Holly's Christmas Kiss Read Online Free

head.
    ‘Cool.’
    ‘They wouldn’t mind. Bel’s boyfriend stays over all the time.’
    ‘She’s older than you.’
    ‘Not much.’
    She shakes her head. ‘Mine’d go mental.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘C ause they’re stupid.’
    I’m pissed off now. ‘They think I’m too rough for you.’
    ‘It’s stupid.’ She doesn’t deny it though.
    I look across the fields to Cora’s house. It’s big and it’s modern. My dad calls it a bloody eyesore, but that’s just because he’s not used to buildings that aren’t held together with duct tape.
    Cora takes a step towards me. ‘Don’t be grumpy.’
    She reaches her arms up around my neck. ‘It’s more fun this way anyhow. Sneaking about.’
    She presses her body against mine. ‘It’s sexy.’
    She’s got round me. She always does. I slide my arms around her waist and squeeze her bum through the layers.
    She smiles. ‘So where’s my pressie?’
     
     

Chapter Five
    Two Days before Christmas, 2013
     
    Michelle found a seat, wedged between a Chinese family and a man fast asleep across two chairs and a table, at one end of the departure lounge and tried to calm her breathing. Resting her hands on her lap, she realised that she was shaking slightly. What was happening to her? She hoped that she wasn’t coming down with some sort of virus that would mean a holiday wasted tucked up in her hotel room.
    A battered pair of Converse at the bottom of a pair of denim-clad legs was heading towards her. She looked up and offered a half smile. The stranger nodded a little uncertainly and carried on. She dropped her head. It wasn’t Sean. Of course, it wasn’t Sean. There were probably thousands of people in the terminal. Not all the men wearing jeans would be Sean. And she wasn’t interested if it was. Sean Munro, so far as Michelle could tell, was an immature little kid trapped in a grown-up body. She’d seen him twirling Jess around the dance floor like a maniac, and he was no better today, talking about getting cream on his nose and suggesting playing pranks in shops.
    She tried to focus on her book, struggling through a couple of unengrossing chapters. She wriggled in the hard angular seat. Time crawled by. She glanced at her watch; it was half past two. Her flight would be boarding soon, and she’d be on her way. She looked up at the departure board. The screen was full of the dreaded word: DELAYED. She scanned down the list for her flight: ‘Wait In Lounge.’ She sighed with relief. The idea of a long delay didn’t appeal one little bit.
    Twenty minutes later, the display was still flashing , ‘Wait In Lounge.’ Michelle closed the book she was hardly reading anyway. Surely, they would be boarding soon. Either way, she needed to stretch her legs. She stuffed the book into the top of her rucksack and picked up her bag. As she stood up, she was taken aback by how stiff she’d got, sitting on the hard seat for so long. She walked slowly across the lounge and turned a corner. In front of her was a full floor to ceiling window with an uninterrupted view of the runway. On a normal day this would be the ideal spot to watch the planes taking off from one of the busiest airports on the planet. Today there was no such view.
    Michelle walked up to the window and placed her hand against the glass. The runway was silent. Nothing was moving apart from the snowflakes which danced and fell in front of her, creating a cover of white across the ground. She turned back towards the departure lounge, looking out for a display board.
    15:10 BA345 Grand Cayman DELAYED.
    It really was just her luck. Her first proper holiday in more than twelve years, and her flight was delayed. She blinked hard. No point getting downhearted about it. The only sensible thing to do was go back to her seat and wait.
    She made her way, more briskly now, back across the main lounge, and saw that her earlier seat had been taken. Searching the departures hall she couldn’t see an available place to sit.