A Hot Holiday Collection

Chapter 1

1

KATIE

S taring at the dozen long-stemmed red roses that had been delivered for me this afternoon, I wanted nothing more than to toss them in the trash. They were gorgeous and exactly what most women wanted for Valentine’s Day. Their only crime was that they weren’t from the right man.

Over winter break, I’d somehow managed to fall for my brother’s best friend, who I was pretty sure had put me into the friend zone after knocking my socks off with an incredible kiss. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, I’d also somehow managed to pick up a super persistent secret admirer only one week later.

The first gift had been innocent enough—a latte and pumpkin bread from the coffee house just off-campus. I’d thought one of my sorority sisters had gotten them for me, but nobody took credit for the thoughtful gesture. I was stumped until I finally noticed that it said “secret admirer” under the sleeve on the coffee cup where the barista normally put the name. Something new had been dropped off for me at least once a week without fail. A new pair of mittens, a novel from my favorite author, even a pizza exactly how I liked it—extra cheese and green peppers. The gifts varied, but they all had one thing in common…they demonstrated that my secret admirer knew me well.

My head jerked up at the quick knock on my door. “Hurry up, Katie! You’re going to miss the party!”

“Coming,” I hollered back.

Glaring at the roses one final time, I slipped my feet into a pair of strappy heels. I used to be the first one down for any party my sorority hosted, but I wasn’t in the mood to be social today. Which wasn’t like me at all. But the situation with my secret admirer irritated me, and I missed Sawyer so much that it was making me cranky.

Over the past two months, I’d often considered asking my sorority sisters if they had any idea who my secret admirer could be. Mostly so I could ask him to knock it off. Instead, I kept his existence to myself, not saying a word about the gifts he’d sent. I would’ve gotten all sorts of questions about why I wasn’t excited by all the possibilities a secret admirer presented. Then I would have had to tell them about Sawyer, and I just wasn’t ready to share the story about how I’d fallen for Jesse’s best friend almost as quickly as I’d tumbled down my parents’ front steps, and he’d saved me from getting hurt. Swoon.

If I’d gotten my happily ever after like Delia did with Danny before she left for Christmas break or Olivia had with Leland—who’d given her a freaking engagement ring on New Year’s Eve—then they probably would’ve had to beg me to stop talking about Sawyer. But that wasn’t how things had gone down for me because the wrong guy was interested in something romantic.

No matter how sweet the presents were from my secret admirer, none of them gave me the same thrill as a simple text from Sawyer. We hadn’t seen each other since he’d kissed me under the mistletoe after I’d hinted at my feelings for him, but he must’ve gotten my phone number from my brother because he’d sent me a text the next day. It was a picture of a mug of hot chocolate with a note telling me mine was better than his mom’s but that he’d never admit it to her.

We’d gotten to know each other so well, and there were even more than a few times when I wondered if he was flirting with me. But he never really crossed the line, so I couldn’t be sure.

Communicating with Sawyer via text had one huge advantage—I rambled a lot less because I wasn’t distracted by how hot he was. At six-foot-three, with plenty of muscles, short brown hair that was a little longer in front, a chiseled jaw, and smoldering, dark blue eyes, Sawyer had kick-started my long-dormant libido. Big time .

And then he walked away. The jerk .

I was not a happy camper as I stomped down the stairs for the party that was already in full swing. Making a beeline for the punch bowl, I poured myself a glass and guzzled it down before refilling my glass. I had never been much of a drinker—the only shot I’d had on my twenty-first birthday had been more than enough to make me tipsy and get me up on the bar. Not that I’d really needed an excuse since it’d been a blast—but I had a feeling I was going to need some liquid courage to make it through tonight.

“Hey, Katie! There you are,” Shelly cried as she flung her arm around my shoulders. Several other girls from her pledge class, the newest members of our sorority, crowded around us. “What took you so long to come down?”

I had no desire to share what was going on with me, but I didn’t want to outright lie to them either. So I decided to keep my answer as vague as possible. “I was just taking care of a few last-minute things.”

“Ooh.” Maya clapped her hands together and whisper-yelled, “Did you get a stripper?”

“What? No!” I shook my head. “Why would you even think that?”

She shrugged and giggled. “I don’t know. I guess because it’s Valentine’s Day, and I was kind of hoping you’d work some Cupid-style matchmaking magic for one of us.”

“Totally makes sense to me.” Shelly jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Look how well it worked out for Delia and Danny.”

“That actually makes sense in a really weird way.” Probably because of the alcohol even though I’d only had one glass of punch so far. But that was apparently enough for me, so I set my drink down on the long table we used as a bar for parties. “Sorry, girls. No strippers were ordered for this party.”

“Darn.” Shelly puffed out her bottom lip in a dramatic pout. “I guess there’s only one thing we can do then.”

“What?” Maya asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Drink more shots!” Shelly screamed.

“Shots! Shots! Shots,” the other girls chanted as Maya grabbed a bottle of vodka and started pouring. While they were focused on what she was doing, I moved away from the group and searched for a dark corner where everyone would be less likely to notice me.

I was so happy for my friends who had found love but watching them being all lovey-dovey on Valentine’s Day was killing me. I wanted to be out there on the dance floor, surrounded by my sorority sisters while Sawyer and I swayed to the music together with his big, strong arms wrapped around me while our bodies were pressed together. I wanted to be able to call him my boyfriend and show him off to all my friends. And I wanted those darn roses to have come from him.

Standing in the corner at a party was completely out of character for me, but Valentine’s Day was what finally broke me. I’d been eating my heart out over Sawyer for too long.

Yanking my cell phone out of my pocket—big yay for dresses with pockets—I stabbed my finger against the screen to pull up my text thread with Sawyer. His last message, asking me if I had big plans today, made me even angrier. If he was as into me as I was him, the last thing he’d want to hear was that I was going to spend the day being romanced by someone else.

The possibility that he was celebrating the romantic holiday with another woman was the push I needed to finally say what I’d been thinking for a while.

Me: Remember when I told you about my future husband?

The message flipped from delivered to read in a split-second, which soothed some of my anger.

Sawyer: Of course. I remember every single thing you’ve ever said to me.

Gah! When he said sweet stuff like that, it only made me fall for him more. I couldn’t keep doing this with him, though. I needed to come clean about my feelings, and if they weren’t returned, I wasn’t sure if we could stay friends. At least not right now. Maybe when I was old and gray, I’d finally get over him and could get back in touch.

Me: I’ve decided that maybe I was wrong.

Sawyer : How so?

Me: It’s actually possible that he isn’t it for me, and my mind can change.

Three little dots popped up beneath my message, letting me know that he was typing out a reply. But I was already on a roll, so I didn’t wait to see what he said before my thumbs were moving on my screen again.

Me: In fact, I think he’s probably all wrong for me if he’s too dumb to see how perfect we would be together.

Me: Instead of waiting around for him to pull his head out of his butt, I should just give my secret admirer a chance since he seems to know me so well.

Me: If I already had, maybe I wouldn’t be spending Valentine’s Day as a sad, single person.

Sawyer: What if I want to be your valentine?

My eyes widened at his question. Was that all I’d needed to do all along? Had I somehow managed to prod him into finally confessing that he saw me as more than just Jesse’s little sister? And if I pushed even harder, would my dream of us together come true?

Me: If you were my valentine, you’d be here right now.

Sawyer: Look up from your phone, baby.

My heart raced in my chest as my head lifted. I was filled with hope for the first time in seven weeks. If Sawyer was here, then my dream husband might not be as out of reach as I’d thought.