Maybe I need to spend more time in nature.
Red Oak Mountain was beautiful. And all the fresh air seemed to be calming me.
My gaze drifted back to the nape of Santa’s neck again. He looked more relaxed now, as though the silence was working on him, too.
Only Astrid seemed discomforted. She was giving me what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you eyes, while squeezing my hand in a pattern that could have potentially been Morse code.
But then she couldn’t hold back any longer, her natural enthusiasm for life needing to fill every quiet moment like a vacuum. “Have you lived here all your life? Do you like it here? Does it get lonely? Or do you have a family at home? Wife? Kids? No wedding ring. But a man like you must surely be married.”
He sighed and looked over his shoulder at us, making eye contact with me again. It felt like a wildfire flying between us, and a slow burn of heat erupted inside me. Just the man’s eyesmade me melt. Add that to the timber of his voice, all rumbly and deep, and I turned into a puddle.
Sexy Santa was making me feel crazy inside. I wanted to climb into the front of his sleigh and ride him all the way to Christmas. A tiny giggle slipped out at the idea.
I should give him my V-card.
I’d been clutching on to it tight for years, waiting for the right man to whisk me off my feet and ride me into the sunset. Sexy Santa might ride me for a while, but I didn’t know if there’d be any happily ever afters.
Maybe that didn’t matter.
I just knew he was the one I wanted to give it to.
He opened his mouth and rumbled, “You haven’t said a word.” Then he flicked his eyes over to Astrid. “And you haven’t stopped talking. How does that work in a friendship?”
Chapter 2
Tex
Both of the women were beautiful.
But the one that didn’t talk was the only one I could focus on.
The second I saw her standing in line waiting for her sleigh ride, it was like something lodged in my chest. And now it wouldn’t shake loose.
I wanted to know her.
I wanted to taste her.
I wanted to explore her.
For a man who’d given up on love, it was an alien response, completely foreign and unfamiliar.
The woman who had introduced herself as Astrid laughed, ignoring my rudeness. She said, “You’re a lick of trouble, aren’t you, cowboy? Normally, Chloe talks more. Maybe she’s so taken by your impeccable manners that you’ve stunned her into silence. So I’m just filling the void. Do you need to look at the trail? I wouldn’t want us to crash.”
Even though I was just filling in, I knew this patch of woods intimately. I could tell you where every bend in the trail was,where to slow down, and when you could let the horse run at a full gallop… not that I’d taken any of these tourists onthatkind of sleigh ride.
I glanced at the one called Chloe again, my heart tightening in my chest as we made eye contact. Then, I reluctantly turned around in my seat again to face forward.
Her friend Astrid had a point. I shouldn’t crash the sleigh because I was too busy looking at a pretty woman.
Chloe’s eyes had seemed to see straight into my soul. I couldn’t concentrate with that look on her face. The one that seemed to say,‘I know you’.
Focusing back on the forest trail, I tried to make sense of the feelings inside me.
Twenty minutes ago I’d been in the blackest of black moods. I’d been annoyed at having to run the sleigh business today, and simultaneously angry at myself for feeling annoyed. But underneath all that, there was an undercurrent of worry.
The business belonged to my uncle Rod. And it wasn’t his fault that he’d landed in the hospital. So I felt petty and childish for feeling so pissed off about having to dress like Santa while he was laid up fighting for his life.
And now I felt guilty for thinking about a pretty woman while he was recovering from emergency heart surgery.
