Page 63 of Pining for Christmas

Then leap up with a yelp as the door flies open, Reid striding inside with snow dusting his shoulders.

“I dug out the car.” He’s freshly showered and fully dressed, complete with his long black coat. He tugs on the cuffs as he crosses to the window, then throws the curtains wide. “Anirudh lent me a shovel. Funnily enough, I like him better this morning. Wonder why.”

My boss turns to me with a smirk—which fades as he takes in my bedraggled appearance and slumped shoulders. My hair is a rat’s nest, and I’m dressed only in the pajama shirt, the hem skimming my thighs.

I fiddle with the fabric as he looks at me. Can he see the guilty thoughts I had a moment ago? My lack of faith in him?

“Are you alright?” Reid’s eyebrows pinch together, and the sight of his scowl is soothing, somehow. Familiar. “We don’t need to rush off. You can eat and shower and so on.”

I clear my throat. “Thanks. Very gracious of you, boss.”

But my teasing falls flat—for both of us.

This is alien territory. And everything changed for us last night, changed in a way that means our relationship can never be the same, but we didn’ttalkabout that. Didn’t agree on a path forward; didn’t say what this means for us. Our mouths were full, you know?

So… am I Reid Merryweather’s girlfriend now? He said he doesn’t do relationships. But if not, will we hook up again? Will we be exclusive? What ishappening? I shiver in the cool light of dawn.

“You’re freaking out,” Reid observes, folding his arms. Those snowflakes are shocking white on his shoulders, melting slowly. “Go and shower, Noelle. I’ll find us food, and then you’ll feel better for the drive home. Go on.”

Food.

That’s a good idea.

I stagger to the bathroom, my insides all jumbled up and raw.

* * *

It’s so surreal being in this car again. Driving along the same roads as yesterday, watching the same snowy fields whizz past the window, smelling the stiff leather seats and Reid’s lemon-scented skin. It’s almost identical to yesterday’s journey—minus the Mulberry Inn soap smell—and yet my whole world has turned upside down.

Gah.

This man was inside me last night.

He pinned me down with his weight. Drove his cock into my body until I wept with pleasure, writhing and begging for more. He spanked my ass and pulled my hair and said so many things, such filthy, wondrous things, and now I’m supposed to sit here and make polite chit-chat? Maybe play I Spy?

“You’re blushing.” Reid glances me out of the corner of his eye, that icy blue gaze raking over my body. “And you’re stiffer than a board. Noelle, you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

My laugh is strangled. “I’m notscaredof you, you big dweeb. I’m just—this is weird. Don’t you think?”

Reid says nothing, frowning out at the highway.

It’s slower progress today, what with the deeper snow heaped at the sides of the road, but the sky above is blue and sunny. Guess the blizzard blew itself out overnight, while we were too lost in each other to notice.

Oh, god. If we never have that again… if that was my only taste…

I’ll die. I’ll curl up and die like a lovelorn bug.

“Tell me something,” I blurt, desperate for a distraction. “Tell me why you hate Christmas.”

“Hard pass,” Reid says, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. We pass a red-painted barn, its roof heaped with snow. “Ask me something else.”

Oh, come on. “Butwhy? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but can you at least say why?” As we bicker, my stiff back melts against the seat, and my shoulders relax. Yeah, this is better. This is familiar. Safe.

“Because it’s private.”

“Well, duh. That’s the point of telling me.”

Reid is silent for a long time. I wait.

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