Holiday Second Chance Romance (Clarice and Trevor) novel Chapter 13

13 Telling Secrets

Nick POV

+25 Pente

My heart squeezes in my chest hearing the pain in her voice. When she tells a**hat’s mother about the baby, I feel like I’m about to explode. Not only did he betray the vows he made to her, but he made something that should have been a beautiful moment into a nightmare. The urge to beat the sh*t out of him just ratcheted up ten degrees. I never expected her to say she was pregnant, but it

doesn’t change how much I want to be with her.

There I admit it, I want to be with Clarice. She is meant to be my one. I want to protect her. I want to pledge to her. I want to spend my life making sure she never feels another moment of pain. F**k, this is so complicated, but I don’t care. I knew there was a reason I felt so drawn to her. Just spending this little time with her has made me realize how important she is to me. Her cries start to quiet just as her phone starts ringing again. Hubby flashes on the screen and without a second thought I put the phone to my ear.

“What do you want?” There is silence for a moment. Clarice pulls back and looks at me like I’ve

lost my

mind. “Who the hell are you and why the hell are you answering my wife’s phone,” the pr*ck grits out. I know she can hear both sides of the conversation because he isn’t speaking softly. “Oh Trevor, you aren’t very bright. Clarice stopped being your wife the minute you f**ked her best friend. I suggest you stop calling my girl.” Clarice’s eyes get big, but she makes no move to grab the phone from me, so I keep going.

“I should be thanking you. Only a fool would throw away a beautiful gem for a colored piece of glass. Your loss will most assuredly be my gain once her heart has a chance to heal.” “Who the f**k are you,” he asks, his voice an octave higher than it was a few seconds ago. I smile knowing he is losing his sh*t. “I just told you I’m Clarice’s new man. A man that knows how to treasure a woman as special as Clarice. I’ll protect her heart like you should have. So thank you for being a big f**k up. Now as I said, stop calling my girl,” I say, and disconnect the call.

I hand her the phone just as it starts to ring again. She quickly blocks his number and then Loretta’s. We are both silent for a long pause before she finally speaks. “You didn’t need to do that,” she says. “I did, but we will talk more when we are alone.” I throw a twenty onto the table and slide out of the booth. I offer her my hand, and she takes it without hesitation. We make our way out of the diner and down the block to where my truck is parked.

Once I help her inside, I make my way to the driver’s side. I’ve never told anyone my secrets, not even Morgan. This is crazy. I’ve only known Clarice for two days, and I’m ready to tell her everything. I slide into the driver’s seat and crank the heat up. I reach across the console and take Clarice’s hand into mine. She watches my movement, but she makes no move to stop me or pull

13 Teling Secrets

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away, I pull out into traffic but instead of heading toward the Inn, I head back toward the cottage. “Where are we going,” she asks.

“There are things about me that you don’t know, and I want you to know. It’s just easier to believe if you can see it, but we need privacy.” “Nick, I don’t think you would lie to me. I can’t explain it because you’re right about us not knowing each other, but I trust you. It’s crazy, a man that I’ve known for years lied and betrayed me. I believe you wouldn’t do either of those things,” she says. I squeeze her hand as we turn back down the dirt road we were on just an hour ago.

I park and make my way around the car. I help her down my eyes, drawn to her still flat belly. There is a part of her growing inside her belly and, despite it not being a part of me, it’s mine. I can’t say that to her yet, but the minute I finally gave into the feelings that I’ve had from the moment I first saw her, I wanted everything with her. Now I realize why, no matter how much I cared for Morgan, I could never bring myself to tell her my secrets.

She was never truly the one. “Nick, you’re freaking me out a bit,” she says, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I promise I’m not trying to.” I lead her back into the cottage and directly into the sewing room. I turn to face her but don’t let go of her hand. “Clarice, I have never told another living soul who I really am. I almost did once, but she showed her true colors before I made the biggest mistake of my life. I’m eternally grateful that I waited now.”

I notice something flash in her eyes and I swear its jealousy. “I have felt drawn to you since the

heart, minute you got out of my sister’s truck, Clarice. I know you aren’t near ready to open your but I want you to know when you are I’ll be here.” “Nick,” she starts to say, but I cut her off.

“Don’t say no. I know how crazy I sound right now, but please just listen. I know you think that our parents love Christmas so much they gave us these names, but the truth is I’m the next Santa Claus. My father is Christopher Kringle, the current Santa Claus. My mother is part elf and part human. Chrissy will be my second when I take over.” Her expression doesn’t change, and my heart feels like it’s about to pound out of my chest.

Clarice POV

say he is the next s

Did he really just Claus? Out of all the things that ran through my head, the minute he said he had a secret that was not even close to one of them. Is he playing with me? Is he trying to lighten the heaviness of the last thirty minutes. Hearing him call me his girl on the phone with Trevor, had warmth spreading through my body. What the hell is wrong with me? I know he was just saying that to piss Trevor off on my behalf. So why did he bring me here to tell me something that can’t be true?

“The better question is, why do I want everything he just told me to be true? “Nick, what is this? I appreciate you screwing with Trevor, but what is the point of saying these things to me? You

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13 Telling Secrets

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really want me to believe that your dad is Santa Claus and your next in line. That after just two days of knowing me, you realize that I am meant to be what, your Mrs. Claus?” “I know this is a lot, Clarice, but I’m telling you the truth. You are meant to be my one,” he says.

“Nick, you have to know how crazy this sounds. I won’t lie and say I haven’t felt a pull toward you, but I’m not even divorced. I’m also pregnant. You can’t want to raise,” I start to say, but his look silences me. It’s not anger as much as pure determination. “Do you believe that I’m the next Santa Claus?” “I believe that you believe you are. I don’t think you would lie to me.” Before I can say more, he takes both my hands into his and closes his eyes. His name dies on my lips when the walls around us start to change. The room is full of light like its the middle of the day.

My heart pounds against my chest when I realize the room looks exactly like it did when my

Christmas grandmother was still alive. “I don’t understand.” “I’m using a very small amount of my magic to make this room look exactly how you remember it. It’s all I can spare until after Christmas. I need to be able to help if my father needs me,” he says.

I sob taking in what he’s done. Can this really be happening? He pulls me into his arms and I bury my face in his chest. Being in his arms feels right. It feels like everything that’s happened before is just a bad dream and this right now is real. Could this man really be who he says he is, and could I really be the one that is meant to be his?

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