Page 5 of Christmas Captive

She turns back, her plump lips parted, her light hair blowing back in the breeze. “What?”

“Have dinner with me.”

Her brows narrow and I’m already regretting the idea. Truthfully, I don’t even know why I asked. My mouth is just running.

“What?” Her tone is soft and sweet.

“Dinner. Food. You need food… and I need food.” I glance away, then back again. “I could use the company. Feed the cat and come over to my place. How about an hour from now?”

She stands in the moonlit snow with a red tipped nose, staring at me as though she doesn’t know what to say.

“I just announced that I’m a virgin. I’m a social pariah. You shouldn’t want dinner with me, unless you have some kind of virgin fetish or something.” She looks away, then back again. “Oh God, please tell me that isn’t the case. I don’t think I could handle it.”

“I didn’t hear you say shit. I figured I needed help planning for the eclipse party at the end of the month and you needed something to get your mind off of things. I was going to ask you, anyway. We’re expecting almost a thousand people, and given your background, I figured you would be the best one to ask. You’re an accountant from San Diego, right?”

Her head rolls back. “Yeah, but you’re full of it. I can’t imagine you asking anyone for help on anything.”

“I do.” I clear my throat. “I could use all the help I can get.”

She bites the inside of her cheek and stares down at the snow for a long while before she starts tapping her face in thought. It’s a pretty cute sight with the mitten and all. “This is probably dumb, but… sure. I’ll see you in an hour.”

I nod, and though I’m not sure what the hell it is I’m doing, I just keep on doing it.

Chapter Three

Jovie

“It’s only weird if I make it weird.”

Mariah won’t stop laughing.

“He’s hot. You should bang one out just for fun. You can’t keep up this‘saving it for marriage’thing forever. Plus, I bet he’d lose the attitude. Really, you’d be doing us all a favor.”

I roll my eyes, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about Kade like that once or twice. “I’m not fucking him. This is business, and we’re going to talk about business.”

“Right…business.”

“What? People have business meetings. They have dinner. They discuss things. This happens all the time in the city.”

She laughs harder. “It happens here too, Jovie, but not with Kade. He’s not that kinda guy. He can’t wait to get away from people at the end of the day. Have you met him? This is a date.”

“He doesn’t want to date. So, this isn’t a date. He hasn’t dated in years.”

“How do you know?”

I sigh. “I’m so fucking dumb! Please, don’t say anything. He told me earlier this afternoon.”

“Right, and you two aren’t going to fuck tonight?” She laughs as she says, “You should really hear yourself.”

“No. I told him I’m a virgin, so he knows I’m not down for that.”

“Okay,” her laughter stops, “now I know you’re losing it. You, Jovie, the San Diego sweetheart, talked to your much older boss about sex and your virginity, and youdon’tthink this is weird?”

I’ve only known Mariah for a short time, but we became fast friends over her current issues and the drama with my called off wedding. I’ve never really been good at making friends, but Mariah makes it easy. She’s a tell it like it is kind of person, and I value honesty, even when it hurts.

“Not at all.” Even I know that’s a lie. “It’s not weird. We’re two people talking, that’s all.” I pinch my lips together as I say, “He’sjust a person, andI’mjust a person, andwe’rejust being people.”

“Sure… so tell me you’re not into him.”

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