Page 26 of Holly and Nick Hate Christmas
I definitely didnotneed this man’s arms around me.
Olivia jumped out of the way as Nick pushed past her, his gaze fixed firmly on me. It would have been somewhat romantic, having a man’s undivided attention that way, had I not had spit bubbles forming on my lips.
The dustpan clattered to the floor, sending the freshly swept crumbs scattering again. From the table, Lydia gasped. Ryan shoved his chair back.
I shook my head harder, knowing my face was burning red and equally confident the redness wasn’t from all this non-choking. That was the downside to being a redhead who easily blushed. You turned into a hairy tomato real fast.
But my animated silent protests must have sent Nick the wrong message, and now the refrigerator was blocking any further escape attempts.
Nick was in front of me in an instant, his firm hand landing on my shoulder and spinning me away from the fridge. Before I could even regain my balance, his arms banded around my middle. His chest was warm behind me, his grip solid, forearms corded with muscle. Good heavens, was the man secretly a professional athlete? The scent of cedar and pine and something else, something fresh—like a forest after a snow—rushed my senses.
His hands locked together across my midsection, and I realized with a jolt this was my last chance to confess. A broken rib was going to hurt a lot worse than my busted pride. “Wait!” I barked.
Nick paused, but his grip didn’t loosen. If there had been other circumstances—literallyanyother ones—I might have appreciated the moment. Might have daydreamed about candlelit dinners and lingering goodnight hugs. Might have turned in his arms and studied the haze of stubble lining his strong jawline and reached up to—
“Um, Holly?” Ryan, Lydia, and Olivia all stared at me, their faces varying degrees of surprise, concern, and confusion.
Behind me, Nick tensed, then lowered his arms to his sides. I immediately missed their warmth, and that was when I realized I’d stopped coughing and my throat didn’t tickle anymore.
“I wastryingto say”—I executed a quick turn away from Nick, then straightened my hat and searched for my faux holiday smile—“I wasn’t choking.”
“Oh.” Nick’s solitary word dripped with embarrassment. I almost felt bad for him, until I remembered the trick he and Ryan were attempting to play on me.
“Don’t the experts say if they’re coughing, they’re not choking?” Lydia asked as she capped a bottle of edible gold balls.
“Yeah.” Ryan slowly sat back down. “I’m not sure that rule is reliable across the board, though.”
“Regardless…” I squared my shoulders and smiled brightly at Nick, who looked away. “You’re handy to have around in an emergency.”
That partwastrue, even if it annoyed me to say so. Perfect. Now I had chemistry with a handsome, capable man who liked to clean and told lies. And who was apparently modest and uncomfortable with high praise.
One of these things is not like the other.
I cheerfully clapped my hands together, more to drown out my own thoughts than to get everyone’s attention. “Who’s ready for a fresh Christmas playlist and more sprinkles?”
“Well, that does it.” Olivia bit into another cookie, her eyes darting between me and Nick and back again. “Mom’s not the only weird one around here today.”
She had no idea.
Holly had somehow transitioned from a reserved, slightly klutzy, adorable girl-next-door type who he was looking forward to getting to know…
Into an elf on crack.
Nick carefully opened the door that separated the bonus media room from the living room hallway and peered through the sliver of an opening with one eye. Wearing knee-high Christmas socks, Holly challenged Mason and Janie to a sliding contest across the hardwood floor.
Giggles resounded as all three took turns sliding and crashing into the wall and each other. Kat stood at the end of the hall with her cellphone, still wearing her ball cap and a wide grin as she filmed. “Come on, Janie. Holly’s winning.”
Janie ran faster and raised her arms as she slid next, her face bright. Her pigtails bounced as she narrowly missed crashing into Kat’s legs. “There! Beat that!”
“Why don’t we just beat Mason? Girls against boys.” Holly took her next turn as Mason protested. Besides the Santa hat, the green icing streaked across her cheek, and the reindeer on her socks, Holly looked…normal. Like a fun aunt enjoying time with her niece and nephew.
So what was all that in the kitchen earlier? Nick frowned,adjusting the angle of his neck to keep watching as Holly leaned down to whisper in Janie’s ear. How did a woman go from hating Christmas and, from what he understood, reluctantly coming home for the holidays, tothis? It felt…forced. Like maybe she thought that was howhewanted her to act?
But Ryan had told her Nick felt the same about Christmas as she did, so if she wanted to impress him, that didn’t add up. Granted, nothing about this trip added up.
Especially not the way Holly had felt in his arms earlier.
His hands tingled. He’d panicked, worried about her choking but not so much that he couldn’t help but think how well she fit in his embrace. Her head came to the perfect spot under his chin. And her—
