Page 38 of Merry Little Hate Notes

“It’s probably for the best.” I tried to play it cool.

“If we must.” She inhaled deeply and pushed away from her desk.

Together, we headed over. It took all I had in me not to hold her hand.

“You need to follow my lead,” Holly said out of the side of her mouth. “I’ve seen how you decorate cookies, and it’s not pretty. No going rogue on me.”

I smiled, loving seeing this side of Holly again. “I’m at your command.” Truer words had never been spoken.

“Very good.” She seemed to take pleasure at the thought of bossing me around. “I snuck a peek earlier and they have buttercreamfrosting and royal icing. We are going the royal icing route. It’s trickier to use, but it lends to a beautiful presentation.” In a surprise move, she pulled out a small baggy full of a shimmering substance from her pocket, doing her best to keep anyone but me from seeing it, like she was showing me her stash of drugs. “I brought some of my own sugar crystals to give us an edge.”

I paused, shocked by this turn of events and amazed that my mom had been right about Holly showing up in grand fashion, as she put it. I knew once Mom found out about Holly’s contraband crystals, she would never let me live down my original doubts. Holly Hollydays was making an appearance, and it had me wanting to wrap her up for Christmas.

“I know,” Holly whispered. “The holidays haven’t exactly been my thing for a long time, but I’m tired of losing. And ... maybe ... I’m tired of not being me,” she cautiously admitted.

“If you want help being you, I’m here to assist,” I couldn’t help but say. Yes, I was desperate. And—judging by Holly’s reaction—lame.

Holly laughed and rolled her eyes before walking off.

Damn. I palmed my forehead. The woman had me on edge.

With my tail between my legs, I joined Holly, who had grabbed a bistro table on the outer edge of the dining area. Each table had a red or green plastic tablecloth covering it. An assortment of cookie-decorating tools and paper plates filled each one.

Holly smirked at me when I landed next to her and breathed in her vanilla scent. I had a feeling she knew she was making me squirm, and she enjoyed that power. Not sure what had changed in her since yesterday, but it was like she’d flipped a switch and the lights inside her were flickering, on the verge of lighting her up.

She leaned in closer to me, and I gripped the table to push down my desire to pull her to me and tell her exactly how I felt about her before ravishing her lips. Instead, she instructed, “Here’s your mission if you choose to accept it: I have a feeling they’re going to have us make a run for the cookies and decorations. You go for the cookies. Grab as many snowflakes and trees as you can. I’ll retrieve the icing bags with my preferred piping tips. Got it?”

I saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

She nudged me with her hip. “Okay, smart aleck.”

“Hey, I’m being sincere.”

“Uh-huh. Just get the cookies.”

“I got it,” I assured her. I was going to do everything in my power to prove to Holly I was the man for the job.

“Welcome, everyone, to holiday challenge number four,” Camille shouted above the noise of the crowd, silencing everyone. “Each team will have half an hour to decorate as many cookies as they can. At the end of the half hour, you will present two cookies to be judged, one from each partner. No cheating.” Camille eyed Jason and his BDR, Trish. “With that said, we have an assortment of cookies, icing, and decorations along the counter here.” Camille pointed behind her. “On the count of three, you and your partner can grab your materials and begin decorating. Let’s see what you’ve got.” Camille grinned.

Each person stood and positioned themselves as if they were on the starting line, ready to run a relay race.

I glanced at Holly. Her eyes were on the prize while she was rolling up the sleeves of her cardigan. I could see her calculating the odds in her gorgeous head. This was my moment to prove to her she could trust me. If I had to, I was going to barrel my way through my coworkers and get Holly her cookies.

“All right,” Camille called out. “One! Two! Three!”

I lunged forward, barely waiting for her to saythreebefore sprinting toward the counter and the cookies, while Holly dashed for the icing. With some pleasure, I stiff-armed Jason like a defensive lineman, preventing him from grabbing the snowflake cookies Holly had her heart set on. I wasn’t the only person acting aggressively. You would have thought we were at a cash grab or in elementary school, given the chaos that ensued.

With the cookies secured, I rushed back to our table. Holly was already there, smiling smugly with her assortment of pastel-colored icing.

I gently set the cookies on the table, my chest puffing out, proud of myself.

“Don’t get too cocky,” Holly took me down a notch. “You still have to decorate them.”

Admittedly, I knew I was the weak link here. Decorating cookies wasn’t in my wheelhouse. Now, eating cookies or making fun of Holly and her friends for their cookie parties while we were growing up—that I could do. “I am your apprentice. Be gentle with me,” I teased.

“You’re ridiculous.” She grinned. “Just follow my lead. First, we need to outline the cookie with the icing. Let’s start with a tree. They’re easier.”

We each put a sugar cookie tree on our plate. Holly chose pink icing and I picked light green. I watched as she outlined the cookie precisely and perfectly. I tried to mimic her, but I was all over the place and my line was thick in some places and nonexistent in others.

---