Page 11 of Blame It On The Reindeer

“Like hell you will.”

She tilted her head and stared at me.

“We might not have gotten off to the best start, but there is no way in hell I’m allowing you to sleep on the floor. Nor are you sleeping on the couch. So you can either tell me which side of the bed you want, or I’ll decide for you. Either way, you’re sleeping in here tonight.”

“You think you can just boss me around, don’t you?”

“I’m not trying to boss you around. I’m tired and want to go to bed, butsomeonekeeps making everything more difficult than it needs to be. It’s a bed—it’s not like we have to touch or make anything more out of it.”

“Yes, but it’syourbed. I’m not just going to climb into your bed because you tell me to. I may not have a choice about being stuck here, but I have one about where I sleep.”

“What’s wrong with it beingmybed?”

“I don’t like sleeping in other people’s beds. End of story.”

“Then consider it like a hotel,” I offered, my patience growing thinner by the second.

“I don’t like hotels either.”

“You’re impossible. You do know that, right?”

“Just because I don’t bend over and do exactly what you say doesn’t make me impossible.”

“Okay, then explain to me while we’re still arguing overwhereyou’re going to sleep instead of actually getting some sleep.”

“I told you I would sleep in the living room, butyoukeep fighting with me about it.”

“Because that isn’t a decent place to sleep!” I bellowed, hating that I was raising my voice to her.

It wasn’t that my furniture was subpar or anything, but it was my grandfather’s and had seen better days. Getting new furniture was on my list of things to do, but it sat at the bottom of eight hundred million other things that needed my attention first.

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Just tell me what side of the bed you want me on.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to rein in my frustration.

“How about the left side? It’s closest to the bathroom.”

“Oh, and because I’m a girl, I automatically need to be close to the bathroom? How incredibly sexist of you.”

I dropped the blankets to the bed and scrubbed a hand down my face. She was going to be the death of me. Hell, this was probably her plan all along—drive me crazy to the point she killed me and could steal the reindeer for her stupid Frozen Palooza.

“I’m just trying to be a nice guy and make things more comfortable for you,” I replied sternly, my eyes finally opening to see her walking across the room to look inside the bathroom.

“Thank you. I’m sorry for beingdifficult. This wasn’t how I expected to spend my night—just like you didn’t either. I appreciate you offering me a place to stay until the storm passes.”

“You’re welcome.”

I set a stack of blankets on her side of the bed and then went to the kitchen for a drink of water while giving her time to get settled. I had also set out a T-shirt and a pair of sweats for her since I figured she wasn’t going to want to sleep in the outfit she had on. It went fine with the pointy boots she had on earlier, but the tight, shimmery pants and low-cut shirt didn’t look comfortable to try to sleep in.

By the time I got back to the room, she was under the covers and facing the bathroom so I couldn’t see her face. I grabbed a pair of joggers from the closet and changed before climbing onto my side of the bed. It felt weird to be sharing the space with someone else, but I tried to ignore that as I forced myself to get some rest. Tomorrow would be an early day with a mountain of a list of things to do.

Nine

Jasmin

Iwoke up to the smell of coffee floating through the air. I had slept better than I imagined, though I had gotten up a few times, restless about being stuck sleeping beside a stranger.

Brody seemed nice enough not to try to murder me in his sleep, but then again, he was irritated enough with me that I wouldn’t blame him for trying. I wasn’t trying to be difficult, but I hadn’t expected to be put in the situation to begin with.

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