Page 52 of Christmas Romance Galore!
Her hand found my arse and she gave it a squeeze. “Good morning to you.”
I could hear the low thud of her heartbeat through her chest, and it was reassuring. A train rattled by outside the window.
“It’s weird hearing the trains — I’m not used to it in my room,” I said.
Holly kissed the top of my head. “Get used to it,” she replied. “I plan on having you in my bed often.”
I raised my head and gave her a lazy smile. “You do, huh?”
She gave a slight nod. “I do.” She paused. “It’s taken long enough already, so you owe me some time back.”
Taken long enough? How long had Holly wanted me?
I rolled on top of her and she groaned as our bodies pressed together, naked flesh on naked flesh. Was there a better feeling in the world, especially with a new lover?
“How do you work that one out?” I asked.
“The time back thing?”
I nodded.
“Well,” she said, her hands stroking up and down both sides of my body.
I wriggled and squealed.
“I did not know how ticklish you were, this is a new thing,” Holly said. “Anyway, yes, time.” She paused — she was choosing her words carefully. “Let’s just say, you’ve come to my attention of late.”
I gave her a look. “What does that mean?”
Holly thought for a moment, opened her mouth, then closed it.
“Whatever it is, spit it out,” I said.
“I’m thinking.”
“And we’re friends. I’m not some random you picked up on the street.” I wanted Holly to trust me. I kissed her to show how much I meant it. When I drew back, Holly looked dazed.
“You see, you ask me a question, then you do that. It’s distracting.”
“Sorry,” I smiled, kissing her lightly again.
She cleared her throat. “Okay,” she began. “You’ve always been attractive to me, but I never really thought of acting on it — we were friends, that’s how things were.”
I nodded. “I know, same here.”
She smiled at that. “But then,” she continued, wrapping her arms tighter around my back. “When you started on this crazy dating scheme, I started to get jealous of your dates. And then Nicola Sheen turned up and I wanted to punch her. That’s not normal.”
“You’ve always wanted to punch Nicola Sheen.”
“True,” Holly replied. “But I realised my jealousy had a motive, and I didn’t want you ending up with her, even though you seemed hell bent on that scenario for quite a while.”
“I was processing,” I said, guilt bubbling up my body.
“Sure you were.” Holly paused, giving me a peck on the lips before drawing back. “Then I went out on that date to try to take my mind off it, but it didn’t work. I just kept thinking about you.”
“But you arranged a second date.”
Holly blushed. “I lied. There was no second date. I made it up.”
