Page 36 of A Holly Brown Christmas
But she ignored him, suddenly lighting up. "Yes! Got it!" Picking up her tiles, she quickly slapped her word down with the flair of someone dropping a royal flush. “Quizzed! Ha! Top that!”
Lucas blinked before leaning in. "Triple word score?"
“Yup! Seventy-eight points. Boom!” Laughing, she wrote down the score.
Groaning dramatically, Lucas flopped down onto his back. "I was winning two minutes ago."
"Um…no. You were existing two minutes ago. Now you’re losing." She smiled sweetly at him. “I told you I’m competitive.” She tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth with the confidence of a champion as Lucas propped himself back up and narrowed his eyes at the board.
"You know, most people are fun to play board games with."
"This is fun! I know I’m having fun."
He chuckled. “I can’t even imagine what game night is like at your house. Do you have any brothers or sisters? Are they like this too?”
“Two brothers, one sister, and I never lose to them.”
He groaned.
She leaned forward, chin in her hands, absolutely glowing with triumph. Maybe she could lighten up a bit, but she had a feeling if they did anything that he excelled at, he’d be just as competitive.
"Your move, champ."
Lucas stared at his rack with yet another groan. “All vowels. How the hell did I end up with all vowels? Did you take all the consonants when I got up to get more tea?”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you seriously accusing me of cheating?”
All he did was sigh.
“I would never cheat,” she said primly. “I don’t know who you play with, but I was taught not to cheat.
“Okay, okay…I was just joking. Sheesh.” He sighed. “Can I just spell 'ouch' and surrender?” he looked positively miserable.
"I’ll allow it. But only if you admit I’m the superior Scrabble player."
"Fine. You’re the Queen of Scrabble."
She preened, giving him another sweet smile. "I know."
But her smile turned to amusement as she watched him pretend to pout, and without a word, she tossed him one of the chocolate chip cookies from their tray of snacks.
“What the…?”
"Consolation prize."
“Yeah. Great.” He took a bite, shaking his head. "Still tastes like defeat."
Winking, she said, “Aww…poor baby. Want some milk with that?”
But when she went to stand, Lucas somehow managed to get up and playfully tackle her to the couch. She squeaked with surprise and then delight as her robe fell open just enough that it made it easy for him to finish the job.
Yes!
Holly helped him get the robe off before returning the favor with the sweatpants he was wearing. It was sexy and playful and just…everything. She had no idea what tomorrow was going to bring, but for tonight, she was the happiest girl in the world.
“Lucas, I think I’m going to buy into this spa! They have memberships where I can come anytime I want and get any service I want. I’m emailing you the contract!”
He and Holly had just finished brunch and she was outside with Henry and his crew, overseeing the rest of the exterior lighting. Meanwhile, he was now dealing with his mother.
