There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays Read online

  Table of Contents

  THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  blurb

  copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  About the Author

  Trademarks Acknowledgment

  MLR PRESS AUTHORS

  GLBT RESOURCES

  THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  SHAWN LANE

  mlrpress

  www.mlrpress.com

  Fashion designer, Mackenzie Grayson, has no intention of going home for Christmas…until his sister calls and uses guilt to talk him into spending two weeks over the holidays at his family’s home in California.

  With his best friend, Connor, in tow, Mac returns to California, a place he has mostly avoided after a bad breakup. Mac no longer does serious relationships, but maybe some time spent with Connor under the mistletoe will make this a more magical Christmas than either of them would have dreamed of.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2012 by Shawn Lane

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Published by

  MLR Press, LLC

  3052 Gaines Waterport Rd.

  Albion, NY 14411

  Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet:

  www.mlrpress.com

  Cover Art by Deana C. Jamroz

  Editing by Kris Jacen

  Ebook format ISBN# 978-1-60820-808-1

  Issued 2012

  This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.

  CHAPTER ONE

  My sister called just as the radio began a new Christmas song. Bing Crosby sang about Hawaii’s way of saying Merry Christmas. I considered ignoring her call. It couldn’t be good, of that I was sure. I checked the boxes on the list on my clipboard and signed it, then handed it to my assistant, a cute young Hawaiian named Rory.

  “Yeah, Suzy?” I answered.

  “Oh, at last. Geez, Mackenzie, I thought I was getting your voice mail again.”

  My other line clicked. “Hang on.” I switched over. “Mackenzie Grayson.” The woman on the other hand rattled off questions about the spring collection. “No, it’s Robin’s egg blue. Hang on.” Switched back to my sister. “I have to take this call.”

  “Oh no, you don’t. Do you know how hard it is to get ahold of you? Tell the other call you’ll call them back.”

  “Suzy, please—”

  “I’m serious. You are talking to me.”

  I rolled my eyes and switched back to the woman on the other line. “I’m sorry. I’m on an important call. I have to call you back.” When I returned to my sister, I said, “Happy?”

  She snorted. “Hardly. Why is it that I can never get my brother on the phone?”

  “You’ve got me now so don’t be so dramatic. What is it? Did Aunt Rosie die?”

  “Two years ago. Jeez.”

  I blinked. “Really? How come I don’t remember that?”

  “Self-absorbed. No one’s died, Mackenzie. I’m calling about Christmas.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, you made me hang up my other call for Christmas?” I rolled my eyes and walked over to a mannequin dressed in one of my latest bathing suits and felt the material.

  “Yes. I want you to come home for Christmas. We all do.” Home, at least as far as Suzy was concerned, was Los Angeles. Suzy lived in Santa Barbara now, but she still spent a lot of time with our parents.

  “It’s only December first.”

  “Perfect time to discuss it,” Suzy said. “And to buy the tickets. I don’t want any excuses. You didn’t come home last Christmas, so you definitely are this one.”

  I supposed it was coincidence that the radio station playing holiday tunes picked that moment to switch to I’ll Be Home for Christmas.

  “I can’t,” I told my sister. “I’m working on the spring collection. I’ve got dresses and bathing suits that will be in all the stores soon.”

  “Not in December. Besides, I know you. You’ve been ready for your spring collection for weeks. Not to mention you have assistants. And assistants who have assistants.”

  I sighed. “I hate traveling over the holidays. Can’t I come in the summer like last time?”

  “No, we want the whole family here for Christmas.”

  Whole family?

  I tensed and sat in the chair placed right by the mannequin. “Exactly who do you mean by that?”

  Suzy paused but for only a few seconds. “Mom, Dad, me, Rick. The usual.”

  Rick was her husband. Nice guy. I really liked him. He had a brother, Karl. I’d really liked him, too. Three days of hot, heavy sex nearly two summers ago had been the consequences of that particular infatuation. If Rick’s brother was part of the whole family things could get pretty awkward.

  “Please?” Suzy asked. “Mom and Dad really want you to come. They miss you. And Daddy hasn’t been feeling all that great lately. I’d hate it to be his last Christmas and you’d miss it.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You really know how to lay it on thick, don’t you?”

  “You’ll come?”

  “Yes.” I gritted my teeth.

  “And for a decent amount of time,” Suzy said, sounding ridiculously full of Christmas cheer. “Not a long weekend or any such nonsense.”

  “Well, maybe a week.”

  “Two. You’re coming for two. You can afford to miss the time and you know it. And everyone’s staying at Mom and Dad’s because Mom wants a big family Christmas with everyone together in the same house. They’ll be so excited. They’ve already said if you come they are going to decorate the house for Christmas from head to toe.”

  “Houses don’t have heads or toes.”

  “Don’t be a smartass. It’s unbecoming. Okay, I’ll let you get back to creating gorgeous fashions. Call me with the flight details and make them soon.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I disconnected the call and frowned in the direction of my laptop sitting on my desk a few feet away. The radio now played the song about the famous reindeer. There was no avoiding it. I was going home for Christmas.

  § § §

  I could live with spending two weeks in Los Angeles for the holidays. Hell, I’d grown up there and had spent the first twenty-six of my thirty-one years there. I loved LA.

  I hadn’t moved to Hawaii because I hated home. Mostly I’d left because at the time I needed to be far away from Paul who’d broken my heart. I seemed to be pretty good at having disastrous relationships. That last one had been particularly brutal and I had vowed not to get involved in anything serious again.

  And so the last time I had been in LA over that summer almost two years ago I’d had the fling with my sister’s husband’s older brother, Karl. The thing was, I’d never actually said goodbye to Karl. The last night I was there we’d fucked several times and then fell into an exhausted sleep. Not wanting any kind of scene, I slipped out of bed before Karl woke.

  I had a sneaking suspicion Karl would be there, so I was going to have to come up with some sort of excuse for being an assh
ole. It wasn’t usual for me to have to deal with a hookup after it was over, but I suppose that’s what I got for messing with someone who was connected to my family. With any luck, even if Karl was there, he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it either. He hadn’t wanted anything serious either.

  When I finally got around to making the flight arrangements—procrastinating for a little over a week after Suzy’s call—I ended up deciding to fly out a few days before Christmas and return to Hawaii on the day after New Year’s. I figured that should certainly satisfy my family. After calling my squealing sister with the news, I had to break it to my best friend, Connor.

  We met for dinner at one of our favorite seafood places in Waikiki, just the two of us. Connor, who was easily the prettiest person I knew, porcelain skin, bright green eyes, and a head full of bouncy dark curls, had moved to Hawaii with his family when he was a small boy. Bubbly and vivacious, everyone adored Connor. Including me, really. In the beginning of our friendship it had been hard to keep my hands off him.

  But I didn’t do serious. Not anymore. And I quickly realized Connor couldn’t be a one-night stand for me. My feelings would run far too deep for that and so I convinced myself we had to remain friends.

  “What are you getting?” he asked, bouncing in his seat. “I’m getting the swordfish. Or maybe the crab legs. No, maybe the Mahi Mahi.”

  I smiled. “Not sure yet. Too bad Micah couldn’t make it.” Micah was Connor’s new boyfriend. They’d been almost inseparable for the last month.

  Connor briefly pouted. “Yeah, he said he had to work. I think I’m getting the Ono.”

  “What happened to the Mahi Mahi?”

  “You think I should get that?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “I’ll get the coconut shrimp.”

  The waiter came by and we ordered, Connor deciding on the Ono for sure, and then after the waiter walked away, I decided I might as well drop my bombshell.

  “I’ve got some news.”

  “What news? You found a boyfriend?” He’d been about to take a sip of his drink, but his hand froze, clutching the glass.

  I snorted. “Hardly. I did find myself sandwiched between two beefy Hawaiians about a week ago though.”

  Connor’s eyes widened and he took the sip, before saying, “Wow. You had a threesome?”

  “Uh-huh. But anyway that’s not what we’re here to talk about. I’m going home for Christmas.”

  “You’re what?”

  “Suzy called and basically begged me to come to LA for the holidays. She and my parents are super excited. I couldn’t say no.”

  “But you were going to come to my family’s house for Christmas. Like last year.”

  I hated seeing the disappointment on his face, but I couldn’t help it. “I know, Conn. But they really wanted me there and it’s been a while since I’ve been home.”

  I hoped I imagined his bottom lip quivering.

  “When do you leave?”

  “December twenty-second.”

  “But that’s next week!”

  “I know. I’ll have a Christmas celebration with you and your family when I come back in January.”

  “January!”

  “It’s only two weeks, Connie.”

  Connor sighed. “Well, it sucks. I guess you have to go though.”

  I smiled. “I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Okay. Won’t be the same though.”

  I decided a change of subject was best. “Have you finished your shopping?”

  § § §

  I was packing my suitcase a couple of days before I was to fly to Los Angeles when my cell phone rang. I debated not answering it, because the last thing I needed was some fashion emergency before I left. But ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away, so I scooped up my phone from the bed where it lay and glanced at the photo of Connor.

  “Hey, Connie, what’s up?” I stepped into my walk-in closet and searched through my shirts to decide what I should bring. I had already decided to do my gift shopping in LA so I wouldn’t have to pack presents.

  “Micah and I broke up,” he said, his voice thick with tears.

  “What?” I let go of the salmon colored silk shirt I had been fingering.

  “I hate him.”

  “B-but I thought everything was going so well.”

  “Guess not. It’s over. I got the ‘it’s not you it’s me’ speech even.”

  “Awe, Conn, I’m sorry. Fucking bastard.”

  “Yeah.” Connor hiccupped. “What are you doing?”

  “Packing for my trip,” I admitted.

  “Oh.” Heavy sigh. “I wish I could go with you. I don’t want to be here now.”

  “I wish you could go, too. I’d love for my family to meet you. They’d fall head over heels in love with you.”

  “Really? Well, maybe I can go,” Connor said.

  I shook my head. “What? How? You don’t have a ticket and can you even get the time off?”

  “I can buy a ticket,” he said. “Well, unless it’s sold out. Look it up. Look it up.”

  He sounded so excited by the idea, I couldn’t resist so I fired up my laptop and found the airline site I’d booked my own flight with. There were a handful of seats left and I told him so and how much the ticket was. A lot.

  “Oh. Um, I guess not then.” Just like that his excitement changed to crushing disappointed. “It was an idea anyway.”

  Shaking my head at my impulsive friend, I said, “I’ll get it for you.”

  “You’ll what?”

  “I’ll buy the ticket for you. You can consider it your Christmas present. My designs are selling really well, so I have the money. But you have to talk to your family and see about getting the two weeks off. Call me back and let me know.”

  “Oh, my God, you’re the best. I love you.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, yeah, go find out and call me back tonight as soon as possible so we can get the ticket.”

  “I will. Bye.”

  I knew Connor, though, and I guessed he’d get his way. Which meant I needed to call my sister and let her know there would be one more person for Christmas.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I wasn’t sure if I had ever traveled with someone as hyper as Connor. I’d managed to get us two seats next to each other in first class when we got to the airport. Connor had never flown first class before and so it was a particular treat for him. He bounced and fidgeted the entire five hour flight.

  The other thing about Connor I found out was he did not travel light. He’d arrived with two large suitcases and a carry-on which was probably more the size of a normal suitcase.

  “My God, what have you got in all of those?” I’d demanded as we stood in line to check-in.

  “My clothes, of course,” Connor said, rolling his eyes at me.

  “We’re only going for two weeks.”

  “Yes, two whole weeks!”

  It definitely sounded longer when he said it. But I’d learned in our over three years of friendship there really wasn’t any point in arguing with Connor or trying to talk him out of something he’d set his mind to. It just wasn’t worth it.

  When we landed at LAX, I thought he was going to burst a gasket or something wanting to get off the plane. I finally rested my hand on one of his arms.

  “Connor, calm down.”

  He treated me to one of his famous, ‘you must be nuts’ looks. “But we’re here!”

  “I’m aware of that. But it’s LA, not Santa’s Village, little boy.”

  “I’ve never been to Los Angeles. Is it cool? Can we go to Hollywood? Will we see any celebrities? Oh, my God, what is taking so long to open the doors?”

  He chattered on so much, I sort of stopped listening. Eventually they let us off and he practically ran down the walkway and into the main part of the airport while I followed at a much more sedate pace. It would be nearly impossible for me to lose sight of him in the crowd because he’d chosen to wear a bright apple green T-shirt and ass-hugging jeans. The g
reen shirt was nearly fluorescent even in the throng of people. I’d chosen to wear a more conservative dark blue buttoned down shirt with khaki slacks.

  Finally when he reached the escalators that would take us down to baggage claim, he stopped to wait for me.

  “You’re acting like a country bumpkin,” I told him, as I stepped onto the escalator step above his.

  “I’ve never been out of Hawaii. Well, that I remember. I was just a kid when we moved there.”

  Remembering he was only twenty-five, I said, “And you’re still a kid. Now let’s find the carousel our bags will be coming in on.”

  We stepped off the escalator and turned right towards the baggage claim area.

  “Is your sister picking us up?” he asked, now following closely on my heels.

  “I think so. Someone is anyway.”

  I noted which carousel would be ours and Connor and I went to stand by it as we waited for the contraption to start shooting out suitcases.

  “Mackenzie!” spoke a deep voice behind me.

  I turned and blinked at the sight of Karl Gregory coming toward us. For Christ’s sake. Was Suzy kidding me? But then Suzy didn’t know about my three day fling with Karl. He certainly did, though. While I knew I’d probably have to deal with the awkwardness eventually, I hadn’t really been prepared to do so at the airport.

  Note to self: no more one-night stands with people your family knows. Or three-night stands in this case.

  Connor had turned around when I did and he was now gaping at Karl. “Who is that?”

  I grimaced. “Rick’s brother.”

  “Rick?”

  “My sister’s husband,” I reminded him. I’d told him everyone’s name like a dozen times. He still couldn’t remember them.

  “Oh, yeah. He’s cute!”

  And that much was true. Karl was a few inches over six feet, so pretty much towering over my five-ten frame and dwarfing Connor’s five-six. He’d been built kind of like a football player, large and muscular. Not cute like Connor had said, but rather a rugged outdoorsy type. Dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt he kind of looked like he’d stepped off a roll of Brawny paper towels.

  Karl stopped only a few feet in front of us. “Hey, Mackenzie. Long time no see.”