Mistletoe Between Friends Read online

  Cam felt ill, and Lily wanted to run screaming from the room.

  “Um…” Lily interrupted and raised her hand. “I don’t think I’ll have the whole week off, Dad. Especially after taking this week to go to New York.”

  “Oh, for crying out loud, Lily,” her sister, Beth, said with a hint of irritation. “It’s not like you have a real job. I’m sure the coffee shop will run fine without you. Get a grip.”

  Cam literally felt Lily shrink beside him as she simply nodded and bowed her head. He loved the Cavanaughs; they were a second family to him. But he had listened to them all dismiss Lily for years, and he’d never understood why. Furious with himself for never speaking up before, Cam knew that even as her pretend boyfriend, he needed to do it now.

  He turned directly to Beth. “And why exactly isn’t it a real job?” Before she could answer, Cam cut her off. “I mean, she goes to the coffee shop. She has a schedule. She works her shift, and she gets paid for the work she does. Tell me, Beth, how is that not a real job?”

  “Well…um…” Beth stammered, looking around the room for someone to back her up. Usually her parents would, but they were remaining surprisingly quiet.

  “Lily may not go to an office to work, but that doesn’t mean what she does is any less important. Instead of giving her life to a company, she tries to find the things that give her pleasure so she can actually enjoy her life.” He looked around the room now with condemnation. “We could all learn something from Lily. How many family dinners were missed because of work? How many school events did you skip because of your jobs?” Finally, he turned to Lily.

  “You are an inspiration because you are out and experiencing life while the rest of us experience the four walls of our offices. I, for one, am proud of you.” Leaning in, he kissed her on her forehead and then leaned back and put his arm around her to pull her close. With one last sweeping look around the room, he asked, “Anyone else have a problem with Lily needing to work a couple of shifts that week?”

  Everyone shook their heads in stunned silence. “Good,” Cam said with a nod. “I’ll probably have to work a couple of days myself, but I’ll be sure to line my schedule up with Lily’s so we can enjoy our time together with all of you.”

  Only Lily knew that was really a tactic so they could present a united front and wouldn’t have to deal with either set of parents on their own. Once again, he was her knight in shining armor. She leaned over and kissed his cheek and murmured a thank-you to him.

  “Well,” Richard Greene said as he stood up, “I guess we can work out all of those details later. For now, why don’t we break out the decorations and get things going here?” Everyone stood and they all knew the drill because it had been a tradition for years.

  When Lily started to walk away, Cam took her hand and held her back. “You okay?” She nodded, still unwilling to speak. He forced her to look at him. “Hey, it’s me. Are you sure you’re all right? Because if not, I’ll make an excuse for us and we can go.”

  She smiled weakly. “I’m fine. I know I shouldn’t let those little comments get to me, but they do. And really, it’s not like they enjoy having me around, so I don’t see what the big deal is if I miss a couple of days. If anything, you’d think they’d be glad. A little less time they have to spend staring disappointment in the face.”

  “That’s enough,” Cam said with more force than he intended. “I’m not going to stand here and let you keep putting yourself down. I’m done listening to it, Lil. I should have spoken up and put an end to this years ago, and I’m sorry I never did. But from now on, they’ll have to deal with me if they open their mouths against you.”

  Tears filled Lily’s eyes, and she didn’t even try to wipe them away. “You really are my knight in shining armor. You know that, right?”

  Cam actually blushed at her praise. “I don’t know about that.”

  “It’s true. No one ever stands up for me except you, and I want you to know I really love—”

  “Hey, you two!” Angela popped back into the room and walked toward them with a big smile on her face. “We’re about to start.”

  Cam looked from his mother to Lily and then back again. “Uh, Mom…could you just give us a minute?”

  “Okay, but just a minute because we have a ton of decorating to do, and you know it takes all of us to get it done.” She gave them a knowing grin and a wink before leaving the room.

  “You were saying…” Cam prompted.

  Lily could have kicked herself. She had almost blurted out that she loved him in the middle of his parents’ living room. What was wrong with her? “I just wanted you to know I appreciate you being such a good friend.”

  Disappointment flooded him. Cam had been certain Lily was going to say she loved him. True, she could have been about to say she loved him as a friend, but he had a feeling it was more. Was that even a possibility? Could she really feel more for him than friendship, or had their vacation fling simply confused her? Cam hoped that wasn’t the case, but he was too afraid to get his hopes up.

  “I’ll always be here for you, Lil. Always.” He kissed her forehead again, and together they joined their families to get the Greenes’ house ready for the holidays.

  * * *

  Standing back, everyone admired their handiwork. “Great job,” Angela said as she stood beside her husband and beamed at the way the house had been transformed. “I love the way we all come together to get this done. Every year it just comes out better and better.” They all nodded in agreement. “But…” she said with a big smile, “there is one final touch and I saved it until the end.”

  Cam did not have a good feeling about this. There was never anything left until the end. His mother ran holiday decorating like a five-star general, and there was never any room for surprises. When she reached behind her and pulled out a box, he had a feeling that he and Lily were about to be forced into the spotlight.

  “Mistletoe,” she said as she pulled a sprig out of the square, gold box. “I know it usually gets hung during all of the hoopla, but after Cam and Lily’s story of how magical their mistletoe time was in New York, I wanted them to hang it and to see them kiss under it.”

  His mother was going to be the death of him. Before he could say or do anything, Lily spoke up. “Angela, you know Cam isn’t big on PDA. Don’t embarrass him, or I’ll never get him to do anything spontaneous again.” She said it lightly, like his reaction wasn’t a big deal, but Lily knew that if their families forced the issue, Cam would back out of the fake relationship out of sheer embarrassment.

  Then, much to her surprise, Cam stepped forward, took the mistletoe from his mother, and then winked at Lily. “C’mon,” he said, moving across the room to take her by the hand. “You know the drill. The mistletoe goes right in this doorway.” The archway was ten feet tall, and normally one of the men stood on a ladder to hang it. Lily let out a screech when Cam lifted her up and balanced her on his shoulder before handing her what she needed to hang it.

  “Cam, let me down.” She giggled as the whole family formed a crowd behind them.

  “Nuh-uh. Not until you hang the mistletoe,” he said teasingly, loving the happiness he heard in her voice again.

  “I can’t believe you are making me do this,” she said, but reached up and put the decoration in its proper place. “There. All done.”

  Cam maneuvered her so she was facing him as he slowly slid her body down the front of his. He was torturing himself and figured in for a penny, in for a pound. “You know what they’re waiting for,” he whispered with a wicked grin.

  Without a word, Lily looped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for the kiss she had been missing all day. This was no kiss between friends; it had the intimacy of lovers, and soon there were hoots and hollers behind them and a whistle or two. She smiled against Cam’s lips as she reluctantly pulled away. She hugged him as they faced their audi
ence. “I guess he’s getting over his aversion to PDA,” she said with a laugh, and everyone joined in.

  The remainder of the night was uneventful and when it was time to say good night with the promise to do it all again on Sunday, Cam walked Lily out to her car. “Do you think they’ll think it’s weird we didn’t drive here together?” he asked, searching for something to say to take his mind off the kiss they’d shared.

  Lily shook her head. “We’re dating, Cam. That doesn’t mean we’re joined at the hip. They know we still have our own lives.”

  “I guess.” When they reached Lily’s car, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. She turned to face him and then looked behind him and chuckled. “What? What’s so funny?”

  “I don’t mean to put any pressure on you, but clearly we’re still this evening’s entertainment.”

  “What do you mean?” He started to turn around but Lily stopped him. “What? What’s going on?”

  She giggled. “They’re trying very hard to be discreet, but I can see them all peeping through the curtains to watch us say good night.”

  “Why? What’s the big deal about us walking out to our cars?”

  Men were so clueless, Lily thought to herself and sighed. “They aren’t used to you being so…affectionate. They’re hoping to catch you kissing me again.”

  “Seriously?” The urge to look over his shoulder was strong but he held back, not wanting anyone to think he was doing this for show. Well, that was exactly why they were doing it, but there was no reason to give their families something to doubt already. Cam had seriously hoped to not have to be this…physical…again with Lily, especially not for an audience of their family, but he had a feeling this was only the beginning.

  With his mind made up, he decided he might as well give the people what they wanted. Lily was digging in her purse for her car keys when he stepped in, cupped her face in his hands, bent his head, and kissed as if his life depended on it.

  And on some levels, it did.

  * * *

  Lily couldn’t sleep. She had been home for hours, and yet her mind wouldn’t shut down enough for her to relax. The events of the evening kept playing through her mind. The looks on everyone’s faces when they announced their relationship, the way that their moms were so excited, and then the announcement of the trip to the mountains for Christmas and New Year’s.

  And the kissing.

  Oh, the kissing.

  She sighed and reached for her tablet and kicked up a game of solitaire. The fake dating had seemed like such harmless fun in the beginning, but now? Now it was torturing her. She thought back to that innocent first conversation and the fun it seemed it would be to touch Cam and flirt. The fake dating had seemed like a good idea. Not so much now. No, now she wanted it to be real. The flirting and kissing for the crowd just made her feel empty, because at the end of the night, she was here alone.

  Her cell phone rang, and a glance at the clock showed it was after one in the morning. She reached over, saw Cam’s face on the screen, and smiled sadly. “H’lo,” she answered, trying to sound sleepy so that he wouldn’t know thoughts of him were keeping her awake.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “Did I wake you?”

  “Not really.” It wasn’t a total lie.

  “Are you winning?”

  “What?”

  “At solitaire? Are you winning?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh and look around her room. “How do you do that? Seriously, do you have a camera hidden in here somewhere?”

  “I just know you, Lil. So…are you?”

  “No,” she said and relaxed back against the pillows. She loved lying in bed and listening to the sound of Cam’s voice. “Actually, I just turned it on. What are you doing still awake?”

  “I can’t sleep.”

  His honest confession spurred her own. “Me either.” They were both silent for a long time. Lily turned off the game and simply lay in the dark waiting for him to speak. Finally, she broke the silence. “Cam?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Was it weird for you tonight?”

  “What? With the family?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t know. Was it weird for you?”

  “A little,” she admitted shyly. “I guess I wasn’t expecting such a big reaction from everyone. They’re all so excited and already beginning to make plans, and now I feel kind of bad lying to them.”

  “I know what you mean. I wasn’t expecting all of that either.” He sighed wearily. “So what do we do?”

  The easiest thing to do would be to just end it and force herself to go back to playing the part of his buddy. Although it would be awkward with their families, she’d survive. Hell, most of the time she spent with her family was awkward, so why should this be any different? She was just about to suggest that to Cam when he spoke again.

  “I think it will get easier as the weeks go on. Soon the newness will wear off. They’ll get distracted by the actual holidays, and we’ll be able to push them off a little. Honestly, they can’t keep up this level of enthusiasm forever. Once the parties get going there will be so many other people around who are bound to have bigger and more exciting news than you and me.”

  Lily considered his words. “I guess you’re right. How much worse can it be?”

  Chapter 7

  Famous last words.

  Lily was sitting next to Cam as they drove up to Blowing Rock for the first day of their vacation. The last month had been near exhausting, and her nerves were on edge now every time she and Cam were near one another. After they had decided to continue with their farce of a relationship, things had indeed gotten worse.

  It started with the decorating party at her parents’ house. Just like at the Cavanaughs, a little ceremony was made of the two of them hanging the mistletoe and kissing. They got a round of applause after that one.

  Then there was the Christmas cookie baking party. How that ended up the way it did, Lily still didn’t know. Normally just the women did it, but somehow all of the men decided to join in. Her mother had made a game out of all of the couples decorating batches of cookies and—surprise, surprise—had found a way to incorporate mistletoe into the project. Every time a cookie was done being decorated, Lily and Cam had to kiss.

  Her lips had practically been numb by the end of the night, and who knew Cam had such a talent for cookie decorating?

  The open house wasn’t any better because everyone who came in was greeted first with a cheery “Happy Holidays!” and then a Reader’s Digest version of Cam and Lily’s newfound romance. And, as predicted, they were positioned under the mistletoe.

  She left that party with a migraine.

  And so it went with the neighborhood get-together and then each father’s company Christmas party. No one seemed to remember the reason for the season, focusing solely on the fact that Cameron Greene and Lily Cavanaugh were finally an item.

  In the midst of the family party schedule, both Cam and Lily had social engagements of their own to contend with. Seemingly keeping with tradition, Cam had taken Lily to his company Christmas party—she had met some of his colleagues in New York—and Lily had done the same with her small work party. At least those two events didn’t hold the same kind of pressure as the family ones.

  Even though Lily knew she wouldn’t be home for Christmas, she had wanted a tree and so Cam had gone with her to pick one out. On a rare night off from celebrating—and she used that term loosely—they had shared a pizza and decorated her little tree. She asked Cam if he was going to decorate this year, and he declined. The sensible part of him didn’t see the need since he wasn’t going to be there on the actual day, and thanks to their loaded social calendar, he wasn’t home much at other times to enjoy it.

  He had a point, but Lily couldn’t imagine coming home during December and not seeing a tree in her
living room. It just wasn’t right, and it wouldn’t seem like Christmas. That was silly, since everywhere they went, everyone was celebrating the holiday. But tucked into her own place at night, Lily found a little peace sitting in front of her own tree and dreaming about a time when she’d get to start traditions of her own that weren’t dictated by somebody else’s schedule.

  Now, as they drove to meet their families, she wasn’t sure what to expect. There had been an awkward conversation with their parents one night when they approached the topic of the rental. “When we rented this place, well, we had no idea the two of you were dating. So, there are six bedrooms and we are a party of twelve, but…” Jack Cavanaugh looked to his wife to continue.

  “We just figured, Cam, that you’d sleep on one of the sleeper sofas,” Angela finished.

  “That’s fine,” Cam said, wondering what the big deal was.

  Angela blushed a little. “What we’re saying is that we’re not going to be…prudes about this. You and Lily can share her room. We don’t mind, and we completely understand you’ll want some…private time to be alone.”

  Cam and Lily had looked at one another and did their best to not look horrified. Lily didn’t think they’d pulled that off. “Um…do we really need to talk about…this?” she had asked, feeling uncomfortable and queasy at the same time.

  “We’re just letting you know we respect your relationship,” Mary Cavanaugh had added. “We’re just so thrilled that the two of you are together. We know ten days is a long time, and we want the two of you to be comfortable enough to want to stay, rather than find some excuse to leave and head home so that you can have some privacy.”

  It was quite possibly the most awkward conversation of Lily’s life—and that included the infamous birds-and-the-bees talk she had gotten when she was twelve. “Well…um…thank you,” Lily had said on both her and Cam’s behalf. “We appreciate the fact you’re all being so…cool…with all of this. We certainly don’t want anyone being uncomfortable.” Especially us. “We were going to be completely fine, no matter what the sleeping arrangements were. Normally in these big houses you end up with some twin beds or bunk beds, so really, you don’t need to make any special arrangements on our account.”