Page 51 of Santa's Mistletoe Playbook

I need to leave.

Five minutes wouldn’t kill me. I had to see her again. Apologise for my shitty level of flirting, or something. Hell, I hadn’t even gotten her number, though I knew where to find her at the college paper. Not that I knew where that was located, and it was getting harder to find her with all and sundry around me disappearing into the thickening white out.

I jogged lightly on my toes, tossing my already cold coffee in the nearest trash can that rocked in the wind. Snow blustered across my path as I pursued my quarry.

The flicker of purple drew my eye to my left. I darted after her, my boots crunching on the thickening snow underfoot that merged to ice over slush as the temperatures plummeted and the wind factor increased.

My mind told me I was a fucking idiot and that I’d get lost before I found her, while the other half of my brain urged me to hurry the hell up before I lost her, as well as myself.

Sending up at quick prayer Sharon and the kids got home safe, I reached out as a solid object appeared out of nowhere. The wall nearly high-fived me in the face, but I managed to skid around it, grabbing for the purple thing and hoped to hell it was a person and not another part of the building.

Thankfully, it was, and better yet, the person was the one I wanted most.

“Dylan!” Trinity cried out as I swung us both around and crashed back first into a stairwell half covered in snow. Sheooffedinto my chest, and my arms closed naturally around her. “What the hell are you doing?”

I waited for us to go for a third tumble together but the wall propped us up nicely. “Hahah!” I cheered, recovering when she looked at me weirdly. “I mean, I was looking for you.”

“You’re odd.” A tiny smile curved her pink lips. “But shouldn’t you be going? This looks like a full blown whiteout.”

“Yeah, I know what they’re like.”

“Uh huh. You’re from California,” she scoffed.

“I grew up in Minnesota.” I pressed the tip of my nose to hers as snow drifted around us in swirling eddies. “Got somewhere warm to hang out ‘til this blows over?”

She raised both her eyebrows. “Like my dorm?”

“Uh–” Alarm bells rang in my head. “That wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Mmh.. What did you have in mind?” She shook her head, propping her hands under her chin on my chest and looked up at me with those seriously fucking pretty eyes.

“Where ever you were headed?” I shrugged. “You were the purple thing I saw. That was the entire plan.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, really. No other ulterior motive.”

“So…you flirt like you play lacrosse then?”

I frowned. “How’s that?”

“By the seat of your pants.” She smirked.

“And what a fine seat it is.” I cupped a hand behind her head and weaved my fingers through her hair until I brushed her skin with my frozen fingers.

“Fuck!” she shrieked, but I had a good grasp on her and refused to let go.

“Nuh uh. Now be a nice hostess, and tell me where we are spending our Christmas Eve whiteout. Be a good girl for me, andmaybe I’ll take you home for Christmas dinner.” The words just slipped out, and we both froze.

Her lips twitched. “Good girl, huh?”

I shrugged, relieved when she offered an exit clause and didn’t call me out for the bullshit I just spouted, despite the appealing image of cuddling her before the fire at Dad’s running through my mind. “Yeah. Good girls get to come first.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

“I’ll still make you love me.” I winked, but she stilled in my arms, muttering something I couldn’t quite make out. I focused on her, tightening my hold. Snow piled up on my boots but I ignored it. “Say that again.”

“Nope. One time only. This way for your tour. And don’t stare at my ass.” She shoved her way free, laughing at herself and started up the stairs.

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