An Unexpected Christmas (2 page)

Ella giggled and turned off the
engine, 'Well I'm sure if you asked nicely Nate will take you for a spin in it.
Although it is his pride and joy so you might have to be super nice to him.'

Ella climbed out of the car and
left me to drool a little longer. I let out a laugh at my own ridiculousness,
undoing my seatbelt and climbing out of my side of the car I followed Ella
around to the back of the vehicle and hauled my case from the boot. I plonked
it down on the gravel then reaching in for my other bag and heaved it over my
shoulder. Ella had managed to lift her own case out of the back and now stood
waiting for me and when I had all my things she closed the boot and pushed the
button on her key to lock the car. She walked towards the front door and I
followed dragging my case behind me.

We stepped in to the hallway that
was decorated in bright yellows with hints of orange, and we were instantly
greeted by two very excited golden retrievers. I dropped my bag and leaned my
case by the wall then crouched down to say hello.

'Well aren't you beautiful!' I
exclaimed as I rubbed them both under their chins. They stretched their heads
up to give me better access and panted happily.

'Oh they like you,' Ella smiled,
'and if you keep that up you will have friends for life.'

'What are their names?' I asked
Ella, not lifting my gaze from the adorable dogs.

'The one with the blue collar is
Toby and the other is Milly,' she told me, and I gave them one last stroke then
stood and watched as they danced around me then wandered through a door off the
hallway to the left.

'Hello?' Ella called out towards
the back of the house.

'In here.' called a deep voice
from the room the dogs had disappeared into. Ella grinned and hurried down the
red tiled hallway towards the voice as I followed behind.

I watched as Ella strode around a
large, plush, leather sofa and embraced a tall dark haired man. I didn't get a
chance to see his face as he hugged her close so I just waited and took in the
room; it was a spacious living room with a huge fireplace which was blazing
away and keeping the room at a toasty level of warmth and was decorated with a
beautiful garland of holly and fairy lights. The furniture looked old but well
looked after and, as well as the large dark brown leather sofa, there was a
plush armchair in the space between the fire and two large windows; one of
which faced the front of the house and the other facing the garden. Beside the
fireplace there stood a huge Christmas tree decorated in gold and rich reds.

As Ella pulled back and turned
towards me I saw who she had embraced and it knocked all the air from my body;
Nate Hamilton was standing right in front of me. I was in the same room as Nate
Hamilton, breathing the same air as him. My brain fired in to overtime; ‘What
do I do? What should I say? What should I do?’ I was starting to panic and
breathing was becoming difficult; I took in a deep breath to calm me a little.
Nate stood smiling at me, a smile I had seen so many times in magazines and on
TV, and more recently on the big screen.

He stood next to Ella and I
noticed that he really was quite tall, much taller than I had imagined him to
be but his hair was that dark chocolate he was known for and even from a
distance I could see his shining blue eyes. Nate Hamilton was breathtaking and
could probably have any woman he wanted but if the gossip mags were to be
believed had been single for the past year.  He was dressed casually in a dark
blue wool sweater and soft jeans that were worn in all the right places.

'April, this is my pain of a big
brother Nate. Nate, this is April,' Ella gestured towards me and I watched as
Nate made his way around the sofa and held out his hand to me.  I wordlessly
slipped my hand in to his and was mesmerised for a moment at how long and
strong his fingers were. I looked back up into his eyes and swallowed and saw
his smile turn up slightly at one side.

‘Hello,
it’s nice to meet you,’ he said, but I was still noticing his hand and how warm
and soft it was but his handshake was confident and friendly. I finally managed
to snap myself out of the trance that just the sight of Nate had put me in and our
handshake broke naturally whilst I finally found my voice.

'It
is nice to meet you too.' It came out a little formal and I cleared my throat
hoping to give myself a moment to think of something else to say to him, 'You
have my car.' He looked adorably confused and I couldn’t help but smile at him,
'Not
my
car obviously, but my dream car. I have drooled over pictures of
the Jaguar F-type for months and have only seen one in real life once until we
pulled up outside and there it was, just sitting in the drive.'

I
was babbling, I knew I was babbling, but I had been thrown for a loop; I really
needed to find a quiet space and maybe bang my head against a wall a couple of
times to just make sure I wasn't dreaming. I glanced around the room quickly
scoping out a flat surface for such a thing but my attention was brought back
to Nate. He had a small smile on his face and he glanced out of the window and
back to me.

'She
is a beauty. I haven't had her for long but she is a dream to drive.' He
broadened his smile, 'Ella didn't mention she was bringing a friend home.'

I
dragged my eyes away from him and over to where Ella was sitting crossed legged
next to the Christmas tree, shaking a gift next to her ear while the dogs
nudged her for more affection. I smiled at the sight then turned my attention
back to Nate.

'No.
Well my usual plans for Christmas fell through and Ella was kind enough to
invite me otherwise it would have been just me, a massive tin of chocolates,
and the Doctor Who special.' Why did I say that? I sounded like a weird sci-fi
loving spinster, which to be fair I pretty much was, but I didn't really want
Nate Hamilton to think of me as such.

‘I
love the Doctor Who special, I never miss it,’ he laughed. He leaned in closer
and whispered, ‘We might have to slip away to watch it though, everyone else
likes to talk all the way through it and it drives me crazy.’

He
sent me another heart melting smile and I couldn't stop myself from grinning
back. Nate Hamilton was a Doctor Who fan and he wanted to watch it, alone, with
me! This couldn't really be happening could it? Just the thought of spending
time alone with my celebrity crush was unimaginable and I felt my heart kick up
a beat.

'You're
here!' I turned at the exclamation that came from the
opposite end of
the room to an open door that looked as though it led to the kitchen.
I saw a short silver haired woman pull Ella into a
hug then hold her at arms length. 'You look too thin.'

'It's
nice to see you too Mum.' I could almost hear Ella roll her eyes. She turned
toward where Nate and I were standing, and she gestured towards me, 'Mum, this
is April.'

I
moved towards them and held my hand out to greet the older woman but it was
ignored as she pulled me into a hug. After a moment she held me at arms length just
as she had with Ella. 'April. It is so good that you could join us. When Ella
said you were going to be alone all Christmas I urged her to invite you
immediately and was so happy to hear that she already had.' She smiled up at me
which was surprising as I was only five foot five and both her children were
hitting six foot. 'Oh, I haven't introduced myself properly, I'm Maggie.'

'I
am so pleased to meet you.' I smiled at her, 'Thank you so much for letting me
be a part of your Christmas.'

'Oh
the more the merrier is what I always say.' She turned to Nate, 'Nate dear,
help your sister and April with their bags, there's a good boy.'

Nate
grinned at her then looked at me. 'I'm thirty three and she still speaks to me
like I'm twelve.'

Maggie
moved to his side and placed a hand on his cheek. 'To me you will always be
twelve.' Maggie then turned back to me and smiled, 'Once you have settled in we
can have some lunch, how does that sound?'

'Great.
Thank you.' I really meant it; they had made me feel so relaxed and at ease in
such a short space of time, but I was still reeling a little from the shock of
seeing Nate Hamilton live and in person – I needed a moment to gather my
thoughts.

Maggie
ran her hand down my arm and gave my fingers a little squeeze then headed back
into the kitchen. Nate leant down and took hold of the handle of my suitcase
and lifted it with ease; his body may look lean and slim but even through his
sweater I could see the strong muscles in his shoulders. He was about to lift
my holdall but I reached forward to help and our hands touched; it was only for
a second but I felt a surge of electricity travel from my fingers and through
my body. I pulled my hand back and sent him a shy smile. He just smiled back
then stepped to one side so I could pick up the bag; Ella was already heading
up the stairs and Nate followed leaving me to take up the rear which gave me
quite a nice view. I gave myself a mental shake; I was not here to ogle at Nate
Hamilton's arse, even if it was a perfect example of male perfection. I focused
on taking one step at a time until I reached the landing at the top.

'Nate,
you don't mind showing April the guest room do you? I'm going to dump my things
then go and help mum' She grinned at him and disappeared into a room at the end
of the hallway.

Nate
turned to me, 'She is such a pain... not that showing you to your room is a
major deal.' He took a breath then smiled at me. 'You are just through here.'

I
followed him through a door on the left of the landing. The room was beautiful;
soft blue walls complemented the crisp white bed linen over the king-size bed,
a pale ash wardrobe and matching vanity stood along the left hand wall, and a
huge picture window looked out across the bay. I could imagine the view in the
summer as the bright sunshine shone off the water. The whole room had a calming
beach theme and even though it was winter I felt warm and cosy.

Nate
had placed my case near the end of the bed then walked over to a door I hadn't
noticed in the right hand corner, 'En-suite is just through here.' When he
turned back and looked at me and saw my reaction he let out a low chuckle.
‘It’s pretty nice huh? Mum loves having guests so she kind of went a little
overboard with the decorating.'

'It's
stunning. I've never stayed in a room as nice as this, ever.' I smiled at him
thinking that the whole situation was a little surreal but incredibly welcome;
my life had been a little dull of late so this unexpected situation felt like
the excitement I had been yearning for.

'If
you mention that to her, she might never let you leave.' He sent me that
breathtaking smile again and I automatically grinned back. 'Anyway, I will
leave you to settle in.'

Nate
walked back to the door and disappeared through it leaving me standing watching
after him, the faint smell of his aftershave lingering in his wake. I took in a
deep breath and let it out slowly. I wanted to jump up and down and spin about
the room in excitement but settled with a ridiculous grin on my face instead. I
had just met Nate Hamilton and he was just as handsome and charming in real
life as he came across on the telly. I closed my eyes and let the image of him
fill my head. How was it possible for someone to be so incredibly attractive?
Letting out a sigh I opened my eyes again and let out a little laugh, the whole
thing was crazy. I was going to have a word with Ella for not telling me who
her brother was. I hoped I hadn't come across as being too surprised and I
decided that I would make a huge effort to treat him just as Ella's older
brother and not the huge superstar that he was. I'm sure he had hundreds, if
not thousands, of girls throwing themselves at him and vying for his attention,
and I would hate to be lumped in with them. No, I was going to make an effort
to just be myself and enjoy as much of Christmas as I could.

I
lifted my case and plonked it unceremoniously on the bed to unzip it. I began
to unpack my things, and took the time to get a better look around. The
bathroom was decorated in pale blues and crisp whites. A large shower cubicle
stood in one corner and a sink and toilet stood against the outside wall.  If
this were a hotel then I would have paid very good money to stay in such a
wonderful location. There was another window in here, not as large as the other
but I knew that I would be able to see across the water as I showered. I placed
my toiletry bag on the windowsill and headed back into the bedroom.

The
only things left in my case now were the gifts I had bought for Ella, Maggie
and Nate - before I knew who he was. Now I was thinking a trip to the nearest
department store might be a good Idea. After today there were only three days
until Christmas so I had a little time if I was happy to enter the war zone
that was a huge store at Christmas. I zipped my case shut and placed it out of
the way next to the wardrobe.

Looking
at my reflection in the vanity mirror I let out a groan; my hair was a mess and
my makeup had worn almost all off. I set about fixing what three and a half
hours in a car had done to me and not thinking about my friend's brother who
happened to be someone I thought about quite a lot.

Nate

I pulled the door shut behind me
then let out a heavy groan when I heard my phone ring in my pocket. I walked
down the hallway and into my bedroom, pulling the phone from my pocket and saw
Ian's face looking out at me. Ian Carter was my manager, he had been for the
past four years and I trusted his judgement; he was a good man, but he was
under a lot of pressure from the people above him and so had to place that
pressure on me. I hit the answer button as I closed the door behind me.

I took a deep breath and
plastered a smile on my face as I knew Ian would hear it in my voice. 'Hey man,
what can I do for you?'

'Nate, did you get my last email?
I need to know what you thought of the last two scripts I sent you. Oh and I am
sending you a couple more that I will need feedback for.'

I sat down on the edge of the bed
and pushed my fingers into my hair. 'You know it's the holidays right?'

'I know and I'm sorry but I have
the studios on my back and I just need your feedback and then I swear I will
leave you alone.'

I closed my eyes and shook my
head; it had been like this for the past week. I had been back from L.A for
only eight days which meant I had only had one day until my manager had been on
the phone and started sending me script after script. It seemed if you stared
in a huge Hollywood franchise then more and more people demanded your time, who
would have thought? 'Send the scripts over and I will have some feedback for
the others tomorrow, that's the best I can do.'

'That is great,' I could hear
Ian's relief in his voice. 'You are a superstar, and I mean that literally.
Thank you.'

'No problem man, bye.' Ian said
goodbye and I hit the call end button then lay back on the bed. I hadn't known
that doing something I had dreamed about for so many years and worked so hard
for could be this exhausting.

I closed my eyes and let the
darkness sooth my slightly aching head and then an image filled my mind. It was
unexpected, and surprising that I could remember that level of detail, but the
face that smiled back at me was filled with a little shock and confusion and
the bright, shining, green eyes and cute button nose had me grinning again.

Ella hadn't mentioned she was
bringing a friend back for Christmas and I wouldn't have expected to feel an
instant attraction to her. I pictured her in my head; all that rich brown hair
and the cute dimple that appeared on her left cheek when she smiled…and then
there was her body; the skin tight jeans and snug fitting jumper she had worn
showed off her perfect hourglass shape and my fingers had itched to reach out
and trace her curves.

I let out another breath to calm
myself. How long had it been since I had been this attracted to someone? A
year? Two? Too long to remember and that was a tragedy in itself. There was
something about her and thoughts of kissing her soft pink lips had entered my
head almost the minute I saw her. Unfortunately my schedule was crazy and I had
practically had to fight Ian for the few days off I was taking and even they
were under the agreement that I would still look over scripts and answer my
phone when he rang. I couldn't really start anything with her even if I
desperately wanted to and I was going to have to spend the next few days either
avoiding trying to think about what it would be like to kiss her or avoid her
altogether and I knew I wouldn't be able to do that. Still, the distraction of
an attractive woman might be just what I need and her compliments on my car and
her mention of my favourite science fiction program had me wondering about her.

I opened my eyes and sat back up.
Maybe I should ask Ella about her? It would only be polite to know a little bit
about our house guest to make her Christmas as enjoyable as possible. I stood
and slipped my phone back in my pocket as I headed out the door and towards
Ella's room. I knocked, even though the door was slightly open but didn't
bother waiting for her to answer before pushing the door fully open and
stepping over the threshold.

'Hey, nice to see you haven't
learnt any manners.' I watched as she turned and smiled at me as she continued
to move things from her bags and into drawers.

It had been four months since I
last saw her and she looked exactly the same. 'Just trying to stay grounded.' I
moved and plonked myself down on her bed, 'How are things?'

Ella stopped and looked at me,
placing her hands on her hips and squinting at me slightly. 'What is it?'

I just stared at her. 'What, I'm
wondering how you are? Can a brother not show concern for his sister?'

'Not when the only communication
we have had recently is you sending me pictures of random stuff from set. That
picture of a policeman with an ice-cream sitting next to an alien was pretty
impressive but I had no idea what that blue thing was.'

I chuckled and grinned at her.
'That might have been a picture of a certain leading actor's underwear but I
cannot confirm or deny this.' I watched as Ella picked up her phone from her
bedside table and tapped at her screen then held it out at a distance turning
the phone at different angles. I chuckled again then thought this might be a
good time to bring up April. I tried to adopt a nonchalant tone, 'So, you
forgot to tell your friend about me.'

Ella gave up on the picture and
threw her phone down on the bed. 'What do you mean?'

'She looked a little shocked when
she saw me.'

Ella continued unpacking her
things; 'I'm pretty sure I told her that you were you.'

I shook my head. 'I don't think
you did.'

She stopped what she was doing
and looked at me. From her expression I could tell she was trying to remember
if she had indeed forgotten to tell April who I was. 'Hmm, maybe you’re right.
I could have sworn that I mentioned it though. I know no one else in the office
knew but I was sure I told April.'

'I'm just saying it might have
been an idea to warn her.'

Ella stopped and glared at me.
'Are you getting a big head? Because I'm sure I can find a solution to that.'
She placed her hands on her hips and sent me a look that Mum used to give me
when I asked for snacks just before dinner.

'Not at all, I just want to have
a nice Christmas and make sure everyone is happy.' And if that means spending
some time with an attractive woman then so be it. 'So, what is she like?'

'April? She's great.'

I waited for her to elaborate but
it seemed my sister was oblivious to my need for information and continued to
move things about her room. 'And?'

'And she works with me.' She
looked up at me then, 'Why do you want to know?'

Because I want to know if she
is the crazy stalker type or someone I could get on with
. 'Because we are
about to spend a very family orientated holiday together and a little
background information would be good.'

This seemed to satisfy her and
she sat down on the opposite side of the bed. 'I haven't known her that long to
be honest, just less than a year, but she is great. She is really funny and we
like the same sort of things - she is a coffee addict, and she loves to read.'
Ella stopped and looked right at me. 'You know you could just talk to her and
find this stuff out yourself.'

I nodded and looked away from
her. I then felt her hand on my shoulder and I looked up into her face.

'I will mention that you like
your privacy and not to post any pictures of you on any social network sites.'
Her smile was kind and I knew that even though there was a hint of mocking, she
understood that privacy was important to me; but the thought of April posting
things about me on the internet hadn't even entered my head until now.

'Thank you. You know sometimes
you aren't such a brat.' She swatted out at me but I managed to move out of the
way before she could reach me, standing I moved towards the door.

'Bugger off, I have things to get
on with,' she said with a smile and a laugh in her voice, and I grinned back at
her.

'It's good to be home.' I saw
Ella's smile widen then I turned and left the room.

I made my way back along the
landing and took the stairs two at a time landing with a thunk on the tile
floor; it was nice being home and this house at Christmas always brought good
memories. I strode down the hallway and into the kitchen where my mother stood
at the stove.

'How long will lunch be?' I
picked up a piece of chopped celery that sat on a board on top of the central
work surface and dropped it into my mouth. I loved this kitchen; it was nothing
like my own clean crisp kitchen in my London townhouse, this kitchen was all
warm colours and worn corners. A large wooden table and chairs sat at one end
of the large room and the cooker at the opposite.

I leaned against the counter and
picked up another chunk of celery. 'It will be ready soon.' My mother turned
and picked up the board with the celery and moved it out of my reach and next
to the cooker, ready to add it to the large pan that stood on top. She then
turned back to me and looked up into my face. She smiled, 'It is nice to have
you home.'

'Well it's good to be home.' I
smiled back at her.

Her smile wavered and a look of
concern covered her face. 'You look tired. I hope you aren't working too hard,'
I opened my mouth to reassure her but was stopped by her holding up a hand,
'And don't try and tell me that you are okay. I am your Mother I can tell when
you are lying.'

I moved to her side and dropped a
kiss to her cheek.

'I am okay, a little tired
perhaps but nothing a good night's sleep won't fix.' I picked up the wooden
spoon from the counter and gave the soup in the large pan a stir. Mmm chicken
and vegetable soup, it had been so long since I had tasted my mother's cooking and
my mouth watered at the smells coming from the pan.

'You have to take care of
yourself. Don't let them bully you into anything that will put your health at
risk.' If only she knew about some of the stunts I had insisted on doing in the
last
Danger
movie, she would smack me about the head as if I was a
child.

I placed the spoon back on its
rest next to the pan, 'You worry too much.'

'It is a Mother's duty to worry
about her children. Just you wait until you have children of your own then you
will know my suffering.' She had a slightly scolding look on her face but her
eyes gave her away.

She would be ecstatic if I got
married and produced a couple of babies for her to fawn over, and if I was
being honest with myself I did like the idea of kids - it was the wife part
that I struggled with, none of my previous girlfriends had made it for me to
even contemplating getting married to and I was beginning to wonder if I would
ever meet the right girl. I shook the thoughts from my head; 'That isn't going
to happen soon but I will keep it in mind for when it does.' I took a breath
then dropped another kiss to her cheek; it really was nice to be back. 'I will
be in the living room whenever lunch is ready.'

She nodded and let me go. I
wandered into the living room and over to the window looking out onto the
driveway. I wanted to go for a drive, to see how my baby handled the winding
country lanes that followed the coast but Ella and April would be back down
soon and I knew lunch was almost ready so a drive would have to wait. I turned
away from the window and picked up the book I had left on the coffee table and
settled myself on the leather sofa. I opened it to where I had left off;
Scrooge had just been visited by Marley's ghost and was about to meet the first
spirit. I lost myself in the story and put work, and women, to the back of my
mind.