Her jaw was set, her mouth a firm line, and those eyes, dark and stormy even behind the glass, locked right on me.
And not in theoh, good to see youway.
More likeyou owe me six emotional damages and a restraining orderway.
“Why,” I muttered, “does it look like she wants to murder me with a candy cane?”
Callum didn’t even glance at me. “What?”
“She’s glaring,” I said, pointing as subtly as I could, though my pulse had decided to start sprinting. “At me. Right now.”
“She’s not glaring,” he said absently, still staring at the passenger seat like a man seeing the face of God.
“Callum, she’s glaring so hard the snow’s melting around her car.”
He finally blinked, still half-smiling. “Didn’t notice.”
“Of course you didn’t. You’ve got Lydia goggles on.”
“Lydia goggles?”
“Yeah. It’s like beer goggles, but worse. Everything she does is magical, and you’re blind to reality. The woman sneezes, and you think it’s so adorable.”
“But it is, right?” He laughed. “And reality being what?”
“That your fiancée’s best friend wants to back over me with her car.”
“Pretty sure it’s a crossover.”
“Not the point.”
The vehicle slowed as it passed the bar. Lydia waved again. Melanie didn’t. Her gaze flicked from me to the glowing reindeer we were manhandling, and I could practically hear her inner monologue judging my handling skills.
She looked good.
Too good.
The kind of good that made your chest hurt and your brain short-circuit.
Her hair was pulled up, a few loose blonde strands blowing around her face. She wore that big coat I’d once pulled off her shoulders.
The small car crept past, tires crunching, exhaust fogging the air. Lydia waved again, beaming. Melanie flicked her turn signal on, her mouth twitching just enough to confirm that yes, she’d seen me, and no, she was not impressed.
Then she drove on.
I exhaled, long and low. “Well. That was fun.”
Callum was still staring after the car like a man who’d just witnessed a Christmas miracle.
“Seriously?” I said. “You didn’t even notice the death glare?”
He blinked slowly, coming back to earth. “She glared?”
“She glared,” I said flatly. “At me. Personally. With intensity.”
He shrugged. “Maybe she was just focused on the road.”
“Focused on the road? She nearly burned a hole through my soul, Cal.”
