In this Christmas prequel novella by USA TODAY Bestselling author Kelly Hunter, meet estranged sweethearts Jess and Boyd…

Hardworking and independent Jess Turner has come home from the bustle of Sydney to enjoy a quiet Christmas. But after running into an old school friend, she finds herself talked into attending a lavish Christmas Eve party – and running straight into the only man to ever break her heart.

Rebel with a heart Boyd Webber thrives on the adrenaline rush of riding motorbikes for a living, but giving into love has never been a risk worth taking. Until he sees Jess again. Their chemistry is still electric and Boyd can’t give up the chance to rekindle what they once had. But if they’re going to have a future together, they’ll have to find a way to get past old hurts in time for Christmas Day…

Don’t miss Kelly Hunter’s next Modern Tempted, What the Bride Didn’t Know!

The Night Before Christmas
Kelly Hunter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Tempus fugit - Time flies

Jess took a deep breath, sipped her champagne and looked around the crowd again.

She could do this. Come to a Christmas Eve party in her hometown and enjoy the company of old acquaintances without falling apart. She had worth now. A good job as a physiotherapist and a life lived in Sydney. She didn’t need Boyd Webber to tell her that a full-ride university scholarship gave her a shot at a better life. She didn’t need him saying that if she wanted to break the cycle of poverty and violence she’d grown up with, this was her chance.

She’d taken that chance and made the most of it. Boyd could hardly berate her for that. And if Boyd asked her why she’d come home for Christmas, well…all she had to do was tell him the truth.

That sometimes, just sometimes, she missed the ocean and the beaches, the rhythms of small-town life and the fantasy of family who might one day give a damn about her.

That was the truth, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

No need to mention to Boyd just how much she missed him.

Kelly Hunter has always had a weakness for fairy tales, fantasy worlds and losing herself in a good book. She has two children, avoids cooking and cleaning, and despite the best efforts of her family, is no sports fan! Kelly is, however, a keen gardener and has a fondness for roses. Kelly was born in Australia and has traveled extensively. Although she enjoys living and working in different parts of the world, she still calls Australia home.

Kelly’s novels Sleeping Partner and Revealed: A Prince and a Pregnancy were both finalists for the Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, in the Best Contemporary Series Romance category!

Visit Kelly online at www.kellyhunter.net.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter One
JESS

Jessica Turner stood just inside the wide-open French doors of the sprawling seaside home and looked out over the crowd of beautiful, laughing people, all intent on having fun. West family Christmas Eve parties were legendary. Invite only, and Jess had been invited. By Trig Sinclair who she’d seen down the street that morning, and after Trig had hugged the breath straight out of her and asked her what she was doing tonight, he’d said come to the party. Plenty of people from the old school crowd were going to be there, he’d said, and the Wests wouldn’t mind. Given that Jess had been planning to spend Christmas Eve watching movies in her hotel room, she’d said yes.

So here she was.

Distinctly overdressed amongst a sea of bathers and board shorts, skimpy sarongs and glistening, beach-bronzed skin.

She hadn’t asked about the dress code and she’d got it emphatically wrong. Nothing she could do about her pale pearly skin. Plenty she could have done about wearing something a little less formal. Even though her crimson chiffon shift fell to mid-thigh in gentle swishes, it still wasn’t quite right. She felt out of place, a half step out of sync with everyone else.

Some things never changed.

The house was huge, the deck a luxurious extravagance. The garden and beach beyond promised space for the party to spread.

Jess looked for a familiar face, any familiar face in the crowd, and came up empty. Watching movies in her hotel room was sounding like a good option for her right about now. She studied the faces in the crowd a little more closely the second time around. She hadn’t been home in four years. People changed in four years. Surely there was someone here she knew?

And then she did see a face she knew, a profile she had no hope of ever forgetting. The sharp cheekbones and the stubborn jaw. The nose that had been broken more than once—she’d reset it herself at least twice. The owner of that face had patched her up plenty, too. He’d sewn two ragged stitches into the curve of her eyebrow once, and though the gash had knit together straight and true, no hair had ever grown over that thin silver line.

Boyd Webber.

The one and only.

Boyd had been her childhood confidant and her refuge when her father’s fists got rough. He’d been her cheer squad when she’d started pulling good grades, studying with her even though his own grades had never amounted to much. He’d been her first dance, first kiss, first love. First and only man to ever break her heart.

She’d figured he might be here this evening, figured she’d take her chances.

Now all she wanted to do was turn and run.

Jess turned to leave and made it two steps toward the door before a hand caught her by the arm. Jess turned and found Lena West regarding her warily. Lena, with her wild gypsy tresses, stunning blue-grey eyes and in-your-face boldness. Lena had been a year behind Jess in school. They hadn’t been more than casual acquaintances.

‘Jess? Jess Turner, right? Trig’s—’

Lena couldn’t seem to find the right word for what Trig was to Jessica.

‘Trig’s old school friend, yes. I saw him down the street this morning and he asked me what I was doing tonight and said come, because some of the old crowd would be here, but I don’t think—I mean—it wasn’t a date or anything. I didn’t take it as such. Trig’s just friendly. And maybe a little too free with invitations that aren’t his to make,’ Jess added hesitantly under the weight of those sharply assessing eyes.

‘Oh, the invitation was his to make,’ Lena assured her, and blithely swept away one of the concerns Jess had about being here tonight. ‘This is a Sinclair-West party. Trig’s folks are here somewhere, if you know them. His older brother?’

Jessica shook her head. She didn’t know Trig’s family, not really. She’d met them only once, when they’d taken pictures of her and Trig on prom night.

‘Katie Mitchell’s here somewhere.’

Jess nodded. She knew Katie. Liked her.

‘Dell and Boyd Webber. They’re here.’

‘Them I know.’

Lena eyed her curiously. ‘There was something between you and Boyd once, right?’

‘It was mostly just heat.’

‘Lucky you. He’s Mr. Motocross now. Rising star.’

‘So I hear.’

Something in her voice made Lena tilt her head and smile. ‘You’re unimpressed. I like that. You look gorgeous, by the way. Elegant, sophisticated and in control. I like that, too. Promise me you won’t leave until you’ve at least given Boyd the opportunity to gaze upon that which he let slip away.’

‘You’re a little bit evil, Lena. You know that, don’t you?’ said a deep voice. Jess turned and there stood Lena’s brother, as forceful and compelling a presence as ever, never mind his easy smile.

Jess smiled carefully, for there was a darkness to Jared that neither the forthright Lena nor the easygoing Trig possessed. ‘Hey, Jared. Been a while.’

‘Four years. Lena, go find Trig and tell him Jess is here.’

‘What am I, your slave?’

‘No, you’re a sensitive host who doesn’t want one of her guests to feel uncomfortable.’

‘I was working on it,’ Lena protested. ‘I was in the middle of telling Jess who else was here that she might know. How is that not being a good host? Besides, I don’t even know where Trig is. He was here for five minutes at the start of the party and then he left.’

‘He’s in the study,’ Jared offered curtly. ‘Cassandra called.’

Lena swore, an emphatic little punctuation mark that made Jess bite back a smile. Call it a hunch, but it didn’t sound like Cassandra was Lena’s favorite person—which probably meant that Cassandra was Trig’s latest girlfriend. The Wests were possessive, simple fact. Possessive of each other and of Adrian ‘Trig’ Sinclair. Maybe it was healthy. Maybe the tightly woven bond between Lena, Jared and Trig wasn’t weird at all.

Lena sighed and her gaze cut back to Jess. ‘Stick around. I’ll go get Trig for you.’

Lena moved off. Jared steered Jess toward a wet bar that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a cruise ship.

‘Champagne?’ he asked and when she nodded, he poured her a glass, got a beer for himself and touched the neck of his bottle to her glass.

‘So, picking up where my sister left off, are you avoiding Boyd this evening or pursuing him?’

‘I’m staying neutral this evening, when it comes to Boyd. Like Switzerland.’

‘Just so you know. That dress you’re wearing? Not neutral.’

‘Think of it as armor.’

‘Switzerland’s armed?’

‘Purely defensive.’

‘That’s what they all say.’

Jess smiled. She could handle Jared’s banter—the lazy knowledge and the sharpness beneath. Trading words with Jared was good practice for when she finally came face-to-face with Boyd.

Jess took a deep breath, sipped her champagne and looked around the crowd again. She could do this. Come to a Christmas Eve party in her hometown and enjoy the company of old acquaintances without falling apart. She had worth now. A good job as a physiotherapist and a life lived in Sydney. She didn’t need Boyd Webber to tell her that a full ride university scholarship gave her a shot at a better life. She didn’t need him saying that if she wanted to break the cycle of poverty and violence she’d grown up with, this was her chance.

She’d taken that chance and made the most of it. Boyd could hardly berate her for that. And if Boyd asked her why she’d come home for Christmas, well…all she had to do was tell him the truth.

That sometimes, just sometimes, she missed the ocean and the beaches, the rhythms of small town life and the fantasy of family who might one day give a damn about her.

That was the truth, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

No need to mention to Boyd just how much she missed him.

Chapter Two
LENA

Lena West sauntered along the hallway toward her father’s study, her bare feet making no sound on the polished oak floorboards. Trust Cassandra to ruin a perfectly good Christmas Eve party with an ill-timed phone call. Lena could hear it now, the sly maneuverings and the outright dishonesty. Making people think that down was up and up was down. Making Trig doubt himself, and that was unforgiveable in Lena’s eyes. Trig didn’t need Cassandra in his life. Even if she did have big brown eyes, a killer figure and a honeyed voice that put nightingales to shame.

Lena slowed as she reached the study. The door stood open and she could hear Trig’s low murmur coming from within. She didn’t want to interrupt the goodbye speech if indeed a goodbye speech was underway. The goodbye speech was long overdue.

‘Cassandra, we wouldn’t be having this talk now if you’d bothered to answer any of my phone calls or texts this past fortnight.’

Lena assumed from the silence that followed that Cassandra was talking. And talking.

‘Of course I’ve seen Lena and Jared,’ Trig finally replied tightly. ‘They came home for Christmas, too, and they live two doors away.’ He didn’t mention where he was now, Lena noted, leaning back against the wall and absently studying her boyishly short nails. She wasn’t eavesdropping. Now just didn’t seem like a good time to interrupt.

‘I’m sorry you feel that way, Cassie,’ Trig said next, in a voice that was three parts ice and one part pure heat. ‘But there will always be room for Jared and Lena in my life.’

More simmering seething silence followed that statement.

‘I am not gay for Jared. I don’t care what you think. I know what my sexual orientation is.’

Gay for Jared? Whoa. Nice try but no deal. Lena’s dislike for Cassie ratcheted up another notch.

‘Nor do I have an unhealthy fixation with his sister. We work together. We grew up together. Jared and Lena will always be my friends. Are you done? Because I really do think we’re done here.’

Several more long moments went by and then something clattered onto her father’s desk, possibly Trig’s phone. He was hell on phones. Lena leaned forward and risked a glance through the doorway. Trig was sitting in her father’s chair, elbows on the desk, staring straight at her.

‘For someone who professes to want to eavesdrop for a living, you’re really bad at it,’ he said.

‘How did you know I was here?’

‘The after sun lotion you’re wearing smells like tea trees, and underneath that I can smell you.’

Eew. Lena attempted a not-so-subtle sniff test of her armpit and ignored Trig’s fleeting smile at her response. Nothing too disastrous happening there. She’d showered after the afternoon’s kite surfing. She’d even put on a dress. Granted, it wasn’t as classy as Jess’s, but it was still a dress. ‘You lie,’ she told him bluntly. ‘I smell fine. And I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just didn’t want to interrupt.’

‘Yet here you are. What do you want, Lena?’

‘I came to tell you that Jessica Turner’s here. She’s in need of a little reassurance that someone actually wants her here.’

‘Couldn’t you have handled that?’

‘Tried and failed, my friend. What can I say? I’m a rotten liar.’

‘Once again, I’d like to point out that you are probably in the wrong profession.’

‘I like working for the Australian secret intelligence service,’ she murmured dulcetly. ‘I get to play with all the cool toys and I also get to annoy you and Jared. It’s all win.’

Well…maybe not all win. Lena struggled with the blind obedience at times. It came of never knowing the big picture and therefore never being able to make up her mind about whether what they were doing was right. ‘Hey.’ She waited until she had Trig’s undivided attention. ‘If it’s any consolation, you’re better off without Cassandra. I didn’t like her.’

‘You never like any of my girlfriends.’

‘True, but not the point I’m trying to make here. Cassie had a habit of blaming you for her mistakes. I watched her do it over and over again. Not classy.’

Trig sighed.

‘You want me to cheer you up? Because I can. Guess who’s developing a prototype fly board?’ She didn’t wait for his reply. ‘Boyd and Dell Webber. I hereby pronounce prototype fly boards my new favorite thing.’

‘Have you wrangled an invitation to trial it yet?’

‘Boxing Day afternoon. You and your boyfriend are invited, too.’

‘So you heard that.’

‘Cassie’s a fool. She doesn’t understand that family isn’t always about blood.’

Trig opened his mouth as if to say something and then seemed to think the better of it. He ran a big hand over his face and slumped back in her father’s chair instead.

‘Hey,’ she said lightly. ‘Party in progress here and the Pacific on your doorstep. No moping allowed. Did I mention Boyd’s fly boards? Directed water jets for hands and feet? He’s promising thirty feet of air.’

‘Boyd has a habit of making promises he can’t keep.’ Trig stood up and Lena skipped neatly out of his way. Trig took up a lot of space these days and he was still growing.

‘So,’ Trig said on a sigh. ‘Jess did show. I wasn’t sure she would.’

‘Apparently you invited her.’

Trig nodded.

‘Well, she’s here and she looks a million dollars. Great legs, dangerous curves, fantastic dress sense and I have a horrible feeling she’s nice.’

‘She is nice. Boyd seen her yet?’

‘He hadn’t when I left. I left her with Jared.’

Trig picked up his phone only to open the topmost desk drawer, drop the phone in and shut the drawer. Cassandra wasn’t getting to him again tonight and Lena felt a jolt of savage satisfaction at the thought.

‘C’mon.’ Trig headed for the door, one long arm snaking out to drape over her shoulder and drag her closer so that he could plant a swift kiss to the top of her head. ‘Stay away from Boyd tonight. He’s going to be in a mood. And keep an eye on Jess.’

‘Isn’t that your job?’

‘You’re my backup.’

‘Jared’s your backup.’

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