Page 3 of Knot what I want for Christmas
I’m probably mistaken or befuddled after the flight and the two glasses of wine, but I swear for just the briefest minuscule of seconds Clay Jackson’s eyes seem to flash – that indifference vanishes for one swift moment. But then his attention is drawn to the front windshield as he pulls away from our parking spot and into the traffic.
“And you like snow too, right?” he says after another minute, his gaze flicking back up to the rearview mirror a second time. Am I imagining it again, or is there a slight tease in his eyes this time? “Like it enough to eat it.”
Crap. He must have seen the whole tongue thing after all.
“I’m not sure,” I say. “I think I’m going to love snow, but as my and snow’s relationship has been short and brief, I can’t make a judgement quite yet.”
“What do you mean by short and brief?” Annie says.
“This is literally only the second time I’ve seen snow in my whole entire life,” I say.
Annie squeals even louder than she did out by the front of the airport, jumping up and down on her seat. “Oh my goodness, Hollie. I had no idea.”
“How can you be called Hollie,” Clay says flatly, “and have only ever seen snow once before?”
“Because,” I say, “my mom really, really loved Christmas.”
The truck falls silent and Annie squeezes my hand again. Then she says, “Hollie, we’re gonna take good care of you.”
I smile back at her, trying not to let that flicker of sadness pull me into something more serious. Instead, I focus my attention on the window outside the truck. We’re making our way through the city, and even out here where there’s plenty of traffic and plenty of buildings, there’s still a whole heap of snow everywhere I look. It makes everything look so pretty, so festive, so Christmassy.
And then we climb out of the city and up into the mountains and everything gets a whole heap more beautiful. It’s as if I’m staring straight at a Christmas card scene. Fir trees dusted with snow, old wooden cabins all lit up with Christmas lights, snow blanketing the mountains and all the fields.
I always considered myself a city girl. I’ve lived in Rockview all my life, and I love the place. But this – this is enough to have the sadness lifting from my heart.
Yes, this was the right thing to do. Okay, it will be strange this year, not spending Christmas with my mom like I always have, not having our own little traditions, not having her, but being with Annie and her family – even if that does include her big, grumpy brother – is going to be a good thing. It’s better than being home alone with just my goldfish, Ted, for company. That, I suspect, would have been a bad decision.
Although there’s one problem with this carefully crafted master plan.
The big, grumpy alpha. He smells of home-baked brownies. The kind made with real dark chocolate, the kind that are soft and sticky in the middle, the kind that give you an almost orgasm as soon as you bite into them.
Yeah, I’d forgotten just how heavenly his scent is, which could make Christmas just that little bit more challenging.
Chapter Two
Clay
I thought I’d gotten over my feelings for Hollie Bright. I thought I’d gotten over her a long, long time ago. After all, it’s been ten years since I first laid eyes on the little omega.
But as soon as I spot her spinning in the snow outside the airport, arms flung wide, head tipped back, pretty blue eyes sparkling with excitement, caramel hair caught in the wind, I realize I’m in trouble.
Big trouble.
I am most definitely not over Hollie Bright.
My crush on my little sister’s college roommate – my little sister’s now longest, oldest, and bestest friend – was fine when, all those years ago, our interactions were sparse and brief. But this time, the omega is spending a whole damn week with us. With my family. At our ranch. And it’s not just any week; it’s Christmas week.
Sure, I can keep myself busy on the ranch. There’s always plenty to do. But there are still going to be family occasionswhere I won’t have an excuse to disappear and when I am most definitely going to be in the omega’s company.
I swallow hard, hands white-knuckling the steering wheel of my truck, and try my best not to suck in the sweet little thing’s scent. If she weren’t so darn cute, with a curvy little figure to die for, I’d say Hollie Bright’s scent was the best thing about the omega. It smells like… like honey. The kind of honey you want to drizzle all over your bread in the morning. The kind of honey you want to drizzle all over your tongue. The kind of honey you want to sink your fingers into and lick them clean.
It was her scent that hit me first all those years ago. Hit me like a slap around the face. Like a bucket of cold water over the head. Like a punch to the gut.Wake up, motherfucker, and take notice; something special has entered your life. Turned out Hollie Bright was more than just special. She was the type of girl you couldn’t keep your eyes off when she entered a room, the kind of girl who had you entranced when she spoke, the only girl who’s ever made my stupid heart actually flutter with one of her smiles.
And the kind of girl who has never been interested in alphas.
I shake my head and focus on the road ahead. The drive back home seems to last twice as long as the drive out to the airport, and I blame that entirely on Hollie Bright’s honey scent and the way it has my taste buds tingling and my blood buzzing.
Finally – goddamn finally – we reach the outer boundary of the ranch, passing from the main road onto the track and bumping along, passing under the big sign that marks our land: Big Sky Ranch.
