The Holiday Kiss (Briarwood High Book 4) Read online

  I decided the safest bet would be to ignore that comment for the moment. We were talking anthropology, a science—a soft science, but still science. Talking science always put me at ease. “I didn’t realize you’d gotten so much out of Mr. Herman’s class.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Was that another dig at my intelligence, Maya?”

  I widened my eyes. “No, I—”

  But he was already laughing. Oh. Now that one had definitely been a joke. “Relax, I’m not offended.” He arched his brows and gave me a cocky look that I was too familiar with. “I’ll have you know I got an A in that class.”

  “I’m impressed.” That was not a lie, nor an exaggeration. Mr. Herman was not an easy teacher. It was tough to get an A in his class.

  His smug smile grew. “Holy crap. Was that a compliment?”

  I couldn’t stop a small smile at the friendly teasing in his tone. “Just a statement of fact.”

  His laugh was nice. Warm, genuine…the sound was weirdly intimate and I was suddenly keenly aware of the fact that we were alone together at night in a hotel room. I licked my lips as my stomach turned, but this time it wasn’t a reaction to food. “Seriously,” I said. “That’s impressive. Mr. Herman was tough. I didn’t know anyone else had gotten an A.”

  He shrugged but I could see his discomfort. Almost like he was embarrassed. “Whatever,” he said. “Not all of us brag about our grades.”

  He didn’t say it with any real malice, just that friendly teasing that gave me a glimpse of what it must be like to be his friend. Or at least, someone he didn’t actively dislike.

  That gave me the confidence to give humor another try. “When would you have time?” I murmured. “You’re so busy bragging about everything else.”

  His gaze met mine and after a heartbeat of shocked silence, he tipped his head back and let out a laugh that made me grin.

  A smile still hovered over his lips when he looked at me. “You should get some sleep if you’re sick.”

  I didn’t want to sleep, not anymore. Talking with him had distracted me nicely from the queasiness and I was already starting to feel better. “I told you, I’m not sick,” I said. “I just have a weak stomach.”

  He looked thoughtful. “I have a hard time believing anything about you is weak.”

  The thrill that shot through me was unbelievably strong. That might have been the nicest thing he’d ever said to me. No, it was definitely the nicest thing he’d ever said to me. I didn’t know what to say so I found myself echoing him. “Was that a compliment?”

  “Just a statement of fact.” He gave me a small smile and it felt like we had a secret. An inside joke. The silence stretched for too long. I didn’t know what to say. Honestly I kind of forgot what we were talking about.

  Finally, he shifted in his seat, leaning forward again. “Go to sleep, Maya.”

  I bristled at the commanding tone. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re in the room with me.” It wasn’t supposed to be a joke but he laughed softly.

  “What, you’ve never slept with a guy before?”

  I knew he was joking, but that didn’t stop my cheeks from bursting into flames at the innuendo.

  He stopped laughing and there was no denying that his eyes were kind. When he dropped that smug, combative, ruthless expression he looked so very different it was startling. “Relax, Maya. I was only joking.”

  “I know.” I said it too quickly, too defensively. God, sometimes I was too awkward for life.

  “Go to sleep or I’ll call your mom and tell her it’s an emergency.”

  I narrowed my eyes. I knew he was teasing and this time I’d go along with it and not respond like a weirdo. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  He laughed. “Wouldn’t I?”

  “If you do, I’ll…” I tried to come up with a threat and failed. I thought of his earlier taunt. What will you do, puke on me? He was right, I had zero leverage here except for possibly ruining his shoes.

  He knew it too. His eyes seemed to glimmer with laughter in the dim lighting of the room. “What will you do, Maya?”

  When I didn’t respond, he leaned back with a satisfied smirk. “You might be this super smart nerd, and all, but you’ve got to learn how to pick your battles. This is one you’re never going to win.”

  His words sparked that competitiveness in me that always seemed to flare up around him. Apparently not even nausea could stop it now. The annoying part was, he was right. I was losing this particular battle because I had no way of fighting back. “I can’t believe you just called me a nerd. What happened to your lecture on stereotyping?”

  His smirk grew. He was enjoying himself.

  Gah. For the first time I realized just how much he lived to compete. He’d wanted to needle me and I’d let him.

  Sure enough, his tone and his look were taunting. “What are you going to do about it?”

  I stared at that smirk for a moment. I wanted to wipe it off his face in the worst way. My gaze dropped to the book in his hands and now it was my turn to smile as an idea came to me. A plan so wicked, I had to smother a laugh.

  I lifted my eyes to meet his. “The senator’s aide is the killer.”

  His expression was blank for a second as he tried to figure out what I was talking about. I saw it click right before I flipped over, curling up on my side to at least pretend to sleep.

  I heard him flip to the end of the book and then he muttered a curse.

  I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t even pretend to hide a triumphant smile.

  Chapter Six

  Luke

  It wasn’t like I was waiting for Maya to emerge from her bungalow the next morning, I just happened to be in the pool when I saw her come out, looking hotter than hot in short shorts and a spandex running top.

  I almost choked on water as I stopped doing laps, my mouth falling open at the unexpected sight.

  Seriously, no one at Briarwood would believe me if I told them that underneath those librarian clothes, Maya Rivero had a hot body. And without that stuck-up look and the severe hairdos, she was freakin’ pretty.

  I knew no one would believe it because I was staring at her and I still had a hard time comprehending that this was the Maya I’ve always known. “Where you headed?”

  She jumped a little at the sound of my voice and spun around to face me. She had earbuds in one hand and her iPhone in the other. Her eyes widened at the sight of me in the water—not all that shocking since I was the captain of the swim team. But then I saw her gaze drop to my bare chest, to my shoulders and arms that were crossed over the edge of the pool so I could talk to her without treading water.

  I had the sudden urge to pump my fist in masculine triumph. Aw yeah, the hottie was finally taking notice.

  At what point I’d started to think of her as the hottie and not the nerd was not altogether clear. All I knew was, something changed between us last night. It started when she’d surprised the hell out of me with her unexpected kindness toward my brothers and it was solidified by that oddly intimate exchange at her bedside.

  Her mom had shown up right after she’d gone and spoiled the ending to the thriller I’d been reading and I’d honestly been disappointed to see our night end.

  It was hardly a sexy encounter—I mean, I’d watched the girl puke. But it had been interesting. She’d been interesting. One thing I had to say about Maya Rivero, she kept me on my toes. I had to work to earn her respect, and by the end of the night, I was pretty sure I’d made some headway. Still, the whole experience had been bizarre.

  I was used to girls liking me because I was an athlete and had the confidence of a captain, not in spite of it.

  Her outfit clued me in, but I was still a little surprised to hear her say, “I’m going for a run.”

  “You run?” I hadn’t meant to sound quite so surprised. Judging by the way her lips pressed together, my surprise had been a little insulting, which had not been my intention.
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  She shifted from one foot to the other. “Yes, I run.” That was it. Her tone was flat, no trace of anger or discomfort, or pride for that matter. Her voice gave nothing away.

  After last night I was starting to feel like I could read her a little better though. She wasn’t very expressive but if you watched her closely, she had some tells. Like right now, for example. The way she was shifting on her feet? She was self-conscious. She probably thought I was making fun of her again.

  I held back a sigh. I got it to some extent. I mean, the crowd I hung out with…we liked to joke around, and a lot of time it was at someone else’s expense. But it wasn’t like we were a bunch of bullies or anything.

  Still, her words from our little spat in this same courtyard last night hadn’t stopped nagging at me. She seemed to only expect the worst from me—but the really crappy part was, I couldn’t say that I blamed her. Last night I found myself lying awake thinking about that for far too long. I’ve always thought of her as this prissy, grumpy, stuck-up, holier-than-thou nerd. But how much of that attitude was just her reaction to me and my friends and the jokes we’d made at her expense.

  Those weren’t the only Maya-related thoughts that had me tossing and turning all night. More than anything I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about this new side of her that I’d seen. The mischievous sense of humor, the hot body she’d been hiding, the softness of her features when she wasn’t trying to look like an Amish lady on a business trip.

  And her smile.

  I’d only caught it a few times, but holy crap, her smile was a thing of beauty. It totally transformed her entire appearance. I mean, she was pretty to begin with. But with that sweet smile, she was temptation personified. It made her seem touchable and sweet, as well as hot as hell.

  I’d been hanging on the edge of the pool leering at her for too long. She tucked her chin and started to walk toward the beach.

  “Wait,” I called out as I hoisted myself out of the pool. “Give me two minutes to throw on some clothes and I’ll join you.”

  She stopped walking and turned back to stare at me. Her gaze dropped once more and I nearly groaned out loud when her tongue darted out to lick her lips. I took a step toward her and saw her stiffen, color rising in her cheeks.

  Aww yeah. She felt it too. She was totally affected by me just like I was by her. I could feel my ego swell as she fixed her gaze somewhere over my right shoulder. I wanted to tease her, but I wouldn’t. Last night was the first time I’d seen her blush, and it had been so incredibly sweet. So uncharacteristically adorable…and normal.

  But I didn’t want to push my luck now. She was already wearing running clothes—I wouldn’t have been surprised if she turned and bolted if I took one more step in her direction.

  Still, I took a little longer than was absolutely necessary to drape a towel over my shoulders. My ego wanted to make sure she got a good view. I wanted to make her just as uncomfortably aware of my body as I was of hers.

  “Give me two minutes,” I said again before turning to jog into my room and throw on some dry shorts.

  When I came back out I let her lead the way down to the beach. She’d left her earbuds and phone behind, and that fact made me way too happy. I mean, it would have been super rude to listen to music while I ran beside her, but part of me had expected her to do just that. Not that I thought she’d do something like that just to be rude—I suspected she’d do it because I made her uncomfortable.

  Again, I felt that nagging guilt. I knew I had a certain reputation at Briarwood, but the thought of being seen as some sort of douchebag bully? That didn’t sit well.

  We walked for a minute before Maya started to run. And by run, I mean jog. Slowly. It was actually more like a fast walk. I waited for her to pick of the pace, but she never did. She jogged painfully slowly beside me. Her slow pace was even slower for me since she was short and my legs were the length of her whole body.

  She glanced over and saw me staring at her. But really, she looked hot when she ran. Literally and figuratively. Her cheeks were turning a pretty shade of pink as she clearly exerted herself. Meanwhile I had yet to get my heart rate up. “You’re pretty slow, you know that?”

  Her breathing was labored as she gestured on ahead. “You don’t have to wait for me.”

  I sighed. “Well that defeats the purpose, now doesn’t it?”

  She frowned. “What purpose? I thought we were exercising.”

  “You’re exercising. I’m taking a leisurely stroll.” That was an exaggeration, but not by much.

  She met my gaze and I guess she determined that I was joking—which I was. She let out a short huff of laughter. “I don’t run to be fast.”

  “No kidding.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I just do it to stay healthy.”

  “I can help you train to get faster if you want,” I offered. “By the time I’m done with you, you’d be able to compete in a marathon.”

  She gave one of those breathy laughs again. “Not everything has to be a competition, you know.”

  “It doesn’t have to be,” I agreed. “But a challenge makes life more interesting, don’t you think?”

  I glanced over when she didn’t immediately respond. I loved the fact that she was clearly thinking that over before responding. This was what made her so enjoyable to talk to, and to tease. She took everything so seriously, which made her comments more interesting than the typical conversations I had with Briarwood girls. And the added bonus was that when she wasn’t serious, it was that much more surprising. Her jokes were like quasi-funny landmines hidden under that serious exterior. I never knew when one would go off, but when it did it was a treat.

  “Sometimes,” she said slowly. “But sometimes a challenge is just exhausting.”

  Once again she intrigued me. But I let that particular topic drop, for now at least. I had a feeling that conversation could get heavy fast. “What music were you going to listen to?”

  She glanced over and it was clear she was straining with the run now. Hell, this girl needed to up her cardio in a big way. I was guessing she ran the same route every day for the same amount of time. Probably based on some research about the optimal amount of time to do cardio.

  “What…music?” she repeated through panting breaths.

  “You were going to run to music. What’s on your playlist?” I turned so I was slowly jogging backwards, facing her. “Let me guess, classical?”

  She grinned and now I was the one taking labored breaths, but it had nothing to do with the run. “You and your stereotypes,” she said, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

  “Come on,” I said. “Admit it. You like classical music.”

  She lifted her chin and I knew I was right. I started to laugh even as she answered, “Fine. I like classical music. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “Of course not,” I said, but I was still laughing.

  “Why is that so funny?”

  I shrugged, turning to once more face forward. “Because sometimes there’s truth behind the clichés.”

  I could feel her frowning in my general direction. “It’s not all I listen to, you know. I definitely wasn’t going to listen to classical music while going for a run.”

  “Okay, fine. What were you going to listen to? Peter, Paul, and Mary? Kenny Loggins?” I was poised to laugh and I did when she gave me a haughty sigh.

  “Passion Pit.”

  “Excuse me?” I’d heard of them, but I couldn’t believe Maya had.

  She shrugged. “It’s this indie band my boyfriend turned me on to.”

  I stopped running, or fast walking, or slow jogging—or whatever it was we were slowly doing along the water’s edge. “Wait. You have a boyfriend?”

  She came to a stop too, leaning over and placing her hands on her knees as she caught her breath, unwittingly giving me a life-altering view of her cleavage. “What?” she said while panting.

  “You have a boyfriend.” I didn’t really mean t
o say it like that, it just sort of came out as an accusation. I might as well have accused her of murder.

  She blinked at me. “Sort of.”

  I arched my brows. “Sort of?” Okay, I would never be able to match Maya’s emotionless, monotone but I had to get a grip. I was starting to sound like my mom right before she went nuts because I broke curfew.

  She straightened, thank God, because it was hard enough to play it cool without that distracting view of heaven. I turned slightly and thrust a hand into my hair, taking a deep breath. Why the hell did I care if she had a boyfriend?

  Because you like her, dumbass.

  I never had been very good at ignoring the obvious. And yeah, maybe Maya was irritating, but after last night I was definitely more than just intrigued by her. I was drawn to her—physically, obviously, but also mentally. I liked talking to her, which was weird since it usually ended in an argument, but there it was.

  I liked Maya. I had a thing for her. Trust me, no one was more surprised than I was by this revelation.

  But it had never even occurred to me that she might be off limits. Who would have guessed that Maya the loner geek had a boyfriend?

  I shouldn’t care this much. I mean, yeah I wanted to kiss the girl in a bad way, but it wasn’t like I’d thought this was some big romance. I just didn’t like the idea that I didn’t even have a chance. Not that I necessarily wanted one, but still. I didn’t like being disqualified before I had a shot.

  She had her hands on her hips and was staring into the distance. “Do you want to keep going or are you too tired?”

  “I haven’t even broken a sweat yet,” I said.

  She flashed me a look. “No one likes a braggart.”

  “No one likes a person who uses the word braggart,” I replied.

  She glared at me and heaved a sigh of exasperation. I felt my lips twitching up in response. See, this was why I liked talking to her. Hell, I’d even put up with a lame half-assed workout if it meant I got to tease her like this. She was just so fun to annoy.

  “You ready to go again?” she asked.