Caleb hit him again. “What he said.” He followed Pax to the kitchen, where all the wonderful smells came from.
Jack didn’t feel like stuffing his face to the tune of his brothers’ teasing, so he headed out to the barn to tell Drake the excellent news.
Drake would hate it.
Which added a pep to Jack’s step.
“Jack!” Forest caught up to him at the front door as he put on his boots. “We need to work up a rotation schedule for sleeping in the barn. After what happened last year with Snowflake, I don’t want to risk anyone getting inside.”
“Agreed. I’ll talk to Drake and Pax and figure it out.”
“I don’t mind taking my fair shift,” Forest inflated his chest.
Jack shook his head at his younger brother. “You have a family to watch over. We single guys will take care of this.”
Forest grinned like the early riser who got the first present. “You don’t have to twist my arm. Mitzi’s way prettier to wake up to than Dunder.”
“I’ll tell her you said that.” Jack pointed at him and laughed.
“Don’t you dare,” Forest threatened. He faded backward, giving Jack a glare-down.
Jack dressed for the weather and made his way out. His boots chomped through the snow. They had another storm coming in around 2 a.m. that would clear out before the first light. So far, the film crew had just about perfect conditions.
Maybe Hollywood had a little magic of its own.
If so, he wouldn’t mind borrowing some. When he watched Forest and Caleb with their wives, he had to work at holding off the green-eyed monster. If things could work out with Natasha, and she magically wanted to move to North Dakota, sleeping in the barn would be a small price to pay.
CHAPTERELEVEN
Natasha couldn’t help the butterflies that filled her stomach as she slipped into the red and white striped elf leggings. They were filming a scene with Sparkle the reindeer today, which meant that Jack would also be there. This was their first encounter since she’d agreed, offered?, to kiss him under the mistletoe.
She didn’t have a reason to be nervous.
Jack was just another cowboy—wrangler?—passing through her life.
So what if she kissed him? She’d kissed other men and walked away—been dumped?—why would he be any different?
The crazy thing was that she wanted him to be different—wanted it all the way down to the stripes on her toes.
She also wanted that kiss.
He wouldn’t collect In front of everyone on set… Would he?
No one knew about their deal. It was as far under the table as you could go in Hollywood. She’d replayed the moment over and over again, and—in her head—they were alone.
The problem was that she could only see Jack when she reflected on their interaction. The entire world faded away, and it was just the two of them. Him with those cobalt blue eyes and her with a thumping heart that made it hard to hear. They could have been standing in the middle of a herd of trumpeting reindeer, and she wouldn’t have known.
What if someone heard them? Heard her offer up her lips in exchange for Sparkle’s time?
She’d be mortified.
And fired. She’d be so fired.
Which was why she’d hidden away for two days. Appearing busy was exceptionally easy when you were busy. Not only did she play an elf in the upcoming movie, but she also had to do half of her old job as the temp they’d brought on to cover for her had no idea what she was doing. On top of that, she wasn’t interested in learning because she wanted her holiday paycheck and then wanted out of there.
Sigh.
The fact that she did not know what to expect from Jack when she saw him again and when to expect his kiss made her feel as prickly as a pine cone. How is a woman supposed to function normally, and make the stripes on her leggings line up, when she was continually looking over her shoulder for a handsome Wrangler to stride in and lay claim to her lips?
