Home for the Holidays (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  Home for the Holidays

  Nelly O'Malley is heading home for Thanksgiving. As the only unmarried child, she is facing a lot of pressure to get married and start producing grandchildren. She'd told her family she was bringing her boyfriend, but they've broken up by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.

  Jack O'Dell is a widower who has been concentrating on his business after losing his family years earlier.

  When Nelly's car crashes on the slick roads, Jack rescues her and drives her to the family home. She persuades him to join them for Thanksgiving dinner as a thank-you, not realizing her family will mistakenly believe he is the boyfriend they've been told about, and they love him. Luckily, Jack agrees to play along and the heat rises between them.

  But when she finds out that the car accident was no accident, she has to discover if Jack was her savior or trying to kill her.

  Genre: Contemporary

  Length: 22,764 words

  HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  Diane Leyne

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  Copyright © 2013 by Diane Leyne

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-663-8

  First E-book Publication: March 2013

  Cover design by Christine Kirchoff

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Home for the Holidays by Diane Leyne from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Diane Leyne’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Diane Leyne’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To everyone who faithfully goes home for the holidays.

  HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  DIANE LEYNE

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  The sun was going down and the rain was starting to come down harder, and she was tired, and it seemed like the drive would never end. But she was only half an hour from home. She saw an O’Dell’s Garage and Service Station coming up on the right, just at her exit. Perfect. Better gas up. Last thing she wanted was to run out of gas and get stranded. She pulled up under one of the covered gas bays and went to get out of the car to fill up, but one of the staff came out to pump the gas. She barely glanced at him as she took the opportunity to use the restroom.

  Jack watched the driver practically run past him after shooting him a quick look of gratitude for manning the pump. He’d actually come out to tell her they were closed, but then he saw the anxious look in her pretty eyes and did what any red-blooded man would do in those circumstances. He pumped her gas while trying to get a look at her ass when she headed round the back.

  Luckily, the restroom was unoccupied and surprisingly clean, so taking care of business didn’t take long. When Nelly came back to her car, she already had her cash out so she didn’t have to bother with the hassle of a credit card.

  She saw the service station fellow was standing by the car and got a good look at him for the first time. She had to look up at him, as he was tall. Handsome, too, she noticed, with the most amazing green eyes, but she was in a hurry and would probably never see him again, so no flirting with the green-eyed hunk for her.

  The hunk held her car door open and closed it behind her. She wondered if this was prompted by good manners or to make sure she didn’t drive off without paying.

  “You’re lucky. I was just closing up for the holiday weekend. That’ll be twenty dollars.”

  It was all she could do to pay the twenty dollars. He took the cash and smiled. Her stomach did a funny flip. Reluctantly, she pulled out. Maybe she’d stop for gas here on the way home.

  Jack watched her drive away. It had been a long time since he’d met a woman that he had such an intense response to. They hadn’t really even exchanged more than pleasantries, yet he found himself wishing he could spend more time with her. He gave himself a mental shake and went back into the office to put away the money. He hadn’t really been in the mood to date in a long while, but maybe it was time to get back in the saddle, so to speak.

  * * * *

  Nelly drove quickly. She was looking forward to being home and seeing the entire family. Her sister Kelly would be there with the new baby, her other sister Caili, and Caili’s husband Mark, of course. And her other sister Justine would be there, with her twins and her cardiologist husband Matt. There were so many of them. Her brothers Michael, with wife Shawn and two kids, and Ned, with wife Chris and three kids, and even baby brother Alex, with his new wife Michelle, who was seven months pregnant. In some ways, she was sorry she could only stay a few days. But she had a whole trunk full of work to do. She knew she wouldn’t get much done at her parents’ house, but she’d told the office she’d be spending the following week working from home and then loaded up two boxes of papers into her trunk along with a company laptop so she could access the her office computer from her home.

  The papers weren’t originals. She’d spent two hours printing out or copying everything she’d need to work on the legal brief, and what she didn’t have she could access through the office computer network. This was the most important legal brief of her career. If it went well, she would be on the partner track. She worked for one of the biggest law firms in the city, and she’d worked hard since
she graduated from law school. This was so important. The fact was, something seemed to be missing, and she didn’t feel quite as excited as she thought she would by this opportunity. Well, she just wasn’t going to think about it. She was going to leave all her work stuff in the trunk of her car and enjoy the next few days with her family, and then she was going to drive to the nearest large grocery store and stock up on supplies. Once she was done, she was going to lock herself in her condo and get that brief done.

  In the meantime, she just had to get through four days with her family. Now, she really did love her family, but they were expecting her to bring home a boyfriend.

  Oh, god. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go home for Thanksgiving. The pressure from her parents would start again. You’d think with eight and a half grandchildren her mom would be satisfied, but no, she wanted more. And she especially wanted her oldest daughter settled and preferably popping out three or four grandkids in quick succession.

  Which is why she hadn’t told them she and John had broken up. It had only happened a few weeks ago, but in her heart, she knew they had never really gotten started. She had started dating him because he seemed like just the kind of man her mother wanted to see her with. He was kind, gainfully employed, loved his family, and wanted lots and lots of kids. Those were pretty much the only qualities required to make her mom happy He was nice looking, too. He wasn’t drop-dead model handsome, but still easy on the eye with a long, lean runner’s body. He was very smart as well, with a master’s in accounting, and was a partner with a local firm.

  But as much as she tried, Nelly just couldn’t find that chemistry with John. They had dated for almost three months and hadn’t even gone to bed. They’d done some heavy making out by the third month, but Nelly just couldn’t go that last step with John, and he didn’t seem inclined to push the matter.

  It was only when she was having brunch Sunday before last with her best friends Kat and Mandy that she finally admitted the truth to them and herself. He was great on paper and would totally make her mom happy, but he wasn’t the right guy for her. She also admitted, even if she didn’t want to acknowledge it to herself, that part of the reason she was dragging her feet with the breakup was that she kind of wanted to bring him home for Thanksgiving to get her family off her back for another year.

  But once she admitted that, she had to acknowledge that it wasn’t fair to John. He was clearly more into the relationship, and she didn’t want to get his hopes up and then break up before Christmas, so she invited him to lunch at a very nice restaurant, figuring that a public place to deliver the bad news would prevent a scene. Of course, John was not really the scene type. He’d probably just accept her decision and wish her well and leave. He was that type of guy, which was one of the things that drove her crazy. Not that she wanted a guy who would boss her around and think he was in charge rather than an equal in the relationship, but with John, sometimes she felt like he had deferred all control to her. She had a highly stressful job as a corporate lawyer, and sometimes it would be nice to sit back and let someone else take charge occasionally, but John was a “modern guy” and never made a decision without consulting her.

  Her face turned red as she remembered that lunch. It hadn’t gone at all according to the script in her head. In fact, John finally took charge. She was sitting at the table, composed and full of resolve. She’d ordered them both a glass of wine since it was a Saturday and neither of them had to work. She figured she could give him the bad news before they ordered and then once he left, she could have a nice light salad, but no cheesecake for dessert. It was her favourite, but she had splurged a few times that week.

  But she never got a chance to speak. John sat down, took her hand, and said those fateful words. “I’m so sorry, Nelly. You are a wonderful woman. Exactly the type of woman my mother would love to see me with. I’ve tried so hard, but we just don’t have any chemistry. And my ex, Chad, is back in town, and we’ve decided to give it another try. And if my mom doesn’t like it, that’s her problem.”

  He got up and came over to her side of the table, leaned down, and kissed her cheek. “You’re a wonderful woman. I know someday you’ll find the right man, but it isn’t me. I’m sorry if this breaks your heart, but better now than six months from now.”

  And then he left after patting her on the shoulder.

  She ended up drinking both glasses of wine, skipping the salad, and going straight to the caramel cheesecake. She’d gotten the desired result, but not the way she expected. She brooded all through the first piece of cheesecake, but was feeling better by the end of the second. Although the second glass of wine had probably also helped. In the end, she decided good for John. He had to follow his heart, and she wished him and Chad well.

  But what was she going to tell her mother? It was Sunday brunch with the girls that helped her figure that out, too. Thanksgiving was only a few days away. Why did she have to tell her mother anything? Until she came home without John. Her mom would be disappointed, but she also wouldn’t have time to set her up with the son of one of her many friends. This could work.

  Chapter Two

  Nelly turned off the main highway. She was almost home and getting anxious to see her family. Just twenty minutes and she’d be home. And then it happened. It was almost like something snapped, and suddenly she lost control. The car started turning and skidding. She had to fight the wheel to get it back going straight, but it was obvious there was something seriously wrong. It was like all the brake and steering fluid had drained out and she had to fight to control the car. With the rain, she had a hard time controlling the skid, but with three brothers and a father crazy about fast cars, she knew a thing or two about driving. A few tense moments later, she had the car more or less under control, and she carefully started braking using the emergency brake, before she hit some deeper water and hydroplaned. The car started turning sideways and she fought the wheel again. Luckily she had slowed down by this time, and when the car slid off the row into a giant maple, she wasn’t going very fast. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion.

  As she saw the tree approaching, she braced herself. The car was from the eighties, so there were no air bags, but she did have her shoulder belt securely fastened. There was a sickening sound of metal scraping against the tree, but luckily it was the passenger side that hit. She’d braced herself, but she still hit the steering wheel. She gingerly felt her ribs. They all seemed to be in one piece, although she’d probably be pretty sore in the morning and have good bruise.

  She gave a silent prayer of thanks that she was on a quiet side road when the accident happened. She shuddered. Five minutes earlier and she’d have been on a busy highway and she probably wouldn’t be getting out of her car to check out the situation.

  She walked around the car as far as she could. The driver’s side and front of the car looked fine, but the passenger side looked caved in. She squatted down and had a closer look. It looked like the frame had buckled. No way was she going anywhere, even if the car was driveable.

  She grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and, of course, it was dead. She had meant to charge it, but, like usual, forgot. Usually she noticed when it was down to about fifteen percent and could squeeze out a call before it died, but this time it wouldn’t even turn on.

  Great, just great. She was so close to home, yet too far. It was further than she really wanted to walk in this weather, and the sun was going down, so the temperature was going to drop. On the other hand, the road wasn’t well travelled, and she wasn’t sure how long it would be until someone came by. Even her family wouldn’t be worried much before midnight, because she didn’t give them a firm arrival time.

  Just then, she saw headlights. May be she was going to get lucky. Or, she thought, with my luck, it could be an axe murderer or rapist looking for a victim rather than a Good Samaritan who could lend her their cell phone to call the auto club.

  She watched the vehicle get closer. It was a white pickup wit
h the logo “O’Dell’s Garage” across the side. The man who got out caught her attention immediately. It was the green-eyed guy from the service station. He really was tall. With the angle of the sun, she couldn’t see his features well, but his hair was dark, and as he got closer, she could see how the muscles in his shoulders filled out the jacket he wore with the O’Dell name and logo and a pair of faded jeans that rode low on his slim hips. Oh, my, she thought, if this were a porno, he’d throw her on the hood of her car and have his way with her. And she just might let him, she thought, as he got closer and she got a good look at his face. Except for the rain, of course. In her sudden fantasy, it was summer, and instead of a work jacket, he was wearing a tight white T-shirt. Or, maybe he wasn’t wearing a shirt at all, she fantasized, and he was all hot and sweaty as he worked on her car and then came over to work on her. Oh my. Where did that come from?

  She looked at him closer. He wasn’t conventionally handsome. His features were too strong for that, and he looked very serious, even grim. And she could see that his dark hair was shot with gray, but his eyes were just as green as she remembered. But he had a male magnetism that called out to her, and she could feel her stomach flutter with lust.

  She must have been lost in her daydream, because she heard him say, “Miss, Miss. Are you okay?” and realized that she had missed the first part of what he said. She would have to keep better control of herself. Today was the day for disappointing her mother and seeing her brothers and sisters and their ever-expanding families, not for lusting over a hot stranger.