The Christmas Charm (New Adult Holiday Love Story)

Bryn Shelley Alexander

2012 Copyright by Global Grafx Press, LLC

All Rights Reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author or Global Grafx Press, LLC.

To my mom, who always encouraged me to write even when she had no idea what I was writing about.

OTHER BOOKS

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Allie Remini opened her eyes, remembering this would be her first Christmas without her beloved nana (grandma), who had passed away the previous spring. She still missed her grandma terribly, with each holiday and birthday all the more painful in her first year alone. Getting up, she slipped into a warm robe, combed her straight, black hair and brushed her teeth. As she attended to her morning’s routine, she gazed into the mirror, looking at her solemn, gray eyes. She saw a petite, olive-skinned young woman with the remnants of sadness and loss still in her eyes.

Even though it was Christmas morning, she felt no real special excitement about this holiday. If she had still had her nana living, she would feel more happy and excited. Instead of opening the small package from her grandma, she started a pot of coffee and looked outside at the bright, Las Cruces morning. It was sunny, but very cold outside. Winter had finally arrived to the southwestern New Mexico city. As she sipped the hot coffee, flavored with cinnamon-flavored creamer, she turned the small, gaily wrapped box over and over in her hands. This was her very last gift from nana and she wanted to savor the anticipation of opening the last gift she would receive from her. Finally, she slipped one slender finger under the taped fold and pulled it up, opening the red foil gift wrap. Removing the lid from the little box, she found a letter in her nana’s familiar handwriting.

“My dear, dear Allie. This is your first Christmas without me around to celebrate it with you. I hope you waited until this morning to open your gift – even though I am gone, I want you to promise me that you will celebrate today. Even though I am no longer on the Earth with you, I am still there, inside your heart and memories. I watch over you every day and night, keeping you safe.

I also want you to learn how to love, my darling. You are a very, very special woman – you don’t know yet just how special.

I have given you a very special gift today. Inside the little jewelry box, you will find a special gold chain that holds special powers – this magic chain led me to your grandfather, giving me the greatest love I have ever known. I want this kind of love for you, my precious granddaughter.

Allie wiped tears from her face – she still missed her nana, more than she had ever expected to. Setting the letter aside, she opened the small jewelry box. Parting the soft tissue, she found a gold neck chain that looked like nothing she had ever seen in her life. Slipping her fingers under it, she lifted it from the tissue, closely examining the design.

“Oh, my God, this is so beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!” Allie murmured to herself. A small, lapis lazuli pendant hung from the chain. A small hand curled around the semi-precious stone. Allie held the chain and pendant in both hands, seeing her grandmother’s image in her mind. She missed her terribly and another sob escaped from her.

Eventually, Allie sighed, knowing that her grandmother wouldn’t want her to spend the rest of her life, mourning. She finished her coffee, ate a light breakfast and started getting dressed – she had made plans to join her two best friends for lunch at Lorenzo’s, a well-known Italian restaurant located on University Avenue, across the street from the city’s state university. Grabbing her purse and warmest jacket, she slipped into the coat and wrapped a soft neck scarf around her neck. Slinging the strap of the purse over one shoulder, she pulled her door open – and saw her next door neighbor standing on the front doorstep. Allie’s mouth dropped open and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Once it started beating evenly again, it began pounding hard – she had seen him twice before since he had moved to her neighborhood. Those glimpses had only been momentary, as she was on her way out.

***

Meantime, Allie’s neighbor, Emilio Alvarez, had been thinking of his beautiful neighbor. He had been watching her comings and goings for several months, wondering if he should approach her or not. As he watched her and thought about her, he explored his strong attraction to her. This morning, something was telling him that it was the right time for him to tell her about Santos, her long-lost father.

When you tell her about Santos, try to forget how attracted you are to her. The important this is that she learns about her father, her heritage and what she is.

With that, he finished his final cup of coffee, washed his dishes and, before he left, he grabbed a comfortable suede jacket lined with wool and slipped it on. Just as he raised his hand to knock on Allie’s door, she swung it open.

“Ms. Remini – Allie – my name is Emilio Alvarez, and I need to talk to you about your father . . .”

“I’m sorry, but I’m late. I need to leave right now,” Allie said. After she spoke to the tall, dark man, she rushed to her Honda Accord, thumbed the remote key fob to unlock the door and got in. She reversed out of her driveway and took off, in a hurry to get away from this disturbingly handsome new neighbor.

***

Allie felt her hands shaking as she drove west on University Avenue. My father! He left mom while she was pregnant with me, and I never met him afterward. Mom said she never knew his last name. I only know that he’s Mexican and that his first name is Santos – that’s all. Pulling into the parking lot at Lorenzo’s, she locked her car and hurried into the restaurant. She spotted Rena and Meg just inside the entrance and hugged both girls. They were quickly seated at a table. As the server brought their wine, Allie started telling them about her handsome neighbor.

“He was about to knock at my door when I opened it. Then, he introduced himself as Emilio Alvarez and said he needed to give me some information about my dad – about whom I know very, very little. My heart’s still pounding. I just told him I was running late and needed to go . . . he was still standing on my doorstep when I got in my car to come here,” Allie said, showing her trembling hand to her friends. She noticed Meg looking at her new chain and pendant. Tugging on the chain, she pulled it out of the folds of her neck scarf and showed the chain and pendant to her friends.

Rena, scooting closer to Allie, slipped her fingers under the chain, remarking on how odd it was for the first man Allie met after putting the necklace on to mention Santos, her father. The three friends enjoyed a sumptuous Italian dinner for Christmas, sharing a bottle of wine among themselves. After they had finished their Christmas dinner with servings of tiramisu, they hugged each other.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Meg asked. “My family would love to see you!”

“You could come with me, Allie – we’d love to have to!” Rena urged.

“No, thank you, guys. I really need to be alone right now. I miss my nana too much. I’m just going to go home and rest,” Allie said with a slight, sad smile on her beautiful face.

***

She had forgotten the extreme effect that Emilio, her neighbor, had on her. As she drove, her thoughts were full of her nana. Pulling up in her driveway, she unlocked her front door – only to see Emilio Alvarez sitting comfortably in her living room.

“What! What are you doing here? I locked my door! How’d you get into my house?” Allie yelled. She was livid – well, beyond livid. She was furious at his intrusion into her home. She felt something else, but was too preoccupied to explore that.

While Allie was at lunch with her friends, Emilio entered her house, passing through the solid wall. Once inside, he sat in the living room, waiting for her to return home. As he waited he thought of his determination to do the right thing by her.

She needs to meet her father – no matter that I’m struggling with my attraction to her.

Hearing her key in the lock, he focused his attention on her front door, just waiting. He knew the instant that she noticed him – her emotional walls went right up and he felt her growing enraged at him. Sitting on her sofa, he tried to work magic on her to draw her closer to him, but, for once, it didn’t work – but her own powers neutralized his powers. Instead, he sat calmly, listening to her yelling at him. Her reaction was no surprise. He’d already been warned that she would react in this way. Santos, Allie’s father, had sent him to bring Allie to him to the Faerie Winter Palace. Emilio had long considered Santos to be his mentor and friend, and anything that Santos asked of him, he would do.

As he sat on the couch, Emilio was stunned at the depth of desire he began feeling for Allie. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to hide the unmistakable effect she was having on him. He felt himself growing impossibly hard, second by second.

Allie looked at Emilio, feeling her attraction to him becoming stronger by the minute.  She decided to ignore that as she puzzled over how he had gotten into her home – she knew she had double-locked the front door. As she thought about this, her anger suddenly became stronger than her sexual attraction to Emilio. She felt no fear that a strange man was in her house.

“Get out of my house! I never invited you in here, so you’re not welcome! Go!” As Allie yelled, the chain around her neck began getting warmer and warmer.

Emilio crossed his arms, fighting his sexual desire for Allie. Instead, he shifted one foot in front of the other, moving most of his weight to one leg as he simply stared at her, just . . . waiting.

“Go! Now, before I call the police!” Allie stood, staring at Emilio, feeling her sexual wanting for him beginning to ramp up again. Wheeling around, she walked to her bathroom, the heels of her boots clack-clacking on the tile floor. Inside the small room, she shut and locked the door, afraid of her overwhelming attraction to this strange man.

She looked at her face – her gray eyes were oddly luminous, her cheeks betrayed her turbulent emotions and her breasts were moving up and down, in time with her quickened breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to control her reaction to the tall, handsome man in her living room. Suddenly, she felt a sense of calm and a knowledge that she was not in any danger from Emilio. She inhaled one last, long breath before she unlocked the bathroom door and returned to the living room. Sure enough – Emilio was still sitting on her sofa, just waiting.

“Would you like some coffee? I’m just about to make up a fresh pot.” In the kitchen, she made the coffee and set sugar, creamer, napkins and two cups on a small tray. After the coffee had finished brewing, she poured it into a delicate glass carafe and carefully took the tray to the living room, where she poured two cups. Emilio added creamer to his coffee and sipped as Allie added sugar and creamer to her own cup.

“Okay, so, talk. Why are you here?” Allie blurted out.

Emilio, not expecting Allie’s sudden turn-around, jumped slightly, sloshing his coffee in his cup. As he stilled his cup, he puzzled over how to tell her about her background – her faery legacy. He exhaled a deep sigh as he thought about how best to present the news he knew would stun her. He took a long sip of the hot, fragrant coffee and decided that honesty and directness were the best options.

“Ms. Remini, before I explain anything, I must ask you to keep an open mind. You have never heard anything like this before and it’s going to shock you and change your life completely. You know your father was – is Mexican, correcto?” At Allie’s hesitant nod, he nodded back at her, continuing. “Okay. You have Mexican blood. More importantly, you have fae  blood.” He was about to continue when he saw Allie’s expression change from puzzled to shocked.