Page 53 of Christmas Romance Galore!
I widened my eyes, feeling stupidly grateful that she’d lied. I didn’t want there to be anyone else, especially not so recently. I wanted Holly and her affections all to myself.
“We all do stupid things.” Holly raised an eyebrow at me.
She had a point, so I shut up. If I was feeling like that about her date, she must have been feeling wretched about Nicola Sheen.
“But once I knew why I was behaving like I was, I then had to work up the courage to act on it. There was a lot to think about.” Holly grinned. “Luckily, the spilled herbs were the catalyst. I don’t think I’m ever going to look at a pot of oregano in the same way ever again.”
I brushed a strand of Holly’s hair out of her eyes and kissed her. “Me neither,” I said.
A few seconds passed.
“What about you?” she asked.
“Me?”
“Yeah — did you think about me like that?”
My breathing stilled. I had to think about how to answer this one — I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, but I wanted to be honest.
“I’m a little slow on the uptake,” I began.
“Judging on last night’s performance, I disagree,” Holly said, pressing her leg between mine.
I groaned. “What were you saying about distraction?”
“Right, yes,” she said, not moving her leg.
I kissed her shoulder, then held her gaze. “You’re gorgeous — that much everyone knows. You’re tall, dark and handsome, but like you say, we were friends.” I stopped to kiss her before continuing, wanting to wipe away the hesitation on her face.
“I don’t know when that shifted exactly, but I’m glad it did. And I’m glad I knocked over the herbs. And I’m more than glad you kissed me, then fucked me like you did last night.”
At last, Holly smiled back at me. “I can do it again now if you like.”
I smiled back. “I was hoping you would.” Another kiss.
She licked her lips. “So no regrets? You haven’t woken up wanting to run back to your own bed?”
I shook my head. If she thought I was having any regrets about what we’d just shared, she was a mad woman. Last night had been one of the most intoxicating of my life and I wasn’t about to walk away from that in a hurry.
“Only if you’re coming with me,” I replied.
Monday December 19th
The following Monday I was in town shopping after work. Holly was out with clients tonight, so we were having a night apart. Ever since Saturday, we hadn’t spent much of our spare time out of bed, let alone apart. I let a slow, sultry smile invade my face as I strolled through the perfume department at Selfridges, running the gauntlet of the perfume sprayers.
I got on to the escalator and rode up to the Christmas department. I was still amazed Holly and I had happened, still newly thrilled every time I thought about it. I never expected to end up in bed with my best friend, but now it had happened, it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. Why had nobody else pointed this out before?
That very morning, I’d taken myself off the dating app I was on, as had Holly. That was another plus point of dating your best friend — there was an inherent trust already there. When Holly told me she was deleting her profile, I had no question she was going to do just that. Not simply say that for my benefit and then do nothing of the sort, as I’d known plenty of others do before. This, too, was something I was going to have to get used to — being able to trust my girlfriend completely.
To celebrate us getting together, I’d decided we needed a new Christmas ornament. Something romantic, something that would put a bookmark in the story of our lives to say this was the Christmas where everything changed. The year when I set out to get a girlfriend for Christmas, but it didn’t exactly turn out as I expected.
The Christmas department was pumping out its usual pine cone aroma, and everywhere you looked, there was fake snow, tinsel, shiny displays and candy canes galore. To my right, a full-size Santa welcomed me in with a broad smile, and to my left, a mini winter-wonderland had been constructed, replete with a snow-covered steam train winding its way through the white-frosted hills.
After 15 minutes of browsing and singing along to Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ and Elton John’s ‘Step Into Christmas’, I stumbled on exactly what I was looking for — a knitted Christmas pudding with the words ‘Our First Christmas’ embroidered on it. It was understated and cute, and not too brash to scare Holly off. I was pretty sure it would take more than a single decoration, but I still had to tread carefully. I’d never been Holly’s girlfriend before, after all.
I was walking over to the cash desk when I spotted her out of the corner of my eye. Melanie Taylor. I changed the direction I was walking and veered left, behind a giant Christmas tree. I wasn’t up to dealing with Melanie yet, I didn’t want anything to break into my happy Holly bubble.
However, when Melanie appeared at my side ten seconds later, it appeared she was not having similar thoughts. I tried to give her a fake smile, but it probably came off as a grimace.
