Cold air blasted into the restaurant, and even though I was wearing vintage wool, I couldn’t help but shiver. “Where’s your car?” he asked.
Snow swirled in the lamps above the retro gas pumps. “I’m walking, it’s not far.” I had only been in the diner for a few minutes, but already the footprints that I’d left in the shin-deep snow on the walk over had disappeared. It reminded me of the winters we used to have when I was a kid, when a storm could drop enough snow to trap people in their homes.
“Across the street is far in this kind of weather. Let me drive you.”
Chance Rapids was a small town where everyone knew everyone. I trusted people, but I wasn’t naïve enough to get into a car with a complete stranger.
“Thank you, but really, I’m just going to the Snowy Peaks Inn.”
“Me too. Can you tell me where it is?” The guy’s eyebrows raised. “I drove up and down Christmas Street but couldn’t find Oak Street.”
Muriel, the cook, Kenny, and Charlotte had all turned and were watching the interaction.
“Are you Mr. Tinsel?” I asked. He was a day late.
“The one and only. But you can call me Nick.”
I stepped outside into the snowstorm and he did, too, the door to the diner closing behind us. He was still in his T-shirt, but the cold didn’t seem to bother him.
“You were supposed to check in yesterday.”
His brow wrinkled. “No, my reservation is for today.”
“Oh, GJ.” I shook my head. My grandma had been running Snowy Peaks Inn since she was in her twenties. She was now pushing eighty-three and there had been a couple of mix-ups in the reservations in the past few months.
“GJ?” He crossed his arms, rubbing the goose bumps that pricked up and down the veiny biceps.
“Grandma Janie.” I sighed. “She must have written the date down wrong. She still does everything by hand.”
Nick took the box from my hands. “It’s possible that I wrote it down wrong.”
“You’re being kind.” The wind gusted and the bells hanging from my earlobes jingled.
“If you won’t let me drive. I’ll walk with you. You can show me how to get there.”
His chivalry was awakening the small-town girl inside me. “Let’s drive, you’re not going to be able to dig your truck out tomorrow if this snow keeps coming.”
He smiled, and that’s when I knew I wasn’t making a mistake—he had gentle eyes. The kind that sparkled yet seemed sad. I recognized that look. He hadn’t had an easy life but was a good person. And, if I was wrong, I was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to kidnap me in the blizzard.
“I’ll start the truck.” He jogged to an old pickup and opened the passenger door for me. The falling snow melted on his bare arms while he waited for me to get settled into the seat. He passed me the box of beaver tails and then ran tothe driver’s side. The truck rumbled to life as he turned the key, but he had to gun the engine a couple of times to keep it running.
“Berta is a temperamental girl.” He patted the dashboard.
I laughed.
“What?” he revved the engine one more time and then turned up the heat. The earrings tinkled as my hair fluttered in the warm heat.
“Nothing.” I smiled. “You’d better get in there before Muriel thinks you’ve dined and dashed.”
His face turned serious. “I’ll be right back.”
I watched in the mirror as he jogged back into the G-Spot. I’d seen good-looking men in Chance Rapids, but all the hot guys had girlfriends or were married. There were no prospects for a girl like me, and I was fine with that. I was there to help GJ with the inn, not to run around with scruffy mountain men.
Nick’s back was almost as wide as the door to the diner, and his back muscles rippled underneath his T-shirt. The thrum between my legs surprised me. I’d only met the guy, but he’d made me want to do something I thought was off the table—wake up on a frosty morning, toasty warm in a hot man’s sheets.
I shook the idea out of my head. Nick was a visitor, and slipping into bed with one of the inn’s patrons wasn’t a smart idea.
When he returned to the truck, he was wearing his jacket, and I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to check out his toned forearms as he drove the vintage truck through the snowy streets. He had a thermos in his hands and handed it to me.
