Page 24 of A Holly Brown Christmas
“You never mentioned what time I needed to come over tomorrow.”
He really liked it when she smiled.
“Why don’t we talk about it over dinner? I’d like to take you out, if that’s okay. I know you have to go home and feed Shmoop, so I can pick you up a little later if that’s better for you.”
“Lucas, you don’t have to take me out.” She blushed as she said it and he thought it just added to how pretty she was.
“I know I don’t have to. I want to. So what do you say? Will you have dinner with me?”
She studied him for a moment. “It’s been a long week and I’m kind of exhausted. How about you pick up dinner and we’ll eat at my house? This way, I don’t have to leave Shmoop alone or make him ride in the car. Although…he loves when we do that.”
“I can definitely do that! Just tell me what you’d like and what time and I’ll be there.”
“How about Chinese food at seven? I’ll text you my address.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you at seven.”
When he walked out of her office, he felt happier than he had all day, and was already looking forward to the night.
Seven
Every pillow in the house was fluffed, every carpet was vacuumed, and all the floors were clean and sparkly.
“Can you believe it, Shmoop? Lucas is coming here, to our house!” Holly squealed with delight while her dog simply cocked his head and looked at her like he was amused by her level of excitement. “You and I both know this has been like a fantasy of mine for years, so…everything has to be perfect. Even if he’s just coming over to talk about the Christmas party, I’m still so freaking happy about it!”
This time when she let out a squeal, Shmoop howled with her.
“Don’t worry. You’re always going to be the number one boy in my life.” Bending over, she kissed the top of his fluffy little head. “But this is seriously a dream come true!”
She felt like twirling and dancing and singing—none of which she was good at—but that didn’t stop her.
The coffee table, however, did.
“Ouch!” Her shin collided with the edge of the table and she cried out, dropping onto the sofa.
Naturally, her dog jumped up beside her to inspect what was going on, and then gave her a look that clearly said, “What did you expect? You know you can’t dance.”
“I know, I know,” she groaned, rubbing her shin. “I need to remember I’m a klutz.” It was rough being a clumsy girl who desperately wanted to do all the graceful things.
And someday, she’d remember to stop trying.
Maybe.
After a few minutes, Holly got back up and made her way around the house one last time to make sure everything looked nice. Her house was small—especially compared to Lucas’s family’s home—but she loved it. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow was the perfect size for her. Although, she could have gone with a two bedroom, but she used the third one as a library and office space. That room was the only one her father did on his own, building her floor to ceiling bookcases so she could unpack the hundreds of books she owned.
He'd done it as a birthday gift and it was now her favorite room in the house.
Holly had bought an oversized chair and ottoman and placed it in the room, hung a chandelier, and found an antique side table. It’s where she spent a lot of her time when she was home, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea.
And sometimes wine.
Her second favorite room was her bedroom. She didn’t let her father touch this room other than helping her paint. After that, she wanted everything in there to be done by herself. She chose the wallpaper for a feature wall and went with all soft colors. This was a room to unwind in at the end of the day, and it always made her smile. Holly liked to describe it as a glam and feminine bedroom with neutral furniture, a statement crystal chandelier, botanical artworks, and real flowers.
Well, there were a lot of artificial flowers in there now, but when she remembered, she’d choose fresh flowers to complement the space.
Like she did tonight.
There was no way to know for sure if Lucas was interested in a tour of her little house—not that it would take long—but if he was, she wanted everything to look as appealing as possible.
