Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“You need a coat.”
“Give me my phone.” I hold my hand out.
“Why? I was rather enjoying you jumping up and down against me.” He smirks.
I gape at him. He did not say that. Nope. Didn’t say it. I’m clearly hallucinating from the cold. But what if he did? I’m not just some dope who’s going to fall for his stupid charm. “Don’t you have enough girls trying to jump all over you?”
“None that I want.”
“Right,” I grit out. How could I forget?
Knox was always too good for any of the girls from Reindeer Valley. None of them met the standards he’d set. I think that’s partly why the girls in school were always throwing themselves at him. They wanted to be the ones to claim they’d gotten Knox into bed. Oddly, he wasn't a manwhore. At least not around here. There was always talk in high school that he only slept with college girls. I have no clue if that was true. Not that I care. Because I definitely don’t.
“Your boss is calling,” Knox says before he clears the call. How the heck does he even know it’s my boss? He hands me the phone back.
“It was nice seeing you,” I say dryly before I turn back around, giving him my back.
“You sound like you haven't missed me,” he responds as he takes my roller right out of my hand and begins to take off with it.
“What are you doing?” I have no choice but to chase after him. Before I can even get to his fancy sports car, he’s already putting my suitcase into the back.
“Your grandma sent me to pick you up.” He opens the passenger side door. “Get in. It’s warm.”
Grandma sent him? Et tu, Lorraine? I sputter.
“You’re freezing out here. Come on.” He gives me that same smile that used to melt my heart and do inappropriate things to my panties. Not that I think about it. Ever.
“Fine,” I growl before I stomp over and get inside his vehicle. He shuts the door behind me before jogging around the front and jumping into the driver's seat. It’s an hour drive to get to Reindeer Valley.
My breath hitches when he leans over me. “What are you doing?” I squeak out.
“Seatbelt, Red.” The click of the buckle is loud in the car. “You clearly need someone to look out for you.” He smirks.
I can't stop the sound of annoyance that comes from me. It only makes his smirk deeper and sexier.
This is going to be the longest hour of my life.
Merry freakin’ Christmas to me.
5
KNOX
She’s just like I remember her down to the last strand of hair. And her scent—it’s the same.
“Are you sure you’re supposed to be picking me up?” She shifts in her seat, her body facing me more, as if this is some sort of confrontation.
I don’t mind. It just gives me a better view of her. She has no idea how much self-control it took for me not to kiss her the moment I saw her. “I’m sure. Lorraine has her hands full at the bakery, so I offered to pick you up and save her the time.”
“Why?” One of her eyebrows arches.
I remember that look. But somehow it’s sexier now. All grown up.
“She has a lot of orders.” I shrug as I pull out onto the main highway leading to Reindeer Valley.
“Not ‘why couldn’t she come,’ more like ‘why would you ever volunteer to waste your time with a lowly little peasant like me?’” Her tone is almost cutting, but she’s still too sweet to really draw blood.
“Peasant?” I laugh. “It’s that the sort of talk they teach you in the city?”
She rolls her eyes. Adorable. “Just answer the question.”
“I wanted to see you.” That’s the damn truth and then some. Spying on her in the city was acute torture. Being close enough to touch her but having to sit back and wait—I honestly don’t know how I did it. But I wanted to give her time to find herself, to discover on her own that she belongs here with me. Of course, I can admit I may have given her a little nudge …
“You wanted to see me?” She blows a raspberry. “Lies.”
“Is that so hard to believe?” I pass a slow-moving truck laden with freshly-cut Christmas trees as a light snow shower falls all around.
“Yes.” She turns and looks out the window as the airport town falls away and the scenery becomes more forested.
“It’s the truth, Ruby.” I reach out to take her hand, but she wiggles in her seat and clasps her fingers together, her gaze still on the snowy woods.
“Sure, Knox.” She doesn’t sound the least bit convinced. “Whatever you say.”
I frown, unsure of how to convince her, but I counsel myself to be more patient. After all, she just got back.