by Nancy Fraser
Normally, she’d go for a run or something to work off this pent-up adrenalin. Adrenalin she tried hard to convince herself had nothing to do with Nico. Just like last time, it was hard to look around the room and not remember him—sitting there, standing there. His presence filled a room and lingered long after he left.
She tried to call her sister, but got voice mail. Her in-box showed an email from her mother. Apparently, it was already Christmas day where her mom was, on a sailboat in some exotic place with a name Holly couldn’t pronounce.
Holly flopped onto the couch and clicked on the TV. Maybe a holiday movie would help distract her. An hour and a half later she sighed and turned the TV off. The romantic Christmas movie had only made her feel worse. She stared up at the silver angel Nico had placed on her tree. If there really was magic, if wishes really came true...
Look where her wishes had landed her!
Just then, she heard a loud jingle of what sounded like sleigh bells outside. She rose and went to the window. Through the early dusk, she made out an old-fashioned horse-drawn sleigh outside her house. She half turned away from the sight of the happy family out for a sleigh ride, a mom, dad and two kids, until the man leapt out and started for her door.
Nico!
Sherry and the twins spotted her through the window and waved for her to come out.
“What the—?” She limped to the door just as Nico was reaching for the knocker.
“Merry Christmas Eve!” he said.
Her heart climbed into her throat. Why did he have to look even more devastatingly handsome than by firelight?
“I figured you might be at loose ends and free to join us on a little spin around town.”
“Oh, I—”
“You can’t disappoint Sherry and the boys. Where’s your coat?”
He brushed past her as if he had every right to be there, and reached for her winter coat on a hook near the door. “We’ve got heated blankets and a bottle of warm mulled wine that Sherry snuck aboard. Come on.”
“I should be resting my ankle for later,” she said stubbornly, even as she glanced longingly toward the street.
An old-fashioned sleigh ride. What fun! But dangerous. Time spent in Nico’s company was a bad thing. Before she could catch her breath, he’d be back to his life in the city and she’d be left with her unfulfilled wishes.
“We’re not taking no for an answer,” Nico said. “I have orders to carry you out there myself, if it comes to that.”
“I’m not sure I can get my boots on over my swollen ankle.”
Nico was sticking her arms into her coat sleeves as if she was a child. “Then I’ll just have to carry you.” He grabbed her cashmere scarf and hat before he swept her up in his arms.
“Wait,” Holly said. “I need my keys and my phone and—”
Nico scooped the two items, along with her gloves, from the side table in the entrance hall, checked that the door was locked, and started down the front walk with her in his arms.
Holly took a breath. The air was crisp and fresh, the dusk-tinged sky studded with a few wispy clouds.
“Whatever you do for a living, you must be darn good at it,” Holly said, resisting the urge to press her cheek to his neck. He smelled divine, a woodsy, spicy, masculine fragrance that was partly him and partly an exotic after shave.
“I’m a defense attorney,” he said. “And I never lose.”
“Never?” Holly asked.
“Rarely,” Nico amended. “If I lose, I appeal.” He grinned. “Then I win.”
Holly was breathless by the time they reached the sleigh. She told herself it was the fresh air, but the truth was it was being caught and held in Nico’s arms. She studied him in the dim light and felt a throb of desire ripple through her. Her body definitely had a memory.
Nico settled her in the seat across from Sherry and the boys before he joined her, so close his shoulder brushed hers as he settled the blanket over both their laps. She felt his thigh rubbing against hers. Did he need to sit so close?
Sherry didn’t seem to notice as she reached over to give her a hug. Next to their mom, the twins were bundled up in identical snowsuits and looked almost angelic.
“I knew Nic would talk you into joining us. Isn’t this a fabulous idea? He totally surprised us with this early Christmas gift.”
“Thanta cometh tonight,” Robbie told her, with his endearing lisp. Will, the quieter of the two, nodded, wide-eyed.
Holly leaned forward. “Have you been good for your mom? Keeping your room clean and stuff like that?”
The twins looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Sherry rolled her eyes. “Not only that, Uncle Nic has been a very bad influence, getting them even more wound up.” As the sleigh started up, she reached into a wicker basket at her feet.
“Can we have juice?” Will asked, watching his mom pour mulled wine into insulated mugs and pass one to Nico and Holly.
“I told you. This is adult juice. You get hot chocolate. But you have to be very careful not to spill.” Both boys nodded solemnly as Sherry pulled out a second thermos.
“This is wonderful!” Holly pulled her hat on tight as the sleigh picked up speed. “Where are we going?”
“Just a little tour around to look at the lights.”
Nico elbowed her gently beneath the blanket. “Because the boys aren’t excited enough already.”
Holly felt warm and toasty from the inside out as she sipped her mulled wine and listened to the chatter around her. Like that first night she met Nico, she no longer felt lonely.
The horse’s hooves clopped quietly over the snowy streets as their sleigh wound through the storyland area, circled the Common, then headed for Main Street, where the driver pulled over so they could listen to a group of carolers. A short distance from town stood Holly Hill Inn, all lit up and ready for Christmas.
Somehow, Nico’s hand found its way to Holly’s leg beneath the blanket and settled there, accelerating the heat pumping through her veins. When he leaned close, he sent her a smile that took away her breath with the intimacy of it.
“I’ve missed this,” Nico said. “There’s something magical about Christmas Eve.”
Holly used to think so, too, but these days she concentrated on making it magical for others.
Across from them, their tummies full of hot chocolate, the two boys eventually started to yawn. Sherry gave Nico a look. “I think it’s time I get my guys home so they can hang up their stockings.”
“Mom—” they both groaned in unison.
“See,” Nico said with a wink, “my earlier strategy to tire them out worked.”
“The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner Santa comes and it will be Christmas,” Holly said.
When Nico leaned forward to speak to the driver, Holly instantly missed the warmth of his body pressed against hers.
After a brief exchange, Nico settled back next to her and the sleigh started off toward Sherry’s. Holly straightened. “I should be dropped off first. I have stuff I need to do tonight.”
Under the blanket, Nico’s hand rested atop hers, his large fingers twined through her smaller ones. “It’s okay, Holly. You don’t need to do everything alone. You’ve got me to help.”
By the time they reached Sherry’s, both the boys were leaning sleepily against their mom.
Nico climbed gracefully from the sleigh. “I’ll take them in,” he said, and waited patiently as Sherry passed him one twin for each arm. He gave Holly a heated look. “I’ll be right back.”
Sherry picked up her wicker basket with the thermoses and cups. “That was fun. I haven’t done anything so festive since before the twins were born.”
Holly’s heart pounded as she watched Nico stride toward the house with a youngster in each arm, as if he’d been doing it forever. Who knew he’d be a natural with young children?
She looked over to see Sherry watching her with a speculative expression, and shrugged. “He’s not what I expected from
your stories.”
Sherry continued to give her the look. “Suddenly, he seems like a different guy. I’m glad he’s helping you tonight,” she added.
“So am I,” Holly said.
Chapter 6
NIC ARRIVED BACK AT the carriage in time to see Holly checking the time on her phone. “What time do you like to head out?”
“I try to have the van loaded by ten,” she said.
“Good, we have time,” Nic said.
“Time for what?” Holly asked.
“Time for a romantic sleigh ride, just the two of us. The twins are cute and all but—” He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. As she snuggled against him, her delicate, rose-scented perfume teased his senses. He closed his eyes and savored the closeness, aware he’d smelled a similar scent a long time ago.
Abruptly Holly’s stomach made an unladylike noise. She pulled away to face him.
“You might recall, someone promised me pizza.”
Nic snapped his fingers. “I did. And I bet you think I forgot, didn’t you?”
“You didn’t forget?”
Nic leaned toward the driver. “What’s our next destination?”
The driver looked over his shoulder as he answered. “Pizzaria Pantry.”
Nic settled back smugly. “See? I didn’t forget.”
At the pizza place, Nic jumped out of the sleigh and hurried inside for his order. As he stood at the counter, he looked out the window to where Holly sat, bundled up and waiting. She saw him and flashed a smile that set his insides churning in a way that was both thrilling and foreign.
New York was full of interesting single women: professionals, models, and actresses that his lawyer friends were always trying to set him up with, but none of them affected him the way Holly did. She was real and grounded, generous and spontaneous, all at the same time. She took pictures of other people’s happiest moments, and spent Christmas Eve enhancing the holiday for others.
“Here’s your change, man,” said the youth behind the counter.
“Keep it,” Nic said. “Merry Christmas.”
The young man’s eyes widened. “Wow! Thanks!”
Nic gathered up the pizza box and a handful of napkins and hurried back to the waiting sleigh, reluctant to be away from Holly’s side a second longer than necessary.
“Where are we going?” Holly asked, once they were underway.
Nic noticed Holly tucked into her pizza slice with gusto, another nice change from the actresses and models who barely picked at their food, insisting they weren’t hungry.
“I told the driver, wherever he thinks, as long as we’re back at your place by eight. That should be enough time, right?” It felt really important he not disrupt Holly’s normal Christmas Eve schedule.
“That should work.”
Nic sat back, contentment flowing through him as he gazed skyward and munched on his pizza. “The stars never look this bright in the city. I can see so many more of them.”
“That was one of the first things I noticed when I moved here,” she said.
He straightened to face her. “Where did you live before?” For some reason he’d assumed she was a local. She stiffened, and withdrew the slightest bit from his side. His lawyer mind kicked into gear. Did she have a hidden past? Something in her background she didn’t want people to know about?
Her face was in shadow, half-turned from him. “Like you, I hail from a big city,” she said vaguely.
“Which city?” he asked.
“What am I? On the witness stand?” she countered.
She tried to make it sound teasing, but it seemed obvious she didn’t want him to know where she was from.
“Not at all,” he said, vowing to quiz Sherry in the morning and find out just how well she knew Holly.
HOLLY KNEW THE EXACT the moment the energy between her and Nico shifted. She’d done it deliberately, remained vague about her background for a couple of reasons. For one, she didn’t want to say or do anything that might trigger him to the fact that they’d met before. She also was starting to feel, just like last time, a little too cozy in his presence, as if she’d known him forever.
Her mind had started to conjure up future Christmas sleigh rides, little ones on their laps. Or was that past Christmas lives? Not that she believed in reincarnation, but the ease and familiarity she felt around Nico last time hadn’t lessened over the years.
“What’s the place ahead?” he asked.
“That’s a B&B, Holly Hill Inn. The owner goes all out with the decorations every year.”
“The house looks like something from the last century, transported into modern day,” Nico said.
“I always felt that, too.” A white picket fence surrounded a two-storey residence, clad in red clapboard siding. Fresh white trim around the windows and doors was offset by traditional Christmas greenery, red ribbons, and hundreds of white lights. “We’ll be coming by here later.”
“We will?”
“I have a little something for some of their guests.”
As they sat there, looking back toward town and drinking in the view, Holly felt that unmistakeable something that had first drawn her to Nico. Almost of their own volition, her limbs softened and lost their rigidity, once more easing her closer to his side. Her heart rate increased as she slowly turned his way. Their eyes met and something inside her warmed and melted. She sighed softly, seconds before his lips found hers.
Everything about kissing Nico felt right. There was no awkward bumping of noses or clashing of teeth as their mouths met. Like before, she had the most uncanny sense of having come home, where she belonged, connected to this man on so many levels. Blood raced through her limbs, making her feel alive like never before, while his talented lips sipped, tasted, and nibbled hers.
She moaned softly in the back of her throat, which he took as encouragement to deepen the kiss, to plough his fingers through her hair, nails grazing her scalp, all the while holding her as if he’d never let her go.
Except he had let her go.
Eventually they drew apart, looking deep into one another’s eyes. Nico looked unsure about what had just happened, but Holly knew. There was no denying the feeling of rightness in their being together.
Like years earlier, she was the yin to his yang, about to share another Christmas Eve with him.
And like before, she didn’t want to miss a second of it.
Vaguely she grew aware the sleigh had started moving, taking them down the hill and back to town.
And just like that, she was newly energized! It was Christmas Eve, and she had work to do.
Chapter 7
THANKS TO COPIOUS SESSIONS with her ice pack earlier in the day, the swelling of her ankle had receded and Holly was able to carefully put a little pressure on the injured limb, but she knew there was no way she could have made countless trips from the house to the van and back again with her arms full of packages.
Nico meticulously followed her instructions as the van was loaded, gifts slated for early delivery at the front, while the ones to be delivered later were stored toward the rear of the van.
At last, it was time to get started. Holly pulled out the map she had printed, marking the locations and addresses with a bright red sharpie, easy to read by the van’s interior lights.
Nic grinned. “An old-fashioned girl? No GPS?”
Holly shot him a look. “Where would I be if my phone suddenly died? You can always count on paper.”
“I agree,” Nico said. “Technology is great, but sometimes the old way is better. Do kids still write to Santa, or do they email him these days?”
“All I know is, most kids in grade school know a lot more about phones and computers than I do. And I still cherish getting paper cards in the mail.”
“I’ll drive,” Nico said. “Just tell me where to turn and where to stop and I’ll do the rest.”
NIC HAD TO HAND IT to Holly. What she had committed to was quite an undertaking. Not onl
y did they slip silently into the unlocked homes, they had to make sure they didn’t track in any snow, and that they locked each door behind them.
“Here, drink this,” Holly whispered, handing him a glass of milk.
“I don’t like milk,” Nic said.
“Santa likes milk.” Holly scooped the Christmas cookies from the plate by the fireplace, along with a carrot. “And you offered to help.”
So he had. “My duties were not fully disclosed,” he whispered back as he plugged his nose and tried not to gag on the room temperature milk, aware of Holly’s silent laughter.
Outside, he helped her back into the van, his hands lingering at her waist. They’d been at this for almost two hours, with the van ringing nearly nonstop with their laughter. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so much, or felt this carefree, even when he slipped on a patch of ice and almost did the limbo trying not to drop the gifts or land on his ass, all of which had sent Holly into fits of laughter. He enjoyed watching the way her face lit up with merriment and exaggerated his movements, just to set her off again.
“What do you do with all those cookies?” he asked. “And don’t tell me you eat them. That’s not even possible.”
“I take them to the senior center on the other side of town. A lot of those people have no family and they enjoy homemade goodies, especially the lopsided ones the kids make.”
Nic felt a rush of emotion, suddenly ashamed of the way he’d let work rule his life, missing out on those last golden years with his mother. She’d lived in the center Holly referred to. “Are there a lot of seniors with no families?” he asked, forcing the words past the sudden lump in his throat.
“The town has an ‘adopt a grandparent’ program for seniors who are alone. The seniors get a surrogate family and the children learn how to be kind to the elderly. It’s a win-win.”
“What a great idea.”
“Your mother wasn’t part of it because she had Sherry here, but the boys were little when she passed away. Once they’re a bit older, I expect Sherry will adopt a new grandparent. Not to take your mother’s place, of course,” she added quickly. “No one could do that.”