Decked Out with Ivy (Red Maple Falls #13)

Chapter 17

Cody and Bex were filming their final scene. Their characters just stopped the big mean corporation from destroying their town with a mega resort by declaring the inn a historical landmark. Now they were standing under the mistletoe, ready for their final kiss.

“Joyful,” Ang said. “We’re going for joyful. Show that emotion before locking eyes. Then I want love. Pure love. Think of someone else if you have to when you look into each other’s eyes. I want it to be palpable. Got it?” He clapped his hands together. “Good! Let’s get this shot.”

His mind immediately shifted to Ivy. That radiant smile that lit up her entire face. The way the fire and Christmas lights danced across her body last night. How after cuddling for a while, she reached for her knitting needles to finish a sweater she was working on.

He could do joyful with little to no effort. He was full of it these days.

“I was wrong about you,” Bex said as Ang spoke to one of the cameramen about angles.

Cody turned to her, and she pressed her lips together and leaned back on heels.

“I thought you were just another Hollywood asshole. Lord knows I’ve dealt with enough of them in my life. But you’re not. You just got swept up in the gossip machine, and I foolishly believed all the lies.

“Not all of it was lies, but most of it was.”

“I don’t need the tabloids to tell me your character. You’re a good person, Cody. And if you happen to become a resident of my small town, I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I might even introduce you to a great real estate agent.”

“I might take you up on that.” He tugged on the mittens Ivy made, he insisted he wore for the shot, and smiled. A lot had changed in the two weeks since he came to this little town in the White Mountains. On that first day, never did he imagine that he, the total Grinch of Christmas, would fall so hard for Little Miss Christmas herself.

“Speaking of…” Bex nodded toward the tape that roped off the scene from the public.

Ivy stood there in her down coat and matching mittens. Her nose was red, but it didn’t look like it was from the cold. Not when her eyes were the same shade.

“Go,” Bex said. “I’ll distract Ang.”

“Thanks,” he said and hurried to her. “Hey.” He smiled as he approached, but it quickly faltered when she blinked up at him with something far from happy to see him in her eyes. “What’s the matter?” His stomach twisted, the weight of her reaction settling like a lead ball in his gut.

“I thought what we had was special.” Her lip quivered, and her eyes darted away from him.

“It is.” He slipped beneath the tape, needing to be free of every barrier that put even an inch between them. He went to cup her cheek, and she swatted his hand away. What the hell?

She shook her head. “I was a fool. You get paid to create these characters, and you’re good. You’re really good. Big time actor coming to a small town and pretending to fall for the small-town shop owner. It’s the freaking setting of every damn Christmas movie, and I still fell for it.”

She wasn’t making any sense. He wasn’t acting. Not with her. Never.

“Ivy,” he said. “It wasn’t an act.”

“No?” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and an icicle stabbed him hard in the stomach, twisting and carving up his insides.

He had just left her a few hours ago, and they were blissfully happy. She couldn’t keep her hands off him. What the hell happened? His mind raced through every scenario, then landed on something. “What is the internet saying? Whatever it is, it’s probably more lies.”

“Really?” She slipped out her phone and held it up to him. The headline grabbing his attention: Hollywood Heartthrob Surprises small town ‘Christmas Queen’ with Private Screening of Rudolph in Heartwarming Holiday Gesture.

A deep knot sat in Cody’s gut. How the hell did they find out?

“I… I… I didn’t,” he stuttered unable to form a coherent thought. “I wouldn’t.”

“But you did,” she said. “A close source? Was that you?”

“Maybe it was Felix,” he said, desperate to get to the bottom of this.

“Blaming a teenager. Nice.”

“I’m not blaming anyone. I’m just trying…” He inhaled deeply, attempting to calm the panic casting a dark cloud over his soul. “I’m trying to figure it out.”

“Cody, we need you on set,” Ang called to him.

He held his finger up.

“Cody, we’re wasting sunlight.”

“Just one second.”

He looked at Ivy. She slid her phone back into her pocket, and she clapped. “You’re really something. Such a convincing performer.”

“Why do you think I’m performing? I’m not. I’m telling you the truth.”

“The truth is that this was never going to work. We’re from entirely different backgrounds. You got what you came here for. You got the positive headlines.”

“And what did you get?” he asked because he still couldn’t process any of this.

“A broken heart.” She swallowed, and he reached for her, needing to fix this.

“Cody! Let’s go!” Ang called out again, and when he turned to tell him to hang on, Ivy took off, leaving him with those earth-shattering words.

He wanted to run after her, but Ang yelled for him again. It was their last day of filming, and if they didn’t get this shot, they’d be behind schedule. The studio would have to lay out more money and the lie that he was difficult on set would continue to spread. Ivy was mad. She needed time to cool down.

A light flashed in his face, and he realized it was that asshole paparazzo. Great .

He turned to the bastard, pain and heartache tearing through his very soul. “You got your story. Now get the fuck out of here.”

“Sucks to be you,” the asshole said and if he wasn’t mistaken, the jerk looked like he pitied him.

“No shit.” He headed to set and closed his eyes, wishing like hell he wasn’t making a mistake.