The Christmas Holiday Read online

  ‘Sorry?’ I said, pulling myself back to the moment.

  My boss frowned at me. ‘Are you sure you’re not sick, Mia?’

  I took a sip of the water I was still holding and gave him my most professional smile.

  ‘Definitely not. I’m perfectly fine.’

  Hunter turned his back on us to gaze out of the window, taking in the view upstream towards the rest of London.

  Jeremy gave me a look, tilted his head towards our guest and then back at me. I shrugged. I wasn’t about to let on that we had… history. If Jeremy thought there was more to it than Hunter just being a little arrogant, then there was every chance he would pull me from the job. His daughter’s happiness was his priority and I totally understood that. If he thought my past with Hunter might cause any ripples in that happiness, I knew he’d seriously reconsider whether I was the right person for the job. But I knew I was. This was my chance. And I wasn’t about to give that up for anyone. I’d worked for this and I was sure as hell not going to let Hunter Scott take it away from me. I knew I could do this job. Even though I wasn’t entirely sure what the assignment was yet, I still knew I could do it, whatever it was. Even if Hunter thought differently. My boss gave an eyebrow-raise, before turning back to Hunter and asking him about his most recent assignment. Something in deepest Bolivia for National Geographic, apparently.

  ‘I hope you’re not going to be too bored with this assignment. It’s obviously a lot different from what you usually do.’ The fact that Hunter had immediately brought up his preference for a different journalist clearly had my boss on a heightened-alert status. And he’d researched him, just as he would have done anyone who was going to be in close proximity to his only child. Hunter’s reputation was such that he could pretty much pick and choose who he worked with. And it was clear to all of us he didn’t choose to work with me. My boss knew me. And he’d chosen me. But I could tell he wasn’t entirely unconcerned about the possibility of his daughter’s preferred, award-winning photographer backing out because of that choice. Hunter smiled and leant back in the chair he’d now sat in.

  ‘I’ve glanced over the itinerary, and I’ve been to most of these places before. I know where to find something entertaining to do if I need to.’

  Or someone more entertaining to do, more likely. At six-foot-three, and what I’d often seen described as “ruggedly beautiful”, Hunter Scott stood out. I knew from experience he’d be hit on before he finished ordering his first drink at the bar. He’d never been into all that one-night stand stuff much before, but from the clippings I’d seen, and meeting him again just now, he didn’t appear to be the same man I’d once known. Hunter stood to leave and I stood too, instantly wishing I’d chosen to wear heels today instead of flats. I tilted my head up to where he now stood, pretty much a whole foot taller than me.

  ‘Guess I’ll see you tonight at the restaurant,’ he said, looking down at me.

  I thought about asking him to try repeating the sentence with a little less enthusiasm but I didn’t think it would be physically possible for him to do so.

  ‘You will indeed.’

  ‘Great.’

  Again. So much enthusiasm.

  Jeremy pumped his hand energetically and Hunter left, with most of the surrounding female – and a few male – eyes upon him as he did so. I made to leave too but my boss gestured for me to stay. I closed the door and turned back, tilting my head in question.

  ‘Wasn’t sure if we’d lost him there. Seems like he’s used to people agreeing with his demands. Talent can do that for you.’

  Not to mention the fact that he’s hot as—

  ‘But I think we’re OK.’ Jeremy interrupted my thought. ‘From what I hear, when this guy gives his word, he means it.’

  ‘You could have warned me he’d already tried to get me bumped.’

  ‘It wasn’t that he didn’t want to work with you. It was just that he preferred this other woman.’

  I wasn’t so sure of the truth of the first half but was pretty damn sure about the second bit.

  ‘But you’re right. I should have given you a heads-up about that. To be honest, I didn’t think he’d bring it up. I guess he felt the need to be super-honest.’

  Yeah. Something like that.

  ‘I guess so. Well, at least I know where I stand with him now, anyway.’

  Jeremy leant back in his seat again and fixed me with a serious look. ‘Mia. You’re a really good writer. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t be sending you on this. Just be the competent, intelligent journalist you are and Scott will soon see you’re just as good as this other woman. Probably better.’

  ‘Absolutely. Understood.’ I wasn’t entirely convinced anything I did would change the opinion Hunter Scott held about me – but this was work. And I was going to do my damnedest to make this break pay for me. It was pretty clear that Hunter was different from the man I’d known five years ago. But I was different too. And just because his now-stellar career had led him to a point where he could command his own price, date socialites and be regularly listed looking all hot and daring in yet another article on the World’s Most Eligible and Exciting Bachelors, it didn’t mean I was going to be intimidated by him. And it certainly didn’t mean I was about to give up the career chance of a lifetime just because the circumstances might make him a little uncomfortable. I was going to have to deal with it, so he damn well could too.

  Chapter Two

  Jeremy opened the door, nodded, and I left his office, heading back to the hot desk I was using today. Abruptly, my path was detoured by Lorelei, our resident crime reporter, grabbing my elbow and steering me off course. Since employing her, Jeremy had confided that the police press liaison was so much chattier. The press liaison was a man, so I totally got this.

  Apart from having the best name ever, Lorelei Adams was not short of attributes. Picture Jane Russell in the poster for The Outlaw and you pretty much have Lorelei. She was a fifties pin-up made real with a smile that elbowed A-listers into the shade and a mouth like a sailor. Being American, she tended to say what she thought, an attribute I admired. She also really enjoyed loud sex. Since I shared a flat with Lorelei, this was far lower down on my favourite-things-about-my-friend list.

  Lorelei steered me to the water cooler.

  ‘I’m not thirsty.’ I looked up at her. Lorelei was in six-inch platform heels that made my feet hurt when I looked at them.

  She gave me a quizzical look. ‘What?’

  I pointed at the water station. ‘I’m not thirsty. I just had some.’

  Her eyes scanned my dress and stopped where condensation from the glass of water I’d had earlier had apparently dripped. ‘So I see. Or is that drool because, Mama, that man was hot!’

  Right. Hunter. Of course.

  I gave a quick nod. ‘I’m going back to my desk now.’

  ‘Oh no you’re not. Not until you give me all the details of who that man is and what you were doing all cosied up together.’

  ‘He’s… a photographer. I’m being sent on an assignment for Jeremy.’

  Lorelei raised one perfectly contoured eyebrow.

  ‘I’m not even sure I should call it that, to be honest. You know his daughter’s getting married?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Well, they’re doing this trip thing beforehand in the run-up to the wedding, and they want it all documented, and photographed, so they can make it into, I don’t know, some sort of keepsake book, I think.’

  ‘Most people do that with their smartphone and an online photobook store.’

  I shrugged. ‘Most people don’t have any other option.’

  ‘And Jeremy’s up for that – I mean sending you on it? It kind of seems a waste of your talents.’

  I pulled her to the side a little more and whispered. ‘I’m going to be doing a few travel pieces for him while I’m out there, so I’m hoping it might lead to more.’

  She grinned and held up her hand, crossing her fingers. Her perfectly manicured,
blood-red nails reminded me I ought to do something about my own far less perfect ones before tonight.

  ‘Besides, it might be nice. I mean, it’s a love story after all and that’s what I write about for the paper, so in a way it’s just building—’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I get it. So romantic,’ Lorelei interrupted me, her impatient tone suggesting romance was the last thing on her mind, ‘So, who’s the hottie?’

  I scratched my cheek, poured myself some water I didn’t want and began heading back to my desk.

  ‘Hey?’

  I flicked my gaze around. ‘Later.’

  Lorelei pulled her head back, ‘Huh?’

  ‘I can’t…’ My throat closed and I shook my head.

  ‘OK.’ She took the water from my hand, plopped it on my desk and exchanged it for my handbag. ‘We’re going to lunch.’

  I looked up to see Jeremy heading our way. ‘I really should…’

  ‘Just off to lunch, boss. See ya later!’

  Jeremy smiled. Men did that around Lorelei. She was a force of nature and I was pretty sure, in five minutes’ time, the boss would remember he’d actually been heading our way to ask something.

  ‘Two white wines, please. Make ‘em large.’ Lorelei winked at the bartender. He grinned back and I guessed that, despite the earplugs, I’d probably be having a fairly sleepless night again tonight.

  ‘Could you make that one wine and one lime and soda, please?’

  Lorelei made to argue but I shook my head and she let it drop.

  ‘So?’ she asked as we settled ourselves at a table.

  I studied the specials board.

  Lorelei let out an impatient sigh, ‘Honey, I love you and everything but I swear to God—’

  ‘I know. I know. The photographer…’

  ‘Yes! I tell you, that man has the best ass I’ve seen in a long time.’

  I gave her a look.

  ‘What?’ she shrugged, ‘He does!’

  ‘The hottie with the great arse is Hunter.’ I pulled my glass towards me and gave the straw a vicious suck, all the while eyeing Lorelei’s wine jealously.

  ‘Hunter? You mean, your Hunter? Your ex, Hunter?’

  My eyebrows rose. ‘Yes, to all of the above. Except he is very, most definitely, not my Hunter.’

  Lorelei looked over at the bar and made a movement with her hand. Some of the rest of her moved as she did so, watched closely by several City Boys. For once, she didn’t notice. A moment later, another glass of wine appeared on the table. As well as swearing like a sailor, my friend could also drink one under the table. Unlike me. Which was why I was sticking to soda water.

  Lorelei eyed me. ‘You want this?’

  ‘More than I can tell you. But I can’t. I have to go to dinner tonight with the happy couple. And Hunter.’

  She pulled the drink back towards her. ‘Then you should definitely keep away from this. I know what a lightweight you are when it comes to alcohol. Honestly, I thought you Brits were supposed to be able to hold your drink.’

  ‘I think I’m missing a gene,’ I said, chewing on my straw.

  ‘Here you go.’ A basket of chips appeared in front of us. Lorelei smiled at the server and asked him to put it on her tab. I rolled my eyes and took a chip.

  ‘So?’

  ‘So, what?’

  ‘Talk.’

  ‘About?’

  ‘Whatever it was you couldn’t say in the office.’

  I shook my head and took another chip.

  ‘There’s not much to say, really. You already covered the salient points, I think.’

  ‘All I said was that he had a great ass!’

  ‘That’s usually more than enough for you.’

  ‘Hey!’

  ‘Sorry.’

  She shrugged, tossing her hair back. Across the room, a smart-looking businessman tipped his drink down the back of his mate.

  ‘It’s fine. Kinda true. I did ten years of deep and meaningful... except it wasn’t either in the end. I figured it was time to have some fun after that.’

  I pulled a face and put my hand on her arm. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like a bitch. Seeing Hunter today, just out of the blue like that, it kind of threw me.’

  Lorelei covered my hand with her own. ‘Honey, it’s fine! You’re honest. I like that about you. And I know you didn’t mean it in a nasty way. What can I say? I really like sex.’

  The buzz of pub conversation decided at that very moment to take a lull and Lorelei’s declaration sang out loud and clear. In the corner, the man who’d just finished drying his jacket with paper towels following his earlier dousing turned just as another colleague’s eyes took in my friend, and the connotations of her statement. The end result was a momentary loss of concentration and half a pint of beer going south. The same unfortunate victim looked down at his now-sodden shirt, then back at his friend.

  ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ The man grabbed his damp jacket, flashed a filthy look across the room at us and strode out of the pub, the door banging as it hit the backstop hard. His two friends exchanged sheepish looks, before tentatively glancing over at Lorelei. She made an “oops” face and they immediately both lost sight of the awkwardness that awaited them back at the office.

  ‘Oh great. They’re coming over,’ I muttered.

  Lorelei turned her back and leaned closer to me, giving off a message that intrusion wasn’t welcome. From the corner of my eye, I saw the two hesitate, dither for a moment and then casually head towards the door as if that had been the plan all along and they hadn’t just been blown off.

  ‘Right. They’re gone. So. Now. I need details. Seriously? You didn’t think to tell me your ex was Indiana Jones on steroids! Hunter Scott? Photographer extraordinaire? And totally damn gorgeous to boot.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘You forgot to mention his bum. You were a big fan of that too, remember.’

  I stabbed a chip viciously into the ketchup, the resultant mess looking like I’d murdered it. Studying it for a moment, I then rammed it in my mouth.

  ‘You done?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Got some issues there, babe.’

  ‘I have not!’ I protested through the mouthful of chips I’d now shoved in.

  It was true. I didn’t. Yes, it had thrown me to see Hunter this morning, and although I would rather have stuck a fork in myself than admit it to him, it had hurt to hear him so blatantly admit he didn’t think I was up to the job. Not to mention pissing me off immensely.

  We stepped out of the bar and back into the Autumn chill. A cold October wind rushed up the Thames flowing next to us. Occasional white caps caught glints of deceptively cool sunshine, sending out glittering reflections.

  ‘Jeremy’s out this afternoon. Why don’t you go home? Give yourself plenty of time to get ready and psyche yourself up? Then you go out there with your absolute A-game. Show this Hunter guy he can’t try and get you thrown off an assignment just because his ego got bruised five years ago.’

  I shrugged. ‘To be fair, I think I did a bit more than bruise his ego.’

  ‘Yeah. Maybe. But it usually takes two to break something like that.’

  ‘I’m not sure he sees it like that.’

  ‘Then maybe it’s about time he did. You want me to talk to him?’

  ‘No!’ I squeaked, my voice shooting up so high I was pretty sure several dogs were already on their way over. ‘No. Thank you,’ I repeated, this time at a more normal pitch.

  I’d told Lorelei the whole story, minus names, two years ago, after an ill-advised decision to continue the office Christmas party at a club, and an even more ill-advised decision to have a “cocktail or two”. Or two turned out to be five, and frankly it still surprised me I was even alive. Christmas wasn’t exactly a great time for me, what with my relationship having pretty much been annihilated during the festive season five years ago.

  On the day it had happened, the day things had finally fallen apart into so many pieces the
re was no hope of ever putting them together again, everything had felt so sudden. I’m not sure what I had expected. I do know I hadn’t expected my fiancé to be completely out of my life for ever within half an hour. To quote Lorelei, I hadn’t had proper closure. Maybe this trip was the chance to get that. Finally.

  Lorelei was looking put-out.

  ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just don’t think it would do any good. The damage is long done.’

  ‘Your choice.’

  ‘Thanks, though. For offering.’ I did appreciate that Lorelei was trying to help, but what I’d said was true. In Hunter’s eyes, I was the one who’d broken everything. And maybe he was right. But if he was, it was because it had needed breaking, and definitely before we launched into a marriage thatwe would probably have each seen quite differently.

  But Hunter had shown today he still laid the blame firmly at my feet. Talking about it, even with the benefit of time having passed, wouldn’t make any difference now. He’d still hate me. Not to mention that when Lorelei had a talk with a man, it usually ended up as pillow talk. I’d rather t stick a fork in my eye than lie in my bedroom and listen to my flatmate and my ex going at it in the next room, thank you very much.

  She gave me a look, considering forgiveness. ‘What are you going to wear to The Ivy?’

  ‘Oh God.’ I leant forward over the railing and looked down into the water as it sloshed and slapped against the wharf. ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘I can lend you something.’

  I turned back towards her, glanced down at her impressive chest, then down at my own. Even under our warming layers it was pretty obvious we were built differently.

  ‘I’m not sure I have enough socks to do justice to one of your beautiful dresses, but thanks all the same.’ I reached up and hugged her. ‘I’m sorry if I snapped earlier. Seeing him with no warning just threw me off. I’ll be OK by tonight.’

  ‘Sure you will! And you’re fine. Totally understandable to be a little edgy in the circumstances. Look, Jeremy wouldn’t have let you near his daughter if he thought there was even the remotest chance you couldn’t handle it. And it could well lead to more for you, so don’t you dare let a man ruin that for you – even one that looks good. Now go home and get ready to wow the crap out of them all.’