Contents (59)
- Dedication
- Contents
- One
- Christmas Is Coming
- Two
- Blue Christmas
- Three
- The Perfect Man for Christmas
- Four
- Here Comes Santa Claus
- Five
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- Six
- The Twelve Days of Christmas
- Seven
- Baby, It’s Cold Outside
- Eight
- Sleigh Ride
- Nine
- A Purrfect Christmas
- Ten
- Bossy Much
- Eleven
- There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays
- Twelve
- Better Eat Your Vegetables
- Thirteen
- Pizza Gate
- Fourteen
- Frosty the Snowman
- Fifteen
- The Night Before Christmas
- Sixteen
- Santa Baby
- Seventeen
- Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
- Eighteen
- All I Want For Christmas Is You
- Nineteen
- Do You Hear What I Hear?
- Twenty
- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
- Twenty-one
- Silent Nights
- Twenty-two
- New Year’s Eve
- Note from the Author
- Sneak Peek – Let’s Be Just Friends
- One
- Rose
- Two
- Tyler
- Three
- Rose
- Four
- Georgiana
- Also by Camilla Isley
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments
After a quick scan of the living room—no phones in sight—she eventually located the phone in the kitchen: a shiny rectangle lying innocently on the table—lifeless. Rose looked at its black screen accusingly just as it started ringing again. Georgiana’s smiling face greeted her. So it was her calling. Rose grabbed the phone, turned it to silent, and put it back down, relieved. Georgiana’s face remained lit for a few more seconds and then disappeared.
With the phone neutralized, she could go back to her peaceful sleep-in day. But as she turned to leave, a speech bubble popped up on the screen. The temptation was too strong; Rose snatched up the phone and read it.
I’m sorry, ok? Can you please pick up?
So they definitely had an argument. And it looked like it was Georgiana’s fault. What could she have done? Nothing too bad, Rose was sure. Georgiana was all sweetness with Tyler. She acted nasty only when he wasn’t around, during the rare times when Georgiana and Rose were alone together.
Georgiana was jealous of her. That was the only explanation. The sentiment was strong and reciprocated, too. Georgiana didn’t like the idea of her boyfriend living with his attractive female best friend. As for Rose, she didn’t appreciate Georgiana’s intrusion into their friendship—or the intrusion of any of Tyler’s girlfriends, for that matter.
And Georgiana was more annoying than most of the girls he dated. She went to Harvard Law with them, meaning she imposed not only on their free time, but on their school time as well. In class, she sat with them—Rose on one side, Georgiana on the other, and Tyler sandwiched in the middle. At lunch, she ate with them. When they were studying, she followed them to the library. And she was at the house so often that Rose wondered if she was trying to move in without Tyler noticing. Georgiana being beautiful and rich didn’t help. Nor the fact that she was the daughter of one of the most powerful and recognized lawyers in Boston, Bradley Smithson.
This was the first time since high school that Tyler had dated someone who was in school with them. Rose had forgotten how hard it was to have a daily reminder of him being with someone else. Not to mention the unwelcome novelty of being in the next room when Georgiana spent the night. Contractors should make thicker walls. It was almost like Georgiana was being a loud lover on purpose, to make sure Rose knew just how well Tyler satisfied her in bed. Her. Not Rose. Never Rose.
When Tyler had first started going out with Georgiana, it hadn’t been so hard. Not while Rose had been with her boyfriend Marcus, her longest relationship to date. She suspected the two years she’d spent with Marcus had been Tyler’s first experience with jealousy. She remembered being glad when he’d started dating Georgiana so she could finally stop feeling guilty for spending all her time with her boyfriend. Rose also hadn’t told Tyler she was moving in with Marcus and hadn’t been sure how he would take the news. Then everything had collapsed. Marcus had been offered a huge promotion in LA. And in less than a month, he’d left Rose heartbroken, with a canceled lease and nowhere to live. Of course, Tyler had stepped in immediately and invited Rose to stay in his spare bedroom. She’d accepted, grateful to have her best friend near her 24/7. Georgiana hadn’t been happy about it.