Page 88 of Five Days of Christmas Spice

“Holly.”

She turns to me. “Hey.”

“What’s going on?” I shove my hands in my pockets.

“I’m leaving.” Her eyes dart everywhere except my face.

“You weren’t going to say goodbye?” I’m having a hard time swallowing past the lump in my throat.

“We did that last night. Look, Noel, this has been nice, but…”

“But what?” The words are hard to get out.

“I was honest from the beginning. I told you I didn’t know if I could have another relationship. What you’ve given me…we agreed to five days.” Holly crosses her arms over her chest.

“Yes, we did, and they were the five best days I have had in a long time. But are you sure you’ve been honest from the beginning?”

Her eyes widen. She shakes her head and grabs the door. “I’ve got to go.”

Despite spending all that time with her and knowing I want her, I don’t know the little things about her. I don’t know her favourite colour, what music she likes or how she handles conflict.

“Are you a journalist?”

“What?” Her brows furrow. “No!”

“Not out for a story to expose all this?” I gesture at Vixen’s Paradise behind me.

“Noel, I wasn’t pretending with you.” She juts out her chin.

It’s cute that she’s angry.

“I didn’t say you were. Only that you weren’t honest with me.”

“I told you, I don’t like telling people what I do for a living.”

“How do you know Stella Kent?”

She leans against the car door.

I take a step, taking up all her space. “Or are you trying to pull off some kind of scam?”

“No scam. Stella is my cousin, okay? I gotta go. I can’t talk about this.”

“Holly, I don’t want to part like this.” My voice is hoarse.

Her expression is pinched, like she’s fighting back tears. “I have stuff I have to deal with, and I can’t…”

“Can’t what?” I place a hand on her arm.

“Talk to you any more about this or anything. I got to go, Noel.” Her voice breaks.

The emotion in her voice twists my heart, and my anger fizzles away.

“Fine. Holly, call me later, okay?”

“Okay.” But I see by the set of her chin that she’s made up her mind and isn’t going to call.

She slams the door shut. I stand there, watching her drive away from me.

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