Never Christmas Without You: Just for the Holidays / His Holiday Gift. Nana Malone

her heart stuttered and skipped to a stop. The pain was so immediate and so hot, she had to fight to not show any expression.

      He wasn’t suddenly going to ask her out. Out of the blue. No, he was asking her to be his girlfriend because he needed a way out of this mess. Under normal circumstances, she would do anything for him. Except this. Because if she did this, then he would know.

      He’d know that she’d been lying this whole time. And she wasn’t going to expose her soft side. “Justin, I love you. And you know that. But I’m not going to pretend to be your girlfriend.”

       Chapter 2

      Hell. She’d said no? Justin really hadn’t considered a negative response. “Alex, look, I know. I know you hate to lie. You’re not very good at it. But I am up the creek with no paddle. I need my wing-girl. Wing-woman. Whatever, you know what I need. It’s just for a couple of days, a week tops, and it’s not like we weren’t going to spend the holidays together anyway.”

      They did have a plan for Christmas. Christmas Eve would be at her place and there would be takeout and alcohol and holiday movies. Then Christmas Day, they would start at his place; he was pretty good at breakfast. His grandmother had taught him. That was the best day, opening presents.

      Most of the artwork he had in his place were her pieces. And though each of them had been given as gifts, he knew full well how much they were worth. Even though to him they were priceless, to the rest the world they were...expensive.

      In the evening, they would go to the big Christmas spread at his hotel. It was a tradition he’d started the first Thanksgiving they were open. It was so successful, he did it again for Christmas, with employees and guests alike.

      So far, he hadn’t been dating anyone over the last few holidays. Which was fine by him. But if he ever was, she’d just have to get used to the fact that Alex was in his life. Yeah, how well do you think that’s going to go when your new girlfriend realizes that sometimes you have inappropriate thoughts about your bestie?

      He shoved that thought aside. And to be fair, he hadn’t had inappropriate thoughts in, oh, days now. That was good. It wasn’t his fault. She was stunning, with all that beautiful café-au-lait skin that always seemed to glow, it looked so healthy. And her hair that always smelled like lemon-meringue pie. He knew it was her hair products. But he almost loved hugging her just for that. Almost. There were other reasons he liked having her in his arms. Reasons he wasn’t going to explore right now. He needed to get her on board. “Look, I know. This is a huge imposition.”

      “Justin, you know I would do anything for you. But this is ridiculous. I’m a bad liar. And Grandma Lucy will be able to tell. And I’m pretty sure they’ll notice when you bring me home and I’m like ‘Hey, my name is Alex.’ They’ll put two and two together that the person that you’ve been calling Alex all this time is somehow standing in as your girlfriend.”

      Okay, he hadn’t really thought of that. But that could work. ’Cause he could just pull the “Yes, we’re best friends. We also started dating” card. No biggie. That would totally work. “Relax. I doubt anyone will find it hard to believe that we started dating after being friends for a while.”

      Her tiny frown only deepened and she opened her mouth, then closed it again. Please don’t say no. Please don’t say no. Please do not say no.

      She chewed her bottom lip. “Justin, this is such a bad idea on so many fronts.”

      She didn’t want to do it. Not that he blamed her. She understood he had issues with his family.

      “Look, it’s fine.” He pushed off from the refrigerator and came over, took her hand and laid his head on her shoulder. When in doubt, use charm. Lots of charm. He’d gotten used to it. And could generally talk his way into or out of any situation. All he had to do was find the precise button to push. Figure out the right person to be. He was brilliant at determining what people needed. And being that person for them.

      What does that mean for you? Who do you want to be? Well, the person he wanted to be and who he was were two different types of people. The man that he really was, no one loved back. No one except Grandma Lucy. And right now, he would do anything to make her happy. And keep her healthy. And if that meant begging, then he would gladly get on his knees.

      Justin lifted his head. Alex was scant inches away from him.

      His first thought was God, I wonder how her lips taste. The next thought was also not helpful. They look soft. And then the next one was far less helpful and was way more naughty. That wasn’t so much of a thought as it was a visual of what they might get up to after their lips connected. He shook his head. Damn it. He’d been doing so well, managing to go whole days without a sexual thought about Alex. Because as much as he loved her, if he ever acted on even one of those notions, that would end everything. “Tell me what you need, Alex. And I’ll make it happen. Right now I’m pleading with you. As my best friend, I need your help.”

      * * *

      The man was good. Only problem was, Alex couldn’t do what he wanted. She couldn’t just give in. Because then he’d know. For the most part, she’d hid it well. That ridiculous sliver of hope she carried around that one day the sexy Justin Morrison would look at her like he did the string of women he brought around. He never looked at her like that. He viewed her like she was family. Which was nice. And important. But that deep, dark hidden part of her wanted so much more. If she pretended to do this, then she was going to expose herself. He was going to see.

      “Look, I think this is a bad idea, and I’ve got the gallery opening on New Year’s Eve. I can’t drop everything just to go to Catalina for a few days.”

      “I know. I will do everything possible to help you with this. You tell me what you need and I’ll give you hotel resources. I will make it happen so you can do this. I will clear any schedules, get a helicopter to fly you back to San Diego for meetings, whatever you want.”

      Alex shook her head. The man was exasperating. And sexy. And sweet. His dark brown eyes, the color of melted chocolate, implored her. And she wanted to give him anything. She wanted to give him everything. No. We are not giving him everything. This is a way to get your heart broken. Yes, yes, it was. And she was not going to be one of the many who had their heart broken by Justin Morrison. Of all the women in his life, she stuck around, because they hadn’t gone there with each other. They were friends. Just friends. “Okay, look, I know you need the help, whatever. Sheila, she’s your PR person. She’s smart, fun, and she’d totally get it. She is all about the image. Me, I constantly have paint under my fingernails, and generally somewhere else on my body that I don’t even notice, until you tell me.”

      “Sheila? Have you forgotten that she is a lesbian?”

      Good point. But she might still be willing to help out her boss. Although, that wasn’t ideal. Because then Sheila would really be lying. Plus, the two of them would have no chemistry and it would show.

      “Okay, so no Sheila. What about Madison? Madison likes you a lot.”

      Justin scoffed. “Madison? Are you insane? It took me months to get her off of calling me three times a day every day. Bunny boilers need not apply.”

      Despite herself, Alex laughed. “You are so wrong. Just because she made it known that she was totally into you did not make her a bunny boiler.”

      “It makes her clingy. And I don’t need to confuse matters. You’re the perfect choice. No waters to muddy. You know me better than anyone. You could help me navigate the obstacles of the family. I need you. Not Sheila, or Madison, or some other hired hand. I need my best friend.”

      She knew it was an honor. She’d give him anything. He didn’t need to know that. Because she was never going to tell him. “Justin, this is a bad idea.”

      “It’s only for a week. Just for the holidays. I’ll make sure you get to LA to do everything that you need to do for