“All good here. We’re getting ready for our annual Die Hard rewatch. Seb’s favorite holiday movie.”
“That man is weird.” I can almost hear her roll her eyes, and I laugh. “Have you heard from Adam?” she asks, hope coloring her tone. My heart feels heavy in my chest at the mention of his name.
“He sent me a picture of some flowers Harriet sent to thank us for dinner, but that’s it. No message.” Yes, I’m still stewing over it.
“Maybe he didn’t know what to say? Maybe he was just trying to start a conversation?” she offers, taking on my usual role of the optimist.
“I don’t know. I’m trying not to think too much into it. I want to enjoy my time with Seb. I’m going to go get the popcorn ready for the film. You guys have fun. I’ll speak to you tomorrow, okay? Send my love to your mom for me?” I say before we say our goodbyes and hang up.
Christmas morning. My favorite time of year.
The most magical day of the year is here, and I can’t help but smile as I watch my brother, wearing the hideous sweater I bought him, unwrapping his gifts. He pulls out a pair of socks that our parents sent him and wrinkles his nose at the design.
“Really?” he asks with a chuckle, and I crack up. They really don’t know him at all. While that would normally make me sad, nothing can dull my Christmas sparkle today. Well, almost nothing. My eyes fall on the ornament Adam slipped into my handbag, and my chest tightens. I figured it was a bit much to expect him under my tree this morning, but it didn’t stop me from wishing he was here. Telling me a cheesy joke or watching a movie with me, curled up on the couch.
The doorbell rings, and Seb and I look at each other in confusion. Who’s here at 8:00 a.m. on Christmas morning?
“That better not be carol singers,” Seb says with a look of horror on his face that has me laughing.
“I’ll get it,” I say, standing from the armchair and putting my mug of coffee down before making my way to the front door.
Unlocking the door, I pull it open and freeze. Standing there, in the obnoxious Christmas sweater I bought for him at the market, is Adam.
It feels like time has stood still. Is this real? How is he here?
He pulls his arm from behind his back and reveals a sprig of mistletoe with a cheeky grin, and my heart swells at the memory of our first “mistletoe” kiss. Lifting it between us, he slowly leans forward and claims my lips with his.
The moment our mouths touch, I’m lost. His tongue slips into my mouth, and I sigh, melting in his arms to the taste of coffee and Adam. My heart pangs as I savor every lick and roll of his tongue over mine. Sparks race through my body in a way that leaves me completely breathless. This is all I’ve dreamed of since the moment I drove away, and yet, Adam’s kiss is so much more. It’s demanding and affirming, and with every hum and groan that intermingles with mine, I want more.
I want him more than I ever have or ever thought I could. My need for him surpasses any dream or ideal I’ve ever had. With one simple touch, he makes me whole again. Just his close proximity has me buzzing, and my body aches to feel his affection. There isn’t a single part of me that isn’t yearning for all of him. I’m completely and irrevocably lost to the moment, his kiss…to him.
His soft hand cups my cheek, pulling me completely flush to him so that I can feel every dip and groove of his body. And the way we fit so seamlessly is like being home. The outside world melts away, and it’s just the two of us.
I run a hand over his chest, trying to convince myself he’s real and not a figment of my overactive imagination. If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up. I’m so lost in his touch that I barely hear someone clearing their throat behind us.
“Want to tell me who you are and why you have your tongue down my baby sister’s throat?” Seb asks from behind me, as I pull back from Adam with a blush.
Turning to find my overprotective brother glaring at Adam and folding his arms across his chest, I jump in to save Adam from answering. “Seb, could you give us a minute, please?”
I’m overwhelmed by Adam’s sudden appearance. My heart is pounding, and I have no idea how this conversation is going to go. But I know we have to have it. Seb grunts when I turn my puppy dog eyes on him and makes his way to the kitchen, so I motion for Adam to come inside, leading him into the lounge.
15
Adam
Amelia looks better than I remember in her red sweater dress and black over-the-knee socks. With her hair up in a messy bun, her green tartan bell earrings dangle in plain view. The same earrings she was wearing the day we met. There’s only one thing that’s off—Mrs. Claus doesn’t look all that Christmassy today with the exception of the earrings and the color of her dress.
“Where’s your hat, sweetheart?”
Amelia shrugs, and all I want to do is pull her into me, but it doesn’t escape me that since we’ve come inside, she’s kept her distance from me.
“Where’s your Christmas sweater?”
With the way she continues looking at me, a pained expression drawing on her beautiful face, my stomach knots tight.
Fuck, how is she ever going to forgive me for being such an asshole? I think as I continue taking her in. Her normally creamy skin is paler than I recall, and her flush is muted. The glow I’m used to seeing on her has all but disappeared, and I hate that I’ve caused this. I’ve dimmed her sparkle, one of the incredible things I love about her.
Sighing, she heads over to the kitchen, leaving me in front of the Christmas tree in the living room, and pulls a bottle of Southern Comfort from one of the cupboards, pouring some into her coffee cup before pouring a small dram into a glass. It’s impossible to miss the way her hands are shaking as she brings both drinks over and offers me the glass.
“It’s a bit early.” Even if I’ve been up all night trying to figure out how to win her back and undo at least some of my stupidity.
“Kate likes to say that it’s five in the afternoon somewhere. Well…” She shrugs again, following the trajectory of my glass as I put it down on the coffee table.
I’m not sure I agree with this particular gem even if I did agree with everything her friend told me down the phone last night. Particularly the parts where she referred to me as the wanker who broke her friend’s heart. Stings to know that I hurt Amelia, but then that’s the truth.
“Amelia—”
“What are you doing here, Adam?” She cuts me off before I have the chance to get into the speech I rehearsed with Kate after she stopped giving me her verbal lashings.
“I’m here for you.”
“What? Why?”
“I should never have left you. When you told me that you couldn’t come home with me, I should’ve come home with you. I should’ve dragged you onto my jet and brought you here myself.”
Studying me, she takes a long sniff of her coffee before putting it down beside the other drink.
“Why?” she finally asks after a stretch of silence.
“I want to stay with you, Amelia. I’m not ready to let you go.”
“You’re a wonderful man, Adam. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. If I ever thought of a perfect guy, you would be it.”
The downcast look on her face makes me cringe. For a moment I thought that she was going to tell me all the things I hoped and dreamed of on the cross-country flight; however, the tears and the obvious melancholy in her gaze as it flickers between mine and the floor says otherwise.
“But…?”
“Nothing has changed. You’re still a New York businessman, and I’m just me. My life is in London, and like you said before, you don’t have time for a relationship. Outside of our short time together at the cottage—” She pauses, taking a deep breath before she finally looks up at me again. “Outside of those nine days, you don’t have time for me. I don’t want to be a burden. Someone you have to fit into your life. It’s all I’ve ever been since I was born, and now I want more. I deserve more.”
Amelia smiles tentative
ly as though she’s trying to soften the blow. It’s just so typical of her to think of others even when she’s hurting, and in this moment I fall for her a little deeper. I don’t care what it takes, I’m not leaving here without her. Fuck, I don’t want to leave at all. I want to see her happy and at home.
“I don’t want to fit you into my life, sweetheart,” I tell her as I take a step closer. “I want you to be my life.”
The closer I get, the harder my heart beats, swelling so big at our closeness that it might burst out of my chest. Amelia is looking at me with wide-eyed confusion and trepidation. It really sets in how much I’ve hurt her. Unintentionally I broke her heart, and it’s obvious from the way she pulls back slightly when I reach for her.
“I never meant to hurt you.”
Nodding, she smiles weakly. Everything in me freezes over when she steps around me, picking up both of the drinks and heading for the kitchen where she stands at the sink, staring at her novelty mug and the tumbler in her hands.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, coming to a stop on the other side of the island.
It feels so wrong that there should be anything between us—physical or emotionally.
“You shouldn’t apologize for something that technically isn’t your fault.”
“I hurt you and—”
“The truth always stings, Adam, but in the end it hurts a lot less than the lies that are easier to hear. I get it—you like me, and I like you. We had a great time, but we’re not stuck with each other anymore. You’re not forced to stay with me.”
“But that’s exactly what I want…to stay with you. I’ve never wanted that before. I’ve never needed someone like I do you. You’re all I can think about. When I close my eyes, you’re the only thing I see, and every time I open them and you’re not there, my world is a little darker. I’m surrounded by people and more than a person should have in a lifetime, but it’s all meaningless.”
“Please, Adam…please, stop.” Pouring the contents of both cups into the sink, she runs the water at full stream, bracing herself over the edge of the stainless steel basin.
Seconds feel like minutes as I wait for her to look back at me, and when she doesn’t, I round the island to stand behind her. Reaching over her shoulder, I shut the water off, and when she makes no move to escape our closeness, my arms wind tightly around her.
Letting her go is the most unfathomable possibility. The thought alone cuts through me with an ache that echoes, reverberating like a jarring gong that makes it hard to keep myself from shuddering.
“Give me a chance,” I beg, turning her toward me. “Please.”
“A chance at what?” Pinning me with a beseeching stare, she gasps when I press my body to hers. “We’re not in the cottage anymore. Our bubble has burst.”
“Give me a chance to love you.” Cupping her face, I run my thumbs over her lips as I tip her chin up to get an undisturbed look at her beautiful eyes. “Give me a chance to love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
“You don’t have time.”
Stroking from the edges of her mouth, I smooth over her ruddy rose cheeks. “You have all my time. Whether I’m awake or asleep, you are the only thing I constantly yearn for.”
“What about work?”
“What about it? Doesn’t everyone work?”
“You live in New York.”
“I travel to London a lot, and I don’t need to be in New York to do what I do. Not unless I have to see a client or there’s an important meeting. Like my Nanna said, the whole point of technology is to make life easier. Better. My life is better with you in it.”
“So what? You’re going to move to London?”
The shorter tendrils that frame her face escape from the messy knot on her head as she shakes it. Before Amelia has a chance to add any more to her argument, I tuck them behind her ear as I tell her, “I can’t move to London full-time—I still have responsibilities—but that’s what pied-à-terres are for…extra-long layovers.”
“I want a relationship, not a fuck buddy.”
“I don’t want to be your fuck buddy.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I breathe her in as deep as I can, until my lungs feel as though they’re about to burst. “I want more. I want you to be mine and only mine.”
“Long-distance relationships aren’t—”
“I know it won’t be easy,” I tell her, grabbing her hips and lifting her onto the counter. “But it’ll be worth it. We’ll make it work.”
“Adam…”
“If you let me love you, I can make you happy. Fuck, I’ll make you the happiest goddamn woman in the world even if you don’t let me love you. I don’t care if I have to stalk you or pay to snow you in at the peak of summer. I’ll make every day fucking Christmas if I have to.”
A small, muted laugh escapes her, and I know she wants me as much as I want her. Even if she only wanted me half as much, I’d still be the luckiest guy in the universe.
“Every day?”
“Every fucking day.”
“You’ll wear that sweater for life?”
“Even if it’s threadbare. So long as it makes you happy…and mine. If you give me a chance…”
“I can get you a new sweater when that one’s seen better days.” With a pursed smile, she rests her hands on my chest. “I’m sure that market will be back next Christmas.”
“Did I tell you I have a private jet?” Bringing her closer to the edge of the counter, I hook her leg around my ass.
“You do?” Amelia jokes, tipping her head back so that I’m looking down at her. She’s so damn beautiful that I just want to devour every last inch of her.
“Company perk.”
“Hmm…” she breathes, and the heat of her breath combined with her scent and the way she’s biting down on her lip is all it takes for my control to go out of the window.
Without another second of pause, I crush my lips to hers, savoring the feel of her hands clambering up to my shoulders and then my neck as she cups my jaw with a raspy moan.
“I’ll always let you love me, Adam. Always,” she murmurs as I lick across her lower lip. “There will never be a day when I don’t crave it or need you.”
“Good,” I groan, licking into her mouth as she wraps her arms around my neck, telling me, “I’m always going to love you too.”
There’s never been a moment where my entire world aligns, but right now, all the pieces are in all the right places. The past fades and future shines brighter, even as I’m enraptured by the present.
At the center of it all, there’s only one thing. The one thing that matters…
My Mrs. Claus.
Epilogue
Amelia
Six months later…
Carrying another box into the open-plan kitchen, I place it on the breakfast bar and look around with a smile. White walls and marble countertops, a blank canvas for us to make into ours. Adam and I are moving in together, and I’m over the moon.
Kate walks in with another box and puts it beside mine before leaning on the counter and smiling at me. In her knee-length lilac dress, she looks every inch the Cali girl.
“Glad to be home?” she asks, pulling her messy brown hair into a ponytail and looking around the vast room.
“Yeah, I really am,” I sigh happily.
I am. Truly. London was amazing, but my heart has always been in LA. So after Kate’s nasty breakup, when she said she needed to get away from the Dick and I needed to move closer to both Seb and Adam, moving Sweet Vine Co. to LA seemed like a no-brainer. After all, it’s the party capital of California. We’ve retained some of our bigger clients in the UK, mostly for sentimental reasons rather than financial gain. We always wanted to build a company and reputation that would give businesses a personal touch. It’s exactly what we’ve done and the reason our clients didn’t want to lose our services.
Besides, Adam still has to travel some, and with his pied-à-terre being in the center of it all, we have a base when we need it.
“There are waters in the fridge,” he tells us, putting one of the kitchen-labeled boxes down and grabbing four bottles. “I stocked up this morning.”
Pressing a kiss to my temple, he puts two bottles down on the counter beside me and Kate before he heads back out to make sure Seb isn’t sitting on the couch instead of getting all our things in the house. He and Adam have a great friendship, probably because Adam is the reason I’ve moved back home.
Adam still needs to be in New York for the business, but it’ll be mostly a three-day bi-weekly trip, and although there is still other travel, he’ll be here every second he can. It’s not easy, but it’s so worth it. He’s worth it. We’re in it for the long haul. He’s the Saint Nick to my Mrs. Claus. Now that I’ve found him, I’m not letting him go. Whatever life throws at us, we can cope. As long as we have each other.
“I’m so happy for you, Mills,” Kate says, rounding the polished counter and engulfing me in a hug.
“Thank you,” I whisper, hugging her tighter to me and breathing in the scent of her familiar floral perfume. If only I could share my happiness with her and take her pain away.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Adam yells as Seb shouts, “Pivot!”
Pulling away from Kate, I look out the window and smile at the sight of Seb and Adam trying to get the large couch unloaded from the moving truck. Seb enlisted his two best friends, Parker and Harrison, to help too. I dread to think what those guys are talking about.
“I’m gonna pivot your fucking neck if you break anything,” Adam tells him as Parker and Harrison help them lift the couch over the boxes clearly marked “Christmas.” “Less of the freaking jokes and more moving shit.”
Love 2 Jingle U: A Sweet Vine Christmas Romance Page 15