The Christmas Plan

by Samantha Chase

  And it was crazy how much the thought of that made her tingle all over.

  Just like Gabe’s kisses had earlier.

  Holy. Hell.

  How was it possible for the man not to have a girlfriend like…all the time? They had only kissed a handful of times and Aspen already knew she was going to want to be doing a whole lot more of that, as much as humanly possible. And on top of that, Gabe was the greatest guy she’d ever known! Seriously, how were the members of the female population not getting that?

  Well, their loss is my gain…

  She was feeling a little smug about it until a little voice inside of her reminded her how this was temporary. This wasn’t going anywhere because long-distance from Georgia to California was just too much. Neither would be able to travel back and forth like a couple in love would need to do.

  Love.

  Yeah, she was already thinking it.

  She’d been in love with Gabe as a friend almost since the beginning. They had just clicked from the moment he complimented her chocolate design and asked if he could film it for his school project.

  But was she in love with him? As in love as more than a friend? Was that possible already?

  Okay, already was probably not the right word because they’d known each other for so long.

  Or am I confusing one with the other? She wondered.

  “I need to get out of my own head,” she murmured, moving around to keep herself busy. Music was a necessity so she set up a playlist that had a lot of songs the two of them liked that were soft and perfect for background music. Looking around the space, she made a mental note to see about the possibility of getting a small tree of her own. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without one and it would definitely go a long way in making the room feel more festive.

  Although finding a space to put it would be tricky.

  They made tiny trees, didn’t they?

  “After this month, I am wiping the word tiny from my vocabulary.”

  Walking into the bathroom, she checked her reflection one more time. Her makeup was spot on, her hair was loose and wavy and looked fabulous. Looking down, Aspen checked her outfit for the second–or tenth–time and knew she was worrying for nothing. The black skinny jeans looked good without being too casual and the hunter green silk blouse felt cool against her skin and made her feel a little dressy. Overall, it was a great outfit even if they had opted to go out to eat.

  And she silently prayed that Gabe didn’t come over in his sweats and make her feel like a total boob for obsessing about her clothes.

  But when he finally knocked on the door a few minutes later, all her worrying was for nothing.

  He looked amazing–like he had spent the last hour freaking out about what to wear just like she had.

  “Hey,” she said softly as she stepped aside to let him in. Gabe kissed her on the cheek and handed her the bag with their takeout. “Ooh…what did you get?”

  “There isn’t as big of a variety here in town like we have back home, so I played it safe and ordered from the Italian place.” Next he handed her a bottle of wine. “I got the fettucine Alfredo for you because I know it’s your favorite, and I got the eggplant rollatini for me because…well, it’s good, but I know you like it too.”

  Laughing, she put the food and wine on the table and when she turned, she saw him standing in the doorway holding up one last thing.

  “Someone requested I pack an overnight bag,” he said, his voice gruff and a little rumbly. It felt like a dozen butterflies had taken flight in her belly.

  Unable to speak, Aspen simply nodded.

  That was what she had texted him.

  Gabe walked fully into the room and shut the front door behind him. He dropped the bag on the floor and walked over and cupped her face in his gloriously large hands before kissing her.

  The overnight bag was definitely the right thing to ask for, she thought, because there was no way she was letting him leave tonight.

  Hell, she might not even let him eat dinner.

  But then her stomach rumbled and killed the moment.

  A low laugh was out before she could stop it and fortunately, he joined in.

  Blushing furiously, she was about to apologize and immediately realized this was a normal occurrence for them. She was always hungry and never shy about it, so…why start now?

  Clearing her throat, she murmured, “So…dinner?”

  They sat at the small table and Gabe served the food while Aspen poured the wine and within minutes they were chatting about their day and it was like it always was with them.

  Comfortable.

  That’s what most people strived for in a relationship, right?

  “Do you think anyone would mind if I sort of…decorated in here?”

  He looked at her oddly. “You mean like…decorate for the holidays or changing out curtains and throw pillows?”

  Only Gabe would think to ask something so completely ridiculous. “For the holidays, silly. I want to get a small tree and maybe some twinkly lights…” She shrugged. “I don’t have a big budget, but you know I would have had my whole apartment decorated by now back home, right?”

  “I know you would have.” Then he looked around. “There’s not a lot of space for a tree. You’d probably only be able to do a small tabletop one.”

  “That’s all I want,” she reasoned. “Just something to make it feel a little more festive in here and help me stay in the mood while I’m making all this Christmas candy.”

  “I’m sure my mom has extra decorations that she wouldn’t mind sharing. And maybe we can see about stringing some lights outside too. You know, to add to the whole festive air you’re going for.”

  “Now you’re teasing me.”

  He grinned. “Maybe just a little, but I know how much you love this stuff so…I’ll see what we can do. And you’re more than welcome to come to the lot and see if there are any small trees you think might work. Or we can walk around the farm and find a small one…”

  “I’ve never had a live tree before. We always did the artificial ones and I have to admit, the smell of pine is just wonderful. Every time I even get near the tree lot it makes me smile.”

  “I get the appeal of the artificial tree, but I could never have one.”

  “God forbid!” she cried with a laugh. “Live Christmas trees are part of your heritage. Your family history! You can’t go against the family like that!”

  “Now who’s teasing who?”

  She couldn’t help but giggle. “Guilty.”

  As was their tradition, Aspen fed him a forkful of her fettucine and Gabe fed her a bite of his eggplant. It hit her just how intimate the two of them had always been. How had she not seen it before?

  By the time they were done eating, Aspen was more than ready for things to move…elsewhere. Never before had she noticed how big Gabe’s hands were. Or how dark his eyes were. Or how incredibly kissable his lips were. And now it was like she couldn’t stop noticing all these enticing things about him and she wanted to discover more.

  Slowly, she rose and began clearing the table while Gabe finished telling her about how he and his father decided to use the chocolate house raffle to fund the animal shelter and how they had a meeting with local veterinarian Gavin McGuire tomorrow to get it all set up.

  “You know, maybe I should make a second house and have it at my booth for the arts and crafts festival to get more entries,” she suggested. “What do you think?”

  “Will you have enough time to make another one?” Standing, he helped her finish cleaning up.

  “As long as you don’t mind lending a hand when it’s time to assemble it, I should be okay.”

  The next thing she knew, her back was against the countertop and Gabe was pressed up against her, his hands braced on either side of her.

  Oh my…

  “You know I’m always willing to lend a hand when you need me,” he said, his breath warm against her cheek and she seriously felt her knees go a litt
le weak. It wasn’t even a sexy statement but…he felt good, his voice was all low and yummy and…

  He was kissing her–a little teasing at first like he was still making sure that it was okay for him to be doing this–but it took less than three seconds for Aspen to slowly wind her arms up and around him to hold him close. One kiss led to another and each was more delicious and deeper and demanding than the one before. She had no idea how long they stayed like that; all she did know was that it had been a long time since kissing had turned her on so much.

  And it was Gabe who was responsible–her best friend. How crazy was that?

  His hands were on the move and she silently willed them to move up into her hair because…yeah, for some reason, that really got her going.

  And as if they heard her, that’s where they came to rest before flexing and gripping her hair a little tighter.

  It was a little like hitting the launch button.

  Breathlessly, she broke the kiss and was relieved when Gabe’s lips moved along her jaw and throat. Her head gently fell back, her back arched, and they were intimately pressed together from head to toe and it felt so incredible that she would be more than happy to stay like this all night. She panted his name as her own hands raked up into his hair, holding him close. When he started to move lower, all she could think was yes, yes, yes…

  And then he stopped.

  What the…?

  Straightening, his gaze met hers and it was hot and intense and so damn sexy.

  My Gabe…

  “This isn’t working,” he said, his voice practically a growl, and Aspen’s heart sank.

  Not working? Not working?! How could he even say that? How could he not be feeling all the things she was? They were always so in tune with each other! Maybe he needed a little more encouragement.

  So, she reached up, cupped his face, and put everything she had into kissing him senseless.

  It was hard to remember what he was planning to say when Aspen was wrapped around him like this. Gabe had been certain he had a reason for breaking the kiss a minute ago, but for the life of him, he had no idea what it was.

  She was all soft curves and warm skin and she smelled like vanilla.

  And all he wanted to do was taste her all over.

  They were in the middle of the kitchen but there was very little space for them to move and much like it was at lunchtime, it wasn’t the sexiest of places to be doing this.

  And that’s when he remembered what he was going to say.

  Slowly, he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “It’s not that I’m not enjoying this…”

  “But…?”

  “But I’d really like for us to be a little more comfortable.” He realized immediately how that sounded and was pretty sure his eyes had gone comically large. “I mean…I wasn’t implying that we should…you know…um…be doing anything that you don’t want to do. I just thought…”

  She placed one slender finger over his lips to silence him. “I knew what you meant, Gabe.” She took a step back and smiled at him. “That’s kind of why I asked you to bring an overnight bag with you. Because I want to…I mean, I want us to…”

  It seemed crazy that they were talking like this but there was no way he was going to focus on that right now because chances are, he’d overthink it and then…

  “Um…so it’s a little hard to maneuver around up in the loft,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “Like…you can’t stand up there but…I think we should be okay.”

  All he could do was nod.

  “I’m going to go up to the loft. Feel free to follow,” she said, her voice taking on a husky quality that he’d never heard from her before.

  Feeling mildly embarrassed, he nodded and stepped aside so Aspen could get to the ladder.

  And like a creeper, he watched her climb and admired the view.

  Once she was out of sight, Gabe glanced around and locked the door and wondered if he needed to bring his bag with him. He knew she was waiting for him to join her up to the loft, but was suddenly feeling a little self-conscious and started second-guessing this whole thing.

  Again.

  “Gabe?” Aspen called out softly as if she knew he was procrastinating.

  Turning off the lights, he carefully made his way up the ladder and found Aspen lying on her side waiting for him. Her smile was shy and she patted the spot in front of her. “I was afraid you were having second thoughts.”

  Crawling onto the bed, he gave her a lopsided grin. “The fact that we know each other so well might complicate things.” He got situated on the bed and lay back against the pillows. Aspen moved in close and lay down beside him, placing her head on his shoulder.

  “So what are you saying? We’re incapable of surprising each other?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. You surprised the hell out of me when you kissed me that first time.”

  Laughing out loud, she pinched his side. “Are we going there again?”

  Wrapping both arms around her, she held her tight even as he laughed with her. “Just making sure we’re both on the same page.”

  They rolled around until he had her pinned beneath him. The laughter faded and they were both a little breathless, but there was no way he could stop himself from kissing her.

  Fortunately, she was on the same page.

  This time when they broke apart, Aspen curled up beside him and pointed at the skylight. “I don’t know if anyone planned it like this, but there’s a fantastic view. Like another few feet over and that big tree would definitely have limbs blocking everything.”

  He nodded.

  “Every night when I come up here, I find myself staring up at the sky for a little while. There were a few nights where the sky was clear and there looked like there were a million stars out there.”

  Softly, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “There are a million stars out there. Tens of millions.”

  “You know what I mean. Back home, I never thought about taking the time to just look at the stars. We’re in the middle of a big city and I never remember the sky looking quite like this.”

  “I know what you’re saying. It took me a while to get used to the differences. Besides the noise and the crowding, it’s things like this that I miss.” He kissed her again just because he could. “When I come home every winter, I don’t take the time to appreciate it anymore. I’m always so stressed and focused on counting down the days until I can leave that I’m missing out on some pretty spectacular stuff.”

  “Let’s make a deal right now,” she said as she lifted her head from his shoulder.

  “A deal?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What kind of deal?”

  “That we’re going to take the time to actually enjoy this visit.”

  It would be wrong to point out how much he was enjoying this particular part of their visit, so he simply agreed with her.

  “I’m serious, Gabe,” she went on. “We can’t spend all our time working and…and…I know your father needs you but I think he’d also appreciate it if you were honest with him and explained how you need some time to step away at the end of the day.”

  “Okay.”

  “We can go for walks after dinner or drive around looking at Christmas lights!” With a small gasp of excitement, she asked, “Are there any of those drive-through light displays? You know where it’s like a road through a park or something?”

  “There was when I was growing up, but I haven’t thought about it in years. We’ll have to ask around…”

  “I want to embrace everything we can while we’re here because in a few weeks, I’ll have to leave and…well…I want to have these memories to cheer me up when I need them.” Her head slowly came to rest back on his shoulder. “I have a feeling I’m going to need them a lot.”

  Okay, not the direction this conversation needed to go in, he thought, and there was only one way to get them back on track.

  Reaching out, Gabe lightly brushed his knuckles
against her cheek and when she looked up at him, he claimed her lips with his. He was done talking–done thinking. Aspen was right, they needed to embrace everything while they could and that included this new turn in their relationship.

  His hand moved from her jaw down over her shoulder to cup her breast, and it seemed like they both held their breaths for the barest of moments. In the back of his mind, Gabe wondered if his touching her like this would suddenly be weird or awkward and make them realize they were making a mistake or for her to smack his hand away, but…so far so good.

  Boldly, he grazed her nipple through the soft fabric of her shirt and he captured her soft gasp before deepening the kiss. The more he touched, the more he wanted to touch, to explore. Aspen always fascinated him–attracted him–and now that he was finally allowed to touch her, he couldn’t seem to get enough.

  It wasn’t until Aspen’s hands started moving over him that it finally hit him that they were doing this. They were crossing that line and there was no going back. It was on the tip of his tongue to point that out to her–to make sure she was fully informed and in agreement to this step they were taking–but she broke the kiss and quickly whipped her blouse over her head and distracted him.

  Then the red lace bra she was wearing distracted him even more.

  His gaze was firmly on the rise and fall of her breasts when her hand caressed his jaw. When he looked at her, he saw her sweet smile and knew everything was going to be okay. Mimicking her move, he pulled his own sweater off and tossed it aside. Her hand went back on his face and then gently curled behind his neck, guiding him back down to her.

  It was only a matter of time before he became completely addicted to this, to her. But for now, Gabe decided to enjoy it for as long as this lasted.

  Eight

  City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style. In the air there's a feeling of Christmas…

  Aspen was grinning from ear to ear as she walked down the main street a few days later to drop off a chocolate order to Abby at the dance studio. She made more chocolate in the last week than she had in years, and she was feeling really good about her life right now. Two weeks ago, she thought nothing could bring her out of that feeling of despair, and yet…here she was.