Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

ASHER

S he thought she was so sneaky when I was drinking my coffee. I heard the floorboards creaking, then saw her out of the corner of my eye as she tried to spy on me. It’s like she thought she was a Christmas elf. I made sure I wasn’t texting when she could see.

Is that why she was watching me? The timing of the texts seemed too coincidental for it to be anything else.

When I emerge from the bedroom, she laughs, putting her hand over her mouth. Her face lights up with delight. It was the response I wanted when I wore this old Christmas sweater.

“I never thought I’d see this,” she says.

I shrug. “Today isn’t about me. It’s about you, Holly. So, for you, I will subject myself to the humiliation of this sweater.”

She rolls her eyes, so alluring, so magnetic. “Of course, the Grinch would have to phrase it like that.” She looks at me closely. She’s trying to trip me up. I’m only the “Grinch” in the world of my Secret Santa.

“Let’s hit the road, Snowflake.”

We get into the elevator together. I’m relieved when somebody else climbs in with us. Being in confined spaces alone with her is not good for my willpower.

Being together in the car is very difficult. I focus on the road, my heart pounding, my body temperature rising. She’s effortlessly tempting.

“Are you excited?” I ask.

“Yeah. Thanks for doing this.”

“It’s not a favor,” I say. “I’m excited too. I haven’t been rock climbing in years.”

“Did you and Mia used to go?”

Where did that come from?

Maybe she can read my reaction. “We’re friends, remember, Asher? Friends can talk about their exes.”

“No, Mia and I never went rock climbing. I went with a work buddy a few times.”

I stare at the road. She stares at me. I can tell she wants to ask me more about Mia, but I’ve got no interest in talking to her about it. Along with the stuff about Mom, it’s just another reminder of how difficult Christmas can be.

“I just hope I don’t make a fool of myself.”

“Why would you say that?” I ask.

“I’m not the athletic type.”

“I’ll be there every step of the way,” I tell her.

“Hopefully, nobody judges me.”

“Nobody’s going to judge you.”

Where’s the confident woman from last night, the one who coaxed me into turning around and seeing her naked? I want to compliment her on her body. She deserves it, but it’d mean crossing another line.

“I hope not.”

“Fucking hell, Snowflake. Nobody’s going to judge you because there’s nothing to judge. Even if they did, I’m there. I’ll go full Grinch on their asses if they even think about it.”

“Full Grinch,” she repeats.

“Your holiday expressions are rubbing off on me.”

“Hmm.”

She strongly suspects I’m her Secret Santa. That’s the only reason she’d have for speaking like this and not-so-subtly dancing around these issues. That means I’ve got a choice. Tell her the truth, mislead her, or stop texting her as her Secret Santa.

Instead, I take the coward’s option and commit to resolving the issue later.

She gazes around the large hall as we enter, a look of wonder on her face. Before I returned home, I never thought any holiday warmth would have filled me. Seeing Holly look around with so much glee has me rethinking that. Her happiness makes me happy.

“Isn’t this amazing?” she says.

Being here with her, I have to admit it is.

Strings of fairy lights twist up the climbing walls, creating a constellation effect.

They’ve dusted artificial snow around the reception desk and bouldering mats. Oversized ornaments dangle from ropes and harness racks.

A Christmas tree stands near the lounge area, decorated with mini climbing ropes instead of the traditional fare. Seasonal music plays in the background, mixing with the sounds of laughter. All the staff members I see sport Santa hats and elf shoes. A chalk station labeled “Santa’s Magic Dust” draws giggles from children. Candy cane-shaped holds mark holiday routes, challenging climbers to “scale the North Pole” or “conquer the Gingerbread Mountain.”

Holly skips to me, beaming. “There’s so much more here than they advertised online. Do you think I can get some footage before we climb?”

I smile. “You can do whatever you want, Snowflake. I’ll go check us in and see what the procedure is. In the meantime, have at it.”

I walk to the front desk and speak quickly with the receptionist. She explains we need to be fitted with safety harnesses and watch the video safety briefing. Each climbing wall is self-service. We clip ourselves on, clip out, and it’s an automatically slack system, meaning we’ll fall like snow if we descend.

“That’s great, thank you.”

“The next briefing is in five minutes. You can get fitted with your harnesses then, too,” the receptionist says.

“Thanks again.”

I find Holly kneeling on the floor, angling her camera up at a gingerbread man. I watch her, a smile on my face. Her passion is apparent in her furrowed eyebrows, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth in concentration.

She turns, laughing. “Sorry. I think that’ll be great for B-roll.”

“I forgot to ask. What’s this video for?”

“For?” she says.

“Yeah. Is it for a competition or work or—What?” I laugh. “You’re looking at me like I’ve just grown a set of antlers.”

She giggles. “My Christmas terminology is rubbing off on you, isn’t it?”

“Guilty as charged. Why are you looking at me like I’ve lost my mind?”

“The video isn’t for anything,” she says. “I saw this place advertised and fell in love with it, so I wanted to make a video. I guess I’ve never grown out of that desire to film for filming’s sake.”

“Like when you were a kid, little Tarantino, skipping around the place with a smile on your face and a camera in your hand.”

“I keep them in a file on my computer,” she says.

“You’ve got more of these passion projects?”

She nods. “Yeah, maybe around ten. Just little fun things for myself, not for the world to see.”

“Why not let the world see them?” I say. “You’re so talented. Your talent shines through in every video marketing campaign you do for the company. If you made a website to showcase your work, I bet people would be interested. I know I’d be interested.”

Her smile is a gift I never want to stop earning. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve never really thought about it.”

“That’s why you need me.”

“Need you,” she repeats.

“As your business manager,” I say, but I know why she repeated it. She knows I was talking about more than business. “I’ll guarantee your passion projects don’t hide away on your computer. If they make you this excited, I’m sure they’d make other people just as excited.”

“Maybe,” she shrugs. “Shall we get started?”

As we walk toward the briefing room, the urge to loop my arm around her waist is real. I want to advertise to everybody in this busy building that we’re together. When we were getting hot and heavy, thinking about owning her, felt all too natural. Now, she’s not even naked or moaning, and the same deluded thought hits me.

Sitting through the safety briefing is boring, but soon, we’re in our harnesses, ready to climb the walls.

“I’ll get a video of you first,” she says, spots of red blooming on her cheeks.

“You’re not scared of heights, are you?”

She shakes her head. “Not heights.”

Something’s holding her back from thoroughly enjoying this experience. I walk up to the wall of fabric made to look like ice, clip myself in, and then turn to the camera, winking at Holly. “Wish me luck, Snowflake.”

She drops the camera. Luckily, it’s on a strap around her neck.

“Crap. Sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t be calling you that on video.”

“It’s … fine.”

But it’s not. She’s lying to make me feel better. I turn toward the wall, scaling it quickly, looking down at her from the top, then abseiling down as the automatic system slows my descent. Unclipping myself, I offer my hand to Holly.

“Your turn. I’ll get some footage of you.”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should get some more of you first.”

“Holly, what’s going on? You were excited to come here.”

She lowers her voice, moving closer to me. Her Christmas sweater hugs tightly onto her curvy shape. That, combined with her perfume and closeness, almost makes me kiss her out of instinct. “What if I can’t do it?”

“You can. I promise. The slack is so tight that it almost lifts you up. It’s not real climbing. Just a bit of fun.” I lean forward, whispering. “Just remember how confident you were last night.”

“Asher …”

“I know. It never happened, but the fact is, that version of Holly didn’t give a crap. She knew how sexy she was. How capable she is. I bet you felt like you could do anything.”

“That’s true,” she admits. “But there’s a difference between seducing my brother’s best friend and this.”

She’s right. Seduction is far more dangerous.

“You can do it. I promise. If it makes you feel better, we don’t have to record this part.”

“Okay.” She hands me her camera.

“But—”

“But?”

“I think you’d regret it if you didn’t let me record. You’re nervous, but you’re going to do this. You’re going to kick ass. I think you’ll want that on video. If things get as bad as you think they will, you can delete the video later.”

She smiles shakily. “You’re making too much sense for my liking. Let’s do it, Asher.”

I aim the camera at her. As she straps herself in, I have to remember this isn’t a home video for my viewing later. If it were, I’d zoom in on the harness, biting into her curvy shape, squeezing her voluptuous body, highlighting her perfection.

Her hand trembles as she takes the first handhold.

“Go on, Snow—Holly,” I say. “You’ve got this.”

I can’t call her Snowflake on camera. I need to remember that. What if Dan sees and starts asking why I’m giving his sister cute nicknames?

One hand over the over, cautiously finding her footholds, she begins the ascent. The angle makes it difficult for me not to dwell on her shape. Instead, I zoom in on her smile when she reaches the top. She stares down at me, then slowly descends.

When she finishes, she unstraps herself, runs over, and throws her arms around me.

“I did it,” she yells, breathless.

“I’m proud of you,” I say, laughing as I spin her around.

She quickly steps away when I put her down. “Sorry, Asher. I didn’t mean to do that.”

The good vibes vanish as quickly as they appear. There’s something sad and unfair about her apologizing for hugging me. I understand why she might feel the need to do so. If the wrong person saw us …

I’m so tired of everything being so complicated.

“It’s fine. I got that on video. Your great ascent, you should be proud. You were visibly nervous, but you overcame your fears.”

She grins. “Thanks, Asher.”