Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my readers!

As promised, here’s the final part of my favorite Christmas story from my collection All Wrapped Up.  Enjoy! (If you need to catch up, here are Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

The Present

by Jenna Jaxon

Tessa awoke on the sofa to the sound of the door opening. The lights were off, so Janice was silhouetted in the doorway. “Tess? I saw your car. What are you still doing here?”

Lights flashed on. Tess blinked and shielded her eyes. She tried to sit up but Hal’s big warm body had her pinned down. He lay sprawled half on top of her, wedged against the back of the couch.

“What the hell is going on here?” Janice’s shriek brought Hal’s head up. “What are you doing on top of my sister, Hal Chapman? Have you lost your mind?”

“I don’t think so, Janice.” He grunted and looked down at Tess. Ran a finger down her cheek that made her shiver. “I don’t think I’ve lost anything at all.”

“And you, you little slut.” Janice stalked over to peer down at her sister. “You were supposed to get rid of him. Not screw him.”

“I figured better me than you, Jan.”

Janice’s face flushed bright red. “Out! Both of you get out of my house, this minute.” She even stamped her foot, which made it hard for Tess not to laugh.

Hal shifted and eased off of her. He glanced around the room and located his pants, draped over an end table. As he pulled them on, Tess sat up and grabbed hers from the opposite end of the sofa. She stood and stepped into them, eyeing her sister. Janice’s chest heaved, as though she had run a marathon.

“I never want to see you again.” Janice swept the door open. “Either of you!” Tess grabbed the velvet box and shrugged into her coat. Hal slung his over his shoulder and put an arm around Tess, guiding her out the door. He stopped just before they crossed the threshold. “Merry Christmas, Janice. Thanks for the present.” He squeezed Tess’s shoulders and ushered her through the door. Tess caught a glimpse of her sister’s face, which approached the purple reserved for eggplants, as the door slammed shut. Hal pulled her down the short walkway toward the parking lot.

Once they were far enough away, she looked up at him. A huge grin spread over his face and he suddenly picked her up and spun her around, whooping with laughter. When he stopped, they leaned together, laughing until Tess felt boneless with relief.

“Now services have been completely rendered.” He stepped back from her, though his hand seemed to linger as it slid down her arm.

“Quite to everyone’s satisfaction.” She paused a moment. “Except Janice’s of course. Revenge is very sweet.”

Hal pulled his coat on and adjusted the collar against the cold night wind. “I just have one question, Tess, if you don’t mind answering it.”

“What’s that?” She dug in her pocket for her keys.

“What would you have said if I’d really asked you to sleep with me? ”

Tess went still, her hand clenched around the ball of keys. “I’d have said yes.”

His eyebrows swooped upwards. “Really?”

“Yes. But only because it was you. Not just because of the earrings. You know I need the money, but I…I wouldn’t have done it with anybody else.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t read his voice and the dark shadowed his face.

“It’s just that…I like you, Hal. I think Janice was awful to you, and you deserve someone better. You’re a good guy, and I…I wouldn’t have minded.” Tess’s voice dropped to a whisper. She turned and headed toward her car, her breath puffing in the crisp air.

“Tess.” He stood right behind her as she struggled to get the key into the door. His arm on her shoulder stopped her efforts and a shiver crawled down her back. She waited for the words that would take him out of the good guy category and put him into the one reserved for creeps.

“Do you think you could go from ‘wouldn’t have minded’ to ‘want to very much?’”

She turned to face him, confused. It was not the question she expected. “What do you mean?”

“I guess that was my lame way of asking you if you want to have dinner with me tomorrow? And to go to a movie with me on Christmas Day? To see each other for a while and then find out if you would ‘want to very much?’”

The light was so damned poor she could only see parts of his face, but he smiled at her and his eyes had a hopeful gleam. “I’d like that a lot, Hal. Dinner and a movie, and some…time.”

His smile deepened as his hand cupped her chin. Raised it just enough to brush his lips across hers. More shivers ran down her back. Good shivers this time. Ones that might soon lead to that “want to very much” feeling.

“Six o’clock tomorrow night?” Another brush of his lips set her on fire.

“Uh huh. You know where I live?”

“Yes.” He pulled away and opened her door. “You’d better leave now if you want a hope of having some time to decide.”

Tess smiled at him, but hurried into the car. She shut the door then he motioned for her to lower the window.

“Just wanted to say ‘Merry Christmas,’ Tess. You’re the best present I ever got.” He leaned in for a final kiss then was gone.

Tess watched him walk away, then picked up the box and opened it. The earrings caught the scant light and twinkled like stars. She stared at the cold jewels in her hand then glanced at the warm man retreating across the parking lot. “You’re the best present I ever got too. Merry Christmas, Hal. Very much.”

Hope you enjoyed my “present” to you.  Have a safe and happy Christmas.  Happy Holidays!

If you’d like to read other Christmas stories, All Wrapped Up is available at Amazon, B & N, and Smashwords. 🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my readers!

As promised, here’s more of my favorite Christmas story from my collection All Wrapped Up.  Enjoy! (If you need to catch up, here are Part 1 and Part 2.)

The Present

by Jenna Jaxon

Hal stood in the middle of the room, his even-featured face hardening. His hand clenched on a small, brightly wrapped box Tess noticed only when the paper ripped under the strain. Oh, shit! He did get her a ring! I’m going to kill the bitch myself.

He must have seen her eyes on the present because he gave a sharp laugh and thrust the box at her. “Here, Tess. You take it instead. Payment for services rendered.”

Hands trembling, she took the small box. “I can’t take this, Hal. You should return it.”

“Open it.” The command was harsh.

“I’m really sorry she did this to you, Hal.” She looked at his face but it had been wiped clean of emotion.

“Open it. Please?”

Tessa finished tearing the red and white striped paper away, and exposed a small, burgundy velvet case. She raised the lid of the clamshell to reveal diamond earrings. A match for the necklace he had given Janice. “Oh, Hal. They’re beautiful.”

“Do you want them?”

The words staggered Tess, constricted the air in her lungs. Those earrings could be sold, maybe help her to live until she found a real job. She raised her face and swallowed. “I can’t take these, Hal.”

“Not even for services rendered?”

Her heart took off like a racecar. “Wh…what do you mean?”

The dark eyes glittered wickedly. “For delivering your sister’s message.” She sucked in air, able to breathe again. “Though there is another service you could do that would put paid to the account.”

Tess stared at him. Her pulse raced and her mouth turned dry as he pulled his shirt out of his pants and started to unbutton it. She glanced down at the diamonds in her hands then raised her chin. “What do you want me to do?”

That’s installment #3.  Find out the end of the story tomorrow!  Hope you have a safe and happy Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays!

If you just can’t wait, All Wrapped Up is available at Amazon, B & N, and Smashwords. 🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my readers!  Today, to start off my blog’s Christmas celebration, I’m announcing the winner of my blog’s giveaway for the recent Holiday Gifts of Love Blog Hop.

FARRAH!

I’ve already sent you an email and hope to hear soon which of my books you’d like to have.

And today in lieu of Sweet Saturday Sample, I’m putting up part of what is probably my favorite Christmas story from my collection All Wrapped Up.  And that’s strange because it’s not an historical.  It’s the contemporary short story “The Present.”  Part of my Christmas present to you.  I’ll continue it on Six Sentence Sunday tomorrow,  give an excerpt on Christmas Eve, and finish it up on Christmas Day.

So, enjoy the season with this little bit of cheer!

The Present

by Jenna Jaxon

“I won’t do it, Janice. You can do your own dirty work.” Tessa Avery turned the vacuum cleaner back on and returned to cleaning the carpet in her sister’s living room. She stared at the noisy thing as she pushed it back and forth so violently she almost took out a small end table. Don’t look her in the eye. It’s all over if you make eye contact.

Sudden silence descended as the vacuum stopped dead. Tessa whirled around to find Janice holding the disconnected plug. “You will do it or I won’t pay you for the month.”

It was a threat Tessa had to respect. Unemployed for six months, she counted heavily on the money she got from cleaning her sister’s apartment. But this was going too far. “It’s not in the job description, Jan.”

“It is now.”

“Look, just call and tell him you don’t want to see him any more.”

“I can’t do that. He’s flying back from California and won’t be in touch until after seven o’clock tonight. At which time I will be dancing with that hunky Kevin at the office Christmas party. He said he especially wanted to dance with me and rumor has it he’s in line for vice president next month. Who knows where it could lead? So I don’t plan to be home before one o’clock.” Her eyes glittered like cold stars. “If I’m really lucky, I won’t be home at all. So when Hal shows up, you can just tell him I decided we weren’t right for each other.”

“This is low even for you, Jan.”

Her sister stared at her, beady-eyed, as she waggled the cord back and forth. “Up to you, Tess. Stay here, let Hal down for me, and there’ll be a nice bonus in your envelope. Leave and….” Janice’s smile could have wilted the poinsettias. “Well, I can always find another cleaning lady. It’s two days before Christmas. If you want it to be a merry one, I suggest you stay.”

She bent and plugged the vacuum back in, so the sudden noise masked the “Bitch!” that slipped out of Tessa’s mouth. Janice headed to the bedroom, leaving Tess to contemplate the merits of sororicide and starvation. At least they feed you in prison.

* * * *

Tessa sat, curled up on the couch, flipping back and forth between the classic It’s A Wonderful Life and the equally classic Miracle on 34^th Street. She frowned. I need some “bah-humbug.” One hundred and three channels later she determined no one was into the darker aspects of Christmas that night. Well, Hal certainly would be when she dropped Janice’s little bombshell on him.

She was used to doing Janice’s dirty work—it came with the territory of having a beautiful blonde older sister who always got what she wanted by any means possible. So Tess wouldn’t have minded delivering the bad news so much if the guy had been a perv, or too geeky for words. Hell, even geeks deserved better than a second-hand brush off. She tossed the remote onto the coffee table and went to the kitchen in search of solace.

Tess poured herself a stiff rum and coke and stirred her drink, watching idly as the coke foamed over the rim. Hal was a decent guy. He might not be the most handsome man around, but he’d treated her sister well in the six months they dated. Tessa had met him several times; they talked at Janice’s birthday party last month and she liked his offbeat sense of humor.

She shook her head and took a gulp. Hal was too good for Janice. Half a glass later, she was convinced this rejection was for Hal’s own good, though he wouldn’t see it that way. He had given Janice a diamond necklace for her birthday. Crap! I hope he’s not giving her a ring for Christmas!

Tess drained her glass.

Meandering back into the living room, she plopped down on the sofa and peered dizzily at the wall clock. Ten o’clock. Maybe his flight had been delayed. Or better yet, maybe he was too jet-lagged to come over tonight. No need to rush over here, right from the airport—

A knock thundered on the door and Tessa jumped, then groaned and cursed her sister once more. She sighed, shook her head and dragged her feet all the way to the door. The cold air that rushed in made her shiver as much as the figure in the doorway.

“Tessa? Hi. What are you doing here?” The kind, low-pitched voice made Tess feel even worse. She would have to figure out some way to put Janice through this much hell some day.

That’s installment #1.  I hope I’ve whetted your appetite!  Installment #2 will be posted here for SSS tonight at midnight.  Happy Holidays!

If you just can’t wait, All Wrapped Up is available at Amazon, B & N, and Smashwords. 🙂