Hating Christmas (Holiday Series) (16 page)

***

“So you and Holly are going to try out that new
sled?” His dad smiled.

“We are.” Even with the Mac issue blowing up into
something that might get ugly, Levi found himself enjoying Holly
more and more. She was warm and funny. And the woman could
kiss….

Levi sat back in the cushy living room chair and
allowed himself a moment of remembering just how she felt in his
arms.

He didn’t want to be her enemy.

This playing in the snow thing was just a delaying of
the inevitable. He couldn’t help it, though. He didn’t know how to
break it to her that he needed to rush back to LA tonight. Didn’t
know how to tell her that the big deal had come through for Mac
Toledo.

The shit was sure to hit the fan.

“We certainly have the snow for sledding,” his dad
commented, looking out the picture window at the back of the house.
“It snowed last night and when I went out to get the paper, it kind
of crunched under my feet. Perfect sledding snow.”

Glancing at the hill behind the house perfectly
framed in the window, Levi agreed. “I’m guessing Holly will be a
sledding fiend on that new sled. I only hope she’ll let me use
it.”

And that she’d keep dating him and kissing him, even
when he insisted Mac do the film instead of her documentary.

“I hope so,” his father agreed.

“Dad, you seem happy.” Levi abruptly commented. He
and his dad hadn’t lived in the same city for years now, but he saw
a difference in the man.

“I am son, I am.” He laughed a little. “Other than
that silly spat over the cruise tickets—and then you bought us a
cruise!—well, Audrey’s pretty much the best thing that’s happened
to me.”

Levi cleared his throat. “You’ve thought that
before.”

“I know. I realize I haven’t always made the best
relationship choices—“

“No.”

His father nodded. “Your mother. She sure as hell
didn’t stick around long. And then I made the mistake of marrying
Rebecca.”

They sat in silence. As much as he had only contempt
for her now, Levi remembered how much he’d liked his step-mother
initially.

“She was a bitch.” Michael threw his arm up to rest
on the back of the couch. “I hated how you got so attached to her
and then she ditched us.”

“After milking you for as much as she could,” Levi
agreed.

“Yes. After that, I’ve been happy just dating
different women.”

“Thank God.” Levi glanced up at the staircase,
wondering how long it took for Holly to put on warm clothes.

“Then, I ran into Audrey again.” Michael smiled
fondly, as if remembering. “She was the hottest girl in
school.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“You’re telling me, son.” His dad grinned. “After
dating all those other girls, it just felt right with Audrey.”

Levi didn’t say anything. From his observation,
Audrey was a lot better than he feared. She seemed to love his dad,
but the fact that they’d jumped so quickly into marriage was still
reason for concern.

His dad propped his ankle on his other knee. “And it
helped me not to be too freaked out about getting married that
Audrey has more money than I do.”

“What?” Thinking his dad was arranging the facts to
fit his emotional attachment—not for the first time—Levi frowned at
the older man. “How can you say she has more money?”

“Because we talked about it before we got married.
She even asked me to sign a prenup.”

“You’re kidding. Look around this place,” Levi
gestured at the furnishings. “This isn’t a mansion.”

Michael shook his head. “Son, you’ve lived in LA too
long. Having money doesn’t mean you have to spend it. Audrey’s set
aside a tidy sum. She’s just careful with her money.”

“Where did she get it? She a female Warren
Buffett?”

“No, she worked for years for a company here—I forget
the name—but she retired at a fairly good level with stock options.
Her retirement is set, even if the company folds.”

“Damn.” Levi stared into space, trying to adjust his
view of the woman his dad had married. “Really? She’s got enough
that you had to sign a prenup?”

His dad laughed. “Yes, and she insisted on signing
one herself. What both of us came into the marriage with is what we
take out, should it come to that, which I hope it doesn’t. I
actually could buy us tickets on a cruise, but it wouldn’t be with
her money. Now that I’m living here, we share expenses for the
house—and a few other odds and ends, but it’s pretty much a 50/50
split.”

Levi kept looking at his father. “You don’t know what
a relief that is.”

“Particularly after Rebecca,” Michael concluded
before looking around at the stairs. “What’s keeping Holly?”

***

“Mac?” Her snow boot forgotten on the floor, Holly
was doing what she knew she had to do. Fifteen minutes of mulling
this mess over had helped her reach the conclusion. Even if she and
Levi had no future, even if he went back to Hollywood and forgot
her, she needed to do this.

“Hey!” Mac’s voice filled her ear. “Holly! How are
you doing? Did you have a good Christmas? Any big New Year’s
plans?”

“Umm, no, not yet.” Her chest felt tight, but this
was the right thing to do, she knew. “Mac, I’ve been thinking about
this. You know your participation in the Zambia film is really
important.”

“Sure, babe. Glad to do it.”

Mac’s words were easy and she could picture him with
a phone to his ear while he got his hair trimmed or when he was
waiting to be called to shoot a scene.

“You’ll bring a lot of attention to the issues.”

“It’s an important issue…and it won’t hurt me to have
some serious stuff on my bio. You know, some producers care about
shit like that.”

“I know and I appreciated your willingness to agree
to this and sign the contract and all.”

“No problem. My agent just about had a fit that I’d
done that without his approval, but a guy’s gotta follow his own
instincts, you know? I’m just a rebel like that sometimes.”

Holly knew only too well how Levi had probably
reacted to the news. “Mac? I know you have a lot of things going on
and you’re just getting hotter—“

“From your lips to God’s ears,” he said
cheerfully.

Realizing that her words could be taken in several
ways, Holly suddenly wondered why she hadn’t fallen for someone
like Mac, a cheerful, happy-go-lucky guy who just wanted sex every
now and then and a cheerleader.

Levi was so much more complicated. And she couldn’t
imagine anyone else she wanted to have on her sled.

“Mac, I don’t want this project to conflict with
anything else you may be offered—“

“It doesn’t, Holly. I’m not committed to anything
else in May of next year. I checked before I signed the
contract.”

“I know, I know. But you never know when something
else might pop up.”

“Hey,” he said. “You’re not trying to get rid of me,
are you? Cause I’ve been told no by a lot of people.”

He laughed heartily.

“Not at all,” she assured him, “but I want you to
know I wouldn’t stand in your way.”

***

“AAeeeiiieeee” His arms firmly around her and a
bigger, more sturdy sled beneath them—they again when careening
down the hill.

Holly tugged at the steering rope, unintentionally
sending them across the hill into virgin snow. They rattled and
bumped over the crunchy snow with Levi shrieking in her ear like a
little girl. Laughing so hard she could just manage to see through
her tears where they were going, she hauled on the other side of
the rope. When the sled came to a stop at the bottom of the hill,
Levi kept his arms wrapped around her.

“If you,” he panted in her ear, “can’t promise not to
do that anymore, I’m—“

She craned her neck around to look up at him. “What?
You think you can do better?”

“I think we’ve used the sled enough for today,” he
announced, clambering off the rear of it. “Let’s try ice skating.
Any nearby ponds?”

“Yes, and they’re probably all frozen solid at this
time of year—“

“Good. Let’s go.”

“—
but
it’s not safe, since you never know
where the ice is weak. The school wets down the football field to
make a place to skate, so the kids around here stay off the
ponds.”

Brushing snow off his jeans, Levi grimaced at her.
“Then maybe we should go there.”

“I take it that you’re a really good ice skater,
despite having grown up in LA.”

“There are malls in LA,” he said with a smile
quivering at the corner of his mouth, “That have ice rinks in
them.”

She stood beside him, beating the snow off her butt.
“And I’ll bet you lived there when you were a kid.”

“Part of the time, yes. When I wasn’t at school.”

“Jerk.” Holly made a face at him. “You’re a jerk and
a vulture.”

“I know.” He took the rope from her hand and began
dragging the sled back up the hill. “We’ll stay in your area of
expertise, chicken.”

Laughing at him, she grabbed his free hand. “No more
sledding. Let’s do something we’re both good at.”

He grabbed her, holding her tight in a close hug. His
voice was husky. “I can think of one thing we’re both good at.”

The kiss was long and drugging. Holly reached up,
putting her arms around his neck and holding on. When he lifted his
mouth from hers, her breath came faster and more shallow.

“Levi,” she lifted her head to look him in the face.
“I-I need to tell you something.”

“You and Mac Toledo have a love child and you’re
running off to marry him in Tahiti,” Levi said promptly, the
teasing smile on his beautiful mouth making her heart
constrict.

“No. No.” She dropped her arms from his neck. “I just
need to tell you that…I love you.”

Holly took the sled rope from his hand and began
dragging it to the rear of the house, not really sure why she’d
said the words.

“Wait,” he called out to her. “What? You what?”

“It’s okay,” she hurried to say as he shuffled
through the snow toward her. “I’m not asking for anything from you.
I know that despite our both working in Hollywood, we live
different lives, but I—I don’t know. I just wanted you to
know.”

“Holly,” he said, his eyes filled with gentle
concern. “I—I don’t know—I’m surprised—“

She smiled at him and shook her head. “Nothing. I’m
not asking anything. This has been the most wonderful Christmas of
my life. Perfect, really. I know that having really hot sex with
you—“

“
Really
hot sex.”

“—doesn’t give me any rights and it doesn’t mean any
more than just that,” she finished. She’d done a lot of thinking
when she was upstairs putting on her mother’s snow boots. She loved
him and that meant she wanted the best for him, that was why she’d
called Mac. But loving Levi didn’t mean he owed her anything.

Shaking her head, she gave him a smile. “This
Christmas has been filled with great sex and wonderful laughter
and…and you’ve even been nice to my mom.”

She ripped off her glove and wiped at her
suddenly-moist eyes. “I know we’ve both been worried about our
parents’ marrying so quickly, but you came here and you really
saw
my mom. Saw her for the nice person she is. That means a
lot. You know your dad is safe with her and…and I think maybe she’s
okay with him.”

Levi put his gloved hand on her shoulder.
“Holly.”

“Don’t you understand? Understand that I’ve gotten a
lot from you already?” She brushed at her face again. Holly smiled
at him through her tears. “Hey, you’ve entrusted your safety to me,
sledding down this dangerous hill. Not many men would do that with
a woman they just met.”

“Holly.” His face looked troubled.

***

“Here,” her mom shoved some potatoes and carrots
toward Holly. “Chop these up for the soup.”

“Where’s Michael? Is that him I hear in the living
room?” She glanced at her mom.

“Yes, he’s watching some of the bowl games on
television.” Audrey smirked. “Of course, he told me that the fire
needed to be cleaned up and restarted, but I’m guessing the
football game is the real reason he has to be in there.”

Audrey added some spices to the kettle of water. “At
least, I think it’s a bowl game. Do they start this quickly after
Christmas? I never know.”

“I have no idea, either.” Holly positioned several
carrots together and began chopping them. Her declaration of love
had certainly seemed to take Levi by surprise. She found herself
hoping it wouldn’t make the last few days of their Christmas visit
awkward.

She didn’t want that and she’d even hesitated to tell
him about her feelings because of that—that and she wanted more
mind-boggling sex with him. If she was being honest with
herself.

“Where’s Levi? In watching football with his dad?”
She scooped up the chopped carrots and dumped them in the pan.

Her mom looked up at her, saying after moment. “I
believe he’s upstairs packing.”

“Packing?” Holly put down her knife, her heart
suddenly beating more rapidly. “Why? I thought he was flying out in
a couple of days, like me.”

Her mother looked back at the chopping board as she
began cutting up a potato. “Apparently, something came up and he
has to get back to California right away. Some kind of business
deal.”

“Oh.” It was over then, their winter idyll of playing
in the snow and kissing at the bottom of the stairs. She knew it
had to come, but the reality hit her harder than she expected.

Drawing a potato towards her, Holly began
mechanically chopping.

“Sweetheart.” Her mom reached out and put her hand on
Holly’s arm. “I know you’re an adult—and Levi’s business is no
business of mine—but be careful how involved you get.”

Holly looked at her mom.

“You think there’s something between Levi and I?”

“Oh, honey.” Her mother began chopping again. “Of
course there’s something between you, two. I have no idea what, but
I know he’s a heck of a good looking man—“