She made an offended sound and glared at me playfully. “Let’s see you do any better.”
“I mean, I couldn’t be any worse…”
She slapped my arm lightly. “Fine. Next song, you’re up.”
I blinked in confusion. “I’m up for what?”
“You’re singing. Carpool Christmas Karaoke. You threw down a challenge and now you have to put your money where your mouth is.”
“Hey, I don’t remember signing up for that.” I chuckled. “Besides, you’ll run screaming into the snow. That’s if your ears don’t bleed first.”
“All I’m hearing is that you’re scared.” Clara smiled at me, a challenging look in her eye.
“Oh, nice try, but I’m not that easily manipulated,” I said.
“Bock, bock, bock.”
“Are you five years old?” I asked, unable to suppress my grin. “Chicken noises? Really?”
She spread her hands and shrugged. “If the shoe fits…”
I narrowed my eyes at her briefly before turning my attention back to the road. Mariah’s song wound down, and the first notes of the next one started up. I recognized it instantly. I had been singing it to myself earlier, which kind of made it feel like fate.
Without looking at Clara, I threw my head back and belted out the words. “Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul!”
Clara doubled over with laughter, eyes wide with shock. Warmth flooded me. That was why I had done it. Mission accomplished.
I sang every word, starting obnoxiously but eventually settling into real singing. Clara stopped laughing and she eyed me like she was seeing a new part of me. When the song finished, I gave a little bow from my seat.
She clapped and shook her head. “Damn, Luke, you can actually sing decently.”
I looked at her and smiled, feeling the heat blooming between us. I hadn’t expected my spontaneous rendition of Frosty to get her turned on, but I loved that it had. A wild thought ran through my head.
Should I tell her how I feel about her? There was nothing fake about this for me anymore. Hell, she had me singing Christmas carols to her in the car and taking time off from work to lock ourselves away in a romantic cabin. I was falling for her, and hiding that was starting to feel like a lie, which was something I never wanted to do to her.
“Do you think I’m ready for Broadway?” I asked her instead. Talking about my feelings right then was risky. What if she didn’t feel the same way I did? I wanted to float in this littlebubble with her for as long as possible, so I kept my feelings to myself.
She smiled softly. “You’re ready for something, all right. I just don’t know what.”
Neither did I.
The traffic began to move and her gaze left mine, turning to look out at the falling snow. I drove as fast as I could to get us to the cabin.
CHAPTER 28
CLARA
The headlights cut through the snow to reveal Luke’s private “little cabin,” which was actually two stories tall and looked like it could house three families comfortably. It was larger than the house I’d grown up in.
“Wow, Luke,” I said. “I didn’t expect this.”
He shot me that dazzling smile that always disarmed me. “It’s pretty great, right? It’s an old Victorian-era farmhouse. I had the interior restored, and now, going in feels like walking back in time. You’re going to love it.”
I nodded. The house wasn’t the only thing I was loving, but I couldn’t admit it to him out loud. It was too fast. He would think I was psycho. Who fell in love in a week?
“The light’s on over the porch,” I said. “Is someone there?”
“No, I texted the caretaker to freshen the place up, stock it with some groceries.” Luke looked over at me, eyes glittering in the dim light. “I wanted to make sure any surprises in there are good ones.”
