Ignoring Rob, I turned back to Dominic, “What do you need?”
“The sleigh …”
An icy cold shiver tore down my spine and every muscle in my body pulled taut. Dominic was still talking, but I wasn’t listening. I was back there. It was happening again. Santa’s fucking sleigh was about to ruin the first Christmas I’d enjoyed in years.
“No.” My answer was firm and there was nothing they could do or say to change my mind.
“It shouldn’t take more than a few hours. The storm …. The kids will be disappointed …” Dominic was rambling, but I couldn’t move.
I knew Holly was beside me before I saw her. “Who’s disappointing kids?” she asked innocently. When she shifted closer, her warmth pressed against my side. My fingers itched to take her hand or wrap my arm around her, to claim her.
“Chris is …” Rob blurted out, and Holly looked up at me.
“How?”
Dominic explained about the damage to the sleigh and how I was their best chance of getting it fixed. He laid it on thick. The drama, the disappointment, how it would ruin Christmas. He played every card he had, and I knew I was fucked.
“If you want to help, don’t worry about us. Noelle and I are quite capable of looking after ourselves,” Holly reminded me, thinking she was being helpful.
“I don't have …”
“It’s not going to be like last time, Chris,” Jonathan reminded me, and he was lucky he wasn’t spitting out his teeth. My fist itched to be put in his face.
“Last time?” Holly asked, confusion marring her beautiful face.
“It’s nothing. A long time ago,” I brushed it off only for it to backfire on me.
“Then it's sorted. If it was nothing, you’ll have no trouble taking a look at it. We’ll get it to your workshop in the next hour or so then you can take a look,” Dominic declared, already barking instructions.
I felt Holly’s fingers lace with mine. “If you didn’t want to …”
“It’s fine,” I bit, and Holly dropped her hold. I felt like an asshole but I couldn’t worry about that now.
Holly went and spoke to Noelle, then they were both waiting for me by the arch. All I wanted to do was rewind ten minutes, step back under the arch, and kiss Holly like no one was watching.
“It’s getting late,” Holly hinted as I approached.
“We’ll head back,” I answered, barely any better than a grunt.
Silently, we walked back to my place. Even Noelle stayed quiet and walked along holding Holly’s hand. When Holly triedto reach for the bag of books, I shot her a look that had her cowering. I didn’t want to turn into a beast, but the last thing I needed was that goddamn sleigh back in my workshop. I knew history couldn’t repeat itself. I wasn’t engaged for one, but I didn’t want Holly anywhere near it. She was the epitome of a Christmas miracle. She was my Christmas miracle and the last thing I needed was my miracle and my painful past colliding. The problem was, from where I was standing, they were on a collision course I couldn’t stop.
Twenty minutes later, Holly and Noelle were upstairs in my apartment, and I was pacing back and forth across the workshop. The sleigh would be here any second and the sooner I got it fixed and back out the door, the better it would be for everyone.
I kept pacing waiting for it to arrive.
Then I waited some more.
Two hours.
Two fucking hours it took for them to get it to my workshop.
By the time it got there, I was on the verge of telling everyone to go screw themselves, stomping upstairs, and getting a beer.
“When will you have it done?” Dominic asked as he edged toward the door.
“As soon as fucking possible,” I grumbled. The less time it was there the better. “So, you better be ready to come get it as soon as it’s done.”
“Well, I’m going to my in-laws …” Dominic started before seeing the expression on my face and backtracking just as quickly. “I’ll figure something out.”
