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

And it wouldn’t hurt to have more than just one friend.”

      “You have more than one friend. You have lots of them. We were hanging out with a group of them at my house the other night.”

      She shook her head. “Your friends. I go along for the ride because I get to kick it with you, so I tolerate other people.”

      “You’re crazy, everyone likes you.”

      Justin laughed even as he shook his head. She might think she was a loner type but people naturally gravitated toward her. She could be serious, or silly, or just thought provoking. She was so layered. And not just about art. As long as he’d known her, she’d been obsessed with music of all kinds, except country, she liked to say. And books. They were an escape, she’d explained, but painting, painting was life.

      She shrugged again. “Yeah, but you know that saying, ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.’”

      He laughed. “So you’re okay with doing this?”

      “I can be easy, just as long as you’re not trying to replace my entire wardrobe. If it’s just a couple of things, then no big deal.”

      “That’s the spirit.” He took her hand, the zing of electricity coursed up his arms, and he flexed his hand around hers. Dude, get it together. This is Alex. More and more lately, whenever he was around her, the current was too much to contain. It was also getting hard to ignore. He seriously considered cutting down on their hanging out sessions. Problem was he liked being around her too much. “Let’s go shopping.”

      “Fine. Alex Winters reporting for torture.”

      After an hour and a half, his feet hurt, and the more dresses that Alex tried on and came out to show him, the more irritable he got. Not because she looked bad in any of them. Quite the contrary. That was the problem. She modeled dresses that showed a little more skin than he was used to seeing from her. Because she was painting all the time, she kept her wardrobe simple, usually leggings, tank top, T-shirt, occasionally she’d toss on a sundress, but nothing like what she’d been trying on at the upscale boutique he’d taken her to. Everything was short and formfitting or cleavage baring and had a slit up to here that nearly showed all the lady parts. Damn, those were his favorite parts. He didn’t want the world to see them. She came out in another red number, the vermillion shade complementing her café-au-lait skin and dark eyes. His mouth watered.

      With cutouts at the sides, it showed just the right amount of skin, too. And as for length, cocktail. Her legs were mile high.

      He cleared his throat. “That one. That one definitely has to come to Catalina.”

      Alex tortured him some more by twirling in the outfit. “Are you sure? Doesn’t exactly say Christmas.”

      “It’s red. Red equals Christmas.”

      “But you don’t think it’s too...?”

      “Sexy?”

      She nodded.

      His dick agreed.

      “It’s perfect. You’re getting the dress. Deal with it.”

      Alex wrinkled her nose. “When did you get this bossy? I have my own dresses.”

      “Oh please. When we get back to your place, show me one dress that does not have paint on it.”

      She opened her mouth to argue, but then quickly snapped it shut again. She narrowed her gaze at him, and her lips were twitching.

      After he paid for the red dress, she insisted on paying half for the simple green one. He didn’t want to let her do it, but he knew how important it was to her to pull her weight.

      On the pavement, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She turned her face up at him, her gaze warm and light and happy, and, oh hell, he really wanted to—What in the world was wrong with him?

      “Well, if it isn’t the Siamese twins. I see you didn’t trade up after I left you, Alex.”

      Justin held back a groan as he and Alex turned. Her ex stood on the sidewalk glaring at them. “Brian, still a prick, I see.” He had to fight the overwhelming urge to hit the guy. He’d hurt Alex bad and didn’t deserve to walk the earth.

      Alex was unusually taciturn. She was generally quick with the comebacks. When it came to this guy, it was like she had nothing. He still had no idea how Alex had ever dated him. He only ever thought about himself, and to make matters worse, he didn’t handle his responsibilities with the bills. And Brian was one of those artists who thought his talent was on the same level as hers. He eventually gave up and became an art dealer. He didn’t deserve her. And you do?

      Brian’s smirk morphed into a sneer. “Alex, if you finally dump this loser, you could have a real chance. I might still consider taking you back. You have to get rid of him first, though.”

      That did it. “Listen, you little prick—”

      She put a hand on Justin’s chest and nuzzled close. “Justin, sweetheart, calling him a prick is an insult to all pricks.”

      Justin bit back his chuckle.

      Brian, though, didn’t seem amused. “You know, I was the best thing that ever happened to you, Alex. If you’d just paid a little more attention to me and hadn’t been so selfish—”

      And that was the fundamental problem with Brian. He believed everything he needed had to come first.

      Justin tightened his arm around Alex’s shoulders and pulled her close before kissing her forehead. “Then, Brian, I want to just say, you guys breaking up was the best thing to ever happen to me. Because she realized what a loser you are, and she’s mine now.”

      Brian’s brows shot up. Alex snuggled into his side. And when she tipped up her megawatt smile at him, Justin couldn’t help himself. He told himself it was practice for what they would have to do in a few weeks. The truth was, the membrane between them that was a separation between friendship and something more was getting thinner and thinner these days. He dipped his head and slid his lips over hers.

      With a surprised gasp, Alex parted her lips, and all doubts terminated on Justin’s end.

      All thought. All breath. All basic bodily functions ceased. All that mattered to him, in this moment, was the feel of Alex’s soft lips under his. The slide of her tongue over his. A deep shudder racked his body in the instant his lips touched hers.

      Alex wrapped her arms around his waist, and every nerve cell in his body shouted Yes. He knew they had an audience, so he had to make it good, right? Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. He slid his tongue over hers, tangling and retreating, coaxing her tongue into a dance.

      She made this sexy whimpering noise at the back of her throat, and it was all he could do to not glide his hands over her perfect ass and press her flush against him, into his erection.

      And then the warning bells clanged in his head. This was Alex. But this felt so good. So damn good. Especially when he could feel her nails digging into his back. He pulled away. But still held on to her, for the benefit of Brian.

      Apparently, her ex was not pleased about their new relationship.

      “You told me. You swore to me there was nothing between you two.”

      Alex shrugged, giving Justin that sweet smile again, and he couldn’t help himself—he squeezed her into his side. He needed more of her. He wanted to hold her tighter.

      “What I do with my love life is no longer any of your concern. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Justin and I have somewhere to be.”

      As they walked away, Justin felt her muscles relax marginally. Brian was such a jerk. He’d always treated her like he should be the primary in the relationship. “You okay?”

      “Yeah, I’m fine. He’s just a blowhard. Besides, that was totally worth the look on his face.”

      Her