Page 38 of All I Want For Christmas

Yikes. “And I thought eggnog was disgusting.”

Blue laughed. “Yeah, well, all I wanted was a mai tai or two but it’s starting to look doubtful.”

“Cookies. That’s what I want. My sister bakes these cookies that are basically just sugar and lard. I can eat about a hundred in two days.”

“Somehow I don’t think you’re exaggerating,” she told him in a teasing tone of voice.

“You calling me an overachiever?” Christian grinned as he eased down the exit ramp and stopped at the light and turned to look at her.

Her eyes rolled up and down the length of him. “Yes.”

Oh, he knew that tone.

And he liked it.

“It’s my one weakness,” he told her, his whole body registering the fact that despite the cold outside it was suddenly very hot inside his car.

“The only one?” she asked, her tongue slipping out to wet her lips.

Christian wanted to groan. There was something about the way she held his gaze, the way she moved, so sensual and erotic, yet there was nothing in-your-face or outrageous about her. It was like she just had an inherent sexuality and he found that really smoking hot.

“No. I can definitely think of one more.”

And if he could get it, he wouldn’t even miss the cookies.

Chapter

Three

She was flirting.

She was stranded in the middle of nowhere Kentucky with a broken-down car and a cruise ship pulling out of port the next day most likely without her and she was flirting with Christian, her knight in a white SUV.

She supposed she could tell herself it was her amazingly sunny disposition finding the silver lining, but the truth was it wasn’t her cheerful self calling the shots right now, but her undersexed one. It had been months since she had dated and Christian was cute with a capital C. He had dimples and a grin that made her want to grab his cheeks and kiss the hell out of him. He was sweet and funny and she knew beyond a shadow of doubt there were some serious muscles hiding beneath his many layers of clothing.

So she was flirting. What of it? She deserved it after nearly dying in this bitch of a snowstorm.

“What weakness is that? Fast cars or gambling?”

Christian pulled into a gas station right off the exit. “Neither. I like beautiful women.”

It was a bad line, but she wasn’t really a hard sell right now. Before she could respond he spoke again.

“Beautiful women like you.”

She almost blurted out a very middle school “You think I’m beautiful?” but she managed to contain it and be cool. “Thanks. Though I prefer gorgeous.”

Laughing, he put the car in park in front of the gas station. “Okay, gorgeous, let’s go in and see ifwecan make contact with the outside world.”

There was only one truck in the parking lot and the gas station looked like it had seen better days. As they entered, the bell tinkled over the door and the smell of stale cigarette smoke smacked them in the face.

A thin guy in his forties with two full-arm tattoo sleeves glanced up from the magazine he was reading. He scratched his scraggly beard. “Hey, what's up? I didn’t expect to see anyone tonight.”

“Hi,” Blue said, coming up to the counter, her feet feeling weird and overstuffed in Christian’s wool socks and her ballet flats. “We had a car accident on the highway and I can’t get cell reception. Can we use your phone to call a tow?”

“Sure.” He shoved a chunky cordless phone over to her. “But I doubt you’re going to have much luck, since it’s snowing and it’s Christmas Eve.”

Well, thanks, Captain Obvious. Blue fought the urge to roll her eyes. Fortunately, Christian stepped in, preventing her from saying something seriously sarcastic.

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