The Christmas Card: An Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance Holiday Romance

By Aliyah Burke

A mysterious invitation for a holiday vacation is all it takes to bring two people back together for a second chance at love.

 

Billionaire Xavier Strauss loves the holidays but isn't a fan of his mother's matchmaking attempts. He accepts the invite and plans on a holiday where he can just be himself.

 

Entrepreneur Christmas "Tink" Greenleaf is tired. Of everything, being a failure in her family's eyes, being divorced, and most importantly, of the holidays. Which makes her arrival at Hallelujah Crossing all the more surprising. When she realizes who is sharing her cabin with her, she has one thing in mind. Getting out.

 

An intense storm makes her escape impossible and they are forced together. Will they be able to move beyond the misunderstandings of the past and accept what's before them? Xavier let her marry another guy and lost her once, he's not about to let that happen again. Perhaps all they both needed was a bit of holiday magic. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sensual Romance Publishing
• Release date: Dec 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215264201

Aliyah Burke

USA Today bestselling author Aliyah Burke is an avid reader and is never far from pen and paper (or the computer). She is happily married to a career military man. They are owned by six Borzoi. She spends her days at the day job, writing, and working with her dogs.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Xavier Strauss rolled his shoulders as he fought to ease the strain in his neck. Mondays fucking sucked. He paced back and forth before the sprawling window of his office that oversaw the city of Birmingham, Alabama.

He’d lived here for four years now, never having expected to stay. However, the former steel city had been reborn, so to speak, as a banking and biotech hub. It was a great place for his startup company. And he’d never left. Now one of the wealthiest men in the country, he could go anywhere but had developed a soft spot for the city.

His minimalist office didn’t offer anything in the way of comfort for anyone to hang out in there for a long period of time. He did have a conference room where he held most meetings if people were coming in office.

Two sharp knocks on the door paused his movements. Come.

The heavy oak door swung in on silent hinges revealing his assistant, Karlie Harrington. She stepped in the room, her heels sinking into the plush burgundy carpet as she strode toward his desk. Her blonde hair piled high on her head, not a hair out of place and she held two pieces of mail in her left hand.

I didn’t think I should handle these. She placed them on the desk. Will there be anything else, sir?

Cutting his gaze to envelopes she’d set on his spotless desk, he bit back his irritation at the recognizable red and gold card that would have come from his mother. Not that she actually sent it, but her staff did, on her behalf. The other, plain white and he frowned, this was generally something she would open and handle, not leave for him.

Nothing else.

Karlie gave him a smile and pivoted back to the door. Have a good night, sir.

He didn’t respond. Never did. But she didn’t seem to mind. She had become invaluable to his company, making his days run smooth as a properly made banana cream pie. And she wasn’t a woman who tried to use the position to get close to him. Karlie was perfectly happy with her wife and two kids.

All around him, the sights and sounds of Christmas filled the air. Even the office had decorations in it. As did his home. He loved the holiday, truly. What he didn’t love, was going home to Dallas, Texas and have his mother try to set him up with any of her friends’ socialite daughters who, according to her, would be an excellent wife.

He picked up the red envelope with the gold foil and stared at it, wishing he didn’t have some sort of obligation to open it. With a grunt, he reached for his letter opener. A gift from a client it was a hand carved, black obsidian letter opener with a gold sheen overlaying it.

Xavier withdrew the card and flipped it open. As expected, no loving words, just a date and time written on the inside. Rolling his eyes, he dropped it to the desktop and reached for the other.

Nothing unique about this one. No identifying marks. His name and address had been stamped on the plain white envelope in a script to make it look handwritten. He frowned, perhaps it had been, the cursive was simply to stunning to be anything as pedestrian as a stamp, in his mind.

Who had sent it to him? He didn’t know anyone who still took pride and care in hand addressing envelopes. Much less the time to make sure it was done with care as this one had been. Flipping it over, he didn’t see any return address. But he did notice it had been opened.

Made more sense now. Karlie had done her job but was leaving this up to him. After he’d put away the letter opener, he withdrew the card. Made of heavier stock than the one from his mother, this card was simplistic on the front. A few frosted pinecones complete with a gold and silver intertwined ribbon along the bottom.

He opened it and frowned when something slid free. Xavier caught it and took a good look. An invitation.

To what?

He held up the invite once more and saw the faint image of a train moving from left to right. Nice trick. In the plumes of smoke puffing up from the smokestack, he made out the words:

Your holiday getaway awaits. All you need to bring is you.

My getaway? On the interior of the card was a ticket number as well as an address and he frowned as he read it several times.

Miracle Inn

Hallelujah Crossing, TN

There was a phone number and he without thinking about the time difference picked up the headset, adjusted it then dialed.

Miracle Inn, this is Noelle, how may I help you?

Yes, I’m calling about a card I received with a ticket inside.

May I have the number on the ticket?

He read it off. How did you get my address? And my name?

Thank you, Mr. Strauss. Can we expect you on the twentieth? There is a lovely cabin waiting for you and I am positive, you’ll enjoy all the holiday festivities in Hallelujah Crossing. Everything is paid for, all you have to do is show up. We look forward to seeing you then.

The woman hung up.

What the fuck?

He wasn’t used to having his questions ignored like that. Or being hung up on in such a manner. Powering up his computer, he looked up the place and smiled.

Every childhood dream, right there. He loved Christmas, despite his mother’s attempts to turn it into an engagement bash for him, he never lost his love of the season. In the span of seconds, he’d made up his mind. He was going.

And, while he knew there would be hell to pay for not heading home for the holidays with his mother, he didn’t care. He wanted to go somewhere he could be him and enjoy the holidays without wondering what woman would try to corner him or try to get pregnant with his baby.

The first real smile in a long time lifted his lips as he began dialing his mother to tell her he wasn’t making it home this year. Xavier Strauss was going to have a holiday he enjoyed.

The next few weeks blew by and he wrapped things up for the holiday. Ignoring his mother’s calls, he focused on the company and making sure his employees were going to be taken care of for the time they were closed. He even held a Christmas party for them.

When he arrived at Hallelujah Crossing, his heart had leapt and skipped as if he were a child once more. The lights, smells, sounds, all of it was incredible.

After checking in at the main desk, he was given a ride to his cabin and even that made him smile.

I do apologize, Mr. Strauss, the driver said as he parked before the cabin. The weather is changing and with the snow that’s coming, we’re not expecting anyone to be able to leave for a while.

He climbed out and reached for his bag. That’s fine, I am sure there will be plenty to do here in town.

Absolutely, sir. Let us know if you need anything.

He nodded and tossed his pack over his shoulder before hefting his duffle. Of course.

Oh, and I meant to tell you, your guest is already here. A wave and the man drove off into the increasing