Page 7 of Christmas of Convenience

“Umm…likeis a strong word. I liked the exploration and the people, but I missed American food a lot.”

“What is your favorite food?”

“Donuts. Ten out of ten. Nothing beats a jelly donut with powdered sugar.”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong.” He squeezes my thigh gently. He must know it’s there. “The correct answer is classic glazed, all the way.”

“No. Just no. You can’t… no.”

He laughs and turns left onto a side road off the main drag. “There are no donuts out here, but if I put the plow down on the truck, I’m pretty sure we can avoid all this traffic. I gotta say, I’ll be glad when all this eclipse shit is over with. I love the attention the farm is getting, but I like our sleepy little town a little sleepier. This traffic is nuts. It’s added an hour into the springs and twenty minutes to the drive into town from the farm.” His hand lifts from my leg and he pulls down a lever, lowering a giant plow onto the unpaved road with a loud scrape.

Not much snow has fallen, but it’s starting to flurry and there’s a heavy pack of frozen white beneath us. “You take this road a lot?”

“Oh shit,” he glances toward me, “I didn’t think about how this would be terrifying for you. I can turn around if you want me to. No one takes this road, so I figured it would be quicker.”

I shouldn’t trust him. I have no reason to. For some reason, though, I do.

“No. It’s okay. I mean, every episode of20/20is running through my head, but I’ll be okay.”

He laughs and his hand returns to my leg. “I’ll turn around. This road is pretty intense, anyway. Hanging cliffs and a water crossing. It’s not for—”

“No.” I land my hand over the top of his. What the hell is happening. “I like an adventure. Besides, I have more bear spray in my bag than the store, so if you try to murder me, your eyes are gonna really sting.”

I love making him smile. “Is that right?”

“Yeah, so… better watch out.” I’m not sure if I do it intentionally or not, but either way, my body shuffles closer to his, and the ache for his hand between my legs grows stronger.

This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This… isn’t… real.

I repeat the mantra to myself over and over again, but I’m not sure the message is permeating.

“You smell good.” His voice is so low and gritty that it vibrates through me. He has to be flirting with me, right?But why?What’s his motive. He doesn’t have to flirt with me right now. We’re so far away from civilization that no one will get to see his kindness.

“Oh, it’s some kind of body spray. I don’t remember the name.” I do remember the name and it’s not body spray. It’s a two-hundred-dollar bottle of perfume that I bought before coming here because, despite the fact that this is all pretend, I still wanted to smell good.

“Well, it’s amazing.” The truck jumps and bumps along the snowy path as he drives deeper into the snowy woods. I’m not sure this was the best decision considering the storm coming through, but none of that matters right now.

Right now, the only thing I’m thinking about is the conversation we’re having and the way he’s touching me.

“Thanks. You’re not too bad yourself. You smell like the woods or something.”

“Ha, well that’s all me. My cologne must not be able to overpower it. Sorry.”

“No, I like it. You smell…manly.”

“Well,” he clears his throat as we bump over a slew of rocks in the path, “hopefully all this manliness can get me through this road because the snow is picking up. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“You’re not alone. They said clear skies today. My friend Heather is on her way out here too. Hopefully her flight is running on time.”

“I didn’t realize you had a friend coming. It’ll be good to meet her, too.”

“She knows about the fake date thing. She’s just coming for moral support, and to get away from reality for a while.” I lean forward, then back, squinting my eyes through the snow to try to see the road in front of us, but it’s no use. We’re in a whiteout.

“Shit,” Sam groans. “I’d turn back but we’re halfway now. Let’s stop and see if the storm passes. With the drop-off’s everywhere, it’s dangerous to keep going with the whiteout.” He stares down at the clock on the truck. “We’ve still got some time and squalls like this usually clear up fast.” He puts the truck in park and opens the driver’s side door. “I’m going to call my brother quick and see how the weather is there. I’ll be right back.”

Is it weird that he’s getting out of the truck to make a call? Maybe I was wrong to trust him. My stomach turns as I swipe away the twenty missed calls from my sister and look to dial Heather back. I hope she’s on the plane, but I call anyway to make sure.

Thankfully, she doesn’t answer. It must not be storming where she is.

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