in mind?” She asked beaming up at him.
Nick paused, taking her hand and leading her around the rink. He actually had no idea. He’d surprised even himself when he’d suggested they celebrate her birthday. He wasn’t the type of guy who came up with big elaborate plans. And even if he were, they hadn’t known each other very long at all. Was it weird to even get her a present at this point?
“Well,” Nick said, looking around for inspiration. He spotted Patty, the owner of Snow Hill’s finest – and only – bakery. “What about something food-related. You love food.”
Holly let out a bubbly laugh, which caused her to stumble a little on her skates. “Oomph. Yes, I do love food.”
“See that lady over there in the purple coat?” He pointed discreetly at Patty as she skated on the opposite side of the rink. “She owns the bakery in the square. I think I’ve seen signs in the window about events and classes. Cookie decorating, I think.”
Nick watched Holly’s face as she considered his plan. He had no idea if she’d be into it, but it seemed like the kind of cheesy, festive outing she’d love. Or, maybe it was offensive because she’d think he was suggesting she needed a class to learn how to decorate cookies. For all he knew, she was a pro. He fought the urge to take it back. He told himself to play it cool and let it play out. Hopefully she wouldn’t embarrass him too much if the idea sucked.
“That sounds amazing, Nick.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him and he couldn’t help but grin back.
“Great. It’s a date.”
Holly raised a brow. “You realize you’ve now set two dates with me on this one date, right?”
“Hmm,” he replied. “I can take one back if you want.”
“No, don’t,” Holly said, shoving him in the arm with a laugh.
He tried to catch himself, but in doing so his right arm was about to connect with her nose, so he jerked in the other direction to save from hitting her. That move caused him to get the button on the sleeve of his coat caught on the pocket of hers, and down they went with a loud thud and a ton of laughter.
“Hey,” Holly squealed. “You were supposed to catch me and kiss me, not make me fall!”
Laughing, Nick placed one gloved hand on the side of her face, drawing her close and planting a loud kiss on her lips. “Better?”
“Much.”
13
Holly
Holly hurried through the door of Snow Hill’s only bakery. The December chill practically shoved her in, causing her hair and beanie to momentarily block her eyes. She laughed as Nick’s hands came up to her face to smooth back her hair and remove her winter hat.
“Hi,” she said, enjoying the warmth radiating from him.
“Happy Birthday,” he replied.
“Thank you.”
Nick gestured to a table nearby. “I signed us up for the decorating thing. I guess it’s kind of a group thing.”
“Can’t wait,” Holly said, meaning it.
When Nick had suggested celebrating her birthday, she had to admit she’d been a little shocked. He just didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would make a big deal out of birthdays. She wanted to believe it meant he liked her a lot. Maybe it was just that it was her birthday that made him excited to celebrate it. A girl could hope, right?
Yes, it was sweet that Nick wanted to take her out for her birthday. But it was even sweeter that he’d picked something like cookie decorating as the activity. She gazed around the bakery. The walls of the shop were painted gold, with white trim. Like the rest of the town, it was completely decked out for the holidays. There were garlands, poinsettias, Nutcrackers, and gingerbread men strategically placed around the room. It was quaint and classy at the same time.
On one wall was a giant brick fireplace with a seating area to enjoy coffee and baked goods. A small spattering of café tables sat on the opposite side, near the counter with its glass case of delectable baked goods. And in the back, there were three rows of counters with barstools for the bakery to host their events. Each individual station was already prepped with a cookie sheet full of cookies, several bags of icing in holiday colors, and other various tools they’d need for decorating. Holly was chomping at the bit to get started.
“Welcome, everyone!” Patty, the owner, exclaimed. She wore a bright red, festive apron and an incredibly warm smile.
Sensing they were about to get down to business, Holly removed her coat and hung it on the rack by the door. Carefully, of course, so she didn’t have a repeat of last time she was in the same room as Nick and a coat rack. He winked at her when she turned around, making her laugh quietly despite herself.
She scanned the room full of decorators and was pleased to see Robin and her daughter, Abby, sitting on the hearth. She waved and smiled in greeting. Ever since Nick had told her about Robin’s past, she couldn’t help but feel her heart tighten whenever she saw her. She’d been through so much, and yet she was so strong and brave for her daughter. She admired her so much and sincerely hoped that she’d find another happily ever after, someday.
Patty picked up a tray of pre-made cookies and held them out for the group to see. “These are the eight designs we’ll be working on today. We have your classic Christmas tree, candy cane, snowman, a present, a snowflake, some bells, a reindeer, and the big jolly guy himself, Santa.”
Murmurs of excitement came from the crowd, especially the younger decorators like Abby.
“We baked them in advance so you’d be able to get right to the decorating and not have to wait for them to cool. However, if you’d like to come to a cookie baking class, we have those, as well!”
Holly sneaked a look at Nick and wagged her eyebrows at him. The corner of his mouth quirked up as he whispered, “Let’s see how this one goes first.”
Patty set down the tray of plain cookies and picked up a bag of icing. “We’ll be working with royal icing to create your Christmas masterpieces. If you haven’t worked with royal icing before, I’ll be coming around to help you get the hang of it, don’t worry. But I want to go over the steps with you now before we get started so you have the big picture. It’ll make more sense when you’re actually doing it, though.”
Holly had worked with royal icing on many occasions. Not only with her mom growing up, but also on the show. Still, she paid attention, just in case.
“Let’s use the Christmas tree for our example,” Patty continued, swapping the bag of icing for the cookie shaped like a tree so she could explain the process of decorating it. “First, you’ll outline the tree with your green icing, then, you’ll fill it in, and use a toothpick to spread the icing around. Now, the trick with making 3D designs on your cookies is to let it res
t and completely dry between steps. So, you’ll let the green of your tree rest while you make the white background on your snowflake, and so on. After the icing rests, you can use the other colors of icing to decorate your Christmas tree. Again, that’s just a basic rundown and I’ll be around to help you individually, but that should be enough to get you started. Any questions before I show you to your workspaces?”
Holly shook her head and looked up at Nick, who nudged her. “You’re going to take point on this, right? Help a guy out?”
“Definitely.”
Patty started showing her guests to their workstations, so Holly and Nick followed the crowd and got assigned their spaces. She couldn’t have been more pleased to see that silver, gold, and glitter were included in the supplies. These cookies were going to be gorgeous.
“Ready?” Holly asked Nick, smiling at his look of apprehension as he stared down at the plain cookies and supplies in front of him.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Holly narrowed her eyes at him. “Wait, is this going to be one of those scenes where you don’t know how to decorate a cookie and I have to help you and you make a huge mess of it and we kiss?”
Nick chuckled and leaned in for a quick kiss. “Maybe.”
For a few moments, they worked in silence on their first cookie. Holly had chosen to start with the Christmas tree. She did the outline and background, then did the background on several others before turning back to her tree to do the 3D ornaments. She delicately placed colorful dots and swirls on the tree until she was satisfied that it was perfect. Lost in the magic of a little holiday creativity, she also finished her candy cane and snowflake before she thought to look up from her own work. She peeked a glance at Nick’s tray to see how his were coming along.
“Um, what?” She asked him, her eyes bulging.
Nick’s tray held some of the most beautiful and elaborately decorated cookies she’d ever seen. He’d done the snowman with three-dimensional swirls of white and silver glitter on the body, tiny details on his hat – including a sprig of holly, and even a little shine on the coal pieces. The cookie shaped like two bells was decorated with intricate flourishes in silver and gold and held a subtle shine in the areas where light would hit it. The tree held a detailed design of ornaments and lights that required quite the steady hand.
Holly blinked up at him. “You tricked me.”
“What, you mean like your hidden ice-skating talent?”
“Why are you a cookie decorating wizard?” She asked, pushing his arm playfully. “This is ridiculous.”
Nick furrowed his brow. “Have you met my mother? Did I not tell you about the Christmas cookies for the kids every year? You think she just let me play video games like a normal kid while she was making those?”
“Oh, my goodness.” Holly burst out laughing. “Yeah, I guess I can’t see her doing all of that without making you help.”
Patty approached their station with a wide smile on her face. “Hey, Nicky.”
“Hey, Miss Patty,” Nick replied. “Have you met Holly yet?”
The plump older woman smiled warmly at Holly and nodded. “Yes, she’s a frequent customer in between filming. It’s good to see you again, dear.”
“Good to see you, too. Thank you for offering this class. It’s so much fun,” Holly said.
“I see you have a talent for decorating,” Patty observed, pointing at Holly’s cookies.
Holly scoffed. “I thought so, too, until this guy totally put me to shame.”
“Oh, yes, well. You can blame his mother for that. Have fun, kids.” Patty smiled warmly at them again, but before she left, she gave Nick a warning look.
Nick shook his head at her and turned back to his cookies.
“Ahem,” Holly stage whispered when the coast was clear. “What was that about?”
“What?”
“That look she gave you before she left,” Holly explained.
“Oh, that,” Nick shrugged. “It’s the Julia thing. I told you the whole town knew my business. She’s just being protective.”
Holly understood why the people who’d known Nick his whole life would be worried about him and his heart getting broken again. If she were being honest, she barely knew him, and she really hoped there wasn’t heartbreak for him at the end of their little Christmas adventure in Snow Hill. Unfortunately, she had no idea how there wouldn’t be at this point. Unless he was just not that into her. And judging by the way the sparks flew between them, she didn’t think that was the case.
A loud squeal from behind them ripped Holly from her thoughts. She and Nick turned to find Robin and Abby at the station behind them, Robin’s chest and neck absolutely covered in deep red icing. The bell at the front door chimed as Jack rushed into the store with a worried expression that immediately softened when he realized it was only icing. Abby held the bag, her little fists bunched around the middle, a shocked look on her face.
The other decorators waited for Robin to react, and when she threw her head back in laughter, the rest of the room did the same. Poor Abby was relieved to see that she wasn’t in trouble and gently put down the icing.
“It happens to somebody in every class, trust me,” Patty said, hurrying over with supplies for Robin to get cleaned up. “Can’t squeeze the bag too hard in the middle, little one.”
Abby nodded. “Sorry, Mommy.”
“It’s okay, baby,” Robin said as she attempted to wipe off the sticky mess.
Holly turned back to Jack, who was now standing near the fireplace with a busted look on his face. “Hello, brother.”
He waved, guiltily. “Hey.”
“What brings you to the bakery?”
“Oh, you know, just wanted some cookies,” he replied.
Holly narrowed her eyes at Jack. “I thought we agreed I’d be fine if you stayed at the inn.”
“I was only cruising by … I heard Robin scream and saw the red all over her. You wouldn’t have even known I was here if that didn’t happen.”
Nick raised a brow.
“Yeah, seems dumb now. Old habits die hard,” Jack said, letting out a shaky laugh. “Just pretend you didn’t see me.”
Holly shook her head at her brother as he backed toward the exit with his palms facing out.
“He means well,” she said to Nick after Jack was safely out the door.
Nick smiled warmly. “He cares. It’s a good thing.”
14
Nick
Nick finished setting up the large round tables for the ball a lot earlier than he’d anticipated thanks to a few extra guys who’d shown up to help. With nothing left to do for the day other than his day-to-day stuff at the inn, he decided to head out and see if he could watch the filming.
He hadn’t been able to get Holly out of his head all day. They’d been spending a lot of time together since her birthday, with the last few nights watching Christmas movies as somewhat of an end of the day routine. And he had to admit, he’d enjoyed himself. It wasn’t so much the movies themselves as her reaction to them. She just looked so content and happy as she watched the festive magic unfold on-screen. It was hard to be mad at anything that made such a sweet person seem so happy. He hoped he’d be able to see some of that while she filmed her scenes, too. Starring in a Christmas movie for someone like Holly had to be the epitome of a good time.
Rounding the corner into the town square, he squinted into the bright sunlight and tucked his bare hands in his pockets to protect them from the chilly air. The movie set was buzzing with activity. His eyes focused in on several different sections of the set in his effort to make sense of what was going on, and after a few minutes, he realized they were re-setting a scene that involved a lot of extras and apparently a big commotion. It looked like total chaos.
“Quite the production, isn’t it?” Julia was suddenly beside him, a to-go cup of coffee from the shop behind them in each of her hands. She held one out to him. “Black, two sugars ... right?”
He looke
d down at the cup, wishing he could slap it out of her hand and onto the sidewalk. Visualizing such a thing didn’t make him a bad guy, did it? He took the cup with a nod of thanks.
“So,” Julia began, her smooth voice making his skin crawl, “you’re with Holly, now?”
Nick cleared his throat, cut her a sideways glance, then took a sip of coffee. He had no intention of talking about Holly with Julia. Not today, not ever.
“People talk, you know.”
Nick gave a harsh laugh. “People around here don’t talk to you, Julia. They talk about you.”
“Ouch,” she said, her face attempting something like a frown if it weren’t for all the Botox.
He didn’t apologize, but he made a mental note to take it easy. He didn’t have to be rude. He was better than that.
“Anyway, the movie seems to be going really well. They might even wrap early.”
This got his attention. “Early?”
“Yeah, they were supposed to be finished on the twenty-third, but they’re about three days ahead of schedule.”
Nick swallowed. “Good for them.”
He hated the idea of Holly leaving even sooner than Christmas Eve. But really, that was only a couple weeks away. The last time he fell into something that fast it ended just as it should—in disaster. Because it wasn’t realistic to love someone that quickly and it wasn’t realistic to hope that they’d love you back. Julia was proof of that.
“Nicholas,” Julia said with a dramatic sigh, turning him to face her. “Can I tell you something?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No, I really need to get this off my chest.”
Nick took a drink of his coffee. “By all means.”
“I really did love you.”
“Okay,” he said with an eye roll.
“I did. And I intended to keep all of my promises to you. But...”
“But you fell in love with someone else and had an entire relationship with him while we were engaged.”
A Movie Star for Christmas Page 9