Page 14 of Faking It with My Bossy Ex

“It can’t be that bad. You were at the library all afternoon with Dylan?” Her expression can only be described as giddy. She reaches out and turns the heater on full blast.

“Yes, unfortunately. And for the rest of the week, we’ll be working together.” There was a time when that would have seemed like heaven—the conversations and everything else we could do with afternoons cooped up in the library.

My stomach turns. How many afternoons like that did he spend with Clara?

“Has the library hung up their mistletoe yet?” Laura turns down the street toward the inn with a giggle.

“No, they haven’t, but they could cover every surface with mistletoe, and I wouldn’t kiss Dylan.”

I'm definitely not thinking about kissing him right now.Especially not about how his lips might feel against mine or how his arms might wrap around me. Nope, those thoughts aren't crossing my mind even for a second.

I blink hard, forcing myself back to reality. The snow is still falling, even though there are several inches on the ground.Thankfully, my conversation with Laura steers away from Dylan until we drive up to the Cozy Haven Inn.

It takes around thirty minutes to get there, though part of that has to do with the icy condition of the road. True to advertising, it looks like the coziest thing I've ever seen. The windows remind me of a cottage, and warm light is spilling out onto the snow. The outside is decorated with Christmas lights and wreaths. It's everything I could want from a getaway week.

“This is as far as I can drive the car. I'm going to have a rough time getting back in the snow.” Laura peers at the little white building glowing in the snow. “Are you sure you're going to be okay up here?”

“I am going to be perfectly fine. Don't you worry.” I called two tow companies about my car, but neither of them had a truck available to go get it today. Hopefully, it'll be fine sitting on the side of the road for the night. Soon, I'll have it back along with my independence.

“I'll see you tomorrow.” Laura smiles and hands me a little bag. “I packed these for you as a welcome gift.” It smells delicious.

“Thank you so much.” Tears prickle the backs of my eyes as I clutch the bag to my chest. Laura's been so friendly and has made me feel like I’m back home after a long time.

After Dylan, I threw myself into my work and my art. Deep down, I was scared of running into him again, into everythingthat we’d shared together, to dredge up all those memories that still feel like reality sometimes.

“Don't worry about getting me tomorrow. I'm going to walk the path into town.”

There are paths all over the woods, and a lot of them are shortcuts in and out of town. I can be sure there won’t be an appearance of a certain someone who I now deem too hot to handle, since he’s much more comfortable in his fancy little car.

“Be careful, and text me when you get to the library tomorrow.” Laura smiles warmly.

After I get my suitcase from the trunk, Laura drives off, leaving me in front of the Cozy Haven. A blur of motion off to my left catches my attention. I am barely able to turn when a dog barrels across the snow, coming right for me, knocking me to the ground.

Terror shoots through me as I jump to my feet. I suppose the one thing worse than constantly running into Dylan would be getting mauled by a wild dog. Thankfully, he’s not baring his teeth and snarling. Instead, his pink tongue shoots out, covering my hands with his slobber. His entire body wriggles as if he can’t get close enough to me.

I kneel. Dogs are easy, simple. When they’re nice, all they want is you. They don’t care about your past or what was between you. I bury my hands in his warm, yellow fur while protecting the bag of pastries. I reach for his collar and find a name tag.

“Pepper, it’s nice to meet you.” I laugh as he licks my cheek. He looks like a golden retriever, and it’s funny because that is the only thing I can think of that would make the Cozy Haven Inn any more wholesome than it already is.

I grab my suitcase and backpack and make my way toward the main building. The sooner I get into my cabin, the sooner I can relax. And the sooner I can stop thinking about Dylan.

Not that his illegally gorgeous face makes my heart race at all.

Chapter 6

Dylan

“I don’t understand how this happened. I made the booking on your website almost two weeks ago. You can’t just not have space.”

That voice. My feet stop working for half a second as I push through the door of Cozy Haven Inn.

The heat from inside hits me, but I barely notice. Amy's at the front desk, all tense shoulders and death-grip on her phone. That tone in her voice—yeah, someone better fix this fast.

And of course I'm already walking toward her.

“What's going on?” I ask, leaning an elbow on the counter beside her. I'm close enough that I could count the inches between us. My body hasn't forgotten how natural it felt to close this gap, towrap my arms around her waist from behind. My hands twitch at the thought.

Her eyes widen and her mouth makes a little ‘o’ shape. Her startled expression quickly turns guarded.

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