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Chapter Twenty-Four
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Twenty-Five
Nathan“You want to come to school with me today?”Nathan lay naked in bed, his body exhausted but mind serene. Holly stood in the light of the bathroom brushing her hair. She wore the same pants as the night before, but she’d pulled out a clean sweater from the backseat of her car. It was good enough that it made it look like she’d gone home and changed.He loved watching her. She moved with careful grace as she checked her face in the mirror.“Did you hear me?” she asked again, coming to the bed with a smile on her face. “Do you want to come to school with me today?”He reached out and traced a finger along her cheek. “I have meetings this morning. What about lunch?”She thought about it for a moment and then leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I’ll save you a seat at the cool kids’ table.”He chuckled, watching as she picked up her bag and slid into her boots. She gave him one last smile before disappearing out the door and into the early morning.The room felt empty without her.
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Twenty-Six
HollyHolly checked her watch for the millionth time that day. She wanted it to be lunch time. She wasn’t even all that hungry. She just wanted to see Nathan. She wanted to show him where she worked and what she did all day. She wanted to share her world with him.The morning dragged on. Even her students said that it felt like lunch was taking forever. They complained more than usual and no one wanted to stay in their own seats. It made for a very long morning.I’m bringing lunch.Holly read the message from Nathan and grinned. The cafeteria food was decent, especially since today was tacos, but it was mass produced and geared toward children. She tried to bring her lunch as often as possible, but she still ended up eating chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese at least once a week.“Ten more minutes, and then it’s lunch time,” Holly called out to her class. “Please finish up the math worksheets and clean up your math blocks.”She was answered by the sound of blocks falling and scatt
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Twenty-Seven
NathanNathan hadn’t had a workout like that in months. When the whistle finally blew signifying the end of their time outside, he was drenched in sweat and his legs were shaking.The kids seemed unfazed.“How do they have so much energy?” Nathan asked Holly as they followed the classroom back inside.“They weren’t picking each other up and swinging them in circles,” Holly reminded him. She smiled when she said it, her voice warm and soft.“Okay, friends. Put your coats away and we’ll head to art class.” The kids continued shouting and talking, but they did as she asked, hanging up their coats on the pegs along the far side of the classroom.Once the coats were put away, they formed a rough semblance of a line.“I’m just going to take them to art class,” Holly told him. “It’ll only take a minute.”“I’ll wait here. I don’t have to be back just yet.”A smile filled her face and then she darted around, making sure that the kids were ready. As soon as the door opened, the kids became quie
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Twenty-Eight
NathanSomeone was knocking on his door.Holly had already left for the morning. She wore jeans and a dark green sweater with a sparkly reindeer on it. She looked hot, even if the sweater was ridiculous. But then, Nathan suspected he would find anything Holly wore to be attractive.He opened the door expecting to see Hal or maybe someone from the hotel. Instead, it was Lucy.She stood, looked annoyed as hell in a dark red pencil skirt and matching jacket. Her jet black hair was pulled back and away from her face. Her dark gray eyes were focused directly on him.Despite being her boss, when she looked at him like that, he didn’t feel like he was the one in control.“Hey Boss. Surprise.”“Lucy, it’s good to see you. Come on in.” Nathan held the door open for her. He was glad he was dressed and the living room of the hotel suite was cleaned up.Lucy looked around and sniffed. “This is where you’re staying?”Nathan looked around. He’d gotten used to the small room. It wasn’t nearly as nic
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Twenty-Nine
Holly“Ms. Jones! Ms. Jones!” Preston ran yelling from the back of the room. Holly immediately made a mental note of where the first aid kit was and which route was the fastest to the office. Preston sounded legitimately concerned.“What is it, Preston?” Holly asked, going down to one knee.“Laurie is violating my religious rights,” he told her. He wiped at his cheek.“Your religious rights?” Holly asked, no longer worrying about the first aid kit.“Yeah. She says Santa isn’t real.”Oh boy. Holly thought to herself. She still had to stifle a laugh, though.“How about we just don’t talk to Laurie for the rest of the day?” Holly suggested. She made one mental note to email Preston’s parents and another mental note on an already very long list to talk to Laurie about telling the other kids about Santa.Winter break was all of ten minutes away and Holly could hardly stand the wait. The kids were antsy as well. They were ready to run outside. The big Holiday Parade was tomorrow, and everyo
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty
Holly“You’re coming to the parade today, right?” Holly whispered, her head cradled on Nathan’s bare shoulder. He smoothed her hair with his hand against his head. The room was still blissfully dark with only the edges of the curtains showing any hint of morning light.“I am. I made sure to schedule it with Lucy and everything,” he replied.She grinned, snuggling into him. This was heaven. She was warm, safe, and completely satisfied. If it weren’t the fact that she’d been looking forward to this parade for the last month, she would happily stay in bed with Nathan for the rest of her life.She wondered what their future looked like. Would there be more days like this? She knew it wouldn’t be perfect or easy, nothing worth having ever was, but she hoped there would be days like this. Perfect, content days.“What are you doing for Christmas? Since you’re working, will you be staying here?” Holly asked.Nathan shrugged beneath her. “I think so. Would you like me to stay?”She sat up and
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-One
NathanNathan couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy.He couldn’t remember the last time that his mind had felt this unfettered and his soul didn’t feel like it needed to escape his body.And it was all because of Holly.She was magic. She was everything he wanted. And right now, he had a glimpse of a beautiful future.He would continue to work on Elements. She would come and visit him in California, and he would show her everything the state had to offer. For once, he was excited to share his wealth with someone and not be worried that they would try and take advantage of him. He knew Holly would never do that.Then he would purchase a house here in Devonsville. They would move in together after an acceptable amount of time, but sooner rather than later because her apartment was tiny. They would build a life together. They would live happily ever after.He could see it all coming together like something out of a fairy tale. He was Prince Charming and she was his snow bunny
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Two
NathanLucy stood, hand on hips, dressed in dark red and with murder in her eyes.“There you are,” she scolded. “Where have you been?”Nathan frowned, not understanding. There was no meetings until later in the day. He’d double checked.“What do you mean?” he asked her.“I messaged you. We need to talk,” she said. “Didn’t you get my text?”Nathan fumbled for his phone and found two missed messages from Lucy. He had been so caught up in designing the laptop in his head, he’d neglected his phone entirely.“Wow. She’s even more in your head than I thought,” Lucy said, crossing her arms. He knew she was referencing Holly. The way she said it twisted Nathan the wrong way. No one should talk about Holly like that.“What do you want, Lucy?” Nathan asked her. He could feel his time in the R&D department slipping away from him.“We need to talk. In private.” She turned on her heel and began walking. “Follow me.”Nathan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Gregory.Gregory grunted.Nathan had to ag
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
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Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Eight
NathanThe walk up the small flight of stairs to Mark’s office was the longest one of Nathan’s life. He could feel Holly’s hand in his, but he still had to keep looking back and making sure she was real.They stepped into the office, and Holly closed the door behind her.“Are you really here?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice and eyes. “I thought you said you didn’t think this was going to work.”“It wasn’t the way things were,” he told her. “But, I made changes. I hope I haven’t missed my chance.”“No.” She shook her head and smiled. “You haven’t missed it. But I need to know you aren’t going to leave again. That we’re not just going to end up in the same place as before.”Nathan reached into the back pocket of his Santa costume and pulled out a piece of heavy paper. He handed it to her.“This says you’re the owner of Elements Computer Technologies,” Holly said, reading the paper. She looked up at him still confused. “I thought you were always the owner.”“No. Paradigm was the
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Seven
HollyHolly didn’t want to open her eyes. She had the covers pulled up around her chin and her body was comfortably warm, but her face was cold. If she opened her eyes, that meant it was morning.And for the first time in her life, she didn’t want it to be Christmas morning.Her phone began to buzz, telling her that it was almost time to leave. She had to be at the store an hour before the party to get everything set up.With a groan, she sat up, swung her feet out of bed, and immediately regretted the decision. Her apartment was freezing. Even with socks on, her feet were cold on the floor. She hurried to the bathroom, changing her clothes as quickly as possible before the cold could set in.Luckily, she’d had enough water that she wasn’t too hung over. Just a mild headache and she didn’t want any breakfast.She grabbed her things and paused at the small Christmas tree in her living room. Three presents sat under it. There was the big, bulky Christmas present for her father, a handma
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Six
HollyHolly sat before a roaring fire, watching the flames jump and dance around a yule log. She wondered if it would be appropriate to put another shot of rum in her hot cocoa or if three was already too many.She wanted to feel happy. It was Christmas Eve. She was warm and full of good food. Her father had made his famous pot roast and she’d eaten enough mashed potatoes that she was probably at least fifty percent potato herself. There would soon be presents and cookies.There was every reason to be happy and content. But, all she could think about was Nathan.So, she sat on the floor in front of the fire and drank rum.It was her annual place to sit on Christmas Eve. Holly and Mark had already watched the old Claymation version of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Now they would exchange books as was their tradition.When Holly was a little girl, they used to do this every year. Her mother would pick out an educational book with beautiful pictures for her. One year, she got an encyclo
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Five
Nathan“Mr. Reed?” a soft feminine voice asked at Nathan’s office door. “I have some files for you. May I come in?”“Sure,” Nathan said, motioning forward. He was glad for the distraction. No matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to be able to focus on work. His heart just wasn’t in it.The woman came in with a stack of files in her petite hands. She wore a black pant suit with a soft, pale green undershirt that brought out the light green color of her eyes. He wasn’t sure what her age was. Her hair was so blonde it appeared to be almost silver against the black of her jacket.“Why are you delivering files?” he asked as she set down the folder on his desk. “The mail-room usually handles that.”“I’m an intern,” she explained. “And since it’s Christmas Eve, there just isn’t a lot to do right now. My boss said to find something to do.”“What’s your name?” he asked her. Now that she was here, he found he liked having some company and didn’t want her to leave just yet. The office was too qu
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Four
Holly“There,” Holly whispered, carefully placing the last piece of tape.She smiled at her work. The wrapping paper was neatly folded around the corners and she’d even made the tape look nice. She wrote Nathan’s name in neat print on the corner. It was possibly the best wrapping she’d ever done on a present.It was just a copy of A Christmas Carol, but it seemed like the perfect Christmas Eve present for Nathan. She’d agonized over which book to get him for the Christmas Eve tradition, but had finally settled on this one.It was tradition in her family to gift a book on Christmas eve. She was excited to share this tradition with Nathan. She was excited to share everything with him.Life was good. She tucked the book under the small tree in her apartment next to the other gift she’d picked out for him. It was just a t-shirt with the name of the town and a printed mountain background. It wasn’t much, but she thought he would like it since he was moving his company here. It felt like a
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Three
NathanNathan sat in the empty office, staring at his bank account numbers on his phone.He was down ten million today, but the market looked like it might swing up by the end of the day. A ten million dollar fluctuation was nothing, but it was worrying. He hadn’t had a good up day since meeting Holly.He could see the choice in front of him. Holly or the money.The money had always been there for him. Since the beginning, money had given him what he needed. It wasn’t his family that had made him successful, it was the fact that he liked seeing the numbers in his bank account go up.He wished he could have both worlds, one of business and one with community and friends. He knew it couldn’t be. It had to be one or the other. That was the way it had always been, and up until this moment, the easy choice had been the money.He wanted to forget the smiles on the children’s faces today. He wanted to forget the warmth of the town. The way everyone said hello and treated him like he’d always
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-Two
NathanLucy stood, hand on hips, dressed in dark red and with murder in her eyes.“There you are,” she scolded. “Where have you been?”Nathan frowned, not understanding. There was no meetings until later in the day. He’d double checked.“What do you mean?” he asked her.“I messaged you. We need to talk,” she said. “Didn’t you get my text?”Nathan fumbled for his phone and found two missed messages from Lucy. He had been so caught up in designing the laptop in his head, he’d neglected his phone entirely.“Wow. She’s even more in your head than I thought,” Lucy said, crossing her arms. He knew she was referencing Holly. The way she said it twisted Nathan the wrong way. No one should talk about Holly like that.“What do you want, Lucy?” Nathan asked her. He could feel his time in the R&D department slipping away from him.“We need to talk. In private.” She turned on her heel and began walking. “Follow me.”Nathan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Gregory.Gregory grunted.Nathan had to ag
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty-One
NathanNathan couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy.He couldn’t remember the last time that his mind had felt this unfettered and his soul didn’t feel like it needed to escape his body.And it was all because of Holly.She was magic. She was everything he wanted. And right now, he had a glimpse of a beautiful future.He would continue to work on Elements. She would come and visit him in California, and he would show her everything the state had to offer. For once, he was excited to share his wealth with someone and not be worried that they would try and take advantage of him. He knew Holly would never do that.Then he would purchase a house here in Devonsville. They would move in together after an acceptable amount of time, but sooner rather than later because her apartment was tiny. They would build a life together. They would live happily ever after.He could see it all coming together like something out of a fairy tale. He was Prince Charming and she was his snow bunny
Love Under the Mistletoe Chapter Thirty
Holly“You’re coming to the parade today, right?” Holly whispered, her head cradled on Nathan’s bare shoulder. He smoothed her hair with his hand against his head. The room was still blissfully dark with only the edges of the curtains showing any hint of morning light.“I am. I made sure to schedule it with Lucy and everything,” he replied.She grinned, snuggling into him. This was heaven. She was warm, safe, and completely satisfied. If it weren’t the fact that she’d been looking forward to this parade for the last month, she would happily stay in bed with Nathan for the rest of her life.She wondered what their future looked like. Would there be more days like this? She knew it wouldn’t be perfect or easy, nothing worth having ever was, but she hoped there would be days like this. Perfect, content days.“What are you doing for Christmas? Since you’re working, will you be staying here?” Holly asked.Nathan shrugged beneath her. “I think so. Would you like me to stay?”She sat up and
