Chapter 17
Seventeen
Lucas’s nieces and nephews were running around in the yard with Shmoop. She wasn’t going to bring him back with her, but after the long walk with her mom and pretty much emotionally dumping all over her, she didn’t want to ask her to take care of Shmoop too.
The moment she had stepped back into house, Anna and Katherine had embraced her and apologized for their mother.
Then they bombarded her with a ton of questions about every aspect of the party from the menu, the staff, the music, the schedule…
luckily, she was a very organized person and had everything readily available to show them on her tablet.
But Lucas had intervened once she pulled the schedule up and told his sisters that they would have to look it over by themselves for a few minutes because he needed to speak to Holly in private.
She figured they’d just go into another room, but he walked them over to the guesthouse and shut the door.
And kissed her until her knees were weak and she could barely remember her own name.
She loved when he did that.
“Wow,” she whispered. “That was quite the greeting.”
“Come sit with me,” he said gruffly, leading her to the couch. “I am so sorry that my mother asked you to leave and I didn’t correct her. You had every right to be there. It’s not like you don’t know everything that’s going on. So…please tell me you forgive me.”
Aww…
Holly gently caressed his jaw. “I’ll admit I was a little upset at first, but then I realized—thanks to my mom—that even though I know everything about the situation, it’s still private.
Your mother seemed upset and defensive and I’m sure having me there wasn’t going to help.
So I’m fine. We’re fine. And there’s nothing to forgive. ”
He visibly relaxed.
“How did everything go after I left?”
He explained, and she was mildly horrified.
“This is all my fault,” she said sadly. “I pushed and pushed and pushed and thought I knew your parents well enough to make the call on doing this for their benefit.” Tears stung her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Lucas! Your family must hate me!”
“Um, Holly? My sisters have been gushing about you all day, and do you not remember how excited they were to see you when you came back? No one hates you.”
“I’m pretty sure your mother does.”
“Yeah, well…she’s not too fond of her own children right now, so you’re in good company,” he said with a wink. “My dad’s going to get here tomorrow, and he seemed pretty stoked about the party. Of course, you can’t always tell with a text, but…” He pulled his phone out and let her read the message.
“He seems pretty happy about it,” she commented.
“That’s what I thought. And I think if my mother would just calm down and think about the things my sisters and I told her today, she’ll see how we did all of this out of love.”
That didn’t completely make her feel better, but it was a start.
“Judging by this encounter, I think she’s going to be even more upset when your father shows up.”
“I know. I wish we could just lock them in a room without their phones and force them to talk. It’s not going to happen, but I almost feel like that’s the only way they’re going to do it.
With me and my sisters watching, it’s going to just give them the audience they crave and make them more focused on convincing us why the other one is wrong. ”
Holly had no idea how to respond to that because her parents had never done anything like that and it just made her heart ache more for him.
“What if you asked the two of them to go and talk here while everyone else is over in the main house? Or to go up to their bedroom and talk?”
But he was already shaking his head. “Trust me, with the way things are going, we’d have to lock them in someplace and be the ones responsible for letting them out.”
“What if we got them to use the elevator in your house?”
“There’s no way we could do that. Plus, there’s an emergency phone in there so they could call for help. Plus, they never use it. It’s more for when my grandparents stay over.”
“Oh.” She’d never had to be this devious before and knew she wasn’t good at it.
That’s why her original plan was vetoed.
“Is there anywhere in the house where you could convince them to go without the other knowing and somehow lead them both down there and lock them in?” Shaking her head, she let out a low laugh.
“I can’t even believe this is what it’s coming to. ”
“Well, it doesn’t have to and probably won’t, but I can dream.” He kissed her softly. “Thanks for indulging in it with me.” And then he just held her for several long moments.
As much as she was enjoying the peacefulness of being alone with him, she knew they had a lot to do.
“Come on. I’m sure your sisters have questions, and I’m the only one who can answer them.” She slowly got to her feet and smiled as he took her hand and they leisurely strolled back over to the main house.
Right before they went inside, he said, “Promise you won’t hold my family’s insanity against me and that you’ll still want to be my girlfriend when the party’s over.”
Her heart melted.
“Lucas Brooks, it would take a lot more than your crazy family to make me not want to be your girlfriend, so don’t worry.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. And later…”
He never got to finish because Kat yanked the door open. “Finally! It looks like you haven’t picked the champagne that we’re using tomorrow. My mother is very picky about…”
Smiling serenely, she stepped inside. “I have the invoices of all the beverages your mother has ordered in the past, and I stuck to them. I didn’t think to put the brands on the itinerary, but they should be around here somewhere.” She looked at Lucas.
“It’s all down in the wine cellar,” he said. “I oversaw the delivery of it myself.”
Then he nudged Holly. “What? What’s the matter?”
“The wine cellar.”
She frowned. “The wine cellar?”
He looked more pointedly at her. “Yeah. The wine cellar. Remember what we were just talking about?”
It took her a moment before it hit her. “Oh my goodness!” But she immediately shook her head. “Lucas, you can’t do that. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Um…hello?” Kat interrupted. “What is going on? What are you two talking about?”
“Is that Holly I hear?” Anna called out. “I have a question about the placement of the tables downstairs!”
“I’ll be right there!” she replied loudly.
Turning to Lucas, she shook her head. “You can explain your plan to Kat, but I still don’t think it’s going to work and I’ve got things to do.
I’ll be downstairs if anyone needs me.” Then she turned to Kat.
“You can double check the bottles down in the wine cellar, just so we can check it off the list.”
“Will do!” she said, but before Holly was out of earshot, she heard Kat ask, “Now, what’s the deal with the wine cellar?”
It was ridiculously late, but Lucas felt really good.
Fantastic, really.
They had gone over the schedule for tomorrow and were all confident that it was going to be amazing. Fortunately, Holly’s cousin had been gracious enough to bring over a tasting for everything on the menu so his sisters could relax about that one aspect.
The decorations were perfect.
The house looked amazing.
And the menu was better than it had ever been.
He knew his mother was going to scoff at all of it, but he knew the truth.
Now, as he walked around the guesthouse shutting off the lights, he was seriously impressed that they were going to pull it all off.
His Christmas tree was still lit, and he stood there for a few minutes admiring it. It had been meant as a joke, but he and Holly turned it into something pretty cool. Hopefully next year he’ll get a bigger tree that the two of them could make just as magical.
Next year. Wow. He was already planning next Christmas with Holly.
Long-term relationships weren’t normally his strong suit, but he’d never felt this strong of a connection to anyone else before.
It was probably because she was so different from him and willing to accept him for who—and how—he was, even while opening his eyes to different experiences.
Like Christmas tree shopping and decorating.
She showed him what it was like to have traditions that were about people and not appearances, and how your family could be quirky, but still loved. And now that he’d experienced it, he wanted more of it.
With her.
I just need to get through the next forty-eight hours…
“Lucas? Are you coming to bed?”
Smiling, he unplugged the tree. “Yeah. I just needed to unplug the tree. I’ll be right there.”
Walking down the hall, he spotted Shmoop in the dog bed Lucas had ordered for him. It was big and fluffy and set up in the guest room. As much as he loved the dog, he loved his and Holly’s privacy more.
For a moment, he just stood there, embracing the stillness of the house. Outside, snow was lightly falling, blanketing the world in quiet. After all the noise and chaos of the last few weeks, it was a welcome reprieve.
When he got to his bedroom, the peacefulness continued thanks to the soft, warming glow of a single bedside lamp, which cast golden shadows on the walls. And a faint instrumental Christmas melody hummed from a speaker across the room, almost like a lullaby.
Holly was standing at the dresser, untying her ponytail and shaking her hair out, already wearing one of his old t-shirts that hung just past her thighs. She looked peaceful, almost dreamy—her cheeks still faintly pink from the cold walk across the property.
In the room, he stripped down to his boxer briefs before pulling back the covers, watching her from the corner of his eye like he was still a little stunned that she was there with him, like this.
“You always look at me like that,” she says softly without turning, meeting his gaze in the mirror.
“Like what?”
“Like I’m going to disappear.”
He crossed the room, stepping up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I look at you like I’m grateful,” he murmured into her neck. “That’s different.”
She melted into him, their bodies swaying just slightly, their breath syncing up. No rush. No noise. Just them.
After a long pause, she turned in his arms, her hands resting against his chest. “You know,” she said, looking up at him, “this might be my favorite part of the whole day.”
“Because we’re finally away from my family?” he teased lightly, and she laughed, resting her forehead against his chest before looking back up at him.
“Um…no. And I’m being serious. I love this part of the day with you.”
“Climbing into bed?”
“Sort of,” she says with a sleepy smile. “Climbing in next to you.”
That softened something in him. He leaned down and kissed her slowly, like he was trying to tell her something he didn’t have the words for.
And he didn’t.
He was feeling things he’d never felt before and he didn’t know how to say them and was afraid of saying the wrong thing and messing everything up. So he poured everything he had into the kiss and savored the feel of her melting against him before they broke apart breathlessly.
They slipped into bed together, the sheets cool against their skin, their limbs instinctively finding each other. Holly tucked herself against his chest, her head on his shoulder, one hand pressed against his heartbeat.
Yeah, he loved this part of the day too.
Reaching over while trying not to move her, he shut off the lamp. In the darkness, the silence settled back in, comfortable and close. Except…
Bing Crosby was still singing.
Giggling, Holly squirmed out of his arms and got up to shut the music off, then settled back in beside him. “Sorry about that. It was nice having that on while we got ready for bed.”
After a few moments, Lucas spoke into the darkness. “You make everything feel like Christmas. Even this.”
Holly hummed in response, half-asleep already.
Then her hand opened and started to softly roam over his chest, over and over and over and then lower.
Maybe she isn’t half-asleep, he thought.
Beside him, she shifted until she was kissing his chest. His hands moved up into her hair and gently tugged to get her attention.
“I thought you were tired.”
“I am, but…like I said, I love being with you like this. You’re all warm and sexy, and I can’t seem to control myself when you’re this close. You don’t mind, do you?” she asked sweetly.
“Sweetheart, I will never complain about you finding me sexy and wanting to touch me. I just didn’t want you to feel like we had to do anything. I was perfectly content to just lie here and hold you.”
“I like that too,” she whispered. “But…” Pausing, she moved over him, straddling him. She was all warm, smooth limbs and without even thinking, his hands smoothed up her thighs and up under her shirt. “And I really like when you do that.”
His hands cupped her breasts. “Me too. But tomorrow…”
“Will take care of itself,” she told him, holding his hands to her breasts. “Right now, there’s nothing else in the entire world that matters. Just this. Just us.” She moved against him, and Lucas was more than willing to give her everything she wanted, as many times as she wanted.
They made love slowly; there was no reason to rush. They relished the act of being close—the tender kisses and whispered pleas. And when she cried out his name, Lucas felt like the luckiest man alive.
And later, when they had exhausted each other, he found that he truly enjoyed just holding her, even as she softly snored in his arms.
Outside, the snow continued to fall. Inside, they were lying all tangled in warmth and trust and love.
Love.
Yeah, that’s what this was.
And it was the kind of love that didn’t need grand gestures or perfect timing. Well, he might give her a grand gesture when this was all over. Actually, he was going to give her his heart, even though she had probably already taken it.