The Christmas Boyfriend: A Return to Snow Valley Romance

by Taylor Hart

  Her mother held her without touching her because the cucumber and peeler were in her hands. “Well, what is all this?” Pulling back but staying in her arms, she peered up at Lacey.

  Lacey smiled at her. “I don’t know. When I heard about Oliver’s mom being diagnosed, it just brought all of it back, ya know? Seeing you so healthy makes me so grateful.”

  Lacey’s mom hugged her again. “Baby, I know. It’s been hard. I miss you. I wish you would come home. For good.”

  There it was. The guilt. Her mind raced. At any moment, her mother could come out of remission.

  Her mother gave her a little hug. “We better get this done.”

  Mike strutted into the kitchen, caught sight of both of their faces, and retreated. “Chick talk!” he yelled out to her father, who sat across the family room on the couch watching football. “I’d stay out of the kitchen.” Her father chuckled in response.

  Lacey and her mother giggled. “You told Dom he didn’t have to wait until the company got here, didn’t you?” her mother asked.

  “He wanted to go for a run.” Lacey thought he seemed as obsessive about running as she did about dancing. She’d gone to her studio for an hour after settling him into the guesthouse and let loose through dance, expressing all the happiness she was feeling.

  She thought of him wanting to run through the deep snow and smiled. She liked Dom. He was interesting, and he’d helped her through a rough patch earlier in the day when she’d freaked out on him.

  As if hearing them wonder about him, three knocks sounded from the side door by the garage. Lacey rushed to it.

  “He doesn’t have to knock,” her father said from the couch, staring at the game on television.

  Lacey pulled back the door and was rewarded with a nice dose of cologne and a very fresh-looking Dom.

  “Hey.” The side of his mouth tugged up into a grin, and the knot in her stomach increased. This model-like guy never failed to take her aback with his good looks. His hair was wet but gelled up in a fashionably spiky style.

  Though she’d been in love with Oliver for a long time, she couldn’t deny there was some chemistry between her and Dom.

  “Hey.” She stepped back. “Come in.”

  “Dom, you never have to knock, honey. You just come right in.” Her mother didn’t look at him, bending to take another loaf of pumpkin bread out of the oven.

  “Thanks,” he said to her, but his eyes remained on Lacey. He reached out and took her hand. “You look nice.”

  A distant warning bell rang in her mind; their joined hands didn’t feel as weird as they had at the flower shop. Still, she played along. “Thank you.”

  He didn’t seem to be checking her out, as his eyes remained steady with hers, but it felt like he was reading her face with laser-like precision.

  She was blown away by the attraction she felt for Dom. Not just an appreciation of a physical specimen, but a pull that made her want to be near him.

  Dang, he looked good. His cologne was no longer muted from the day but was clearly recently reapplied.

  Leaning in, he pulled her into his side. It felt like a very boyfriend thing to do. She forced herself to remain relaxed next to him.

  He nodded in approval, and his blue eyes seemed to dance in amusement he leaned in and whispered, “Are you ready to get your man back?”

  “Hey, you two.” Her mom unexpectedly appeared beside her, reaching for Dom. She moved next to him and pulled him in for another hug.

  “Mom, you hugged him earlier,” Lacey said, letting go of his hand and stepping out of his proximity. Which, oddly enough, she was stunned to find she didn’t like.

  Her mother had always been an over-hugger, and her father always rolled his eyes and told the kids to get over it.

  “Are you settled in okay? Lacey said you went for a run. I’m afraid the roads aren’t quite plowed enough. You know you can always use Lacey’s studio on the other side of the house. Half of it is a workout room put together for Mike.”

  “He’s so going down.” Mike was in the kitchen now, picking up a carrot off a tray and popping it into his mouth. “So down. He does MMA.”

  Her father appeared, taking a carrot too. “Really? You two going to do some sparring?”

  Dom looked nonchalant, and Lacey had to admire the way he’d gone with the whole MMA comment when she’d said that about him. He scrunched his nose at Mike. “Your funeral, but we can if you want.”

  Mike laughed good-naturedly. “Bring it on, man. Maybe tomorrow morning before dinner.”

  Lacey couldn’t believe he was going to go through it. She was just trying to be silly or witty or something, and now it was backfiring. Even if she did get back together with Oliver tonight, she would tell Oliver the whole ridiculous story about the paid boyfriend, and then she would help Dom have a good Christmas.

  Yes. Dom deserved that much. It still made her sad to think about everything he’d gone through, having his parents pass away and his fiancée leave him. She frowned at Mike. “I don’t think you guys should fight on Christmas. I mean, we’re focusing on Christ’s birth, right? Not pounding each other?”

  Her mother tsked her. “Honey, you’re not going to keep the boys from fighting. That’s just what they’re going to do.”

  Her brother, ever the puppy, jabbed at the air in Dom’s direction. “One, two, down for the count.” He put his hand up. “Adrian!” It was a pretty bad imitation of Rocky Balboa.

  Dom laughed. “We’ll see, Balboa. We’ll see.”

  The doorbell rang before Lacey could think any more about that. Her mother followed her father to answer it. The front door opened, and there stood Oliver’s parents with Oliver behind them. The happy feeling that had surrounded her since seeing him at the diner intensified.

  Oliver’s mother had a sarong wrapped around her head, and her face was pale, but she was smiling and held a covered basket. “Thank you for inviting us tonight and tomorrow.”

  Lacey’s dad hugged her. Then it was her mom’s turn. She held her for an extra long time. “Of course, we love you guys.”

  Oliver’s father came in shaking hands. He hugged her mother. Then both of her parents hugged Oliver.

  Part of her felt like this was some surreal movie scene. It was what she’d always pictured her life would be. Holidays with Oliver’s family and hers.

  Before she knew it, she was hugging his parents and introducing Dom.

  Dom seemed very natural and casual about it all, staying by her side and taking her hand lightly. Even when he got to Oliver, he put his hand out.

  Oliver shook Dom’s hand, and she noted he was staring at her and Dom’s clasped hands. His eyes flicked up to Dom. “Seeing you twice on your first day here. I guess you’re probably feeling a bit awkward having the old boyfriend’s family over for dinner?”

  Lacey couldn’t believe he’d said that. She stared at him, wondering if he was jealous. She couldn’t decide if she was glad about it or not. Regardless, she didn’t want him treating Dom that way. Which was stupid, she knew. Wasn’t the whole point in having Dom here to make him jealous?

  None of the parents heard the comment, already in their own conversation, but her brother did. Mike’s eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to her, grunting and giving Oliver a look that said he would give him a beatdown if they were in the ring. He’d never really liked Oliver that much, grumbling that Oliver didn’t appreciate her.

  Out of the blue, Dom pulled her in closer, putting his arm all the way around her shoulders. “I guess it would be awkward if you weren’t engaged.” The grin he flashed at Oliver was one she hadn’t seen before. It was overly large, overly confident. Why was he acting this way? He knew the plan was for her to get Oliver back.

  Her brother nudged Oliver a little bit too hard in the shoulder. “Heard you’re taking over your dad’s business. Never thought I’d see you selling real estate.”

  Looking confused and the teeniest bit perturbed, Oliver held his gaze with Dom for a s
econd longer before turning to her brother. “Mike, you’ve gotten big.” He said it in a patronizing way.

  Worry surged within Lacey. Oliver wasn’t the “sparring” type. Maybe that had something to do with why her brother never liked him. She turned to her brother and saw the irritation on his face.

  To her surprise, she saw an understanding look pass between Mike and Dom. Dom cleared his throat. “You know, Mike, we should have Oliver come spar with us after dinner. Start the fun off right.”

  A slow smile crossed Mike’s face, and a dangerous glint lit his eye. He glanced at Oliver. “Naw, he’s not into that, are ya?”

  Dom held Oliver’s gaze.

  “Sure.” Oliver stuck his chin out cockily and spoke to Dom. “Snow Valley men are tough. Think you could handle it?”

  Lacey’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t like it.

  “I don’t know. I guess we can find out,” Dom said steadily.

  “No fighting tonight,” Lacey’s mother said. “Let’s save that for tomorrow.”

  She caught her father’s eye and saw an amused look on his face. Turning to Oliver’s father, he said, “Let’s talk about the Channing deal.”

  Before they sat down to dinner, her mother played Christmas music at the piano and they all gathered around to sing.

  Lacey stood next to Dom, but she couldn’t help but catch Oliver’s eye and they would smile at each other. Yes, it could still work. It was meant to work out between them.

  They sat around the blue and silver Christmas tree and read the story of the Savior’s birth out of Luke in the Bible. Lacey’s mind wandered during the tale, thinking of how everything had led her to this moment with Oliver. She’d been a fool to put her dancing above her relationship with him.

  Dinner turned out to be boring. Basically, her father and Oliver’s father talked about business, going into depth about the subdivision they were going to put on her grandfather’s land a couple of miles south of their place.

  “Where is Grandpa?” she asked, looking for any opening to not talk about developing real estate.

  Her father took a sip of water. “Your grandfather opted out of dinner tonight, claiming that spending Christmas with you hooligans would be enough for him.”

  Lacey grinned and thought about Grandpa. He was ex-military and spoke his mind, never pulling punches.

  Kinda like Dom. Her eyes flashed toward him, the picture of an attentive boyfriend. Even now, he held her hand, but he looked a bit bored himself.

  Her mother smiled and winked at Lacey. “Your grandpa always does his thing. He has missed you.” She eyed her son. “Mike’s been helping him a lot.”

  Mike let out a sputtering laugh and wiped his face. “Yeah, I’ve been Grandpa’s donkey. ‘Mike, I need you to move this. Mike, I have some cows I need moved. Come with me.’” His gaze settled fondly on their father. “But the old bugger is tough. That’s for sure.”

  “Mike’s good to him,” her dad said, flexing his bicep. “Maybe one day you’ll be as cut as your old man. Then you’ll have your grandpa to thank for it.”

  All of them chuckled.

  Jeannie put her hand over Paul’s. “It’s hard to have your kids grow up. I’m so grateful Oliver’s close.”

  Lacey felt bad, thinking of what her mother had said earlier. She rationalized that if the plan went accordingly, she would be coming back to Snow Valley after she finished her senior year.

  Yes, she would finish her degree and come home and be with Oliver and her family—but how come the thought of not dancing, not going to New York and being part of one of the dance companies there, suddenly felt so painful?

  Jeannie’s smile widened. “Oliver, why don’t you tell them your good news?”

  Oliver looked uncomfortable, shaking his head. “No, let’s wait until Linda’s here tomorrow.”

  Lacey glanced nervously between them. What news could he have other than the fact that he was engaged? Wasn’t that news enough?

  “No, son,” his father encouraged him. “We’re going to be surrounded by half of Snow Valley tomorrow. Tell them tonight.”

  “Well …” Oliver turned to everyone and plastered a smile on his face, carefully avoiding her eyes. “Linda and I are getting married on New Year’s.”

  Lacey’s heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach.

  “Well, that’s great,” her father said.

  Jeannie’s smile widened. “He said me getting diagnosed made him realize he didn’t want to wait that long to start his life.”

  Lacey stared at Oliver. “That’s great,” she said, putting on a rubbery smile despite wanting to burst into tears. What about the plan? They were supposed to have a life together in Snow Valley.

  If he was upping the timeline to get married in little over a week, what did he have to ask her tonight? All of her earlier happiness evaporated.

  Their mothers were already going on and on about arrangements, the flowers, and the current wedding flower job at the shop. No one was paying attention.

  Dom leaned toward her and whispered into her ear, “Don’t worry. It’s all a cover.” Then he let out a soft chuckle and kissed her on the side of the cheek.

  It shocked her when she felt a spark between them. Her heart raced and her cheeks burned.

  He pulled back, and she thought she could get lost in that perfect facial hair and how soft it was against her cheek. Dom shifted, and their eyes met again. Their lips were inches apart. He smiled.

  Her stomach fluttered. He was so gorgeous, gazing into her eyes as if he really was into her. For a second, she could almost forget she’d hired him. It took effort to keep herself grounded.

  As if to add insult to injury, Oliver chose that moment to turn to her. “Ah, Lacey, could we go talk now? Alone?”

  Chapter 10

  Awkward was the only way to describe the rest of Christmas Eve dinner, Dom thought. After Lacey had left with Oliver, it just got strange. He spent an hour fielding polite questions from Oliver’s and Lacey’s parents about his fake persona, and now Dom was looking for a way out.

  The only thing that had been interesting was listening to Lacey’s dad talk about how he’d grown up with his own father serving in the military and moving around so much. His mother had passed away, and he worked his way through school with a football scholarship. It was also fun to hear how he came back to Snow Valley and married the woman of his dreams. Of course, that was after she’d married some jerk.

  “You’re not Lacey’s real father?” Dom had burst out. This had not been in the binder.

  Her father smiled and shook his head back and forth.

  Lacey’s mother looked down at her empty plate. “Her real father passed away years ago from alcohol poisoning.”

  Dom pulled himself together as best he could. “I think she did mention that.” Feeling like a heel, he tried to look confident.

  Her father suddenly ended the dinner by standing. “Well, Jeannie and Paul, we won’t keep you tonight. Lots of fun to be had tomorrow.”

  Everyone took the hint, and the dinner was over, but Oliver and Lacey still weren’t back.

  Even though Dom knew he was only a pawn in this game Lacey was playing with these people, it bugged him she’d been gone so long. Usually, he could count on his intuition to know how to react to any situation, but he’d found his gut unreliable since meeting her.

  Maybe he hadn’t properly appreciated what it would mean to be a paid boyfriend.

  It wasn’t like the missions he was involved in for the military. In those cases, there was a clear enemy. No, here he’d grown to actually like Lacey and feel quite invested in her life and family in less than twenty-four hours, despite her completely idiotic idea to give up the dream she had to dance for Oliver. Or for anyone, really. She owed it to herself to take a shot at something she’d worked so hard for. That was cut-and-dry.

  Oliver’s mother reached the front door and looked confused. “Ah, Oliver drove by himself, so I
guess we’ll see him back at the house.”

  After saying uncomfortable goodbyes and feeling more awkward than he’d felt in a long time, Dom decided he was done playing the part of nice, dutiful boyfriend.

  Even if none of it was real, he was getting a little ticked she would leave him at dinner for so long. The thought that Lacey was somewhere, right at this moment, making out with Oliver didn’t suit him either.

  He started to help clean up, but Lacey’s mom waved him away. “You’ve had a long day. Don’t worry about this. If you want, you can go find her, Dom.”

  Her father moved past him with a handful of dishes. “She might have gone to the studio. She has an entrance from her room. I’d take your coat.”

  “Hey, he doesn’t get out of dishes, does he?” Mike came in with another round of dishes and a scowl.

  Janet shooed Dom away again. “Oh, hush.” She took her son around his middle in a hug. “You can chat with your mother and tell her about all the MMA fights you want to enter after you leave the house.”

  Mike looked unconvinced, but he set the dishes down and said, “Okay, in Billings, there’s this place I can go to on Friday nights to get in on the action …”

  Her father looked afraid, shaking his head at Dom. “He’s crazy,” he whispered as he passed by him on the way to the dining room.

  Bemused, Dom grabbed his coat and put his boots on, then went upstairs to find Lacey. He needed to figure out what he’d do when he found her and Oliver together.

  As Dom ascended the stairs, he was impressed with how it felt like if he turned one way there was one wing of the house, and if he turned another way it was a different wing. He knew it wasn’t that big, but this house was definitely bigger than any home he’d ever been in. It struck him as funny how they had still pulled off a sense of hominess despite the size.

  “You go to the right,” Janet called out.

  Dom followed her instruction and saw there was a hall that had two bedrooms and a bath. One looked like a guest room. The other he could tell was Lacey’s by all the shelves of trophies on the walls and pictures of Lacey, from the time she was young, wearing dance costumes. There was a skylight in the room, and he was struck again with how it was so big, but also comfortable. She had a king-sized bed. There was a ballet bar on the wall. Half the floor was made of carpet, and the other half was a wooden dance floor.