Chapter 18

18

"Okay, so explain to me again, why do we have to stop at the studio? On Christmas Day?” Cath’s tone was both curious and incredulous as she leaned back against the passenger seat and blinked against the bright sunlight. As predicted, Christmas Day had dawned almost disgustingly sunny and a warm 67 degrees. With the last vestiges of a hangover pulsing behind her eyes, she reached up and tapped the visor above her head, catching a pair of shades smoothly in her hand as they tumbled free and slipping them on in a very “Avery” like gesture.

“Like I said, I have some gifts to leave for the crew.” Kris navigated the highway with comfortable ease, clearly happy to be driving the Lamborghini again after such a long, forced absence behind the wheel. He hugged the coastline and accelerated, letting the car cruise at optimal speed as the ocean crashed on the cliffs below them. “Some of the grips are coming in tomorrow to start working on the revised sets. I’ve got gifts and some good wine for them as a thank you. I’ll drop them off on the set, be in and out quickly and we can head to the condo for a drink before we go to dinner.”

“And nothing will get stolen between today and when they get there tomorrow?” It seemed odd to her, to drop off a load of no doubt expensive gifts to an empty studio and leave it there. It was on the tip of her tongue to say, “why not go tomorrow and do it in person?” but something in his tone stopped her, an undercurrent of importance that she couldn’t put her finger on.

He’d been antsy all morning, or what was left of it by the time they crawled out of bed. They had taken the day extremely easily, sleeping until almost noon (without complaint from her for the first time) and slowly waking up, still stretched out on the couch together under the blanket he had thrown over them. At first, she had thought he was hungover like she was, and the two energy drinks he had downed in quick succession while she nursed her coffee hadn’t helped. He’d taken two phone calls while she was in the shower scrubbing the last sticky traces of icing off her skin, and hardly eaten anything beyond stealing her toast while she swatted his hand away protectively. It wasn’t like him, but she wasn’t about to put a pall on their Christmas morning by saying it.

“Nope, they have security 24/7 on site, even more so on the holidays when no one is there. I even double checked with one of the lot guards, he’s going to keep an eye on it for me.” Kris reached over and squeezed her leg reassuringly. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. I promise.”

“Why do I feel like that sentence never turns out well?” Cath glanced at him over her sunglasses and smirked.

“Because you’re a gorgeous, strong but slightly paranoid soldier who routinely gets her ass kicked by ethereal monks and monsters with superpowers?” Kris took them off the highway and started into the city.

“Excuse me, I kick ass , I don’t get my ass kicked.” Her voice took on the “take no shit” tone that she used when she was trying to sound offended. “But aside from that, you’re pretty apt.”

“High praise,” he said dryly with a chuckle as he cruised down Hollywood Boulevard. He seemed at home, tapping his fingers off the steering wheel, and moving his head to the Christmas music playing quietly on the radio. Dressed impeccably in black jeans, a dark green dress shirt and a tailored black blazer he radiated good looks and charm. He’d spent half an hour trying to decide which AVERY belt buckle to wear, and she had to admit, it suited well. They still had a couple hours before their dinner reservation, and she was beyond tempted to say fuck it and drag him back to the condo early to continue where they had left off the evening before.

He glanced in her direction and wagged a finger at her. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” She said innocently, stretching in her seat, brushing her hand across his thigh lightly.

“Like you want to eat me.” He cruised into the parking lot of the studio and paused, taking a swipe card out of his jacket pocket, and tapping it off the entry gate that led to the studio common area.

Cath gave him a smirk and raised an eyebrow, letting her hand creep further up his thigh to the crease of his jeans, brushing her fingers over his cock, quick and feather light.

“Stop tempting me.” Kris warned picking up her hand and kissing her fingers. “Before I pull us into a secluded spot and show you just how far back the seats on the Lambo go.”

“Isn’t your trailer on site now?” she said sweetly, and she could see the various XXX- rated ideas running through his head a mile a minute like a teaser reel.

“No! well yes, but no.” She had never seen him flustered before, but he was borderline, and she was having trouble holding her laughter in as they approached the guard station that led to the expensive larger sets on site. “You’re having way too much fun breaking me.”

“You make it so easy, it’s almost a crime.” She snickered as they stopped, and Kris casually put the window down.

“Hey Frank,” He leaned out and casually gave the guard a fist bump. “Merry Christmas.”

“Back at you Kris,” He opened the gate and motioned them through with the ease of someone who did it all day. “Headed to Lot 8, yes?”

“You know it my man.” They sailed through and in no time pulled up to what was clearly the largest building on the lot. With the steel and chrome facade it reminded Cath of a prison complex and could have easily housed both the medical complex and the admin buildings at Pendleton. Kris parked then killed the engine before turning to her. “Okay, in and out. I’ll be right back.”

He kissed her swiftly and hopped out, running to the trunk to grab the bags he needed, and then disappeared inside the building, leaving Cath to check her phone idly while she waited. A few moments later, it went off with a message:

Made a stupid mistake and grabbed the bag with our gifts in it instead of the bag with the wine. Can you bring it in? Door is unlocked.

With a roll of her eyes and a soft chuckle, she undid her seatbelt and hopped out, heading to the trunk, and grabbing the tote she found with wine bottles stacked in it then heading for the set. She juggled the tote against her hip as she pulled open the door, half expecting that he would appear and help her and stepped inside….

…and stopped dead in her tracks, looking around in wonderment, unable to stop her jaw from dropping.

She’d walked into a winter wonderland.

Of all the things she expected on the other side of the door, the downtown of a picturesque New England style village decorated to the nines with Christmas decorations and lights was not one of them. From where she was standing, she could see several storefronts decorated with gifts and holiday décor and everything around her was covered in at least an inch of “snow.” The facade of a library with two large, fully decorated Christmas trees stood to her left and a path wound around the corner, leading to more of the set she couldn’t see.

“Merry Christmas.”

Cath turned in surprise, so distracted and charmed by the scene in front of her that she hadn’t even seen Kris stroll up casually behind her. He took the tote from her arms and set it down, taking her by both hands and pulling her further inside.

“What…is…. this?” She was slightly stunned, and from the pleased look on his face, she could tell that was exactly what he had wanted. He laughed, and gently tugged her along so she could see more. “Kris, what did you do?”

He tugged her into his arms, settling her against his chest and gently bumping his nose against hers. “I made Christmas for you, for us.”

“I can see that,” she said happily. “I just mean how, how did you pull this off?”

“Well, it’s like we talked about before, we really didn’t get a chance to plan anything ahead of time.” He held her close, spreading his hands across her back and stroking along her skin. “Between us still being new, the accident, lack of time off, things were kind of loco. Any other holiday I probably would have whisked you away somewhere private, skiing in Lucerne or a secluded resort in the Maldives. Instead, I found a creative way to give us away here.”

He brushed her bangs out of the way and kissed her sweetly on the forehead, letting his lips linger against her skin. “And you said you’d never really had a white Christmas so I wanted to find a way to make it happen for you.”

Cath tried to school her face into something besides slacked- jawed, and at the same time wondered why she felt so surprised. This was the man who rented an entire theater out for them on their first date, and who apparently knew enough from her PVR to get her a coral necklace that she had yet to take off, even though it would mean a citation from her CO if she got caught wearing it on duty.

“Is this why you were so nervous today?” She tapped a hand against his chest and pulled back to look him in the face. “I thought you were acting off.”

“Oh, you mean like this?” He stepped back, drawing his face into the pensive expression she had seen him wearing earlier. He rubbed the back of his neck and fidgeted, drawing his body up tense and furrowing his brow in apprehension. Taking out his phone, he began to scroll aimlessly, pulling his lip between his teeth. After a moment he totally relaxed with a smile, and it began to sink in that she had been well and thoroughly played all day by a professional.

“Unbelievable.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to muster a scowl. Secretly she was impressed, she had always known that he was good at his job and today she had caught a brief glimpse of how good he actually was, he’d had her hooked, as much as she grudgingly had to admit it.

“Totally believable.” He scooped up the case of wine and canted his head, so she knew to follow him. “And that is why they pay me the big bucks, babe. Good thing too, I had to find a way to throw you off so I could finish setting this up.”

“So, dinner reservations, drinks at the condo, that was all a ruse to get us here?” Cath shook her head and tried to wrap her brain around the complexity of it all. “This must have taken a hell of a lot of planning.”

“Some of it did. They just finished filming a Christmas movie on this lot last week, it was scheduled to be scrapped so I called in a ton of favors and got it a reprieve until after the holidays.” Kris gently captured her elbow, steering her in the direction they needed to go in. He reached out and pointed to something in the distance, shuffling the tote in his arms to get a better grip. “And some things kind of fell in my lap.”

“What the…” The surprises kept coming and Cath felt her head spin slightly. On the path in front of her was a horse and carriage with a driver waiting patiently for them to arrive. As they drew closer, a strange sense of familiarity began to take hold and she laughed as she recognized the Shire mare from the farm auction weeks before. Walking up to the bay-colored mare, she immediately got a neigh of recognition. She reached up, stroking the horse’s neck with a smile, getting a head nudge back in return. “Hello again, what on earth are you doing here?”

“Retiring.” Kris stepped up beside her, carefully keeping distance between himself and the horse. “Or she will be in about five minutes once she gets us to where we need to go. She’s the first part of your Christmas gift.”

“You bought her?” Cath thought back to the auction and seeing the horse’s sales tag flipped over. She also remembered that he slipped off while she was looking at motorcycle parts to use the restroom, and apparently bought a horse covertly. “It’s official, I can never leave you unattended again.”

“Excellent, just what I was going for.” Kris stashed the wine in the carriage and gave the horse’s flank a cautious pat, stepping to the side as she gave a warning snort in his direction.

“Does she have a name on her paperwork?” Cath smoothed the mare’s main, getting a contented nicker back. She wondered if Danny would let her use the farm to board her new charge, or if Kris had other ideas.

“No, not yet. I’m awful at naming animals. I always end up naming them after people I know. When I was a kid, I named my dog after my sister Sandrine, and she nearly killed me.” Kris winced and tried to hide a wry grin. “The name stuck though.”

“This horse had better not be named after me.” Cath warned.

“Well, she’s tough, downright ornery at times, stubborn as hell and in the short amount of time I’ve spent with her she’s tried to kick me in the balls at least twice so…” His voice trailed off and refused to meet her eyes as she playfully pushed him away. “Unless of course you can give me a better option.”

“Pandora,” Cath said as the name flew into her head. “A little wild, definitely a troublemaker, and knows how to get exactly what she wants.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Kris offered her a hand in getting in the carriage, settling her in the seat before jumping in beside her. He scooped up a blanket folded next to him and spread it over their legs, before slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Pandora it is.”

“And what about after tonight? What’s the plan for her?” She couldn’t help the concern that crept into her voice.

“That’s up to you.” The carriage started up and Cath cuddled into his shoulder as it took a loop around a small snow-covered courtyard and started down a short “trail” to another section of the set. “I already talked to Danny and he said you could keep her at the farm. I do have another idea though.”

He took out his phone and angled it so she could see the screen, running through several photos of a summer camp and the landscape around it. “Remember I said the hospital runs an art camp in the summer? Trail riding is one of the activities the kids can do. I thought maybe she could board there; you could still ride her when you want, she’d get spoiled rotten and only work for like three weeks a year. The American dream basically.”

“That seems like a perfect solution.” Cath watched as they turned a corner, and a small cabin came into view. “But I will help with her board and feed costs, no arguments and you have to come riding with me.”

“Baby, I will ride with you any time you want.” Her ire flew as he dropped the nickname she loathed, but she was in a good mood, and it was Christmas, so she decided to throw him a bone and let it slide…for once. With a mental grumble, she halfheartedly promised herself she wasn’t going soft, she was just taking the day into account and trying to enjoy herself.

The carriage pulled to a stop, the whole journey having taken less than ten minutes in total. Kris hopped out, grabbing her around the waist and helping her swing down. While he grabbed the tote with the wine, she walked up front to Pandora and gave her neck a couple strokes. She leaned in close, laying her cheek against the mare’s mane. “I’ll see you soon, I promise.”

She turned and followed Kris to the cabin, taking the keys he was trying to juggle with the wine and unlocking the door.

As it swung open, she was greeted to the sight and smell of Christmas dinner waiting for them on a nearby sideboard. The cabin interior was well laid out; one room consisting of a sectioned off living space with a couch, coffee table, bear skin rug and a fireplace that took up the bulk of the interior. That left just enough room for the sideboard and dining room table as well as sink and wine fridge. Through a doorway she could see a bedroom had been put together and another door led to a small bathroom. Their overnight bags and the bags containing their gifts were stacked neatly on the end of the couch. She queried a half smile, letting her gaze roam around the room as Kris dropped the tote by the sideboard. He flicked a light switch by the table and Christmas lights around the edges of the windows and along the ceiling lit up merrily.

“This is amazing, Kris,” She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. “Does everything here work? Bathroom? Sinks?”

“For the most part. I paid for them to make a few modifications for us. It’s all ours tonight, we don’t have to leave until noon tomorrow.” He spread his hands out in front of him and gestured to the living room. “Home sweet home for the holidays.”

“It’s perfect.” Cath could feel emotion bubbling up, out of her control, and she closed her eyes, resting her face against his chest to hide it.

“Almost.” Kris gently turned her towards the window so she could see outside. In his hand he held a tiny remote, similar in mind to the car starter she had for the Subaru and clicked it gently. Outside it suddenly began to snow, large flakes drifted pasted the windows, coating everything outside in white for as far as they could see. “Now it’s perfect.”

For a few moments, they stood watching the snow fall quietly until Kris kissed the top of her head and pulled her away, back to the sideboard where dinner waited. “Come on, I’ll plate up the food before it gets cold, you open up the wine and pour us each a glass.”

“Where did all of this come from?” Cath eyed the sideboard of food and watched as he opened a picnic basket to retrieve plates and cutlery. She grabbed one of the bottles of wine and began looking for a bottle opener and wine glasses.

“Remember when I said we had reservations?” Kris set a full plate on the table and went back for another. “I wasn’t totally lying, I had to reserve this ahead of time. I just had the restaurant bring the food to us, instead of us going to it. This seemed much more intimate.”

“It was a fantastic idea.” Cath set the wine bottle on the table and took a seat, watching as he grabbed a basket of rolls off the sideboard.

“It was a selfish idea, I wanted you all to myself.” Kris grabbed a basket of rolls and return to sit across from her. “Best Christmas present to me ever.”

“And if you’re very good and eat all of your dinner, later I’ll let you unwrap me like a present.” Cath bit back a grin, watching as he made like he was going to tackle his plate with gusto.

She motioned for him to grab his wine glass and raised hers in a toast. “Here’s to our first Christmas together.”

“I’ll happily have a drink to that.” Kris tapped his glass off hers and took a sip. “But only one, because there is no way I can handle another night like last night any time soon. My liver will go on strike and abandon me completely.”

Cath spoke around a mouthful of food as she responded wryly. “You’re a big movie star, you can just buy another one. Don’t worry, if I can whip cadets into shape, I can get you up to par fast.”

“God help me, I’ve unleashed a monster.” He rolled his eyes as she gave him a chilling smile then back to eating without a word, and the snowstorm he had created for them drifted past the window outside.