Christmas in the City II Read online

  “I should have fought for you. Back then,” he added. “Give me a chance. Please. Let me make this right.”

  And just like that, all the hope she was starting to feel deflated. Carefully she pulled her hands from his and took a step back. “I appreciate the offer, Hunter, but…I can’t believe I’m saying this but…I think I’ll pass.”

  “But…why?” he asked, his expression pained.

  Forcing herself to stand tall, she said, “Because I’m good at what I do and I deserve to prove that and know what I’ve accomplished is because of my talent and not someone’s pity.” Moving toward the kitchen door, she turned to him one last time. “Goodbye, Hunter.”

  Refusing to look back again, she walked into the kitchen and immediately jumped in to help setting up serving trays.

  It was for the best.

  ****

  Hunter slowly made his way around the deck as it wrapped around the back of the house. He spotted Brady and Kendall and felt like a complete bastard. He’d blown off his friend and probably offended Kendall.

  “Sorry,” he murmured as he approached them.

  “You okay?” Brady asked, concern lacing his voice.

  Hunter couldn’t speak so he simply shrugged.

  “Oh, good. There you are,” Susan said as she stepped outside. “Now that you’re done slumming it in the kitchen we can finish discussing plans for tonight.”

  There was a loud buzzing in Hunter’s head. He knew his mother was talking but for the life of him, he couldn’t make himself listen. His mind flashed back to Lexi – her laugh, her smile, her courage – both from eight years ago and just now. To him, she was the lucky one – not him. She was the one who was doing what she wanted with her life, pursuing her dreams. And what was he doing?

  Letting his mother dictate his future.

  Again.

  In a move he mimicked from earlier, Hunter shifted and stood in front of his mother – his back to her as he moved to look at Brady.

  “Thomas will take you home when you’re ready,” he said, clasping his hand on Brady’s shoulder. Hunter’s heart was beating wildly in his chest as a nervous laugh escaped. “Because…”

  “Wait…what?” Brady asked, confused. “What are you…?”

  “I’m taking my life back,” was all Hunter said before turning to Kendall. “It was really nice meeting you, but…I have to go.” And without even sparing his mother a glance, Hunter took off at a sprint across the back porch.

  “Hunter!” Susan Ashton called after him. “I demand that you come back here! You need to stop this ridiculous behavior right now! I won’t stand for this any longer!”

  Hearing every word his mother continued to shout, did nothing to slow him down. He made his way around to the side of the house by the kitchen. His mind was racing and Hunter was pretty sure he could possibly be having a heart attack – at the very least, a panic attack – but he didn’t care. There was only one thought that kept him moving – Lexi.

  She’s what he’s been looking for.

  What he’s been waiting for.

  What he’s found. And there was no way he was going to make the same mistake twice.

  Yanking open the door to the kitchen, Hunter stepped inside and began to frantically look around. Where was she? Moving through the crowded room, he couldn’t find her. Cursing the size of the house and knowing Lexi could be anywhere, he went in search of her boss.

  Through the kitchen.

  Through the large butler’s pantry.

  Through the dining room and the parlor. He jogged across the massive foyer toward the library and finally found her. Hunter came to a halt in the doorway and breathed a sigh of relief. As if sensing his presence, Lexi turned around. “Here’s the thing,” he began, slowly walking into the room, “it’s not pity. It was never pity.”

  She stared back at him with wide eyes for a moment before shaking her head as if to clear it. “Okay, fine. It wasn’t pity. Don’t worry. You’re forgiven.”

  Hunter didn’t stop until they were toe to toe. “Thank you. That means a lot to me but…not everything.”

  “Hunter, seriously, you need to let me work.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  She went to step around him and then stopped. “No? What do you mean no?” She stopped and huffed with frustration. “How about I come back to your office on Monday? We can talk then.” She looked toward the doorway and back to him. “Okay?”

  He took the basket of linens out of her hands and tossed them toward the sofa, not caring where they landed.

  “Hunter!” she cried and went to go after them, but his hand on her arm stopped her. “What? What is it you want from me, dammit?”

  “Leave here with me. Now. We’ll head back to Raleigh and just talk some more.”

  “And I already told you I don’t want your job. Not like this.”

  “Fine. Then…you’re not hired,” he said, smirking.

  “Wait…what?” she asked, stepping back in confusion.

  “The job is off the table. We’ll spend our time talking and getting reacquainted. Please, Lexi.”

  Off in the distance, Hunter heard people calling out Lexi’s name looking for her and he could hear his mother storming along with them demanding to know where Hunter was.

  He looked at Lexi – a silent plea – and held out his hand to her. “Please?”

  A nervous laugh was her first response. “This is crazy.”

  He nodded.

  “I…I really need this job,” she argued, but there was no strength behind her words.

  “Hunter Maxwell Ashton! If you leave this house before our guests arrive, there will be hell to pay!” Susan called out.

  Hunter wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. He knew how much his mother hated airing dirty laundry and here she was, stalking through the house creating a massive scene. It was almost comical. But his eyes and his attention never left Lexi.

  “Do you love this job?” he asked her softly.

  She shook her head. “No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need it.”

  “What if you got a better job? One job?”

  She looked at him with exasperation. “I told you, I…”

  “We’ll talk about it.”

  Just then one of the servers walked into the room. “Damn, Lex, I’ve been calling out to you all over the place. We need these linens set up pronto. Guests are due to arrive in less than an hour and we’re already behind!”

  Lexi looked nervously between her co-worker and Hunter. “I’m sorry. I…I…”

  Hunter took advantage of her distraction and reached for her hand and clasped it in his. He didn’t say a word. The ball was in her court.

  Lexi looked back at Hunter. “I’m beginning to feel like a broken record here, but…”

  “Take a risk, Lexi,” he interrupted.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Take a risk. With me. On me.” He squeezed her hand again.

  “If I leave with you, Hunter, then I lose my job.”

  He chuckled. “And if I leave with you there will apparently be hell to pay. For all I know we’ll both be out looking for jobs on Monday.”

  A bubble of laughter came out before she could stop it. “That’s not funny.”

  But he was laughing too. “It is. Kind of.” Another squeeze of her hand. “What do you say? There are a million possibilities waiting for us. And not all of them are about a job.”

  She blushed. “Hunter…”

  “There you are!” Susan Ashton walked into the room, took one look at Hunter and Lexi’s joined hands and let out a small screech of frustration. “No! Absolutely not! I forbid this!” She moved closer to Hunter – completely ignoring Lexi. “Kendall Wynn is the perfect woman for you. She is cultured, well-read and would be a complete asset to you and your career. Think about this, Hunter. Think about what you’re doing.”

  Hunter looked at his mother and then at Lexi
.

  “You’re right, Mother.”

  Susan visibly relaxed. “I am?” Then she cleared her throat and added, “I mean…I am. I know I am.” She smoothed her hair and let out a breath as a serene smile crossed her face. “I’m glad you’re seeing reason. Now go and get changed. Our guests will be here soon.”

  “I’m not changing,” he said.

  “What?” She looked him over and only mildly cringed. “You have plenty of suits upstairs, but I suppose if you insist…”

  “I’m not changing because I’m not staying,” Hunter said and felt Lexi’s hand flex in his. “And neither is Lexi.”

  “What?!” Susan cried out.

  But neither Hunter nor Lexi were listening. Gently tugging her with him, Hunter led her from the room and felt relieved when he heard her giggle. They stepped out into the entryway and ran into Brady and Kendall.

  “You okay with taking the town car?” Hunter asked.

  Brady looked at him and then Lexi and did a double-take. “Lexi Hayes,” he said with a smile. “It’s great to see you again.”

  “Hey, Brady,” she replied shyly.

  “Brady? You good?”

  Brady grinned knowingly and gave a shrug. “Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about right now?”

  “Well…you know…”

  Brady’s smile was wide, bright and knowing. With a nod he said, “I’m good, man. Go.”

  Hunter clapped his friend on the shoulder and waved to Kendall as he and Lexi hurriedly walked out the door. Lexi ran over to the catering truck to get her belongings and Hunter waited, looking around to where all of the staff cars were parked.

  Five minutes later, they approached Lexi’s truck. He couldn’t help the grin on his face.

  “What?” Lexi asked, unlocking the doors. “What are you smiling about?”

  “This is the same truck, isn’t it? The one you drove back in school?”

  Ducking her head, she nodded and quickly climbed inside and started it up. Hunter climbed into the passenger seat. “It’s old and it has its issues, but…”

  “I always liked this truck,” he said softly. “And I thought it was cool as hell that you drove it.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded.

  “Well...give it a few minutes and then we’ll have heat and then…”

  He didn’t let her finish. Reaching out, he cupped her face in his hands and claimed her lips with his.

  Four

  One minute she had been ready to die of embarrassment and the next she thought she’d die of pleasure. Hunter’s kissing skills had only gotten better as he’d gotten older and if it weren’t for the confining space of her tiny pickup, she’d be crawling into his lap right now. She let out a needy little sound that served to instantly sober her and bring her back to reality.

  Pulling away, Lexi shifted and put a little space between them and focused on getting the defroster going and melting away some of the snow that had accumulated on her windshield. “Um…yeah. So…”

  Beside her, Hunter cleared his throat. “The roads are going to be a little slick. You okay with driving because, I wouldn’t mind…”

  “No, no…it’s okay. We’ve gotten more than our share of snow over the last few years so I’m okay with it.”

  Most. Benign. Conversation. Ever.

  Seriously, everything suddenly felt awkward. Maybe Hunter just meant to give her a light kiss and she’d gone and practically attacked him. She figured he was probably regretting asking her to leave with him.

  “So…um…should I take you to your office or…?”

  “We could go and get some coffee or some dinner,” Hunter suggested.

  Before she answered, Lexi focused on pulling out of her parking spot and driving slowly down the winding driveway. It wasn’t until they were on a main road that she spoke. “It looks like the snow is starting to really pick up and honestly, Hunter, maybe we both got a little caught up in the situation back at your mom’s. Maybe we should take a day or two and think before we…”

  “Before we what? Talk?” He reached for her hand and held it in his. “Lexi, okay…I probably shouldn’t have pounced like that but,” he paused and when she glanced over at him, he had a sheepish grin on his face. “What can I say? I’ve been wanting to do that since I saw you in the kitchen. Hell, I’ve been wanting to do that since I met you in the ninth grade!”

  She was about to remind him that he had kissed her plenty back in school, but decided that dredging up the past really wasn’t going to help anything right now. She needed to keep her eyes on the road and focus on getting them to wherever it was they were going to go.

  “I think I should take you to your office or to wherever your car is,” she said after a minute. “I really don’t want to be out driving in this much longer. I’m kind of relieved that I left the party. I have a feeling it’s going to be a mess by the time everything ends and the staff gets to leave.”

  Hunter was silent and as much as she hated to sound like a nag, she needed to know where she was going. “So…your car?”

  “It’s at my house,” he said finally. “Brady and I were supposed to fly out to Atlantic City this afternoon but then my mother called and…” He stopped and sighed. “Anyway, I had a driver take me to work.”

  Nodding, she silently sighed. Great. Now she’d have to see what spectacular place he was living in and have it remind her even more about how different their lives were. “Just tell me where I’m going and I’ll get us there.”

  For almost forty-five minutes, she drove under the speed limit and crawled along with the traffic as they talked about their lives since graduation until they hit Hunter’s North Raleigh neighborhood.

  It wasn’t ritzy.

  It wasn’t exclusive.

  It was…fairly average. It was a townhouse community and although they looked new, it wasn’t a gated community like the one they just left in Chapel Hill. And that surprised her.

  Pulling into the driveway he directed her to, Lexi put the truck in park and glanced over at Hunter. “So.”

  He nodded. “So.”

  After a long moment of silence, she forced herself to say, “I really should go. It’s dark and it’s going to take me at least another thirty to forty minutes to get home with the way the traffic is.”

  “Stay,” he said softly.

  Certain she had misheard him, she asked, “What?”

  “Stay,” he repeated, his voice a little stronger this time. “I’ll make us something for dinner and we’ll talk and catch up and…dammit, Lex, I know if I let you leave we’re not going to get this back. You’re going to find reasons not to see me and…I’m not ready for you not to see me again.”

  He was right. Somewhere along the ride here, Lexi had decided that she’d drop Hunter off and leave and then that would be that. But hearing him say it out loud had her reconsidering. Sort of.

  “Hunter…the weather…the snow…I can’t…”

  “Please, Lexi,” he pleaded, his voice so soft and full of emotion that she couldn’t deny him.

  Turning off the truck, she turned to him and gave him a weak smile. “Okay.”

  ****

  Relief washed over him as Hunter opened the door and let them into his home. Walking ahead of Lexi, he turned on some lights and made his way to the kitchen. “I hadn’t planned on being home so I’m not sure what I have, but I know I can whip up something for us.”

  “Did you just move in here?”

  “Uh…no. Why?”

  “It’s so…bare. It doesn’t look like anyone really lives here.”

  Yeah. He knew that. It hadn’t been a priority. Now as he looked around and saw it through her eyes, he felt a little embarrassed. “I moved in two years ago,” he said with a mirthless laugh. “I kept saying I’d get around to it, but…” He shrugged.

  “You don’t even have a Christmas tree up yet,” she commented.

  He
looked away, feeling even more embarrassed than he had a minute ago. “Yeah, well…I’m not that big on Christmas.”

  “Oh,” she replied softly.

  “You’re a big fan of Christmas if I remember correctly,” he said and then could have kicked himself. It was one of the things he always remembered about Lexi – how excited she always was about Christmas and then he’d gone and ruined the one they were going to spend together.

  To her credit, she frowned briefly before turning away and walking around a little bit. “Yup. It’s my favorite holiday. My place is all decked out and even though I don’t think very highly of your mother, her decorations were like my ultimate holiday fantasy.” She chuckled and turned back to him. “Not that I have enough space to have a dozen Christmas trees…”

  “Most people don’t,” Hunter agreed as he pulled out all the ingredients for pasta and a quick marinara sauce.

  “Can I help you with that?” she asked, stepping back into the kitchen.

  There wasn’t much to do, but Hunter thought it was kind of fun to have her working beside him – seasoning the sauce and laughing as they’d bump into one another as they tried to move around.

  This was what he wanted.

  This was what had been missing from his life.

  Someone to share it with. Someone who laughed with him. Someone to be by his side.

  Once the sauce was simmering and the water was on to boil, he took Lexi by the hand and led her to a seat at the small bistro table he had in the corner of the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of wine and poured her a glass before sitting down to join her.

  In his wildest dreams, Hunter never thought he’d be sitting in his own kitchen – or anywhere – with her again. Unable to help himself, he reached across the small table and took her hand in his. When she didn’t try to pull away, he took that as a good sign.

  “So tell me why you haven’t decorated your home,” Lexi said after they had both been silent for too long.

  He shrugged. “Like I said, it wasn’t a priority and really…it’s just me here. I work a lot of hours and when I’m home, I tend to have something quick to eat – or takeout – while I watch TV and then I go to bed. I don’t spend a lot of time here.”