Page 6 of Christmas Captive

“What?”

“Tell me you don’t think he’s hot.”

“I don’t think he’s hot.” Another lie.

“Really? So, you’re not into big, burly, inked-up guys?”

“What?”

“Exactly.” I can almost hear her eyes roll.

“Yes, he’s attractive, but that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of men are hot. This one is too old, and he’s my boss. Plus, I like it at the tree farm. It’s way more chill than my accounting job. Hell, if I had a choice, I’d stay here all year long and run it myself. There are so many things I see that could use improvement.”

“Cool. You can tell your boyfriend over dinner tonight.” She laughs. “I gotta run. The baby is kicking my dinner up my esophagus. I’m over this whole pregnancy thing and I’ve still got months left.”

Mariah is five months pregnant with a baby her ex doesn’t deserve. What is it about shitty men ruining everything?

“I’ll bring breakfast tomorrow morning. Donuts from the bakery?”

“Donuts from the bakery,” she repeats. “Now, don’t be good tonight. Lose your virginity to your boss and take notes because these hormones have got my engine revved constantly, ya know what I mean?”

“Yeah, sorry, that won’t happen, but I’ll have loads of notes for you on the eclipse party.”

“Boring!”

“Talk to you tomorrow.” I climb up into the rental truck and tuck my phone into my purse. Kade lives on the tree farm, which is only half a mile from my rental, so the drive isn’t long, but right now, I’m wishing it was a lot longer. I could use the time to decompress after that phone call with Mariah. I know she’s just being ridiculous, but at the same time, she’s not wrong. That conversation with Kade earlier was awkward as hell. I don’t want to repeat that all over again. He can only pretend not to hear me so many times.

My phone buzzes as I pull into Kade’s long, stone driveway. It’s a classic white farmhouse set back into the tree line with a wide front porch and rocking chairs blowing back and forth in the wind. White lights are strung around the porch rails, and there’s a wreath hanging on the front door with a bright red bow. This is the kind of place I fantasize about. The perfect little house. Well, truth be told, there’s nothing little about this place. Judging by the windows, I’d guess there are at least five bedrooms.

What does he need all this space for?I think I’d be sad if I had this much room and no one to fill it with. I make a mental notenotto mention that depressing detail, then pull my phone from my purse and glance down at the incoming caller.

It’s Wyatt. He’s been calling me every thirty minutes since our interaction earlier.

I don’t know how long he’s going to go without an answer, but right now, avoiding him feels right. When I’m with him, there are no active feelings, but I still have this lingering allegiance to him that I can’t explain. Maybe that’s what love is. It’s history. It’s commitment despite everything else. It’s familiar and routine.Maybe love is the devil you know.

Blowing out a heavy breath of confusion, I step down from the truck. I need time to figure things out and space away from Wyatt to do that. Pretending to talk about the eclipse party is the perfect distraction.

I crunch over the packed snow on the driveway and make my way up the front porch. Kade meets me outside. I swear flannel and jeans are his everyday uniform. I’d bet the man sleeps in boots too. He holds two cups of steaming liquid and hands one toward me. “You want to sit outside for a bit? It’s a nice night.”

I’m trying not to be the California girl I am and beg to go inside, but sitting in nearly freezing weather seems like the Colorado thing to do, so I go with the flow and sit back on the porch swing next to Kade as the steam from the hot cocoa warms my face. A flurry of snow falls around us, and I gotta say, this is kind of perfect.

“I’ve never had a moment like this before,” I say, looking toward Kade. He’s so much bigger than me and you don’t really notice it until you’re this close.

“A porch swing moment?”

“No… well... yeah. I guess I’ve never had that either, but I was thinking I’ve never had a moment in the snow like this, where I sat with a cup of cocoa and watched it fall. That’s probably a very basic thing to say.”

“I like it, though. You appreciate the small stuff.” He glances toward me, and when our eyes meet, I swear there’s something more, something that shouldn’t be there between a boss and an employee. “Not a lot of folks around here appreciate a cup of cocoa anymore.”

I bite back a smile. “I’m sure that’s not true. A cold night and a cup of something warm with good company is what people live for, right?”

“Good company?”His brows raise. “Shit, this is getting better and better. I don’t think I’ve ever been calledgood companybefore.”

I laugh. “Yeah, did you put something in this drink? This isn’t the start of‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’… is it?”

A warm smile spreads onto his face and passes onto me. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him smile before. I’m just realizing this now. “Not this time.” He chuckles as he says, “Maybe someone else poisoned us. I’m feeling kind of relaxed myself.” His arm stretches over the back of the swing, and though he hasn’t directly put his arm around me, the warmth from his body is surrounding me and I kind of wish he would.

God, what the hell is wrong with me? I get one moonlit moment with a hot guy, and I forget all about Wyatt? I’m clearly a virtuous woman.

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