Her skin deepens with a crimson blush as her eyes connect with mine.
If I didn’t know better, I’d almost swear she looked flattered.
‘Thank you for coming in early.’ I drop a kiss on her cheek, feeling the heat of a hundred eyes on my back.
I don’t care.
If Holly is gracious enough to understand my situation, I’m not going to hide this ‘thing’ between us any longer. The ‘thing’ that’s growing in speed and emotion every day.
For me, at least.
We’re beginning to feel like something so much more than friends, fuck buddies or anything else I’ve experienced. My brain warns me to cool it, but my heart wills me to turn up the heat. I just hope I don’t get burnt.
Holly tugs off her hat, slips out of her red puffa jacket, and discards them behind the reception desk. She’s wearing a white blouse that hugs her breasts, buttons just begging to be popped off with one swift yank. Is it any wonder this woman inspires me?
Heels clicking across the tiles alert me to the arrival of my prima donna co-star before she utters a single word.
Olivia’s hawk-like stares flits from Holly, to me, and back to Holly again and it’s like reading an open book.
Why would I want Holly when I could have her?
The subtlest hiss slips from her lips along with a, ‘Are you for-fucking-real?’
I don’t dignify her with an answer, instead I plant a kiss on Holly’s mouth in a deliberate show of affection.
The entire cast and crew are contractually bound by a non-disclosure agreement, so what difference does it make, really? So what if they see Holly and me have a bit of festive fun? As long as they don’t find out how heavily I’ve come to rely on that fun to help me survive this Hallmark hell.
Holly’s cherry lips part to allow my probing tongue access. A small moan of ‘please’ seeps from her mouth into mine.
No, I’m definitely not ‘emotionally stunted’.
I’ve been shacking up with the wrong women because it was safer. Because there was no chance of getting hurt.
But somehow Holly breached my carefully constructed wall.
Reluctantly, I tear my lips from hers, every cell of my being silently screaming in protest. If I’m this bad at dragging myself away from her kiss, what will I be like when it’s time to leave for real?
It doesn’t bear thinking about.
‘Where do you want me?’ Holly exhales a wispy breath.
‘Stay where I can see you. In my eyeline if possible.’ Tucking a flyaway strand of chestnut hair from her eyes, I motion for her to stand next to Max, who’s spent the morning pacing the castle like he’s waiting for an ambush.
We struggled through the family dinner scene and now we’re filming a scene set beneath the sixteen-foot Christmas tree. Twinkling white lights adorn its thick branches. Tiny silver baubles are spaced evenly five inches apart in every direction. There’s not a pine needle out of place.
The way Holly’s eyes glaze over, and given what she said the other night about her disappointing childhood Christmases, I can only assume it reminds her of her own family’s tree.
She’s clearly hiding from them.
What could she have done that was so bad?
Holly hovers behind Max in my direct line of sight, like she’s determined to do exactly what I need, even though I’m basically using her like my very own porn prompt.
This woman is too good to be true. She has a heart the size of Lapland. She’s the type of person who simply gives and gives and gives. She’s stunning, but it’s not just that that draws me to her. Her beauty burns from the inside out. There’s something inexplicable about her. Something more.
Yet she considers herself less for some reason. Someone hurt her, I’m sure of it. And I want to shake their hand for sending her in my direction, before crushing them for wounding her in the first place.
I lean towards Olivia, passing her the neatly wrapped Christmas gift my character has bought for hers. With Holly in my periphery, smiling in encouragement, the grin that parts my own lips is genuine.
