“Our date, remember?” His smile was gentle, coaxing . . . too damn sexy for his own good.
I looked down at my outfit—leggings and an oversized chambray shacket on top of a tank top. I’d thrown on minimal makeup this morning and put my hair into a ponytail, then added the fuzziest, warmest Christmas socks I could find, since today was Christmas Sock Day on the elementary holiday fun calendar.
This was not date attire.
And was he serious? Picking me up from school?
My cheeks were red hot despite the chilly December temps.
“H-hi, Sam,” Monika cut in, waving shyly at him.
He glanced at her, then back to me. “Hi, Monika.” With his attention firmly fixed on me, he said, “Ready?”
“Ready? Like now? I’m not dressed—”
“You’re gorgeous.”
“No, seriously, Sam, I need—”
“You’re perfect.”
I wrinkled my nose. It was fine. Date nights weren’t ideal for Mondays, so if we started early, maybe we would end early? And I could still make that nine pm sharp bedtime I loved so dearly.
“Seriously, Holly, I think you look lovely, but the first thing we’re going to do is outside, so do you have a coat?”
“Outside?” I gasped at the notion, my body already trembling from standing out here for after-school duty.
“I’ll keep you warm,” he said with a smirk.
Cue my internal temp rising.
“Okay, fine, but I need to go close up my classroom and grab my stuff.”
He nodded. “I’ll wait.”
Off I went, rushing through the school to collect my things and get out of here before Teagan saw me and demanded to know why Sam Autry had shown up like some knight in shining armor ready to whisk me off into the sunset. I’d tell her all the details later, of course, but first I needed to get out of here without an interrogation. Brody’s lisped demands chased me around the school, and I felt ridiculous thinking about marriage when we’d not even officially begun our first date.
Still, words like “disappearer” and “the one who got away” seemed to bounce off the walls as I made my way back to Sam.
Monika was still standing awkwardly in the vestibule when I rushed through.You’re going out with him?she mouthed, all bugging eyes and stompy feet.
I shrugged. What else could I do?
Outside, Sam was waiting for me by the passenger-side door. I hurried over to his truck expecting to need to take a running leap to get inside the cab. He opened the door for me, and I felt my heart trip over itself at the chivalry I hadn’t experienced for years. Too nervous to do much else, I scrambled up into thecab, only for his hand to slip into mine when I struggled to find something stable to hold onto.
Gosh, he was so stable.
Too stable.
My head was swimming when I sat down on the passenger’s seat, noting the pine tree air freshener and the Christmas music playlist drifting softly through the cab. This man really loved Christmas.
He grinned at me as he took his place in the driver’s seat. “Ready?”
“Where are we going?”
He put the truck in drive, and off we went.
“How was your day?”
