A Villain for Christmas (The Holyoake Christmas Series, Book 2)

Double Shot

He brushed her bottom lip with his thumb in the already familiar gesture, and then opened his door and threw his legs over the door sill.

Billie couldn't say she'd ever before noticed a person's physicality quite to this degree: those were exactly the physics of his agile, strong body, moving confidently and with force, that struck her the most. The moment was sort of revelational.

It was a good thing he was Italian - or one of the antiquatedly courteous Holyoakes. Her cognitive and motor functions hadn't returned to normal as of yet, and she wasn't quite sure how to coordinate her extremities to get out without crashing down like poorly packed luggage.

"Morning," the director threw to them.

She looked as disinterested in what was happening around her as always. Billie opened her mouth to respond - and gave out a 'Mo-uuhh!' instead, because Dair picked her up under her arms, lifted her from her seat, and gently placed her on the ground. He laughed softly, and Billie glared at him.

"I'm perfectly capable of getting out of a car myself!" she exclaimed. "I'm not a child!"

His breath suddenly brushed at her cheekbone, when he'd bent down and whispered in her ear, "I'm aware."

Billie sputtered a series of choked, hissy noises, like a boiling kettle. His velvet chuckle that followed didn't help her composure one bit.

"Morning, Yulia," he greeted the director, straightening up, his face once again perfectly nonchalant.

"Morning. Eric, are you staying in the Hall with me to look around?" Bondarenko asked, shaking ash off her fag. "And you have that dinner with your family later, don't you? I guess we'll just go to that pub again for dinner." She shrugged. "I don't need another of these stuffy meals with the local aristocrats. Today's breakfast was enough."

The front door of the Hall opened, and Archie Billingsley stepped out.

"Julia, we've lost you. Laura said–" He stopped mid-sentence and surveyed their little group. "Ah, Ms. Harewicke." He smiled sunnily. "It's a pleasure to see you again! Are you joining our little excursion to the county town? Unlike Julia, Laura and I are endlessly fond of Christmas markets and craft shows. I have to say in the past five years that I spent abroad, I missed the countryside most terribly. I can't wait to breathe in the good old English air and have some cream tea."

The more he talked, the more his face lit up - and the more Billie's head was starting to spin. It was incredibly hard to separate the real life human male in front of her, from the idealised, Shakespear-flavoured, magazine-glossy embodiment of a modern woman's fantasy. He basically is Henry Tilney, isn't he?!

And he was saying all the right things! Billie hated Christmas, and the Market, and growing up and being stuck in this tiny county - but she was allowed! It was her county and her Market and her childhood home! Outsiders had no right to feel anything but an immediate infatuation with the place!

Bondarenko gave out a derisive scoff. Case in point.

"And we were told the local art scene is exceptional!" Billingsley continued. "Is it true that quite a few members of Eric's family are famous writers and artists, hiding behind such pen names as Evelyn Cox and Will Tuagh? And isn't there a famous illustrator among the Holyoakes as well? I'm sure that an educated sophisticated person like you would be the perfect guide for us!"

It was getting hard to breathe, and Billie's cheeks were now flaming. Too. Much. Pressure. The man had to stop smiling at her! He was impeding her percipience! She opened and closed her mouth, not sure what to answer - when a response came from someone else.

"Billie is needed in the Hall today," Dair stated in a dark tone.

What?!

Billie gawked at him - and so did the other two people. Even Bondarenko paused lighting up her next fag.

"Technically, he's not wrong." The director was the first to break the silence. "I want to explore the house, and I need someone to tell me all the ghost stories and ancestral scandals. Or you could take Billie, and Laura can help me to scout locations for today," she dismissed with a shrug.

"Well, if it's for the film–" Billingsley started in a doubtful voice.

"Laura needs to stay too," Dair interrupted him with another of his resolute statements.

What the tolstoy?!

And Billie was just starting to feel special. Are you serious, Billie? When was anything about you?

Billingsley gave out a warm chortle. "Aren't you being a tad greedy, Eric? You're monopolising Julia, and now you want both beautiful women from our crew to keep you company. Surely, you've got to share."

Oh now it makes sense. It's a cock measuring contest! And how did Billie know Billingsley wasn't actually joking despite the bon vivant tone that he was faking? Because he'd just purposefully relaxed his gloved hand he had been fisting.

"I don't share well, Archie," Dair answered, narrowing his eyes, his baritone wrapping around other actor's name venomously.

What. Is. Happening?

"But surely you know your preferences, Eric," Billingsley retorted.

Billie looked between the two men in panic. What had she gotten herself into?! And how could she extricate herself out of this 'sabong' that clearly had nothing to do with her?!

"Billie," Dair said, turning to her sharply.

Billie swallowed a quiet squeak that was threatening to erupt out of her.

"Yes?"

Is that what he's like when he's not copping off or bird watching? Blimey, that's... intense.

"Would you like to stay in the Hall with me... and Julia? Or would you prefer to go to the Market with Archie... and Laura?" he asked, a deep furrow between his eyebrows.

The man's properly good at making poignant pauses, innit?

Billie looked between two men. Bondarenko was watching the low, grey sky above them.

So, Billie's choices were an unexpectedly territorial man-mountain or the embodiment of a perfect man. Speak of Hobson's choice. Bondarenko was no help, she clearly couldn't care less.

"Ms. Harewicke, surely, a nice outing at a place of festivities is a much more attractive option," Scylla-Billinsley started cajoling. "And you've got to show me the best place for tea and scones." The man's properly cranking up his charm, isn't he? "And didn't you mention that you worked in a bookshop? I'd love to–"

That was when Billie lost it. He's just... too much!

"The Hall! I choose the Hall!" she hollered, and Bondarenko snorted in the background.

Charybdis-Dair grinned smugly. He had nothing to feel superior about! Put simply, he was the best part of a bad lunch! Billie always picked what intimidated her the least, after all.

"I'll get Laura," Billingsley grumbled and headed back to the house.