Page 15 of Sweet Summertide (Christmas Cove #4)

When Holly had planned out her day, going to jail was not on the schedule.

How could she be so stupid? Not that she did anything wrong, but that she got caught doing the wrong she didn’t do.

One thing was for certain, if she ever found out that Teddy had anything to do with them getting arrested, she would have his head on a candy skewer.

No, that was too extreme, even for her, but she would definitely do something to make him pay!

She had to admit that neither of them would be there if she hadn’t decided to take things too far in the first place. Only two evenings prior, Millie had convinced Holly to cool her hijinks, and Holly had totally intended to at first.

However, yesterday’s voicemail from her mother played over and over again in her mind.

Her mother’s sweet tone was the opposite of the devastating blow her message delivered.

“Until your decisions are more in line with the expectations of your family name, you will no longer have access to family funds,” Holly said aloud in a voice like her mother’s.

The irony wasn’t lost on her that the one person whom she wished to confide and find comfort in, was the same person she had just gotten arrested with.

Even if she somehow managed to explain her actions, she wasn’t delusional.

There was little hope that he would forgive her now.

Was it she who needed forgiving? If she hadn’t been delayed by his sexy plea in the woods, she would have been in and out of there in no time.

Teddy had been booked before her, which was the only time she had seen him since they were dragged out from the woods. She wondered where they had taken him afterwards and imagined him sitting in a cold gray room with one of those fancy two-way mirrors and a stale cup of coffee.

Coffee … She could go for a cup right about now. The morning sun spilled inside the police station windows and indicated the time was likely around eight or nine o’clock. Not that it mattered. No one would even miss her for hours, and she hadn’t been given her one phone call yet.

Luckily, the long wait time provided a chance to consider who she would contact.

Millie was the obvious choice, except she was out of town for the next couple days sourcing the last furniture and fixtures for America’s house renovation.

After her parents cut her off yesterday, there was no way she was going to call them for help either.

Teddy was a nice guy and would get her out if he could, but she was pretty certain that someone in jail can’t bail out someone else in jail.

So, that option was out. Holly slumped against the wall.

“I guess I’m here forever. Just call me Pen from now on, since that’s where you can find me. ”

She heard Teddy’s chuckle before he came into view.

Why is he in such a good mood? His grin could not have been any wider; a smirk she wanted to wipe off his face at the first opportunity.

His sprightly eyes glowed in the sunlight, like he had indeed gotten that coveted cup of coffee.

Stale or not, she would take one if offered.

The officer slid open the gate and directed him inside. At the sight of Holly, his smirk soured, causing her to swallow hard. When the gate closed, she instructed Teddy to turn so that his cuffs could be removed. “Get comfy, Saint Theo. They’re processing your request now.”

Rubbing the reddened depressions around his wrist, Theodor sat on the floor across from Holly.

“Saint?” she asked from a narrow bench built into the concrete wall.

“Apparently, I’m well behaved, they were teasing me about how polite I was,” Teddy said and looked at his feet, not at her. “Trespassing, huh?”

“I can’t believe we’re in here. This is all your fault!”

Her accusation got his attention, and he looked up at her. “Mine?”

“Yes. If you hadn’t distracted me with all that …” she stopped herself from saying anything about the way she had kissed him. “I would have done what I needed to do and been gone before anyone was the wiser.” She knew she was partly right and crossed her arms for effect.

“You mean, if I hadn’t distracted you from the other crime you were attempting to commit,” he growled.

“Shush. You want me to get in trouble for that too?”

“Just admit it. You got caught doing something illegal while doing something else illegal.” He smirked wryly like he had won this round.

“Wipe that off your face,” she said.

“Or what? You’ll come over here and do it for me? Be my guest.”

She grunted and stomped her foot against the cold floor. “What happened to that whole sexy act in the woods?”

“You think I’m sexy?” he teased sarcastically and crossed his legs out in front of him as though he had no cares in the world, which irritated her more.

“I didn’t say that. I said it was an act.” Inside she was throwing a fit. She was so confused. One minute he’s pinning her against a tree, breathing her in and stirring a desire in her that she had never felt before, and the next, he’s indifferent to their plight. “I thought you liked me?”

“That was before you got us arrested.” He gave another irritated smirk.

“And why are you so happy?”

“Trust me, honey, it has nothing to do with you.” Teddy said with a taunting shake of his head. “This whole day is just one big joke. It has to be, because there’s no way this is how this works. I’m a lawyer, remember.”

“It’s not a joke to me. How do I know this whole thing wasn’t one big set up from you?”

“Why would I?—”

“To get back at me,” she shot back. “To teach me a lesson. I don’t know.” Voicing her accusation out loud made her paranoid rambling sound ridiculous even to her own ears. There was one way to find out. “Why don’t you tell me how you did it, then. How did you get us arrested for trespassing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.

And for that matter, I can’t believe you would think I would risk my future to take you down.

I’m not like you, Blake Holly Hollis. I would never do the kinds of things that you’ve been doing to me.

” He stood and walked to the bars. “I wish we were never told about this grant money, and we could just go back to when you were charming and got me out of my shell.”

She recoiled at the realization that she had cut him deep. “I meant to be having fun.”

“Fun? That’s what you call trying to delay my opening? Believe it or not. I need this grant money. I have to succeed at this or… or I’m finished. I’ll have nothing to fall back on. You don’t even need it. This is just sport for you.”

“For your information. I had decided not to reroute your delivery truck until …” she paused and considered whether to tell him about the voicemail she got from her mother yesterday or not.

“Until what? What happened to make you pump the brakes and then why did you go through with it anyway?”

She stood and joined him beside the blue painted metal bars and rested her hands through two slats.

“Can I tell you something?” she said, and he shrugged.

“Now, you believe it or not. I do like you. I just wish we weren’t competing for the same thing.

Do you know how hard it is for me to trust you, or anyone, who wants to see me fail? ”

He looked at her with glassy eyes. “I don’t want to see you fail.

I just really need to win. There’s a difference.

And yes, I thought your antics were innocent enough, like when you distracted my workers with delicious pizza.

But then you vandalized my windows, which was borderline for me.

Then I found out you were planning to redirect my supplies and possibly ruin my chances of opening my shop in time to even win the money.

Until that moment, I believed you were just a girl, having a good time.

I even thought you were toying with me as a twisted form of flirtation. ”

“Teddy, I was, you’re right?—”

“Stop,” he said and put a finger over her lips.

His firm flesh warmed her skin, and she found herself without breath.

“I‘m tired of your games, and you’ve made it difficult for me to ever trust you again. And as for that grant money, don’t even think for a second that you’re going to win it after all this. ”

“But I need it. Teddy, you don’t understand.

My parents … they—” She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she was on her own, that her mother had pulled one last string with that voicemail to force Holly into a life she didn’t want.

Everything hinged on the success of her shop now.

The last thing Blake Holly Hollis wanted was to appear pathetic to the man standing beside her.

“I have difficult parents too, Holly, but I’m not going to destroy you in order to release my frustrations about them. I told you on the train that I was their greatest disappointment. So yeah, I want to win that money too and prove to them I am so much more than they thought me to be.”

“It’s no excuse, I suppose.”

“You’re darn right, it’s not,” Teddy said and looked away from her down the hallway. “This was the last thing I needed right now.”

“You think I want this?” she said and pawed at his shoulder.

“Obviously, or you wouldn’t have plotted against me in the first place.” Teddy removed her hand from his shoulder. “I’m done.”

“But … that kiss,” her skin warmed just thinking about it.

“I was trying to distract you from your plan. It worked.” Teddy chuckled without humor. “As for that agreement to calm things down? Well, that was before we ended up in jail for trespassing.”

Words ricocheted around her mind. All the things she wanted to say to ease her guilt refused to coalesce into sentences, and she gave up.

Nothing he said was particularly wrong, and everything he articulated was the truth no matter how much she disliked hearing it.

His cold shoulder and tense jaw made it clear that he had slipped away from her.

Only now, did she see how much she wanted to have him.

“Saint Theo,” a voice rang down the corridor. “Congratulations, you’re cleared to leave.” The female cop stood in front of the doorway and let him pass. This time, no cuffs were dangled in his face, and no chains rattled. He didn’t even look back at her as he made his way down the corridor.

“Wait! Teddy, you can’t leave me in here. I haven’t had a chance to call anyone. What am I going to do?” She pleaded for him to turn to her. He paused and glared over his shoulder, and she applied a soft smile and sorry eyes to her face. “Teddy?” She shrugged; scared that she was all alone again.

“Actions have consequences, my dear. I hope you learn from yours.”

The bars slammed shut against each other and sent vibrations through the floor. She leaped towards him and shoved her arms through the cracks. He was just out of reach and the cop gave a warning with her eyes—the way a mother looks at a toddler and the child knows they’re about to be in trouble.

“I’ll never forget this, Saint Theo!”

“I bet you won’t! I’m pretty unforgettable,” he shouted into the air without even turning his head.

“Come on, Teddy! You’re really going to leave me here. Seriously?” She put on her saddest sounding pouty voice, the one that always worked to get her way with her father, but this time, she got nothing but shouts from another holding cell telling her to pipe down.

She plopped down onto the bench seat and stared at the place where Teddy had been sitting. Hurt that he had blamed her, when it was both of them trespassing where they shouldn’t have been—out there in the woods—his hands on her body, playing in her hair.

“Ugh!” she cried out and stomped around the ten-by-ten space.

Every thud of her heel let out a small modicum of frustration.

She just wanted to be mad—at Teddy, at her parents, at herself—but all she could do was feel the lingering thrill of the way he had touched her.

She was mad that even after their fight, she wanted him more than ever. She needed to get out of there fast.

“Blake Hollis. Phone call,” the cop said and not a moment too late as she was about to descend into lunacy.