Page 22 of A Festive Surprise

‘Sure. Sounds gorgeous.’ She looked him up and down. ‘All of it.’

‘Good. I am back at five. Give me some time to warm up the house and shower, then you come when you like.’

‘Sounds divine.’ She clicked him a wink and he mirrored her before heading for the pickup and zooming off.

Closing the door with a thud, she returned to her desk and picked up her phone. The promise of seeing Farid later flooded her with adrenaline and energy. A pleasant sensation warmed her to the core. She wouldn’t be alone and, while solitude didn’t usually bother her, she relished the idea of Farid’s company. Besides being the hottest thing on legs this side of the universe, he was also fun and easy to talk to.

Gavin was still on her messenger contact list. She could do this. Hitting call, she waited. It rang and rang to the point where she was ready to end it. Then it connected.

‘Hello.’ Such a familiar voice. Low and mild, pleasant even. They’d been together five years; it hadn’t been all bad. Just the end. Caused by her poor judgement. Not his, as Alice thought.

‘Hi, Gavin. It’s Holly.’ She tucked her hair behind her ear. Duh! What a stupid thing to say. Clearly, he could see her name and her picture. She gritted her teeth in the mirror over the bedecked fireplace.

‘Yes, I know. What do you want?’

Blunt but probably best.

‘To talk about the Mardicon and Co. deal.’

‘Oh, right. So, why are you calling on messenger?’

‘Does it matter?’

‘I don’t like to talk business on private messenger.’

She screwed up her face. Did he think she’d call about something personal? As if. She’d blown her chance there and wasn’t going to reopen that box. ‘Ok, well, give me your business number and I’ll drive somewhere I get better reception and call you back. Or I’ll set up a team call on the computer or whatever. I honestly didn’t think it would be an issue. I just need to clarify a few things.’

‘Look, never mind. No one’s here, so shoot. Whatever. Go for it.’

‘Right, well, I have some notes I’d like to go through with you.’ She put the phone on speaker and laid them out.

‘Holly, can I say something?’ His voice was soft.

‘Yes.’ Her heart hiccupped. This was going to be personal. That tone said so.

‘I just hope you’re ok. What happened with us was… er, distressing, for both of us. And the way we ended. It’s never sat right with me.’

‘Yeah. Well, what’s done is done.’ Heat swelled in her cheeks. If he’d shown up with a film crew while she was naked on the toilet, it couldn’t have been more embarrassing. Please, could they just forget the whole damn thing? ‘Now, let’s get through this.’

She steered him onto business and talked over every silence in case he tried to return to anything personal. When it was time to end the call, she barely said goodbye before hitting the red cross. She closed the folder on her notes, got up, and strolled into the living room area. It was done. She could sweep him and their history back under the carpet and look forward to her night with Farid.

She typed in several lines of code. The keyboard clicked, and her eyes roved over the screen, straying to the clock over and over. Time must have slowed down. The afternoon dragged. Finally, she gave up, shut her laptop and turned her attention to what to wear.

Jammies again? They’d definitely had an impact. Too sloppy? Was a dress too formal? She settled on leggings and a loose sweater. Revolving slowly in the mirror, she smirked at her reflection. Kind of a Dirty Dancing look. She’d do any kind of dancing with Farid, the dirtier the better. Flicking out her long hair, she rolled her shoulders. Not bad.

Farid’s pickup rumbled up just before five and Holly sat on the sofa, tapping her foot for a highly unrespectable fifteen minutes before going round. So what if he hadn’t had time to shower or do anything? Holding off wasn’t an option anymore. She knocked on the door, stamping her feet as a chill wind blasted her. Shivering, she rubbed her arms. Come on. Was he in the shower? Had he heard? She knocked again. This time he came shuffling behind the door and it opened.

Oh my god. She zeroed in on pecs to die for and shimmering brown skin covered in a light smattering of dark hair, tapering to a thin line, ending at the white towel wrapped around his waist. She lingered on a few discoloured lines criss-crossing his broad chest. Scars? From when he was captured?

‘Hey.’ He cleared his throat and pushed his hand across the markings, as though wanting to hide them from her attention. ‘You didn’t give me much time.’

Time to scrape her jaw off the doormat. ‘I am a bit desperate, aren’t I?’

‘Come in then.’ He retreated into the tiny hallway, the mirror image of her own and identical in colour. Georgia had used her artistic talents to decorate this one in a more Middle Eastern style with a red and gold rug, intricate photo frames and a beautiful hanging lantern-style light fitting. Not a Christmas decoration in sight.

‘I should put something on.’ Farid raked up his wet hair and Holly sucked on her lip.

‘Don’t trouble yourself on my account.’

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