Chapter 9
A lex spent the next few days holed up in his house.
He probably should have called Stacia or even Jason to get the truth about the situation, but, honestly, at this point, it didn’t matter.
The truth no longer mattered because he fucked up with Lucy.
He’d let his own insecurity, his own fears, destroy his life again.
He should have trusted Lucy, believed in her.
Now, he hadn’t only screwed up the relationship, but probably his friendship with Dylan and who knows what else with some of his teammates. What a giant clusterfuck.
And he missed Lucy.
The doorbell rang, and Thor didn’t even bother barking.
He just gave Alex a sullen look and went back to sulking in his dog bed.
He’d been acting mopey since Alex and Lucy had fought, as if he also knew that Alex had demolished the best thing he’d ever had and he blamed Alex too. He was losing everywhere.
He dragged himself off the couch and opened the front door. A fist slammed into his eye, and he staggered back. “What the fuck!”
“You sonofabitch. I told you not to mess with Lucy, but you couldn’t resist.”
Alex rubbed his stinging eye, water flowing freely from it. “You’re the one who set me up with her, you asshole.”
Dylan shoved past him and into the house. “You’re the asshole for breaking her heart. Why couldn’t you just go to the gala then leave her alone? Why did you have to be a grade-A asshole like everyone else? I thought you were different.”
Alex closed the door and followed his former best friend into the living room. “I am different.”
Dylan gave him a nasty look. “Not from where I’m standing. Did you or did you not accuse her of using you to get a job?”
Shit. Yeah, he was an asshole. Without replying, he stalked past Dylan and headed for the kitchen to grab a bag of ice for his eye.
He also grabbed a couple of beers. Dylan only stared at the offering, letting Alex know how badly he’d damaged the relationship.
He set it down and braced himself on the counter.
“You’re right. I fucked up. It was stupid, and I knew it as soon as I said it.”
“So why did you?”
Alex exhaled heavily and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know. I know Lucy is different, but I guess I’m just expecting everyone to look for ways to use me. They always have, you know.”
Dylan twisted off the cap of the beer and took a long swallow.
“When Savannah and I were dating, you said something to me about this. You warned me about people looking to use us for our positions, our connections. But, when we broke up, you were one of the first people to tell me I was crazy and to look deeper, that she was nothing like other people. And you were right. Both Lucy and Savannah have had their share of users in their lives, Lucy more than Savannah from everything I’ve heard.
Believe me, Lucy wouldn’t use anyone’s name.
Hell, she wouldn’t even let me put in a word for her and I wanted to. ”
Alex’s head fell back. “She’ll never forgive me, and I don’t blame her. I hope she’ll accept an apology from me at least, to make team events go smoothly.”
Dylan set the bottle on the counter. “You won’t have to see her at anything. She quit. Turned down the job. Said it wasn’t worth making you uncomfortable. Nice going, asshole.”
And Dylan walked out, making Alex feel even worse than he already had, if that was possible.
L ucy was glad to have a last-minute gig for Christmas Day.
Her sister and brother-in-law had unexpectedly come home for the holiday, which was surprising considering Dylan’s father had been sick.
But Dylan said his father had recovered and was being a general pain in the ass.
She understood that. Sometimes you loved family but needed space.
Which was something she needed right now, with Savannah on the warpath, vowing to castrate Alex the next time she saw him and Dylan glowering at everything.
She didn’t know how they found out, but she suspected Cody Patterson, another pitcher on the team who lived for drama.
God, that guy should have been a soap opera star.
He was the perfect best friend for Dylan’s sister, Lindsay—a true Hollywood star.
Either way, when the call came through that the Knights needed a photographer for their Christmas in the City event, she jumped at the opportunity.
She also felt bad for leaving them in a lurch by quitting abruptly and this would have been her job anyway, so she agreed to help.
It was weird being at another holiday event, taking pictures of happy children, dressed in yet another elf costume, watching the team get ready for a Santa to come out on the dais to pass out gifts to children.
The memory was too raw, too painful, and she was regretting agreeing to do this.
She should have stayed home and eaten her weight in chocolate kisses.
Though that had done little for her mood in the several days since she and Alex had fought.
No, she wouldn’t think about him, except to pray that he wouldn’t show up.
Stacia had assured her he wasn’t scheduled to appear, that he had gone home to visit his family, so it was a safe place.
Yet, she couldn’t help but scan the faces of every tall male, hoping to see him.
Or maybe it was bracing herself, in case it was him.
Cody Patterson draped an arm across her shoulder. “Want to take an elfie with me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Like I haven’t heard that a thousand times before.”
But she cracked a smile. It was hard not to smile at the goofball. He’d been working hard all morning to keep her spirits up, even offering her a flask that ending up being eggnog—straight. What a disappointment.
“Come on. Time for Santa to come out. You need to be close for this, to get good shots. And you can tell Santa what you want for Christmas.”
She eyed him doubtfully. “If I get any closer, I’ll be in the way of the kids.” Besides, what she wanted didn’t come in a red sack or a brightly decorated box.
He tugged her until she followed him up to the dais, in front of the kids lining up. He turned to the kids. “Do you mind if Miss Elfie goes first? She needs to talk to Santa and get him ready for you, okay?”
The eight-year-old boy gave him a suspicious look. Cody leaned down and whispered something in the kid’s ear and the boy nodded reluctantly, giving Cody the side-eye. “Good luck, lady.”
Lucy rolled her eyes but couldn’t extract herself from Cody’s surprisingly firm grip.
Santa came in from the back, ho-ho-hoing and waving to everyone.
He settled himself in the chair and waved Lucy over.
Cody just about dragged her over, Lucy’s face burning the whole way.
Dylan and her sister had pushed their way to the front and her sister had her cellphone raised as if recording.
He pushed Lucy onto the Santa’s lap and she sat there gingerly, finally facing a familiar set of eyes. She moved as if to leave, but Alex wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Lucy, please wait.”
She glared at everyone gathered around the dais, her sister and brother-in-law, Cody, Jason and Stacia, but they all just watched them expectantly.
So she remained there stiffly, not even looking at him, just staring straight ahead.
“You have a long line of children waiting for their presents. You’re wasting your time with me. ”
“You are never a waste of time. I treasured every minute of our time together, except for that last night, when I screwed everything up because of my insecurity. You’re an amazing artist. Your talent with the camera and with people can’t be overstated.
You have a gift for putting people at ease and then capturing their essence in film.
You did it with Soul Paws, helping more dogs be adopted than ever before.
And you do it with portraits and your landscapes, capturing people’s souls and the beauty of the scene.
I was wrong to insult you by saying I got you this job.
Your talent is amazing, and it sounded like I had no faith in you.
Lucy, I can throw a baseball, but you speak to people’s emotions, their heart, their souls.
No one can or should take that from you, and I was wrong to say what I did. ”
He tightened his grasp on her, but he didn’t need to. She wasn’t going anywhere, not in that moment. She couldn’t see in front of her. The tears were pouring down her face, blinding her to everything. She faced him, the bearded man who was pouring out his heart to her in front of everyone.
“I love you, Lucy Monroe. You are an amazing woman, and I was lucky to have you in my life for a few weeks. I would like to have you for longer, if you’ll have me.
But if it’s not to be, then all I can say is never stop chasing your dreams. Don’t reject a job or a position because of one stupid man.
Trust me when I say, he’s not worth it.”
She blinked rapidly and wiped the tears from her face. She grasped his cheeks in her hands and leaned in to him. “He is totally worth it, even if he’s full of himself. I love you, Alex Rasmussen.”
He pulled her against him. “I love you so much, Lucy Monroe.”
He kissed her, ignoring the surrounding voices.
A hand on their shoulders brought them both back to reality.
Cody Patterson leaned in and spoke low enough for only them to hear.
“Hey, this isn’t the adult channel. There are kids present.
And, speaking of presents, they want their own holiday fun!
Can we get this show back on track, please? ”
Lucy laughed and gave Alex one last hug. “I got my present. I’m good.”
“I’d rather you be naughty.”
“Save something for after Christmas,” Cody muttered.
A lex was in the back room changing out of the Santa suit, trying not to rip the damn thing as he hurried to go meet Lucy.
He had plans that didn’t involve her family, his teammates, or anyone else, and he feared if he left her alone too long out there, they’d find themselves invited to several dinners for the holiday.
There was only one thing he wanted to eat, and it wasn’t on anyone else’s menu.
The damned coat wouldn’t unbutton, so he had to pull it over his head and it got stuck on something. Damn it. A noise behind him made him pause for a minute, then a hand on his bare back had him freeze.
“Need some help there, Santa?”
His muscles relaxed and all the blood flowed south. Painfully, as it happened, since he hadn’t gotten the damned padded suit off yet either and it blocked a part of his body that really needed some room to grow. Lucy’s hand stroked the strip of skin revealed by the jacket and he groaned.
“Have mercy, sexy elf. I’m stuck here.”
She chuckled, a low, sexy sound that had him hardening painfully. “I see the trouble. Hold on.”
Miraculously, she loosened something and pulled the jacket over his head.
Before he could turn around, her cool hands had slipped inside the suit to grip his cock, stroking it smoothly.
He fell forward, his hands bracing himself on the countertop.
Only for a moment, though, then he turned and gathered her close.
“I thought I had a sexy elf in here.”
She grinned. “You’ll have to wait for tonight. I wasn’t prepared for sinful Santa.”
He sobered. “I meant what I said, Lucy. I’m so sorry for being such an ass. I was so wrong for jumping to conclusions and making you feel you didn’t deserve the job.”
She placed two fingers on his lips. “I know, Alex. You have always supported me, even before we dated. When I started taking pictures, even just at family picnics, you encouraged me. I should have known there was something else going on, but I let my own insecurities get in the way of talking. I’m good at taking off when things get rough, and I didn’t stay and fight for you. For us.”
“No, this was not on you. But I’ll work on it. I promise.”
She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. “We’ll both work on it. And, by the way, Candice called me about some local photography work for their marketing company. Do you know anything about that?”
She didn’t sound pissed, so maybe that was a good sign. “I may have called her and suggested your name in case she needed local people. I know their firm uses locals for some of their smaller accounts.”
She peered up at him. “Hedging your bets in case this didn’t work? For future reference, I prefer to get my own jobs and not have you call in favors.”
“Understood. You’ll still need to prove yourself with her.”
“I don’t think I like the idea of working with your ex-girlfriend,” she grumbled against his chest.
“Good. Because the idea of the two of you working together makes my balls shrivel.” He gave a mock shudder, and she laughed.
“I’m glad you’re taking the hit for me, anyway. Care to tell me why you have a black eye under your Santa makeup?”
He winced. Would she defend him against Dylan? “I would not.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, not fooled. “We’ll see about that. Now kiss me, fool. There’s mistletoe.”
He frowned and looked up. “I don’t see any.”
She cocked her head at him and sent him a sly grin. “Not up there.”
Damn, he loved this woman.