Hating Christmas (Holiday Series) (18 page)

“Wait—you said we’re shooting in May?”

He could hear Mac take a drink of something.

“Yes, is that a problem? The warrior movie isn’t
supposed to start until later in the year. I don’t think we’ve got
a conflict.” He knew it was a problem. Holly’s documentary was
scheduled to film then.

It occurred to him then that he knew some pretty
powerful people in Hollywood. Maybe if he called in a butt-load of
favors, he could get the people in charge of the Voyager film to
make some sort of scheduling adjustment for Holly’s documentary. If
nothing else, he could foot the bill for any expenses she might
have in the scheduling change.

Levi spotted an open airport store a little way down
the concourse and decided to check to see if they had an ibuprophen
after he finished talking to Mac. He hated having had to leave
Holly with matters in such a mess. That
fling
issue needed
to be clarified.

“Ummm, I guess not.” Mac responded. “Remember that
documentary about some country in Africa? The one I told you about
having signed the contract. Remember, you were really pissed
because I hadn’t talked with you first?”

“Zambia,” Levi supplied.

“Yeah, Zambia. Yeah, well, I guess the gods are
smiling on me or something. It was scheduled to film in May, but
the director just called and told me she’d let me out of the deal,
if any conflict came up. Can you believe that? What a coincidence?
Might have been messy, too, what with me having signed the contract
and all.”

Levi’s hand dropped from rubbing his head. “She
called you? Holly Fitzgerald called you?”

“Yeah, just today. Can you believe it? I hope she
meant what she said, ‘cause I’d be screwed if she doesn’t. I mean,
what could I do?”

“You could sue her for interfering with your career.”
Levi’s response was automatic. “She just called you today, saying
she’d let you out of the contract? Today? Just like that?”

“Yes, this morning,” Mac responded. “Was that great
Karma, or what?”

Why would Holly do that?
His mind clicked
through the options. Somehow, he couldn’t believe it was just
luck.

“Has she ever called you before? I mean since you
signed the contract?”

Mac took a moment to answer. “No, I mean she gave me
the shooting date when I signed the contract. Said she’d call me
later about the arrangements, but I hadn’t heard from her.”

“
Damn,
” Levi breathed, realization hitting
him. “She must have known.”

“—I need to call my buds, dude.” Mac had obviously
moved back to the bigger topic. “This is amazing. I should call my
mother.”

Levi realized he wasn’t listening. He was apparently
willing to accept that this was a coincidence, but Levi wasn’t.
He’d worked in the entertainment business too long not to realize
that news traveled fast. Somehow, Holly must have heard about Mac’s
being offered the bigger film.

Levi said goodbye to his client mechanically.

She’d known about Mac getting the movie and she let
him off the hook.

***

Curled up on the couch, Holly stared at the book in
her hand that she’d been trying to read.

“Sweetie, are you sure you don’t want to come with
Michael and I to see Margery and Steve? It’s not like he’s in bed
or anything. The doctor said that attack the other night was just
because Steve had been over-doing it with the holiday.” Her mother
sat down next to her. “Are you all right, honey? You seem a little
down tonight?”

“I’m fine.” Her response might have been too quick,
but Holly couldn’t help it.

“Well, okay.” Audrey got up. “We won’t be late.”

The words no longer left her mouth than a knock
sounded at the door.

Her mother hurried over. “Michael, you did tell
Margery that we were coming over there? They certainly don’t need
to come out on a chilly night.

Her mother’s husband stuck his head in from the
kitchen, which he’d been straightening after dinner. “No, I said
we’d go there.”

Struggling with the front door deadbolt and muttering
under her breath about the “damn thing”, Audrey opened the
door.

Levi stood on the small snowy front porch, his
suitcase beside him. Beyond him, the tail lights of a departing cab
could be seen.

Feeling her heart suddenly thundering in her chest,
Holly made herself stay on the couch.

“Son!” Michael started forward. “Did you forget
something?”

“No.” Levi stepped inside, kicking the snow off his
shoes as he looked at Holly.

“Did they cancel your flight?” His dad looked up at
the night sky before bringing the suitcase inside and shutting the
door. “The forecast just called for evening snow flurries, but it’s
not snowing now.”

“No.” Levi’s gaze never wavered. “I just realized I
had something here that I need to do.”

Michael followed his son’s gaze, glancing at Holly
and then back at Levi. “Oh.”

Stopping in the midst of putting on her new evening
coat, Audrey also seemed to feel the sudden tension in the
room.

“I need to talk to Holly.” Taking another step toward
the couch, Levi looked at his dad and then at Audrey.

Holly felt rooted to the couch. She looked at her
knees, the expression on his face seared into her memory. If this
had been a scene in a script, this moment would have been described
as pregnant. Levi looked more intense than she’d ever seen him with
his clothes on.

“Honey?” Her mother clearly didn’t know what to make
of it.

“Yes.” Holly’s voice cracked a little and she cleared
her throat. “Yes?”

Looking back and forth between the two of them, her
mom said, “Shall-shall Michael and I go on to Margery’s?”

Feeling a flush crawl along her cheeks, Holly raised
her gaze to Levi’s face. She had no idea why he’d come back, but
some stupid part of her brain registered how good he looked. The
shoulders of his expensive overcoat were dusted with snow flakes
and his eyes seemed dark and intense as he looked at her.

“Of course, you two go ahead.” The thought of she and
Levi sharing one last heated tryst flashed through her mind before
she dismissed the silly thought. “I’m fine.”

Levi turned to smile at her mother. “You guys go
ahead. I don’t want to interrupt your plans. I just need to talk
with Holly.”

“Oh, okay.” Her mother returned his smile, before
pulling her coat on. “Let’s go, Michael. I’m sure they don’t need
us standing around to chaperone them.”

Inside, Holly cringed at her mom’s choice of
words.

Levi continued standing while his father and Audrey
bundled themselves up and the door closed behind them.

“Why are you here?” She kept her hands tightly
gripped in her lap, wanting to rush to him and press her mouth
against his.

Levi went over to sit in the chair facing her. “I was
sitting in the airport, making a call to one of my clients and…I
realized something.”

Her chest felt tight. Holly made herself smile at him
brightly. “What?”

He paused to take off his coat. Folding it and
draping it over the arm of the chair, Levi turned to her, his face
back to being unreadable. “Holly, when you came to my room this
afternoon, you knew Mac had gotten the film.”

She took a moment before responding, not sure where
this was going. “Yes.”

His hands on his knees, Levi looked at her.
“Why?”

Holly felt herself flush again, not sure what to say
that wouldn’t make her look as vulnerable as she felt. She still
didn’t know what he was driving at.

“Why did you say those things to me? Why did you call
Mac and let him out of the contract?”

She raised her gaze to him again. “I-I had to. I
realized…”

Putting out her hand in a reassuring gesture, Holly
started again, “I don’t want you to feel obligated, Levi. Please
know that. I meant everything I said. You have…been wonderful—“

“No, I haven’t.” His words were clipped. “At least,
not in the beginning.”

She waved this aside. “We were both stinkers in the
beginning, but I—“

“Do you know why I came back?” he interrupted
her.

Holly shook her head.

“I came back because—“ He stopped and then said,
“Holly, you gave Mac up for me, didn’t you?”

Swallowing a sob, she just looked down at her knees
again and shook her head.

“You let go of the biggest name you’ve ever gotten to
agree to appear in your documentaries. Why?”

Her voice was low. “I told you why.”

Raising her gaze again, she said with spirit, “Don’t
ask me again. It’s too embarrassing. What kind of modern day woman
cuts her own professional throat for a man? Really. I can’t let
this get around.”

He laughed, which she’d meant him to do. “The kind of
modern day woman who loves a man, that kind. You told me this
morning that you love me. I think I was stunned by that, by how
much I wanted you…. And you could have held Mac’s contract over his
head long enough to get some money out of him. You could have used
it to pay whatever expenses you’ve already incurred. Hell, you
could have gotten enough out of him to pay for the whole Zambian
project. This is a big film for him.”

“Don’t.” She shook her head as she rose to her feet
to walk over to the fireplace. “Don’t make me sound so
pathetic.”

She held her hands out to the warmth of the blaze. “I
am you know. One great Christmas and some amazing sex and my heart
goes pitter pat for a man. All the savvy I’ve picked up in my
career goes out the window. I’m pitiful.”

He was up from the chair and at her side in a flash.
“Then I’m pitiful, too. I hated leaving and when I saw there in the
airport, I realized I love you, too. I realized I couldn’t snatch
Mac away from you for ten times the money I’d make on the deal.
You—you’re just so much more important to me.”

Levi pulled her into his arms and kissed her until
she felt it though her whole body.

Leaning his head against hers, he said, “All the way
to the airport, I kept thinking how I could make this work for you.
I kept wondering if you’d ever talk to me again when you found out
about Mac. Then, I was sitting there at the terminal waiting for my
plane to be de-iced and I couldn’t do it.”

He dropped a kiss on her temple. “I knew. I knew I
loved you and Mac could go to hell. I’ll get him another agent to
look after his interests and we’ll find the biggest, butt-kicking
lawyer to sue to the hell out of him over the scheduling thing. If
nothing else, we’ll get you a hell of a settlement.”

“Oh, Levi.” She looked up at him. “You, too? You love
me?”

Tucking her more securely in his arms, he said. “Yep.
Me, too. I’ve never done less than my best for a client, but I
didn’t care a flip about him.”

“I love that plane,” she said dreamily. “If it hadn’t
had to be de-iced, you might not have realized all this until you
were flying home.”

Levi kissed her again. “By the way, I love your
mother. Do you realize if she hadn’t decided to give my father a
shot, we’d never have come here for this Christmas, never have
crawled on the snowy roof to add lights. We wouldn’t have met.”

“Oh, I think we would have met.” She smiled at
him.

He chuckled. “Well, I’ve seen your work, but I had no
idea how hot the director was. I don’t know how we would have
met.”

“I don’t know, either. But, I’ve had the impulse,”
Holly said, pulling him down for another kiss. “I kept thinking I
should throw my principles aside and jump the hot agent I saw at
those premiers.”

“Yes, please,” he said, unbuttoning her top button.
“The sooner, the better.”

LOOK FOR THE NEXT NOVEL IN THE HOLIDAY SERIES BY
CAROL ROSE:

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