Nana Malone - Never Christmas Without You - Just for the Holidays / His Holiday Gift

With cutouts at the sides, it showed just the right amount of skin, too. And as for length, cocktail. Her legs were mile high.

He cleared his throat. “That one. That one definitely has to come to Catalina.”

Alex tortured him some more by twirling in the outfit. “Are you sure? Doesn’t exactly say Christmas.”

“It’s red. Red equals Christmas.”

“But you don’t think it’s too...?”

“Sexy?”

She nodded.

His dick agreed.

“It’s perfect. You’re getting the dress. Deal with it.”

Alex wrinkled her nose. “When did you get this bossy? I have my own dresses.”

“Oh please. When we get back to your place, show me one dress that does not have paint on it.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but then quickly snapped it shut again. She narrowed her gaze at him, and her lips were twitching.

After he paid for the red dress, she insisted on paying half for the simple green one. He didn’t want to let her do it, but he knew how important it was to her to pull her weight.

On the pavement, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She turned her face up at him, her gaze warm and light and happy, and, oh hell, he really wanted to—What in the world was wrong with him?

“Well, if it isn’t the Siamese twins. I see you didn’t trade up after I left you, Alex.”

Justin held back a groan as he and Alex turned. Her ex stood on the sidewalk glaring at them. “Brian, still a prick, I see.” He had to fight the overwhelming urge to hit the guy. He’d hurt Alex bad and didn’t deserve to walk the earth.

Alex was unusually taciturn. She was generally quick with the comebacks. When it came to this guy, it was like she had nothing. He still had no idea how Alex had ever dated him. He only ever thought about himself, and to make matters worse, he didn’t handle his responsibilities with the bills. And Brian was one of those artists who thought his talent was on the same level as hers. He eventually gave up and became an art dealer. He didn’t deserve her. And you do?

Brian’s smirk morphed into a sneer. “Alex, if you finally dump this loser, you could have a real chance. I might still consider taking you back. You have to get rid of him first, though.”

That did it. “Listen, you little prick—”

She put a hand on Justin’s chest and nuzzled close. “Justin, sweetheart, calling him a prick is an insult to all pricks.”

Justin bit back his chuckle.

Brian, though, didn’t seem amused. “You know, I was the best thing that ever happened to you, Alex. If you’d just paid a little more attention to me and hadn’t been so selfish—”

And that was the fundamental problem with Brian. He believed everything he needed had to come first.

Justin tightened his arm around Alex’s shoulders and pulled her close before kissing her forehead. “Then, Brian, I want to just say, you guys breaking up was the best thing to ever happen to me. Because she realized what a loser you are, and she’s mine now.”

Brian’s brows shot up. Alex snuggled into his side. And when she tipped up her megawatt smile at him, Justin couldn’t help himself. He told himself it was practice for what they would have to do in a few weeks. The truth was, the membrane between them that was a separation between friendship and something more was getting thinner and thinner these days. He dipped his head and slid his lips over hers.

With a surprised gasp, Alex parted her lips, and all doubts terminated on Justin’s end.

All thought. All breath. All basic bodily functions ceased. All that mattered to him, in this moment, was the feel of Alex’s soft lips under his. The slide of her tongue over his. A deep shudder racked his body in the instant his lips touched hers.

Alex wrapped her arms around his waist, and every nerve cell in his body shouted Yes. He knew they had an audience, so he had to make it good, right? Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. He slid his tongue over hers, tangling and retreating, coaxing her tongue into a dance.

She made this sexy whimpering noise at the back of her throat, and it was all he could do to not glide his hands over her perfect ass and press her flush against him, into his erection.

And then the warning bells clanged in his head. This was Alex. But this felt so good. So damn good. Especially when he could feel her nails digging into his back. He pulled away. But still held on to her, for the benefit of Brian.

Apparently, her ex was not pleased about their new relationship.

“You told me. You swore to me there was nothing between you two.”

Alex shrugged, giving Justin that sweet smile again, and he couldn’t help himself—he squeezed her into his side. He needed more of her. He wanted to hold her tighter.

“What I do with my love life is no longer any of your concern. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Justin and I have somewhere to be.”

As they walked away, Justin felt her muscles relax marginally. Brian was such a jerk. He’d always treated her like he should be the primary in the relationship. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. He’s just a blowhard. Besides, that was totally worth the look on his face.”

Her grin was friendly and bright, and he wanted to kiss her again. But that was not going to happen. A simple kiss from her had felt better than anything he’d shared with anybody in months, maybe years.

Didn’t matter. He was not going there... All he had to do for the week they’d be away was not kiss her again. That couldn’t be that hard to do. Could it? He hoped not. “Yeah, that was totally worth the look on his face.”

Chapter 5

“Are you okay with this?”

As the wind blew Alex’s hair around her face, she tucked the errant strands behind her ears. She’d opted for a straight look today, figuring she didn’t want to scare the Morrisons with her wild curls just yet. Christmas Day she’d introduce the full Afro. “Yeah, fine. Just trying to settle in as Justin Morrison’s girlfriend.”

Justin laughed. “You realize you’re closer to me than any other girlfriend I’ve ever had in my life?”

Alex chewed her lip. That was not exactly what she wanted to hear. But whatever. It was too late to back out now. She could do this. Besides, push come to shove, she could always call Cassie for an SOS. An emergency that required her to come home. “You realize that’s not promising to me, right?”

Justin laughed. “Well, it’s the truth. We Morrison men can be hell on women.”

“Why do I have a feeling that’s more about you than being a Morrison?”

He grinned. “Because you know me.”

That stupid grin got her every time. The butterflies whacked their wings low in her belly, and she would do anything to see that expression again. Yeah, she knew it. She needed help.

They pulled up into the marina, and she couldn’t help but be struck by the sheer beauty of it. Granted, they lived in San Diego, so a picturesque sunset over a marina was nothing new, but Catalina certainly was breathtaking.

Justin helped her with their bags and she had no choice but to follow him outside. She expected to see someone. Family, even Grandma Lucy. From what she’d heard about the old lady, she’d have fought tooth and nail to meet Justin at the ferry stop. But there was no one there, save a single chauffeur, holding up a sign that said Morrison. Seriously? Not one person in his family could be bothered to drive over and pick them up? Okay, then. She needed to do a quick mental recalculation on his family and what it meant. Norman Rockwell would not have painted this family.

As if Justin could read her thoughts, which was, hello, scary, he said, “Don’t bother being surprised that no one came here to meet us. I’m not.”

That single line told her everything she needed to know. No one besides his grandmother was looking forward to Justin coming home. And no one in the family was deserving of his love and affection. She would just have to take over the caring duties, then.