Hating Christmas (Holiday Series)

by Carol Rose

  Levi spotted an open airport store a little way down the concourse and decided to check to see if they had an ibuprophen after he finished talking to Mac. He hated having had to leave Holly with matters in such a mess. That fling issue needed to be clarified.

  “Ummm, I guess not.” Mac responded. “Remember that documentary about some country in Africa? The one I told you about having signed the contract. Remember, you were really pissed because I hadn’t talked with you first?”

  “Zambia,” Levi supplied.

  “Yeah, Zambia. Yeah, well, I guess the gods are smiling on me or something. It was scheduled to film in May, but the director just called and told me she’d let me out of the deal, if any conflict came up. Can you believe that? What a coincidence? Might have been messy, too, what with me having signed the contract and all.”

  Levi’s hand dropped from rubbing his head. “She called you? Holly Fitzgerald called you?”

  “Yeah, just today. Can you believe it? I hope she meant what she said, ‘cause I’d be screwed if she doesn’t. I mean, what could I do?”

  “You could sue her for interfering with your career.” Levi’s response was automatic. “She just called you today, saying she’d let you out of the contract? Today? Just like that?”

  “Yes, this morning,” Mac responded. “Was that great Karma, or what?”

  Why would Holly do that? His mind clicked through the options. Somehow, he couldn’t believe it was just luck.

  “Has she ever called you before? I mean since you signed the contract?”

  Mac took a moment to answer. “No, I mean she gave me the shooting date when I signed the contract. Said she’d call me later about the arrangements, but I hadn’t heard from her.”

  “Damn,” Levi breathed, realization hitting him. “She must have known.”

  “—I need to call my buds, dude.” Mac had obviously moved back to the bigger topic. “This is amazing. I should call my mother.”

  Levi realized he wasn’t listening. He was apparently willing to accept that this was a coincidence, but Levi wasn’t. He’d worked in the entertainment business too long not to realize that news traveled fast. Somehow, Holly must have heard about Mac’s being offered the bigger film.

  Levi said goodbye to his client mechanically.

  She’d known about Mac getting the movie and she let him off the hook.

  ***

  Curled up on the couch, Holly stared at the book in her hand that she’d been trying to read.

  “Sweetie, are you sure you don’t want to come with Michael and I to see Margery and Steve? It’s not like he’s in bed or anything. The doctor said that attack the other night was just because Steve had been over-doing it with the holiday.” Her mother sat down next to her. “Are you all right, honey? You seem a little down tonight?”

  “I’m fine.” Her response might have been too quick, but Holly couldn’t help it.

  “Well, okay.” Audrey got up. “We won’t be late.”

  The words no longer left her mouth than a knock sounded at the door.

  Her mother hurried over. “Michael, you did tell Margery that we were coming over there? They certainly don’t need to come out on a chilly night.

  Her mother’s husband stuck his head in from the kitchen, which he’d been straightening after dinner. “No, I said we’d go there.”

  Struggling with the front door deadbolt and muttering under her breath about the “damn thing”, Audrey opened the door.

  Levi stood on the small snowy front porch, his suitcase beside him. Beyond him, the tail lights of a departing cab could be seen.

  Feeling her heart suddenly thundering in her chest, Holly made herself stay on the couch.

  “Son!” Michael started forward. “Did you forget something?”

  “No.” Levi stepped inside, kicking the snow off his shoes as he looked at Holly.

  “Did they cancel your flight?” His dad looked up at the night sky before bringing the suitcase inside and shutting the door. “The forecast just called for evening snow flurries, but it’s not snowing now.”

  “No.” Levi’s gaze never wavered. “I just realized I had something here that I need to do.”

  Michael followed his son’s gaze, glancing at Holly and then back at Levi. “Oh.”

  Stopping in the midst of putting on her new evening coat, Audrey also seemed to feel the sudden tension in the room.

  “I need to talk to Holly.” Taking another step toward the couch, Levi looked at his dad and then at Audrey.

  Holly felt rooted to the couch. She looked at her knees, the expression on his face seared into her memory. If this had been a scene in a script, this moment would have been described as pregnant. Levi looked more intense than she’d ever seen him with his clothes on.

  “Honey?” Her mother clearly didn’t know what to make of it.

  “Yes.” Holly’s voice cracked a little and she cleared her throat. “Yes?”

  Looking back and forth between the two of them, her mom said, “Shall-shall Michael and I go on to Margery’s?”

  Feeling a flush crawl along her cheeks, Holly raised her gaze to Levi’s face. She had no idea why he’d come back, but some stupid part of her brain registered how good he looked. The shoulders of his expensive overcoat were dusted with snow flakes and his eyes seemed dark and intense as he looked at her.

  “Of course, you two go ahead.” The thought of she and Levi sharing one last heated tryst flashed through her mind before she dismissed the silly thought. “I’m fine.”

  Levi turned to smile at her mother. “You guys go ahead. I don’t want to interrupt your plans. I just need to talk with Holly.”

  “Oh, okay.” Her mother returned his smile, before pulling her coat on. “Let’s go, Michael. I’m sure they don’t need us standing around to chaperone them.”

  Inside, Holly cringed at her mom’s choice of words.

  Levi continued standing while his father and Audrey bundled themselves up and the door closed behind them.

  “Why are you here?” She kept her hands tightly gripped in her lap, wanting to rush to him and press her mouth against his.

  Levi went over to sit in the chair facing her. “I was sitting in the airport, making a call to one of my clients and…I realized something.”

  Her chest felt tight. Holly made herself smile at him brightly. “What?”

  He paused to take off his coat. Folding it and draping it over the arm of the chair, Levi turned to her, his face back to being unreadable. “Holly, when you came to my room this afternoon, you knew Mac had gotten the film.”

  She took a moment before responding, not sure where this was going. “Yes.”

  His hands on his knees, Levi looked at her. “Why?”

  Holly felt herself flush again, not sure what to say that wouldn’t make her look as vulnerable as she felt. She still didn’t know what he was driving at.

  “Why did you say those things to me? Why did you call Mac and let him out of the contract?”

  She raised her gaze to him again. “I-I had to. I realized…”

  Putting out her hand in a reassuring gesture, Holly started again, “I don’t want you to feel obligated, Levi. Please know that. I meant everything I said. You have…been wonderful—“

  “No, I haven’t.” His words were clipped. “At least, not in the beginning.”

  She waved this aside. “We were both stinkers in the beginning, but I—“

  “Do you know why I came back?” he interrupted her.

  Holly shook her head.

  “I came back because—“ He stopped and then said, “Holly, you gave Mac up for me, didn’t you?”

  Swallowing a sob, she just looked down at her knees again and shook her head.

  “You let go of the biggest name you’ve ever gotten to agree to appear in your documentaries. Why?”

  Her voice was low. “I told you why.”

  Raising her gaze again, she said with spirit, “Don’t ask me again. It’s too embarrassing
. What kind of modern day woman cuts her own professional throat for a man? Really. I can’t let this get around.”

  He laughed, which she’d meant him to do. “The kind of modern day woman who loves a man, that kind. You told me this morning that you love me. I think I was stunned by that, by how much I wanted you…. And you could have held Mac’s contract over his head long enough to get some money out of him. You could have used it to pay whatever expenses you’ve already incurred. Hell, you could have gotten enough out of him to pay for the whole Zambian project. This is a big film for him.”

  “Don’t.” She shook her head as she rose to her feet to walk over to the fireplace. “Don’t make me sound so pathetic.”

  She held her hands out to the warmth of the blaze. “I am you know. One great Christmas and some amazing sex and my heart goes pitter pat for a man. All the savvy I’ve picked up in my career goes out the window. I’m pitiful.”

  He was up from the chair and at her side in a flash. “Then I’m pitiful, too. I hated leaving and when I saw there in the airport, I realized I love you, too. I realized I couldn’t snatch Mac away from you for ten times the money I’d make on the deal. You—you’re just so much more important to me.”

  Levi pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she felt it though her whole body.

  Leaning his head against hers, he said, “All the way to the airport, I kept thinking how I could make this work for you. I kept wondering if you’d ever talk to me again when you found out about Mac. Then, I was sitting there at the terminal waiting for my plane to be de-iced and I couldn’t do it.”

  He dropped a kiss on her temple. “I knew. I knew I loved you and Mac could go to hell. I’ll get him another agent to look after his interests and we’ll find the biggest, butt-kicking lawyer to sue to the hell out of him over the scheduling thing. If nothing else, we’ll get you a hell of a settlement.”

  “Oh, Levi.” She looked up at him. “You, too? You love me?”

  Tucking her more securely in his arms, he said. “Yep. Me, too. I’ve never done less than my best for a client, but I didn’t care a flip about him.”

  “I love that plane,” she said dreamily. “If it hadn’t had to be de-iced, you might not have realized all this until you were flying home.”

  Levi kissed her again. “By the way, I love your mother. Do you realize if she hadn’t decided to give my father a shot, we’d never have come here for this Christmas, never have crawled on the snowy roof to add lights. We wouldn’t have met.”

  “Oh, I think we would have met.” She smiled at him.

  He chuckled. “Well, I’ve seen your work, but I had no idea how hot the director was. I don’t know how we would have met.”

  “I don’t know, either. But, I’ve had the impulse,” Holly said, pulling him down for another kiss. “I kept thinking I should throw my principles aside and jump the hot agent I saw at those premiers.”

  “Yes, please,” he said, unbuttoning her top button. “The sooner, the better.”

  LOOK FOR THE NEXT NOVEL IN THE HOLIDAY SERIES BY CAROL ROSE:

  NO BUNNY BUT YOU

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