Christmas Crush Read online

  “Who?”

  I try to keep my patience, but he makes it so hard sometimes. “Your assistant.”

  “An assistant?” He guffaws. “Abner T. Lovejoy doesn’t need an assistant!”

  “Dad, when you talk about yourself in third person, it makes me worry.”

  “Aw, shut it. I’ll find it myself. Need a smoke. Need it now!” He ends the call.

  I stare at my phone and shake my head. He really does get crazier by the minute.

  “I guess I need to go check on him.” I give Greasy a few more pets before grabbing a box of cookies from the stash we’ve created at the shop. My workers take goodies home for the families every day. “Maybe the sugar will sweeten the old man up.”

  The drive up to the mansion on the hill surrounded by snow-dusted trees doesn’t take long. The Lovejoy Manor has maintained its place looking down on Reindeer Valley for over a century.

  When I enter, Dad is tearing through his office and yelling at poor Mr. Finley. “It’s got breasts on the front, young man. Great big ones! You puff on the mouthpiece, of course, not the breasts. But the breasts are nonetheless very important. It’s like art! It is art. I need it!”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I haven’t seen any such … item … at all.”

  When I enter the office, Mr. Finley half-heartedly searches along a bookcase as Dad pulls drawers from his desk.

  “What’s the big deal with the pipe?” I place the box of cookies on the corner of his desk.

  Dad narrows his eyes, his gray hair thick and in disarray.

  “Is that … what’s that? Some cookies?” he asks.

  “Yes, from the bakery.”

  “Lorraine’s bakery?” He leans over and opens the box.

  “Yes. She asked about you, by the way.”

  “She did?” He grabs a cookie that’s shaped like a Christmas tree and covered in green sprinkles. “Lorraine. When we were young, the figure on her—it was like … Like a dream. Her ass—you could set a drink on it. And she was so funny. Smart. Everything, really.” His eyes get dreamy. “But of course she wasn’t from a good family. Just nobodies, really.” He coughs. “Not meant for me. Your mother… Yes, your mother was more suitable. With a good pedigree, or so my father said. . .” He pauses, lost in thought, but then he seems to remember himself. “Yes, your mother was far more suitable.”

  I certainly don’t have time to get into the many, many ways my mom was absolutely unsuitable as a wife and a mother, so I try to focus on the one thing I can fix. “Why do you want a pipe?” I glance around at the mess he’s made.

  “A pipe?” He munches the cookie and almost smiles, his eyes still dreamy as he likely pictures younger Lorraine’s rear shelf. “What pipe? Who wants a pipe? Didn’t Dr. Sunderland say I’m not supposed to smoke anymore? Not that I did it much. Your mother hated the smell. And I did anything I could to keep her from snapping at me.” He makes a face but takes another bite of the cookie and almost smiles again. “And you shouldn’t smoke, son. It’s a terrible habit. It’s bad enough that you became a mechanic, of all things. Opened a shop and everything. You could’ve been someone important, someone famous. Like Bobby Kennedy—but alive, of course. That’s important.” He munches thoughtfully. “Right, being a mechanic is one thing, but smoking is simply one bridge too far. I have to put my foot down on this one.”

  Mr. Finley groans and starts setting the room back to order.

  “Glad we got that straightened out.” I don’t roll my eyes, but I certainly think about it. “If you’re all set here, I have some work to do at the shop.” Not entirely true—my work has more to do with Ruby than anything. I want to know if my plan is working, and more importantly, I want to know the second she steps foot into town.

  “Fine. I don’t know why you came up here to begin with. I never see you anymore. You really should take more of an interest in the estate since you’ll be inheriting it. You need to find a good match like I did. Then settle down here and, and, and … and do whatever it is we do. Yes? Yes.” He nods to himself.

  “Right.” I pull him in for a brief hug and ignore the sprinkles he leaves on my shoulder. “I’ll see you in a few days unless you need me. Sound good?”

  “I’m fine.” He waves me away and reaches for another cookie. “I’ve got young Finley here to do my bidding.”

  “Young Finley” is sixty if he’s a day, but there’s no point reminding my father of that.

  Mr. Finley gives me a kind, long-suffering smile as I back out of the office.

  I hurry back to my car so I can return to town. Keeping an eye on the bakery is a full-time job. It’s a good thing I own the entire block right across the street. Now all I have to do is hunker down and wait for Ruby to show up.

  Once she’s here, she’s mine.

  4

  Ruby

  Luckily, the flight home was short. I’d barely made it to the airport in time to even catch my plane. But I was able to get on, and that’s all that matters. The last thing I needed was to linger around and change my mind about coming home. Plus, I know if I really had time to think about the consequences of my decision, I might not go.

  There’s no turning back now, even though this most likely will get me fired. I really had no choice in the matter. What was I supposed to do? Leave my grandmother high and dry when she needs me? This has nothing to do with the longing I’ve had to come back home for a few years now. That’s what I tell myself, anyway.

  I pull out my phone to call Grams to let her know I’ve landed, but it goes straight to voicemail. The heck? Then I see a text from her. What is up with her texting all the sudden?

  Grams: I’m sending someone to pick you up.

  Dang. She really must be slammed if she can’t even come to pick me up. I fire a text back asking her who she sent before I make my way to the exit.

  There’s another message, but I don’t bother opening the text from my roommate. She always has something to complain about. When I told her about me heading out of town at the last second, she even complained about that. I thought she’d be happy that I wasn’t going to be there for a while. Then again, who’s going to clean up after her? She has a built-in maid. I’ve tried to let her messiness go, but I can’t. She leaves her crap everywhere. Our place isn't giant, so I don’t have much of a choice but to clean up after her. It’s going to be a vacation in itself being away from her.

  I suck in a breath when the cold air hits me. Sometimes I forget how cold it can actually get here. I don’t hate it. I just didn’t keep that in mind when I left for the airport. I was in such a hurry that I forgot my winter coat altogether.

  When Grams doesn’t text me back, I glance around to see who she might have sent. My heart stops when I catch sight of Knox. I quickly look away. I’m not even in Reindeer Valley yet, and I’m already running into him! Why the heck is the universe so cruel? He’s the main reason I never come home to begin with. Not that I would ever in my life admit that out loud to anyone.

  I turn to give him my back, knowing he likely won’t recognize me. He barely gave me the time of day in high school. He’d been a few grades above me and ran with the rich crowd. All the girls loved him, and all the boys wanted to be him. I hated that I had also fallen into that category. There was always something about Knox that drew my eyes to him no matter how hard I tried to look away.

  Then he’d gone and broken my heart. I hadn’t even realized how in love with him I was back then. Not until I’d overheard him speaking badly about me. His words had crushed me. It hadn’t helped that a few days prior he’d actually been kind to me. I had this small flame of hope that he might like me, too.

  I was a silly girl then. I might still be, because it’s taking everything inside of me to not turn back around and take another glance at him for old time’s sake. He’s bigger than I remember. The years have been good to him. I didn’t think it was possible for him to be any handsomer than he was in high school, but I was wrong.

  It doesn’t matter
. If I’m lucky, I won’t run into him again. Once he picks up whoever he’s waiting for—I ignore the twinge of jealousy that ignites at the thought of him waiting for a girlfriend or, even worse, a wife—he’ll be gone, and then I can find my ride. Problem solved.

  “Ruby Lane.” My stomach plummets at the familiar deep voice. I try to convince myself that he didn't just say my name. I don’t turn around. Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll go away. I pretend to be seriously invested in my phone.

  “Red,” he calls again. This time his voice is closer than before. I can actually feel him come up behind me.

  “What’s so interesting on your phone?” he asks. Before I know what’s happening, he has it in his hand.

  “Hey!” I spin around and try to grab it back from him.

  I jump for it, but it’s pointless. He holds it up over his head where I’ll never reach it in a million years. Not that I don’t still try. I probably look like an idiot.

  “Where is your coat?” He glares down at me.

  Of course the first time I run into him I look like crap. I’m in sweats and sneakers. My hair is piled on top of my head, and I don’t have a speck of makeup on my face. He looks as handsome as ever, but something is different. His hair is a bit unruly, and I don’t think he’s shaved today. In high school, he was always so put together all the time. Of course he’s more handsome this way. It’s a bunch of bullcrap that he doesn’t even have to try to look good.

  “I have a sweater on.” I make another jump for my phone when it starts to ring in his hand.

  “You need a coat.”

  “Give me my phone.” I hold my hand out.

  “Why? I was rather enjoying you jumping up and down against me.” He smirks.

  I gape at him. He did not say that. Nope. Didn’t say it. I’m clearly hallucinating from the cold. But what if he did? I’m not just some dope who’s going to fall for his stupid charm. “Don’t you have enough girls trying to jump all over you?”

  “None that I want.”

  “Right,” I grit out. How could I forget?

  Knox was always too good for any of the girls from Reindeer Valley. None of them met the standards he’d set. I think that’s partly why the girls in school were always throwing themselves at him. They wanted to be the ones to claim they’d gotten Knox into bed. Oddly, he wasn't a manwhore. At least not around here. There was always talk in high school that he only slept with college girls. I have no clue if that was true. Not that I care. Because I definitely don’t.

  “Your boss is calling,” Knox says before he clears the call. How the heck does he even know it’s my boss? He hands me the phone back.

  “It was nice seeing you,” I say dryly before I turn back around, giving him my back.

  “You sound like you haven't missed me,” he responds as he takes my roller right out of my hand and begins to take off with it.

  “What are you doing?” I have no choice but to chase after him. Before I can even get to his fancy sports car, he’s already putting my suitcase into the back.

  “Your grandma sent me to pick you up.” He opens the passenger side door. “Get in. It’s warm.”

  Grandma sent him? Et tu, Lorraine? I sputter.

  “You’re freezing out here. Come on.” He gives me that same smile that used to melt my heart and do inappropriate things to my panties. Not that I think about it. Ever.

  “Fine,” I growl before I stomp over and get inside his vehicle. He shuts the door behind me before jogging around the front and jumping into the driver's seat. It’s an hour drive to get to Reindeer Valley.

  My breath hitches when he leans over me. “What are you doing?” I squeak out.

  “Seatbelt, Red.” The click of the buckle is loud in the car. “You clearly need someone to look out for you.” He smirks.

  I can't stop the sound of annoyance that comes from me. It only makes his smirk deeper and sexier.

  This is going to be the longest hour of my life.

  Merry freakin’ Christmas to me.

  5

  Knox

  She’s just like I remember her down to the last strand of hair. And her scent—it’s the same.

  “Are you sure you’re supposed to be picking me up?” She shifts in her seat, her body facing me more, as if this is some sort of confrontation.

  I don’t mind. It just gives me a better view of her. She has no idea how much self-control it took for me not to kiss her the moment I saw her. “I’m sure. Lorraine has her hands full at the bakery, so I offered to pick you up and save her the time.”

  “Why?” One of her eyebrows arches.

  I remember that look. But somehow it’s sexier now. All grown up.

  “She has a lot of orders.” I shrug as I pull out onto the main highway leading to Reindeer Valley.

  “Not ‘why couldn’t she come,’ more like ‘why would you ever volunteer to waste your time with a lowly little peasant like me?’” Her tone is almost cutting, but she’s still too sweet to really draw blood.

  “Peasant?” I laugh. “It’s that the sort of talk they teach you in the city?”

  She rolls her eyes. Adorable. “Just answer the question.”

  “I wanted to see you.” That’s the damn truth and then some. Spying on her in the city was acute torture. Being close enough to touch her but having to sit back and wait—I honestly don’t know how I did it. But I wanted to give her time to find herself, to discover on her own that she belongs here with me. Of course, I can admit I may have given her a little nudge …

  “You wanted to see me?” She blows a raspberry. “Lies.”

  “Is that so hard to believe?” I pass a slow-moving truck laden with freshly-cut Christmas trees as a light snow shower falls all around.

  “Yes.” She turns and looks out the window as the airport town falls away and the scenery becomes more forested.

  “It’s the truth, Ruby.” I reach out to take her hand, but she wiggles in her seat and clasps her fingers together, her gaze still on the snowy woods.

  “Sure, Knox.” She doesn’t sound the least bit convinced. “Whatever you say.”

  I frown, unsure of how to convince her, but I counsel myself to be more patient. After all, she just got back.

  “One thing’s for sure.” She sighs. “I’ve missed this. The way the air is so crisp, the snowy woods, everything that feels like home.”

  “The city not living up to expectations?”

  “It’s fine,” she replies quickly. Too quickly. And I don’t miss the furtive glance she sends my way.

  “Just ‘fine’?”

  She wrinkles her nose. “It’s not really your business, is it?”

  Everything to do with her is my business, but I don’t want to push. Not yet, anyway.

  “Grams told me you never left the Valley.” She cuts me a sly look. “But I guess you wouldn’t have to go anywhere. I mean, you’re already king of the town. You’ve got your mansion up on the hill where you can lord it over the rest of us. Must be nice to have everything laid out for you like a little prince.”

  Shots fired. “I get it.” I shrug. “My family has a reputation, and I let that go to my head when I was younger. They had me later in life, and I guess that meant they were already set in their ways and their opinions. My mother was a big fan of telling me how superior I was to everyone else in town. And I believed her for a while. I really did.”

  “I …” She finally looks at me again, compassion in her eyes. “I heard about your mom’s passing. I’m so sorry.”

  “Thanks.” I meet her gaze for a moment before returning to the road. “That’s kind of you. She wasn’t an easy woman to love, but she was my mom. I’ve still got Dad raising hell up at the house. I visit as much as I can.”

  “Oh.” She looks ahead as we crest a hill and Reindeer Valley comes into view. “You don’t live up there?”

  “Nah. I moved out and got a nice little cottage off Main Street. I updated it, but it’s still cozy. And the best part is, I can walk
to the shop.”

  “You really work as a mechanic?” Her eyebrow lifts again, skepticism written all over her.

  “Yep.”

  “You. Prom king. Valedictorian. Ivy League material. Instead of heading to Harvard, you grabbed a wrench? I really can’t picture it.” Her gaze strays to one of my hands on the steering wheel.

  “All true. Here.” I reach out and take her hand. Just touching her sends a singing jolt of heat through my blood.

  She swallows hard. “What are you—“

  “Feel my palm.” I open my hand, and she runs her small fingers along my skin. Each touch is like a little lick of fire. Even though I try to keep myself calm, I wonder if she can hear my raging heartbeat.

  “Calluses.” She feels the spots along my fingers hardened from the touch of a wrench. “You really do the work, don’t you? I’m surprised and sort of … I feel sort of…” She puts her palm to mine, now comparing hand sizes. Mine dwarfs hers. When she moves her fingers higher, straying to my wrist, I fight the urge to slam on the brakes and pull her against me.

  “You feel sort of what?” I ask.

  It seems to break her out of her reverie, and when she pulls her hands away, I silently curse myself for speaking.

  “Nothing.” She faces forward and folds her hands in her lap. “I feel nothing at all.”

  6

  Ruby

  The questions never end. Knox asks me one after another as we make our way to town. He’s acting like I have the most interesting life and he wants to know all about it. Back in school we barely talked.

  Hell, he didn’t really talk to anyone that wasn’t in his circle, but now he won’t shut up. Worse, I find myself enjoying his attention way more than I should be. I should know better.

  “Is your boss going to be pissed that I cleared his call?” He smirks as he asks this question.

  “He’s already pissed so what does it matter?” I shrug it off.