Home for the Holidays: A Contemporary Romance Anthology
Page 51
Phoebe stared at him. “What did you say?”
“I’m catering the dinner. Well, I’m paying someone to do it.”
“For the whole town?”
“Please. We could fit this tiny town on the floor of one of our casinos,” Levi teased. “I mean, everyone would have to cuddle, but they would fit. And people here probably don’t mind cuddling.”
“You can’t…that’s impossible…that will cost a fortune.”
“Good thing I have a fortune.”
Joe came into the kitchen and leaned over to kiss Phoebe and then helped himself to coffee.
“Levi is paying for a fancy sit-down dinner for the Christmas formal,” Phoebe told him.
Joe leaned back against the counter next to the coffee pot. “That’s awesome.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s too much,” Phoebe exclaimed.
Joe laughed. “Levi doesn’t understand the words too much, babe. Let him do it.”
He met Levi’s eyes and Levi had a feeling that his brother understood something had happened that made him want to do this for Sapphire Falls.
“Let him…” Phoebe turned back to Levi. “Really?”
“Really. It’s all set up. I just need to give Cora a head count.”
Phoebe sighed. “I’ll call Lauren and get it.”
Levi felt a surge of satisfaction. Kate had asked him what he was going to do here and he hadn’t known how to answer. She’d meant as a job, he knew, but he wasn’t in need of a job. What he did do for the family business could be handled remotely with occasional trips to Vegas or their other sites. The reason for living in Vegas had been all about the parties.
But what was he going to do here? Besides relax, recover and become a better man?
Become an even better man. He could work on community development, marketing for tourism, and he could provide funding for community projects along with continuing to support IAS.
He was fine. He was going to make a home in Sapphire Falls. He was going to adjust to no food delivery and everything shutting down at ten p.m. on the weekdays. It might take a little time, but he’d do it.
Kate was just going to have to accept that.
“I need to go,” he said, pushing back from the table and standing.
“Where are you off to?”
“I need to find a gorgeous blonde and convince her I’m not crazy.”
Joe nodded. “You’re sure that you’re not?”
“I am.” And he was for maybe the first time ever.
“I assume you’re talking about Kate?” Phoebe asked. “Not just some random gorgeous blonde.”
“I’m done with random gorgeous blondes,” Levi said. “And brunettes, redheads and anything else,” he added before they could ask.
“That was fast,” Joe said mildly.
“Fast but not crazy,” Levi agreed.
“Where is she right now?” Phoebe asked.
“On her way back to San Francisco.” He looked at the clock. “She’ll be getting to Denver in about thirty minutes.”
“San Francisco?” Phoebe asked, clearly alarmed that she hadn’t known her friend had left town. “I thought she was downtown getting a pedicure or something. Why is she going home?”
“Because in her life, happiness and fun have always covered other things up. She didn’t want to dig down through the happiness and fun here to find out what it was covering.”
Joe and Phoebe both looked startled by his insightful answer.
“And what’s underneath it here?” Phoebe asked.
“More happiness and fun,” Levi said.
Phoebe seemed to like that answer.
Joe, on the other hand, said, “Sapphire Falls isn’t perfect, Levi. It’s not all happiness and fun.”
“Yeah, well, good thing Kate’s happiness isn’t about Sapphire Falls then.” Levi started for the door.
“It’s about you?” Joe asked.
“Damn right.”
“What about your cold, black soul?”
Levi shrugged. “I’m thinking it might be kind of an ecru at this point.”
Joe laughed. “I’ve always thought so. You know, deep down underneath. Way deep down.”
Levi grinned and pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Hi, Chris,” he greeted his pilot a moment later. “I’m going to need the helicopter. And a way to keep hot cocoa hot. And the biggest candy cane you can find.”
Chris didn’t hesitate. Requests like this weren’t that uncommon from Levi. “Where am I picking you up?” he asked.
“You have coordinates for Joe’s house?”
“Yep.”
“He’s got a pasture. That should work right?”
“Joe’s got a pasture?” Chris asked.
Levi laughed. “And a barn.”
“Well, this I’ve got to see.”
Layovers sucked.
She had nothing against Denver as a city or even the Denver airport, but she really did hate four hours of sitting around. Because that was four hours where she couldn’t throw herself into work or wallow on her couch with Netflix. Which meant it was four hours of thinking…and feeling.
She was so tired of thinking and feeling. She’d been second-guessing leaving. She’d been missing Levi. She’d been regretting not taking photos of Sapphire Falls.
She sighed, slumped down in her chair in the gate area, tipped her head back and closed her eyes.
“I’ve decided that Sapphire Falls is more real than anywhere else on earth, and I thought you should know.”
Her head came up so fast at the familiar voice that she felt her neck muscles cramp.
Now she had to be dreaming.
Levi stood in front of her in the crowded gate area.
He was carrying a candy cane that was as tall as he was.
“That is never going to work,” she said, straightening fully.
He gave her a wicked grin and handed her a hot chocolate. It was in a plain white Styrofoam cup with a plain white plastic lid. No way had he gotten this in the airport. Any store here would have their logo stamped all over it.
“What’s this?”
“A reminder of how simply this all started,” he said.
He’d brought her hot chocolate from Sapphire Falls. Kate swallowed hard and pressed her lips together. When she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to sob, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been thinking about your note.”
She winced. She knew it wasn’t cool to only leave a note behind.
“And,” he went on, “I was watching Joe and Phoebe at home. Feeding their daughter, cleaning up spilled milk, rocking her to sleep, talking about groceries and the formal. And I realized something…Sapphire Falls is as real as it gets. Family, home, love, neighbors, taking care of each other, that’s all real. People wanting to have a formal so badly they’re willing to do it potluck, that’s real. Serving hot chocolate in the town square to raise money for the nursing home residents, that’s real, Katie.” He moved in closer to her.
Neither of them paid any attention to the people around them.
It was just the two of them in this moment.
Kate had to remind herself to breathe.
“You and I don’t know real life. We haven’t had to struggle financially. Neither of us have parents who would do anything for us. Neither of us have fallen in love. We haven’t had a normal Christmas or, probably, a very normal anything else. But Sapphire Falls can teach us about normal and real.”
Oh my God. She loved this. She loved everything he was saying. She loved his voice, the earnest look on his face…him.
She probably loved him.
She wasn’t quite ready to say that for sure, but…yeah, probably.
“I don’t know if I can just pick up and—”
“I know,” he said. “I know you can’t just move to Sapphire Falls now. I totally get that. And I know that you can’t know for sure that you’re in love with me yet either.”
He went to one knee in front of her and her eyes widened.
He’s going to propose! Oh my God.
And in that moment, she knew that she would say yes.
“So take your time,” he said. “Take longer to fall in love with me if you need to. That’s fine. Just don’t stop falling in love with me once Christmas is over.”
Kate felt the tears fill her eyes. Her hands flew to cover her mouth.
That was the best thing anyone had ever said to her.
Finally, she nodded, sniffed and lowered her hands. “Okay. I promise not to stop. Maybe ever.”
The grin he gave her shot straight through her heart. Like Cupid’s arrow.
Wrong holiday, but she liked the idea.
She leaned forward and threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you came after me.”
He chuckled. “No one can.” He gathered her close and stood up. They were pressed together, nose to toes, and he kissed her. It was everything it always had been—hot, sweet, sexy, bold—but there was something else there, something that she finally let herself believe…magic. There was still magic in his kiss and there was no Sapphire Falls air around them, no mistletoe, no cranberry Booze buzzing through her bloodstream.
It was real.
“So let’s go to San Francisco,” he said, when he finally released her lips.
“You’re coming with me?” she asked, pulling back slightly and dashing the tears from her cheeks.
“Of course. There’s no way you’re spending Christmas without me.”
“You’ll be there for Christmas?” she asked.
“Every Christmas for the rest of your life if you’ll let me,” he told her solemnly.
Her heart turned over in her chest. That sounded damn good.
“But I can’t move to California right now,” he said. “I’m spending a year in Sapphire Falls. I told myself and Joe that I would, and it’s time for me to start following through on my good intentions.”
“So we’ll try a long-distance relationship for a while,” she said, trying to sound confident about it. Those were hard. But if the alternative was not being with Levi, she’d handle the distance thing.
“Well, yeah,” he said with a shrug. “I have a private plane and a helicopter. I can be in San Francisco within a few hours. It won’t be a normal long-distance relationship.”
She laughed and hugged him again. “We’ll work up to the normal-life stuff.”
He squeezed her, leaned back and pulled something from his coat pocket. “By the way, you left this behind.”
He handed her the Sapphire Falls ornament.
Her eyes misted again. “I tried,” she said, taking it from him. “But it really is impossible once you’ve been there.” She knew that he knew she was talking about more than the ornament.
He kissed her again, and when they finally pulled apart, Kate knew exactly what she wanted for Christmas.
“Levi, would you be my date for the Christmas formal in Sapphire Falls?”
It took him only a second to give her a big grin and a, “Hell yeah. And wait until you see what I did for the formal,” he said, shouldering her carryon bag and taking her hand.
She laughed. “I’m sure whatever it is, it’s perfect and thoughtful and a little out of the ordinary.”
Levi didn’t protest any of those things.
“And—” he gave her another grin, “Joe taught me how to build a fire in the fireplace while I was waiting for the helicopter.”
“But Phoebe and Joe are home now. We can’t use their fireplace,” Kate said. But wow, did she want to. Her body hummed with the memories of the night before.
“No. But the house I bought has a fireplace too.”
“The house you…” She trailed off and shook her head. “We’re definitely going to need to work up to the normal-life stuff.”
The helicopter was waiting for them, prepared to take them on to San Francisco based on Levi’s initial plan, but the pilot was happy to take them back to Sapphire Falls instead.
A couple of hours later, they finally flew over the tiny Nebraska town and took in the sight of the town square from the air. It looked so much like the ornament Kate had in her pocket that she sucked in a quick breath.
Levi leaned over and said softly, “You know what that is don’t you?” he asked softly. “That’s the view of our Christmas future. And not a ghost in sight.”
She laughed, but gazing at the brightly lit gazebo, trees and even the hot chocolate stand, she knew it was more than that. She took Levi’s hand and squeezed it. “Actually, I think that’s simply the view of our future. For all seasons.”
About the Author
Erin Nicholas is the author of sexy contemporary romances. Her stories have been described as toe-curling, enchanting, steamy and fun. She loves to write about reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines and happily ever afters. She lives in the Midwest with her husband who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will never read the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they’re shocked by the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).
You can find Erin at www.ErinNicholas.com,
on Twitter (http://twitter.com/ErinNicholas)
and on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ErinNicholasBooks)
Look for these titles by Erin Nicholas
At all book retailers in e-book and print!
Find more information, excerpts and buy links at
www.ErinNicholas.com
Sapphire Falls
Getting Out of Hand (book 1)
Getting Worked Up (book 2)
Getting Dirty (book 3)
Getting In the Spirit, Christmas novella
Getting In the Mood, Valentine’s novella
Getting It All (book 4)
Getting Lucky (book 5)
Getting Over It (book 6)
Getting to Her (book 6 companion novella)
Getting Wound Up (crossover novel with Jennifer Bernard)
Getting to the Church On Time, wedding novella
The Bradfords
Just Right (book 1)
Just Like That (book 2)
Just My Type (book 3)
Just the Way I Like It (short story, 3.5)
Just for Fun (book 4)
Just a Kiss (book 5)
Just What I Need: The Epilogue (novella, book 6)
Anything & Everything
Anything You Want
Everything You’ve Got
Counting On Love
Just Count on Me (prequel)
She’s the One
It Takes Two
Best of Three
Going for Four
Up by Five
Taking Chances
Twisted Up
Tangled Up
Opposites Attract
Completely Yours
Forever Mine
Totally His
The Billionaire Bargains
No Matter What
What Matters Most
All That Matters
Single titles
Hotblooded
Promise Harbor Wedding
Hitched (book four)
Boys of Fall
Out of Bounds
Illegal Motion
Full Coverage
Don’t Open Until Christmas
Abigail Owen
1
“Better to keep your mouth shut and seem a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
–Southern Expression
Grit your teeth and grin at all the fake f’ing concern about to head your way. Ashley made sure to plaster her brightest smile across her face as she followed her sister into Hurricane Harry’s. The best local bar in the area, Harry’s was known for terrific live music and boasted over one-hundred beers on tap. Once upon a time
, one of her favorite hangouts. Tonight, however, the location for her sister’s bachelorette party became a source of hours of personal torture. A tax audit for the mob would be more fun.
No. Wait. The Christmas Date Auction her mother had signed her up for tomorrow might qualify as worse, if that were possible. She had come home for the holidays and her sister’s wedding. Shouldn’t that be enough? Why add cruel and unusual to the mix?
At least I look damn good tonight. As the maid of honor, she’d planned the party tonight. She had sexy black tank tops made up with sparkly red text that read “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” with “Taylor’s Last Ride” and the date underneath. Taylor wore a white top, of course, and sported a short white veil over her dark hair. Each lady paired her matching top with various sexy bottoms, mostly tight jeans. And all wore red heels to complete the ensemble.
Ashley opted for a black velvet miniskirt which barely covered her ass, but also had shorts built in underneath. Dancing at Harry’s meant two-stepping and a Texas version of jitterbugging, which required the shorts, or she’d be flashing her red lace undies all night. She wanted to prove to people she was fine, not get slobbered on by some drunk cowboy with plans for a romantic one-hour-stand in the back of his pickup.
She’d curled her long, dark hair, pinning the sides back from her face. Her shoes were pure Dallas, three-inch stilettos and sparkly enough to satisfy any wicked witches out there. Too bad she couldn’t click her heels and make this holiday end.
Dutifully, she followed Taylor as she wound her way through the crowded room to a booth Ashley had reserved for their party months ago. Even the bar was decorated for Christmas, if in a haphazard fashion. Strands of various mismatched Christmas lights had been draped all over the walls, and a Santa hat had been placed atop the mechanical bull’s head.
“What can I get you ladies?” A bartender approached the table and yelled over the din and the music. She recognized Bud, a guy who’d been several years ahead of her in school and inherited the bar from his dad a few years back.