Tattoos & Tinsel
by Anna Martin
Published by Anna Martin
www.annamartin-fiction.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Tattoos & Tinsel
Copyright © 2012 by Anna Martin
Cover Art by Shobana Appa vu [email protected]
Characters used courtesy of, and with the permission of Dreamspinner Press
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
Original novel Tattoos & Teacups published July 2012 by Dreamspinner Press.
This is a free ebook available f rom www.annamartin-fiction.com
Firstly I’d like to thank Dreamspinner Press for their support of my releasing another story with my characters from Tattoos & Teacups. That novel was, and still is, very close to my heart and it was a joy and an honor to write more of Rob and Chris’s story.
Thank you to Christine, who edited, and the ever fabulous Bob for creating yet another stunning cover. Thank you, too, to all the readers who supported
Tattoos & Teacups and made the telling of this story possible.
Tattoos & Tinsel
by Anna Martin
“Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, fa-la-la-la-la branches!”
I shut the front door quietly behind myself and kicked off my shoes
before creeping through to the kitchen. Chris caught sight of me
anyway, but didn’t stop his loud, out of key wailing.
“I don’t think those are the actual words, darling,” I told him as I
leaned in for a kiss, delivered it to the tip of his nose, and held up my canvas bag triumphantly. “Ham joint, fresh from the butcher.”
“Excellent,” he said. “I’ve just made room for it in the fridge.”
There wasn’t much room at all – considering it was going to be only
the two of us for Christmas, we had a huge amount of food. I stuffed
the ham on to a shelf and pulled out a bottle of water and turned back
to Chris.
There was a delicious smell of cinnamon coming from the oven and
he was busy assembling something else on the counter. Despite my
best efforts to hide or burn his hideous jumper, he was still wearing
the baggy, misshapen thing he’d found in a charity shop. Apparently
lopsided reindeer were this season’s latest thing.
My nose was cold and I rubbed it with the palm of my hand to warm
it up before I stepped up close behind Chris and took his waist in my
hands, leaning my chin on his shoulder to watch what he was doing.
“What are you making?”
“Your nose is cold, Rob,” he complained as I nuzzled it into the side
of his neck. “There are sugar cookies in the oven and I’m trying to
make mince pies. I found a recipe online and thought I’d give it a go.”
“They look good so far,” I said, reaching around him and poking my
finger into the mix of dried fruit, suet, sugar and alcohol he was
carefully stirring. I licked my finger, hummed in approval and gave
him another kiss.
This Christmas was going to be our first together and we were both
determined to make it special. There had been invitations from family
and friends to spend the holiday with them, and after careful
consideration, I’d politely declined them all in favor of locking myself
away with Chris and spending the day alone with him.
We made a trip down to Florida for Thanksgiving, my first chance to
meet in person Chris’s mother, a woman whom I spoke with nearly
every week on the phone. With five children and five grandchildren
(so far), she and Chris’s father didn’t have many opportunities to
travel up to Boston to see us. I’d been wary at first, aware of
by Anna Martin
Published by Anna Martin
www.annamartin-fiction.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Tattoos & Tinsel
Copyright © 2012 by Anna Martin
Cover Art by Shobana Appa vu [email protected]
Characters used courtesy of, and with the permission of Dreamspinner Press
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.
Original novel Tattoos & Teacups published July 2012 by Dreamspinner Press.
This is a free ebook available f rom www.annamartin-fiction.com
Firstly I’d like to thank Dreamspinner Press for their support of my releasing another story with my characters from Tattoos & Teacups. That novel was, and still is, very close to my heart and it was a joy and an honor to write more of Rob and Chris’s story.
Thank you to Christine, who edited, and the ever fabulous Bob for creating yet another stunning cover. Thank you, too, to all the readers who supported
Tattoos & Teacups and made the telling of this story possible.
Tattoos & Tinsel
by Anna Martin
“Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, fa-la-la-la-la branches!”
I shut the front door quietly behind myself and kicked off my shoes
before creeping through to the kitchen. Chris caught sight of me
anyway, but didn’t stop his loud, out of key wailing.
“I don’t think those are the actual words, darling,” I told him as I
leaned in for a kiss, delivered it to the tip of his nose, and held up my canvas bag triumphantly. “Ham joint, fresh from the butcher.”
“Excellent,” he said. “I’ve just made room for it in the fridge.”
There wasn’t much room at all – considering it was going to be only
the two of us for Christmas, we had a huge amount of food. I stuffed
the ham on to a shelf and pulled out a bottle of water and turned back
to Chris.
There was a delicious smell of cinnamon coming from the oven and
he was busy assembling something else on the counter. Despite my
best efforts to hide or burn his hideous jumper, he was still wearing
the baggy, misshapen thing he’d found in a charity shop. Apparently
lopsided reindeer were this season’s latest thing.
My nose was cold and I rubbed it with the palm of my hand to warm
it up before I stepped up close behind Chris and took his waist in my
hands, leaning my chin on his shoulder to watch what he was doing.
“What are you making?”
“Your nose is cold, Rob,” he complained as I nuzzled it into the side
of his neck. “There are sugar cookies in the oven and I’m trying to
make mince pies. I found a recipe online and thought I’d give it a go.”
“They look good so far,” I said, reaching around him and poking my
finger into the mix of dried fruit, suet, sugar and alcohol he was
carefully stirring. I licked my finger, hummed in approval and gave
him another kiss.
This Christmas was going to be our first together and we were both
determined to make it special. There had been invitations from family
and friends to spend the holiday with them, and after careful
consideration, I’d politely declined them all in favor of locking myself
away with Chris and spending the day alone with him.
We made a trip down to Florida for Thanksgiving, my first chance to
meet in person Chris’s mother, a woman whom I spoke with nearly
every week on the phone. With five children and five grandchildren
(so far), she and Chris’s father didn’t have many opportunities to
travel up to Boston to see us. I’d been wary at first, aware of
Similar Books
Her Soul to Keep
Delilah Devlin
Slash and Burn
Colin Cotterill
Backtracker
Robert T. Jeschonek
The Diamond Champs
Matt Christopher
Speed Demons
Gun Brooke
Philly Stakes
Gillian Roberts
Water Witch
Amelia Bishop
Pushing Up Daisies
Jamise L. Dames
Come In and Cover Me
Gin Phillips
Bloodstone
Barbra Annino