His laughter caught me off guard. I didn’t like how he said it wouldn’t be a problem not kissing me. Not like I wanted his lips on me, but still. He was being a jerk, and I felt our pretend relationship was doomed before it would even start.

“Who all will be there? Maybe you should start with that.” I said.

“It will be my brother, Brandon and his wife, Abigail and their daughter Skye.” He continued driving, glancing briefly at me.

“What about your parents? Won’t they be joining us?”

The mood shifted in the car and for the first time I saw the light disappear from his eyes. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said…,” I stuttered, knowing his parents were most likely in heaven.

“It’s okay. My mother died two summers ago, and my father died a few years before.”

We were both silent for a few miles before Kevin turned off the interstate. We had only been in the car for a little while, and I knew we weren’t near there yet. He pulled into a fast food chain and turned to me. “Hungry?”

“Sure.”

He parked the car, and we rushed inside trying to escape the cold. We walked to the counter and he ordered an egg sandwich. Then he turned to me. “For you?”

I didn’t have any money to be wasting on a sandwich and just stood a moment too long deciding how I would decline when he smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this. You don’t have to pay for anything this week, and when we return home, you’ll get your money.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I ordered a sausage biscuit. This week wouldn’t be so bad. I was thirty years old with no job, no family for the holidays, and to top it off a pretend boyfriend.

After we ate and were back on the road, I relaxed a bit more. I was tense this morning after realizing how crazy this plan was, and hoping everything would work out.

“Why aren’t you spending time with your family this Christmas?” Kevin asked.

“My father died when I was young, and my mother remarried to a real class-act. They usually go on vacations to Europe every year for the holidays.” I stared out the window, trying to erase my memories of my step-father.

“They don’t invite you?” He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers as he studied the road.

I laughed unwillingly at his question. My stepfather would never allow me to come along any trip. He despised me, but I would never tell Kevin why. I would never tell anyone why. “No,” I whispered.

“Well, lucky for me they didn’t invite you.”

His arrogance was back in full swing as he sat smugly in the driver’s seat, weaving in and out of traffic.

“Could you slow down please?”

“Oh, I forgot you’re like an eighty-year old. Sorry Miss Daisy, I’ll drive slower.”

The faint sound of Deck the Halls played through the speakers and I reached my hand to turn up the volume. “I love Christmas music, is this okay?”

“You love Christmas music? Why?” he scoffed.

“It’s always so happy and cheery. I don’t know, it gives me hope.”

“Hope for what?”

“This is the one time of year where people actually believe their life can change.” I turned to face him and the look on his face showed me he was definitely not a believer.

“Whatever you say.”

“Shut up. Can we not talk for the rest of the way there?” I crossed my arms over my chest as I sunk down in the passenger side seat.

“Sure thing.” He didn’t look at me and kept his eyes focused on the road.

When we finally arrived at his house, I took in a deep breath while I gazed at the scenery. The house stood strong and I could see a huge weeping willow tree. The leaves were bare on all of the other trees, but the willow drooped over barely touching the ground. The place was beautiful, and I stared to Kevin wondering how someone so awful could grow up here.

He parked the car, and I stepped outside and rushed up to the front porch. With the weather as chilly as winter in Alabama can be, I hopped from foot to foot trying to generate some body heat as I waited for him to retrieve the bags from the trunk of his car.

The front door opened and a beautiful woman with dark hair stood there staring at me. Her eyes were the same shade as the sky and beamed with excitement.

“Hi, I’m Abigail. You must be Holly, Kevin’s girlfriend. Come in Come in. We didn’t even know he had a girlfriend.”

I smiled as I stepped through the threshold of the two-story home. The smell of bacon filtered all around and I stuck my hand out to Abigail’s. “Hi, Nice to meet you.”

Abigail laughed off my hand, and pulled me into a big, warm hug. After she let go, I glanced around to the home and smiled. It was so cozy and inviting. I wish I could have grown up in a home like this. It had been my mother and I alone for so long after my father died. She would usually work two jobs and shuffle us from apartment to apartment. Once she met my stepfather, everything changed. My mother no longer had to struggle with anything. By that time, I was old enough to live on my own, and moved away once my stepfather became too much to handle.

Standing in the living room, I could see the kitchen in the back with a window to the outside. There were two red chicken coop barns out back and to my right, a staircase leading to the second floor.

Kevin stepped into the house and shut the door to keep the cold out. “Hi Abigail, where’s Brandon and Skye?”

“Brandon has her down in the chicken coop. They’ll be up shortly. Hope you two are hungry, I made breakfast.”

Kevin ran a finger down his stubbled jaw as he glanced at me. “Actually we picked up a breakfast sandwich on the way, but I can always eat a little more.”

I stood there, awkwardly as I tried to play the part of his doting girlfriend.

“We’re going to head upstairs and unpack,” Kevin said as he ushered me toward the staircase. Before we reached the staircase, a blonde haired woman came barreling down the staircase with a tall red-haired man following closely behind.

“Kevin, you’re here. How are you?” the blonde said with her arms out. She wrapped Kevin into a hug as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

“Amy, what are you two doing here? Hey, Dan.” Kevin released his hold on Amy and reached for the man’s hand.

Amy was brimming with happiness as her big blue eyes fell over me. The man, Dan was also smiling with his broad shoulders and grizzly red beard.

“Where else would we be? It’s Christmas, of course I’m spending it with my sister.” Amy turned her attention back to me, and smiled. She was pretty, and I could tell with one glance her and Abigail were sisters. Their blue eyes were identical, and I reached my hand out to her.

“Hi, I’m Holly.” Just like her sister, she laughed at my hand and wrapped me into a hug. Kevin was busy talking to Dan, as Amy and I embraced.

“Holly, sorry. This is Dan and Amy. Dan and I used to work together,” Kevin said.

“Yeah, until Kevin left us for bigger and better things. How’s the new job,” Dan said.

As I stood there watching everyone chatting away one thought occurred to me, with Amy and Dan here- where would we be sleeping?

“I’d like to freshen up, which room is mine?” I asked.

“Just up the hall and to the right, you two will share Brandon’s old room. Amy and Dan are in the other room.” Abigail’s finger pointed in the direction up the stairs and I stared at Kevin. My heart stammered, wide-eyed I tried to breathe.

“Okay great.” Kevin didn’t skip a beat, and started to make his way up the steps as Amy and Dan walked off into the kitchen.

“We’ll be down in a little bit for breakfast,” Kevin shouted off to everyone as we ascended the staircase.

As soon as we entered the room, Kevin shut the door. I stared around and noticed the one full-sized bed, sitting center in the room. “Uh, no way are we sharing the bed. I thought we were getting our own rooms?” I grabbed my bag from Kevin as he threw his bag on the bed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know Amy and Dan were coming. I’ll sleep on the floor.” His eyes were dark as he rifled through his bag.

“On the hard wooden floor? Are you joking? This isn’t turning out well, maybe you can make up an excuse to take me back home.” I thought about it for a moment, but I really needed the money. I couldn’t let Kevin take me home, and I let out a slow breath.

“Listen, I’m sorry. We will make this work.” Kevin’s eyebrows scrunched together on his forehead, and his chocolate eyes stared right through me.

“Well, don’t get any ideas.” My mood was sour and I tried to make myself relax. I would need to get into the part of playing the girlfriend, but I couldn’t seem to lighten my mood.

Hauling my bag onto the bed, I took out my clothes while putting them away in the closet.

“Listen, we need to practice,” Kevin said as I finished putting away the last of my clothes. Dressed in jeans and a light blue sweater, I crossed my arms over my chest.

“What do you mean? I already said no touching or kissing.”

“I know, but come on. There has to be a little touching, like if I put my hand on your shoulder or something.” His jaw ticked as his presence made me nervous.

“Well, then just do it, we don’t need to practice.”

Kevin stalked closer to me, and reached his hand to touch me, and I flinched. He dropped his hand to his side, and caught me again with his big, brown eyes.

“See, I can’t have my girl disgusted by my touch.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t expecting it.” We stood close, maybe a little too close and I could smell his scent falling off him. Dark woods and a smell unique to him made me dizzy as he stared to me, questioningly.

“See, we need practice.” His words came out slow and deep as he closed the minimal space between us. He lifted his hand and brushed it along my cheek. The moment his hand made contact, my chest constricted no longer allowing air any passage to my lungs.

Holding my breath, I gazed into his eyes as he gently rubbed his hand down my face. The heat from his hand shot through my body, and I shook my head. Breaking the magic spell he had me under, I backed away.

“Sorry,” he mumbled with a deep voice.

“For what? No, it’s fine. Okay enough practice for one day. I won’t jump if you want to place your hand on me. Just try to keep your hands to yourself.” I shook the shivers from my body as my cheek missed the warmth from his touch. This was crazy. The moment passed, buried deep in my chest to never resurface ever again. It couldn’t, whatever cosmic force was present, it was now banished and the feelings of loathing toward Kevin returned.

“Are you ready to go downstairs, Holly?” he asked.

And then one word brought it crashing back around me again, Holly, my name fell from his lips laced with meaning and understanding. Hearing him say my name sent chills everywhere, but I shook them off with a smile. “Sure.”

We both moved toward the door and bumped into each other as we both grabbed at the handle.

“Sorry,” we both mumbled to each other.

He stepped back so I could make it through the door, and then followed closely behind me.