Hating Christmas (Holiday Series)

by Carol Rose

  “Levi?”

  His wondering thoughts recalled, he looked down at Holly.

  “What?”

  “If you don’t stop touching me like that, I’m going to attack you, B12 or not.” She reached for his penis.

  Levi laughed, feeling himself harden at the touch of her hand…and then he heard the unmistakable sound of the front door closing. “Damn.”

  “Double damn,” she whispered, getting up on her elbow again.

  “I need to sneak out.” He got up from the bed, reaching for his towel, steaming gently next to the radiator. Going back to the bed, Levi placed a hard, quick kiss on her delectable mouth.

  “Later.” Opening the door quietly, he looked back at her where she lay on the bed. She was beautiful—her russet hair sprawled over the pillow and her bare breast above the sheet that had covered them both. He stopped himself before the words hovering on his tongue where out. He didn’t know where the urge to tell her he loved her had come from. Normally, he left these kind of encounters, feeling nothing but relief that he could sleep in his own bed that night. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Holly waved, urging him to sneak out of the half-opened door.

  Levi crept back to his room, hearing his father’s voice talking quietly to Audrey at the bottom of the stair. He hated this part of the mess, but he sure as hell didn’t want either his father or her mother knowing anything about his growing interest in Holly.

  ***

  Holly woke and stretched luxuriantly, the tenderness between her legs reminding her of just how pleasantly she’d spent the middle of last night. She’d never before been one for missing any sleep to have sex, but when Levi had crept into her room after midnight and kissed her awake, she’d had her first really exciting Christmas Eve in years. Decades, really.

  Yesterday had been filled with secret touches between she and Levi, following their parents around as they made Christmas preparations. By the time she’d gone to bed—alone in her own room, darnit—she’d been fill with hunger for him. But even if they’d had to be really restrained during the whole day, at least the night had been incredibly satisfying.

  Smiling to herself, she wriggled under the covers.

  God, he was good. Even if she’d had to spend the day before Christmas running last minute errands with her mother and she found she hadn’t minded the cheery waves and the giggling kids. You’d have thought just the grocery store experience would be enough to reinforce her dislike of the holiday, but—she found herself smiling widely—this Christmas was turning out a lot better than she’d thought. She didn’t even dread the opening of presents like she used to.

  Getting up, Holly slipped into her robe naked, hoping Levi would follow her into the bathroom. Surely, they could find a way to sneak in a quickie in the shower. At the very least, she’d get to see him over breakfast. She didn’t know when she’d been this excited to see a man before she had her coffee.

  Descending the stairs an hour later, Holly wandered into the kitchen where her mother and Michael sat.

  “Good morning, Holly,” her step-dad said, getting up to reach for the coffee pot. “Want a cup?”

  “Sure.” She sat down next to her mother.

  Audrey got up. “Sausages or just some scrambled eggs?”

  “Eggs and coffee. No sausage.” She smiled as she accepted a full cup from Michael.

  “Now don’t be too long with breakfast,” her mother admonished. “I don’t know why both you and Levi slept so late this morning.”

  Holly willed herself not to blush or smile, bringing her cup to her lips.

  “He was in here and finished breakfast a few minutes ago. The doorbell rang and he went to answer it since I’d just sat down to eat.” Her mom picked up her plate, balancing her coffee cup and fork on it. “Can you believe? It was a courier or something. Who ever thought of having people make deliveries on a holiday?”

  The older woman shook her salt-and-pepper head.

  “It’s Christmas morning, for heaven’s sake.” Her mother started to wipe the already-clean counters as Michael put their dishes in the dish washer. “We should open presents soon.”

  Swallowing her mouthful of coffee, Holly reflected that her mom had always enjoyed getting Christmas gifts for others, but she wasn’t very good at it. For a very kind, affectionate person, she struggled to think beyond her own perspective when she gave gifts. She got for others what she’d like to get herself. Somehow, she always thought she had bright ideas, but she ended up with some off-the-wall purchases. A day planner for her high school aged daughter? A print for the friends who’d complained of crowded walls, having just downsized their family home? She’d even gotten footie pajamas for Holly the first year of college. Holly had felt too embarrassed to let anyone at the dorm see them.

  As he passed out of the now-cleaned kitchen, Michael patted her on the back. “Come on, Holly. Santa left you lots of presents under the tree.”

  Stifling a groan, Holly dumped out the last of her coffee and put the cup and plate in the dish washer. Hells bells, she always hated this part of Christmas.

  Curling up in the corner of the couch, she didn’t say anything as her mom laid several packages beside her, saying archly, “Now don’t peek.”

  When Levi came into the room, carrying several expensively-wrapped gifts, she just lifted her eyebrows at him. A small smile quirked his mouth as he threaded his way around the presents her mother was dispersing to everyone.

  “Okay,” Michael rubbed his hands together in glee. “Now we’ve talked about this. Everyone has a pile of presents beside them and we think we should take turns opening one at a time, so everyone gets to see what you got. You start, Holly.”

  “Er, okay.” She picked up the package on top of her pile, aware of Levi’s dark stare from a nearby chair. “Oh, from Michael. How nice. Thank you.”

  She said, unwrapping the large box.

  “You can’t really thank someone,” he said, “until you know what they gave you.”

  With a smile that felt tight, she finished opening the box and when the tissue fell back, she found a large book. Lifting the atlas from the box, she looked up enquiringly at Michael.

  “It’s an atlas,” he said a little awkwardly. “And if you’ll dig around in the box you’ll find a gift card that will enable you to buy an atlas ap for your phone. There are several that look good, but the one I’ve listed there looks pretty comprehensive.”

  She lifted the sheets of tissue till she found the gift card with a sticky note attached. On the yellow paper was the name of a travel app she could download.

  “I know you travel around a lot, shooting documentaries,” Michael explained. “I thought this would help you get where you’re going.”

  Looking up at him, Holly felt startled. Wow. A thoughtful gift. She hardly knew this man and she hadn’t expected anything this targeted for her. “Thank you, Michael. This is great.”

  “You’re welcome.” He beamed at her.

  “I mean, this is really great,” she assured him. She was so accustomed to her mother’s lame gifts, this came as a surprise. “When we’re filming, we end up in some backwater places.”

  “Well,” Michael said heartily, “we wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

  “Thank you, Michael,” she said, smiling tremulously. “I appreciate it.”

  “Levi, you’re next. Open something, son,” his dad urged.

  “Okay.” Levi picked up a present with a big gold bow, sliding a finger under the tape on one end.

  Holly kept her smile pinned in place, but she couldn’t help the quickening of her heart. She hoped he liked it and would read her intent into the small gift. She’d thought about giving Levi sledding lessons, but realized that she didn’t want him hugging someone else while he squealed his way down a snowy hill. Just her.

  He glanced at the gift tag and over at her, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “From Holly.”

  Opening the box, he pushed t
he tissue paper aside and took out a small glass globe. It had the continents left frosted while the oceans were crystal clear.

  “Beautiful.” He balanced the sphere in one hand, looking it over.

  “I thought about putting a red flag on it that said “Holly is here” for you to move around in different places,” she said in as teasing a tone as she could manage.

  Casting her a quick look loaded with meaning, he said, “Good idea, then I could position it wherever I wanted you to be. LA for example.”

  Holly swallowed quickly and hurried into speech to cover the tension between herself and the sexy guy across the room. “I thought it would be a great paper weight for your desk.”

  Levi held the globe cradled in his lean fingers. Still looking down at it, he said, “I’ll keep it right there.”

  Looking over at her mom and Michael, she said with artificial brightness, “Who’s next?”

  “Everyone takes a turn each round. Levi, you pick the next one.” Her mother smiled, clearly in hog heaven.

  “Okay. Audrey, you go next.”

  “Oooh, I’m going to open this one.” Audrey picked the large, beautifully-wrapped gift from Levi. Ripping off the paper as if she were nine, she looked down at the bulky dress box. “What could this be?”

  “Open it,” Levi recommended with a smile.

  Holly’s mom whipped off the box lid and there under the tissue was a beautiful evening coat in oyster satin with small gold flowers embroidered across the fabric. Audrey looked up at her step-son with moist eyes. “Oh, Levi, it’s beautiful. You shouldn’t have. I’m sure it’s too expensive.”

  He just laughed. “Try it on and make sure it fits.”

  “Really. You shouldn’t have spent so much,” her mother protested, lifting the coat from its box to slip it over her shoulders. “Perfect. You even guessed the size, unless your father told you.”

  “Nope.” Michael denied the inference, saying in a kidding tone. “Boy’s just really great at guessing women’s sizes, aren’t you?”

  “Not really. I gave the saleswoman Audrey’s general height.”

  “Was this what came this morning?” her mom looked up from smoothing her hand over her arm in the evening coat.

  “Partly,” Levi admitted. “I always do my shopping at the last minute. Dad, you’re next.”

  Michael picked up the envelope that sat on top of his stack of gift boxes. Opening it, he said thickly, “Son, you shouldn’t have. This is too much.”

  “Nonsense.” He sent a glimmering smile toward Holly. “I make all that money being a vulture. I should be able to spend it on the people I love.”

  “But cruise tickets? It’s too much!” He went to hug his son. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Smiling at Audrey, Levi said, “Besides, I haven’t given you two a wedding gift yet.”

  Holly knew the gift was an indication of what Levi had said to her several days earlier. He’d signaled his acceptance of the union, given it his blessing, so to speak. She was glad he accepted now that her mother was nothing like Rebecca.

  “Your turn,” her mother urged Holly. “Open the bigger present now.”

  With a resignation developed over years of disappointing Christmas’, she unwrapped the box and found a pair of glittery shorts. Holly looked up at her mother.

  “There’s a matching blouse, too. It’s a pair of hot pants! Isn’t that a scream? Those were all the rage when I was your age. I knew when I saw them in that resale shop that you’d look great in them.”

  “Thanks, mom,” she responded brightly before laying the box aside, muttering “All the rage in the seventies.”

  Levi leaned forward and said in a low voice as Audrey was telling her husband what all else she’d found in the resale shop, “Maybe I could get a private show later.”

  “Shut up,” she hissed, irritated with her mom once again giving a lousy gift and at the same time protective of her mom against Levi’s teasing.

  Of course, the idea of giving him a private showing was…pretty exciting.

  A moment later, Audrey turned back to them. “Levi, you have an envelope, too. Right there. Open that next.”

  With a despondent sense of inevitability, Holly watched as Levi opened the Christmas card and out fell a gift card to Chili’s restaurant.

  “You’re dad said you’re always entertaining clients, so this should help.” The older woman smiled at him.

  “Thanks, Audrey.” Levi seemed genuine although Holly couldn’t imagine him picking Chili’s as a lunch destination for his high-profile clients.

  The gift opening continued around the circle—Michael giving his son a pair of sleek gold cufflinks and Holly having unearthed and had bound for her mom a one-of-a-kind recipe book of family recipes passed down through the generations.

  Finally, they got to the last gift, a big box that sat off to the side. It was wrapped in the distinctive expensive paper that Levi’s other gifts had also been wrapped in and Holly noticed now that her name was inscribed on the label. As the gift-giving ritual had unfolded, she’d been aware that Levi hadn’t given her anything. They’d both come reluctantly to this celebration, so she wasn’t really expecting much beyond a token. He’d given thoughtful gifts to her mom and his dad. She figured he wouldn’t leave her out of this thing completely, but now that they were screwing one another’s brains out whenever they had the chance, she’d pretty much been getting the best he could offer.

  “So, Holly,” Michael said, wiggling his eyebrows with ill-concealed glee. “The last gift—and in a pretty big box—has your name on it.”

  She cleared her throat. “Yes. Yes, it does.”

  Levi sat in his arm chair, just looking at her with that smile on his face. She couldn’t say why she suddenly felt nervous, but she did.

  “Go on,” her mother urged. “Open it. It says right there on the tag that it’s from Levi.”

  “I see.” Holly got up from the couch and circled the big box.

  “Open it.” Levi’s father joined in.

  “Don’t rush me,” she complained as her fingers pulled at the ribbon.

  “Maybe it’s a new coat like mine.” Audrey stoked the sleeve of her evening coat.

  “The box is too big,” her step-father pointed out.

  “If she weren’t so slow at opening gifts, you’d know by now what’s inside,” Levi pointed out in a drawl.

  Holly made a face at him, continuing to pull the wrapping paper away from the box. When she’d yanked it clear, she carefully flipped the box over so the writing on the top was visible.

  Across the cardboard was printed in bold letters, Quality Adventures.

  She looked at Levi, unsure what she’d find inside.

  He just grinned, saying, “Open it. The suspense is killing us.”

  Beginning to yank at the heavy staples that held the box shut, she said, “I’m sure you have no idea what’s in here.”

  Seeing her struggle to open the thing, Michael pulled a worn pocket knife out. “Here, let me help.”

  He slit open one end and Holly pulled back the end of the box, bending to peer inside.

  Sitting back on the floor, she started to laugh, shaking her head. “You didn’t.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Levi assumed an innocent look, at variance with his natural sardonic smile. “Take it out.”

  Chuckling still, she lifted the closed end of the box to spill out a shiny new Flexible Flyer sled. Longer than the one that had carried the two of them down the hill, this one had similar red runners and new wooden slats to form the body of the sled.

  Michael gave a shout of laughter and her mom started laughing, too.

  Levi leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Now you have the best equipment for our next snow challenge.”

  Holly’s gaze misted over and she wanted to rush over and kiss him. He had to have ordered this after their snowy day together and then had it sent express. She knew she couldn’t kiss him, not with their
parents looking on, but she really wanted to. She settled for meeting his eyes as the older two-some gathered around to admire her new sled. To Levi, she mouthed the words “Thank you.”

  She could only hope he knew that was for more than the sled.

  ***

  “Holly,” Levi called to her as their parents headed into the kitchen to check on the big Christmas meal.

  With a glance at her mother as she disappeared through the arch that led to the kitchen, Holly stopped and waited for him to close the distance between them.

  “Thanks for the sled.” The look she gave him was demure, but her smile felt teasing.

  “You’re welcome. You can whip my ass sledding anytime. It worked out pretty well for me, too.” He tugged her back into the living room. “Come here. Listen, I’ve been thinking….”

  “What? You don’t think my having a new sled is fair,” Holly mocked gently.

  “I wouldn’t have given it to you if I wasn’t getting one for myself. I’ll pull your pretty butt out of the snow next time, but that’s not what I wanted to say.” He glanced toward the kitchen again, lowering his voice to a husky range. “

  Surprised, she waited for him to continue.

  “About breaking our parents up,” he prompted. “The more I look at this thing, the less it seems like your mother is using my dad for his money. She seems to really care for him. Audrey seems like a good person.”

  “She is,” Holly said slowly. Her Google search had yielded enough to let her know her biggest fear wasn’t true. Michael wasn’t just out to get her mother to support him. “I found out that your dad used to own a company that made auto parts. He’s doing okay, if the sales reports were true.”

  “They’re true.” He met her gaze steadily. “I’m a little sensitive about women marrying rich men.”

  “Rebecca.”

  “Exactly.” Levi reached out to hold her hand. “When I thought this was all about the cash for Audrey, I wasn’t fair to your mother.”

  “No, she’s not that kind of person. Actually…, I’ve had some doubts about our plan myself.”