Home for Christmas: New Adult Holiday Dark Suspense Romance (5 page)

“Are you sure we should be...?” she whispered, tugging on his sleeve as he opened a door marked “employees only.” The man’s bicep was like rock.

“It’s fine.” He winked down at her as they slipped through the door. “She already signed a book for me. I’m sure she’s bored back here...”

“You got that right.” Chloe Clay looked up from her Kindle, taking off a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose. She was a chubby woman, compact, wearing a rather unflattering navy pant suit, her dark hair pulled back into a messy bun, but she was the most beautiful sight Ginny had ever seen. “Have you ended lunch early to come keep me company, Nick?”

“No, ma’am...” Nick flushed at the way the author looked at him. Not that Ginny blamed her, in a way. The man was easy on the eyes. “I mean, I just wanted to introduce you to...”

“Ma’am?” Chloe scoffed, closing her Kindle case with a snap. “I’m sorry, ma’am is my mother. Or my grandmother. Who’s this little waif?”

“This is...”

“Ginny.” She said her real name without even thinking about it until it was too late. “Virginia.”

“Hello Virginia.” Chloe Clay stood and held out her hand, and Ginny took it. She couldn’t believe she was shaking the woman’s hand! “Any friend of Nick’s here is a friend of mine.”

She realized, too late, that she’d just given Nick her name. Her full name. Nothing like doing the man’s job for him! She could have kicked herself. What was she thinking? She’d been so damned careful so far! Now, faced with her favorite author, she was star struck and stupid.

“I’m a huge fan of your work,” Ginny told the woman. That was the understatement of the year, to say the least. “I’ve read everything. Just everything. Even the Starcrossed Trilogy.”

“Even that old thing? You must be a big fan.” Chloe laughed, taking her seat again, crossing her legs. “Do you have something you’d like me to sign?”

Ginny’s face fell. All her books were at home. She’d had to leave anything she couldn’t carry, and books were heavy. Especially graphic novels, thick with illustrations, like Chloe wrote. She’d read them all to death anyway.

“Ummm...” Ginny blinked at the woman, feeling stupid. There was a stack of books on the table beside her, and she realized it was Chloe’s latest. It had just released that day.

“It’s okay, I can just sign one of these.” Chloe reached for one of the books from the stack, opening the front page. “To Ginny?”

“Oh, no... I don’t... I mean... I can’t...” She thought of the ten dollars in her pocket, but that wouldn’t even cover it. One of those graphic novels was at least twenty bucks. Usually more.

“It’s okay,” Nick said softly at her elbow. “I’m buying.”

“No, really, I can’t...” She glanced up at him, into those kind, brown eyes, frowning. She didn’t like him being so nice to her.

“A little advice,” Chloe was already writing her name in the book. “When a young man as handsome as this one offers to buy, you don’t say no.”

“Thank you,” Ginny managed, taking the book from her. Not only did she have a copy of Chloe Clay’s new book in her hand, it was now autographed. She couldn’t quite believe it.

“Ginny’s an artist, you know,” Nick said, making Ginny feel like she wanted the floor to open and swallow her whole. “She’s really good. Show her.”

“Oh... no...” Ginny felt the heat filling her face and hoped it wasn’t as obvious as it felt. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to look at some amateur’s drawings.”

“Let me see.” Chloe’s smile was perfunctory as she held out her hand.

Ginny knew the woman was doing it because she thought Nick was a hottie. She wasn’t really interested in Ginny or her drawings. She couldn’t figure out why that bothered her so much—she didn’t expect Chloe Clay to consider her at all—but it did.

“A little advice, when a famous artist asks to see your drawings, you don’t say no.” Nick nudged her and Ginny glanced up at him, frowning. “Show her the Wolverine you did. It’s amazing.”

Nick was looking at her and Chloe was holding out her hand, and Ginny couldn’t do anything but unsling her backpack and slide out one of her sketch books.

“These are just...” Ginny handed it over, reluctant. “I’m doing these as coloring books. For my nephews. For Christmas.”

“Nice detail.” Chloe flipped through it but didn’t seem that interested, Ginny could tell by the way her eyes passed over the drawings. “Do you have anything else? Anything original?”

“Well...” Many of her paintings had been far too big to carry with her and she’d left them back at Brody’s. But she did have one thing. “These are mine.”

She took out another sketch book from her backpack. The coiled end caught on a pair of her panties and they went flying, hitting Nick square in the chest. Ginny had never been so mortified in her life. They fell to the floor at his feet and he bent to retrieve them. Thankfully, Chloe hadn’t seemed to notice. She was already flipping through the sketch book Ginny handed to her.

Nick didn’t say anything, he just handed Ginny’s panties back. She shoved them down deep into her bag, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks as she stood, watching Chloe peruse drawings Ginny had never shown anyone. Not even her art teacher in high school. Chloe didn’t say anything as she slowly flipped the pages. She lingered on some, flipped past others. Ginny couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Interested, Nick peered over the woman’s shoulder, watching her turn the pages. Ginny still couldn’t get over the fact that the man had been fingering a pair of her panties just moments before. She also couldn’t quite grasp that she was not only standing before Chloe Clay, and the woman had given her not only her autograph, but was looking through her own personal version of a graphic novel. She’d been working on it for a few years, so the earlier drawings were more rudimentary. Ginny noticed Chloe slowing down as she turned the pages.

“Hey, I didn’t finish,” Nick protested when the author closed the book halfway through.

“That’s the sign of talent, girl.” Chloe winked as she handed Ginny back her pad. “He wants to keep reading.”

“Thank you.” Ginny shoved it into her backpack, not quite sure how to take the compliment.

“How old are you?” Chloe asked, eyes narrowing at her, speculative.

“Almost nineteen,” Ginny replied.

“Going to school?”

“I want to go to art school.”

“Well let me know if you want to skip the debt.” Chloe rolled her eyes, reaching into a bag beside her and pulling out a card. “Seriously. If you’re ever in New York, look me up. I’ll introduce you to some people. Bring that with you.”

“I... okay.” Ginny wasn’t quite sure what to say. The truth was, she was going in the opposite direction. California was as far from New York as she could get—in this country anyway.

“Can I have a word, Ms. Clay?” The “employee’s only” door swung open and Ginny recognized the manager of the store. She tried to avoid him as much as possible, worried he would think she was always loitering in his store. He didn’t even seem to notice her, although she did her best to hide her presence behind Nick’s solid bulk.

“Sure.” Chloe stood up, brushing off her pant suit. “Nice to meet you, Virginia.”

“You too,” Ginny replied. She had to say it. “Thank you so much.”

Chloe and the manager were already talking, and Ginny followed Nick out into the store.

“Thank you,” Ginny said as they weaved their way toward the front of the store. “For introducing me. For the book.”

“Want to get some lunch? I mean, some real lunch, not the cookie and banana in your pocket.” He dropped her a wink as they reached the café up front.

“Oh, you can have them back...” She flushed, reaching into her pocket.

“Keep them, Ginny.” He laughed. “Do you want a sandwich to go with them?”

Of course she did—but she wasn’t sure spending more time with him was such a good idea. She still wasn’t quite sure of the man’s motives, even if she was starting to doubt her original theory.

“I am a little hungry,” she confessed.

“All right, now we’re talking.” A family was getting up from one of the tables and Nick grabbed it, nodding at the opposite chair. “You stay here. What do you want? Tuna? Chicken salad?”

“Ham and cheese,” she replied, remembering yesterday’s coffee shop sandwich. Two sandwiches in as many days! It was like a Christmas miracle. “And a chocolate milk?”

“You got it.” He dropped her a rather sexy wink and he felt that hot/cold feeling again. Maybe she’d been wrong to distrust him after all? “You’re going to be here when I get back, right? You’re not going to disappear?”

“Not if you’re coming back with sandwiches.” She grinned. She couldn’t help it.

She watched Nick standing in line, thinking about her original private detective theory. Maybe he wasn’t what he seemed? She had that cop-vibe from him—she could smell it a mile away—but perhaps that was just because he worked in security? And, even if Lewisonville wasn’t as small as Millsberg, it was still a pretty small town. So she’d seen him around—was that really so strange? She was more than a little paranoid, she knew, given her circumstances.

Maybe the handsome stranger was just that—a handsome stranger. Maybe he looked at her because... well, she wasn’t going to entertain that thought. She couldn’t afford to be thinking about things like cute guys at a time like this. If she wanted to think about cute guys, she would have taken Robbie up on his offer of TV dinners the other night. Robbie was cute enough, if kind of nerdy. She just couldn’t let any guy out of the friend zone right now.

But this guy, this Nick—even Chloe Clay, twice their age, had caught scent of the man’s excess testosterone. She guessed he was probably a little older than she was, but not much. Still, he seemed older. He acted older. Maybe that was what Chloe Clay was picking up on. Or maybe it was the biceps, the cleft in his chin, the dazzling smile and the bright brown eyes? And Ginny didn’t even want to know if the woman had noticed the way the man’s jeans fit him like a second skin.

It wasn’t easy to resist a guy like that, especially when he winked at you. And glanced over to make sure you were still sitting at the table where he left you. And bought you ham and cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk. Chloe Clay had made it pretty clear—even in front of Ginny—that Nick could butter her muffin if he wanted to, but here he was, buying Ginny lunch. She couldn’t help feeling a little smug about that.

Ginny saw Robbie frowning at her across the counter as Nick paid for their food. She knew he was concerned, and she was still concerned too, a little. But the more she considered Nick and his actions, the more she thought her own paranoia had gotten the better of her. She didn’t know who he was, but maybe she could finally find out, once and for all.

Nick came back and put their sandwiches on the table, along with a small bag of kettle chips, another Diet Coke, and her bottle of chocolate milk.

“Thank you,” she said through a mouth full of ham and cheese, already digging in. He watched her, looking amused. “I keep seeing you around...”

It was the best she could do, without coming out directly and asking him.

“Same here.” He gave her a rueful smile. “Small town.”

Ginny chewed her sandwich thoughtfully. It wasn’t as good as the coffee house sandwich had been—or maybe, after having a ham and cheese sandwich two whole days in a row, she was already becoming jaded—but her stomach was grateful, nonetheless.

“How old are you?” she wondered aloud.

“Twenty-two.” He took a swig of his Diet Coke, confirming her suspicions. Not much older than her then. “You’re eighteen?”

“Almost nineteen.” She opened her chocolate milk, drinking out of the carton.

“When’s your birthday?” he asked.

“...June.” She took another swig of milk, flushing.

“Almost.” He grinned, making air quotes with his fingers.

“Close enough.” She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.

“You’re really very talented,” he said, making her flush even more. “It’s not fair to all the other girls, you know.”

“Being talented?” She rolled her eyes.

“Being talented
and
beautiful.”

Now she was really blushing for real. Guys flirting with her was nothing new—but this guy was different. She knew he was flirting, but he was serious too. There was something in his eyes, an honesty, that was surprising.

“Do all the girls fall for that line?” she scoffed, licking mustard off her fingers.

“Every single one so far.” He grinned.

“They didn’t tell you, I’m the exception to the rule?” She rolled her eyes again, wiping her mouth with a napkin from one of the dispensers on the table.

“They broke the mold, did they?”

“Yep,” she agreed. “And a bunch of other clichés.”

“Are you playing hard to get?” he asked, taking another swig of Diet Coke.

“No,” she replied honestly. “I am hard to get. Just ask Robbie over there.”

“I don’t think Robbie ever had a shot.” Nick glanced over his shoulder at Robbie, who was still watching them with a dark look on his face. “He couldn’t handle a girl like you.” 

“Don’t tell him that.” Ginny laughed. “Hey, what does that mean?”

“You’re a handful.” Nick looked at her like he knew. How could he know?

“How would you know?”

“I’m afraid my break’s up.” He shrugged but he was smiling as he glanced at his watch. “Do you want my sandwich? I don’t have time.”

He slid it across the table toward her.

“You can leave it,” she replied, trying to sound casual.

The man had been a fountain of wealth for her that afternoon, between the cookie, the banana, lunch, and now his own sandwich—not to mention the autographed book and the opportunity to meet her favorite author!

“Nice seeing you again, Ginny.”

“You too.” She watched him walk away, frowning. She still had far too many questions about him than answers, and she didn’t like it.

* * * *

She hadn’t hung around Barnes and Noble after that. She didn’t think being around Nick was a good idea—and from the way Robbie glowered at her, she knew she was likely in for a talking-to. Instead, she’d spent the afternoon at the library in the loft, going through her sketches and thinking about what Chloe Clay had said. Had she really meant it? Or was that a line she gave all the budding artists she met?

The card Chloe had given her wasn’t a personal one—it was to the Morrow Agency. Presumably Chloe’s agent? But maybe she could be contacted through them. She imagined calling and asking for Chloe Clay, imagined the laughter on the other end of the phone. Yeah, it was just a line, she decided, probably inspired by the older woman’s raging hormones and desire to get into Nick the hot security guard’s pants.

When the library closed, she walked back to the video store, noticing that Dunkin’ Donuts was still open. They had extended hours during the holidays, probably hoping shoppers would stop in to warm up with coffee and donuts. She could use a little of her ten dollars to buy a small drink and stay there for an hour, until eleven, and then wait in the cold until after midnight before creeping into the video store vestibule to try to get some sleep. She’d caught up a little on her sleep deficit in the library loft that afternoon.

Ginny had just slid into a booth when the door opened, the bell over it dinging. She glanced up, seeing the flash of a blue uniform and a badge, her heart jumping in her chest. Every time she saw a uniform, that happened. She was always afraid it was going to be Brody—or one of Brody’s many cop friends.

This time, though, it was just Nick.

She’d been right after all. Nick was a cop.

He hadn’t seen her and she thought about side-stepping into the bathroom, but thought it would just draw more attention to herself. Maybe he would just go out without...

“Ginny?” He give her a bemused smile, coming over to her booth.

“Are you following me again?” she asked, trying to sound annoyed as she sipped her milk. It was white milk this time, but full-fat. It helped make her feel full.

“Um...” He pointed at his badge and then up at the sign—Dunkin’ Donuts—grinning.

“Are you telling me that stereotype is true?” She smirked.

“They have to come from somewhere.”

“You’re really getting donuts?”

“Actually, I’m getting coffee.” He laughed. “Want something?”

“Umm...” She looked at her milk, then at him. It was hard to turn down free food, but she knew accepting would just encourage him, and she wasn’t so sure she wanted to do that.

“I think they sell ham and cheese sandwiches,” he said, tempting her.

“No.” She shook her head, waving him away. “Thanks anyway.”

“You sure?” he glanced over his shoulder as he neared the counter again. The girl working had full sleeves full of tattoos, a nose stud, and wore her black hair, with lightning streaks of blue, pulled back into a ponytail.

“Can I help you?” she asked, looking Nick up and down in his uniform. Not that he didn’t look good in it—he did, Ginny had to admit.

“I’ll take a hot chocolate,” Ginny called out toward the counter. “And a bear claw. And maybe an éclair?”

“Anything else?” Nick grinned over his shoulder at her.

“No, that’s it.” Ginny’s cheeks grew pink when the goth girl gave her a knowing look.

“Cream or custard?” Nick asked when he gave the girl Ginny’s order.

“Custard,” Ginny piped up.

“Good choice.” Nick pulled out his wallet, turning back to the tattooed girl. “I’ll also take a large coffee, black. Oh, and a raspberry jelly filled.”

She rang it all up and put it in a tray that Nick carried over to Ginny’s booth.

“Aren’t you on duty?” she asked as he slid in across from her, already biting into her éclair.

“Small town, remember?” He opened the steam vent on the top of his coffee and patted his belt. “Anyway, I’ve got my radio.”

“I knew you were a cop.” She looked at him speculatively, licking custard off her fingers.

“How did you know?” He raised his eyebrows, looking at her over the rim of his cup.

“You walk like a cop.”

“How does a cop walk?” He snorted a laugh.

“Like you own the world.” She grabbed a napkin, but it didn’t do much for her sticky fingers.

“Cops aren’t the bad guys, Ginny,” he said softly, frowning. “We’re the good guys.”

“Uh-huh.” She blew on the top of her hot chocolate, cooling it. “So are you on duty all night?”

The thought of him patrolling the parking lot all night gave her a cold chill. How often had he done that already? She wondered.

“Most of it.” He stretched and yawned. He really was a good-looking guy, and she thought he knew it. He saw the way the goth girl looked at him. The way Chloe Clay had practically invited him back to her hotel room. Ginny wasn’t about to give him the same satisfaction by fawning all over him. “Good overtime opportunities around the holidays.”

“Good for the wallet. Not so great for the family?” she asked, taking a sip of hot chocolate. It was too hot, but delicious. God, she missed chocolate.

“No family,” he replied.

“No wife?” She looked at him, surprised.

“Nope.”

“Girlfriend?” She cocked her head, frowning. She was sure he was married, or at least attached. Most guys would have picked up on the tattooed girl’s look. And Chloe Clay’s offer had been pretty obvious, even to her.

“Position’s open.” He smirked.

“I wasn’t fishing.”

“Sure you were.” He laughed. “Maybe not for fish, but you were asking for a reason.”

“Cops.” Ginny shook her head, rolling her eyes as she drank her hot chocolate.

“What’s that mean?”

“You’re always interrogating.”

“I wasn’t the one asking the questions.” He grinned. “How about you?”

“Me what?” she asked, glancing over at the goth girl, who was arranging the end of the day donuts on a tray.

“Family?” he inquired, looking more serious. “Husband? Boyfriend?”

“Husband?” Ginny choked on her hot chocolate. “Hardly. No boyfriend either. You’re certainly asking questions now!”

“Might as well, since you accused me and all.” He had such a great smile. It was hard not to return it. “So, how’s Maggie?”