Christmas Countdown - The Advent Calendar

By Lexy Timms

It's beginning to cost a lot like Christmas…

 

Why him?

 

Of all the party planners in the city, I managed to hire a company run by my ex-husband James. I haven't seen him in more than ten years. He broke my heart by turning away from me in his time of need. I'll never forgive him for that.

 

But damn, he looks good. And he's saying all the right things. I just have to get through this Christmas season without falling for his charms, and I'll be right back where I started, blissfully single.

 

The only problem? The more time I spend with him, the harder he is to resist.

 

Lexy Timms brings you a Christmas holiday romance! Join in the holiday spirit with a festive read and some laughs to get you into the Christmas season.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dark Shadow Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215978399

Lexy Timms

"Love should be something that lasts forever, not is lost forever."  Visit USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, LEXY TIMMS https://www.facebook.com/SavingForever *Please feel free to connect with me and share your comments. I love connecting with my readers.* Sign up for news and updates and freebies - I like spoiling my readers! http://eepurl.com/9i0vD website: www.lexytimms.com Dealing in Antique Jewelry and hanging out with her awesome hubby and three kids, Lexy Timms loves writing in her free time.  MANAGING THE BOSSES is a bestselling 10-part series dipping into the lives of Alex Reid and Jamie Connors. Can a secretary really fall for her billionaire boss?

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Christmas Countdown

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It’s beginning to cost a lot like Christmas...

Why him?

Of all the party planners in the city, I managed to hire a company run by my ex-husband James. I haven’t seen him in more than ten years. He broke my heart by turning away from me in his time of need. I’ll never forgive him for that.

But damn, he looks good. And he’s saying all the right things. I just have to get through this Christmas season without falling for his charms, and I’ll be right back where I started, blissfully single.

The only problem? The more time I spend with him, the harder he is to resist.

Lexy Timms brings you a Christmas holiday romance! Join in the holiday spirit with a festive read and some laughs to get you into the Christmas season.

Contents

The Advent Calendar

Find Lexy Timms:

Christmas Countdown

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

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Holiday Romance by Lexy Timms

Chapter 1

Alice

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Oh jingle hell.

The last person I expected to see at my ten o’clock meeting just walked through the door. I thought the owner of First Stars and Pixie Dust would be a woman. Specifically, I was imagining a toned yoga-instructor type or someone who had obviously been a cheerleader and head of her sorority house in college.

I thought she would have blond hair and a cute little upturned nose. She would carry around a tablet and talk about her fur babies. We were going to bond over being women in the workforce, and I would feel safe about handing over this important project to her.

I even gave her a name like Candi or Cindy, something with a vowel at the end. I was going to dump all my expectations in her lap, and she would gather them up and create a magical month of entertainment for my staff.

But instead of Candi or Cindy, the person who walked in the door at ten o’clock was none other than my ex-husband, James. At first, I thought it was an awful coincidence. He was there to talk to me about some residual divorce thing. Maybe he’d gotten my mail by mistake, and he was returning it. Or he wanted to talk to me about what went wrong, or he was announcing his engagement to another woman.

My jaw dropped, and I stood up from behind my desk, unable to speak. He stopped short just inside the office, his hand still on the doorknob. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. It didn’t even occur to me that he was the brains behind First Stars and Pixie Dust. Even when he shook his head slightly, as if trying to wake himself up from a dream.

James? I stuttered.

Alison? he responded.

It’s Alice now, I said.

He let out a huff of air, his shocked face relaxing into a smile. That makes sense. I thought your name sounded familiar, but I convinced myself it had to be someone else.

What are you doing here? I demanded, coming around the desk to confront him.

I’m your ten o’clock, he said.

No, I told him. That’s impossible. I’m supposed to be meeting with...

First Stars and Pixie Dust? He tapped the embroidery on the button-down shirt he wore, and I saw with horror that it bore the company logo.

I was dumbstruck. Where was my pert little female friend that I was going to bond with? I wanted a series of lighthearted yet expertly crafted games, parties, and events for the entire month of December. I owned a logistics company, and the Christmas season was our busiest time of the year. We were staring down the barrel of four hours of overtime each day, only one day off each week, and a pace of work that was going to make all of us crazy.

Last year around this time, two of my staff members quit. They said it was too much, and I couldn’t blame them. While I was angry and had to scramble to fill their positions, I hoped that no one else would take their lead and leave me hanging.

It was just the nature of our business that things got crazy around the holidays. If we didn’t have the Christmas season, we wouldn’t be nearly as profitable. And I wasn’t just thinking about my bottom line. If we made money, then we all could keep our jobs, and that was the most important thing.

Way back in July, I’d started thinking about a solution. I had a limited number of things I could offer. A bonus on Christmas Eve was a good start, but I wanted something more. I wanted people to be excited to come to work, not to feel like it was a drain on their energy.

At first, I thought about throwing one party, but even that didn’t seem like enough. There was always the Secret Santa gift exchange, but every office did that. I wanted something special, something that would stand out and make people say, I want to work here.

Nothing short of a party a day was going to do it. If I carved out an hour or two for fun stuff, then the rest of the time, people could attack their jobs with renewed vigor. If we had a party each day, they would love to come to work, and it wouldn’t feel so overwhelming.

Of course, I didn’t have time to plan nearly two dozen events by myself. I wrote up a quick proposal outlining what I expected and hunted the Internet for a company that could provide it. First Stars and Pixie Dust came highly recommended on the search engine. They had expertise when it came to corporate events, weddings, and party planning. I didn’t see any testimonials from people who did exactly what I wanted to do, but nevertheless, it didn’t hurt to ask.

I emailed their admin with my proposal, and she responded saying of course they could help me. It was a relief to know that I was in good hands, and I agreed to a face-to-face as soon as possible. Their website featured a bunch of happy customers and what must have been a model. She was the woman I was expecting to see, not James.

We weren’t married for very long, but we’d dated all through high school. He was a slacker for goodness’ sake, not some kind of event coordinator. He wasn’t involved in the prom committee or any of the numerous dances we had throughout our stint in high school. I didn’t even remember him playing a musical instrument, just looking adorable in his tight black T-shirt.

I thought I was in love, but it didn’t last. Ten years passed without even a word from him, allowing me to see the truth. It was probably just puppy love. People were expected to hook up in high school, that didn’t mean there was anything real or special about it.

Seeing him again brought back all those memories, and I tried to repress them. I didn’t want to think about sneaking around behind his parents’ backs or cuddling in the back seat of my car. It seemed cruel to remember holding each other close, dancing in the gym under the blacklights that the prom committee had installed.

And when he proposed to me the summer after we graduated, I thought it was the happiest moment of my life. I’d spent all my savings on a two-hundred-dollar dress, and we tied the knot at our little family church. It was sweet really, a hometown event featuring both our families and all our friends.

Thank goodness we weren’t still together. Who knows where I might have ended up? I could have been a housewife instead of the owner of a thriving logistics business poised to bring in more than three million dollars in sales.

After James disappeared, I got my life together. I filed for divorce, and he didn’t contest it. I went back to college, graduated, and started working for this firm. I impressed my boss so much that when she retired, she handed the entire thing over to me. It was my company, and for the past three years, I had been running a tight ship.

I liked to think that my employees respected me. I was sure they had some complaints, but none that anyone ever voiced to me. This holiday extravaganza that I wanted to plan was going to be the icing on the cake. I was going to go down in history as the best boss ever, but not with James’ help.

I couldn’t even remember him doing much of anything when we were together. He had a job at an old record store where he helped nostalgic adults find the jazz tunes they were looking for. It fit him to a T, and I couldn’t imagine him doing anything else.

What? I stammered. How?

I majored in business in college, and some of the events the school had planned fell short. I knew I could do better. I had my inheritance, so I got some friends together, and we started our own company.

His inheritance. Yes, I remembered. His parents died not long after we married, and he didn’t take it well. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone, vanished off the face of the earth. I tried to find him for weeks, thinking he must have been in a car accident or something. I heard from a friend of a friend that he was holed up in some crappy hotel, so I went to see him.

He didn’t even open the door for me. He didn’t explain what had happened or offer me any sympathy. I thought he was the meanest, most selfish person on the planet until I learned the truth. When I found out that his parents had died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on vacation, I berated myself for ever doubting him.

I turned back around to try to comfort him, but he was gone again. When he finally resurfaced, he was a wreck. Drunk at nine in the morning, he told me he wasn’t interested in working on our relationship. With a heavy heart, I decided to move on.

Standing there in my office, he was a totally different person. Clean and well dressed, ten years older and still looking good, he presented well. I wanted to hate him for turning away from me in his time of need, but the smile on his face made it hard.

I don’t think this is going to work, I said tightly.

What isn’t going to work? he asked.

This. Us.

There is no us.

You know what I mean. I walked back to my desk, affecting the look of a woman who is too busy to talk. I’ll find someone else to do my party planning.

No you won’t, he said confidently, filling the space in the room as if he owned it.

I’m sorry?

You heard me, he snapped with the same amount of confidence I was trying to portray. There’s no other company that can do what you’re asking. He pulled my proposal out of a folder I hadn’t even realized he was carrying. And you’d better hurry and book me since I’ve got some other clients waiting in the wings.

He stole my breath with his audacity. To come into my office, in my building and talk to me like that was unheard of. Of course there were other people I could go to. I only stopped searching when I found First Stars and Pixie Dust because they had great reviews and they fit the bill. It would only be a matter of a little bit more research to come up with a different name.

Congratulations on the success of your business, I said tightly. I think I’ll be fine.

Suit yourself. He put the proposal down on my desk. But don’t wait too long to call me back.

I’m not going to call you back, I bristled.

You have to book us before November if I’m going to have time to purchase all the supplies, he continued on as if we were already ironing out the details.

James, I said between clenched teeth.

He smiled. It’s good to see you.

My shoulders slumped. It was so hard to stay angry with him when he was being so polite. I knew in my heart that spending the Christmas season with him was a bad idea. If everything turned out the way I wanted it to, I would be deeply involved with the party planners for the entire month of December. That was way too much time to spend with my ex.

I knew I could find someone else, I just had to keep digging. His insistence that I would come crawling back was irritating, but the smile made it all seem worthwhile. I wondered if he was seeing anyone else, or if he was married again. A quick glance at his hand told me he wasn’t wearing a ring.

He caught it and showed me both hands with a grin. I turned away, pretending that I didn’t care. This was too much too early in the morning. I had a full day ahead of me. If James thought he was going to be busy for the next few months, he had no idea what that word meant. I needed to batten down the hatches if we were going to survive the coming storm.

You can show yourself out, I said.

He nodded softly, Take care of yourself, Allie.

Alice, I said.

Alice, he amended, walking out the door without another word.

I stared at the vacant space he’d left behind, my head spinning. Sitting back down, I tried to gather my thoughts. It didn’t mean anything. He was gone, and I had a job to do. It wasn’t fate bringing us back together, just a colossal mix-up that I could easily fix. I dragged my attention back to my computer and called up the Internet browser. It was time to find a new party planning company, and fast, before the holiday season was upon me.

Chapter 2

James

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Seeing Allie was a shock to my system. I remember seeing the name on the client form and wondering if the two were somehow related. Allison Meyers, Alice Meyers, I thought they might have been sisters or cousins. But I blew it off because I knew she didn’t have a sister. Still, I was prepared to joke with her about how my ex-wife had a similar name.

It never occurred to me that she would be the same person I’d promised to spend the rest of my life with. She looked good, I had to give her that. She definitely didn’t let herself go in the ten plus years we’d been apart. If anything, she looked even hotter.

In that tight business suit with the collar, she looked good enough to lick. I had to keep my thoughts in check all the way through our brief meeting to avoid saying anything inappropriate. It was over between us, and I knew she wouldn’t appreciate knowing that I still thought of her that way.

To be honest, I hadn’t thought of her at all in a very long time. I regretted the way I left things, but that was all in the past. When my parents died, I took it hard. I was close with both of them, and it was so unexpected. Not only did I inherit their small estate, but I also got a hefty insurance check. The resort they were staying in paid millions to keep me from suing. At the time, I just signed the paperwork and took the money, not caring about anything.

Fighting wouldn’t bring them back, and I knew it was an accident. A few years later, I realized that I should have pursued matters. There was probably some negligence involved, and in addition to more money, I could have made the place safer for other couples. But my head wasn’t in the game until it was too late.

Luckily, I didn’t piss all the money away. By the time I recovered