Page 11 of The Merriest Christmas

"Emilia?"

"I said I'm good."

"You did.Now, what color are my eyes?"

Staring back at him, I lifted a brow."Black like the heart in your chest."

Again that quiet laugh, and Seaver finally leaned back, releasing me from his hold in more ways than one.

"You're good," he said then put on his blinker and pulled onto the main road."So, what happened back there?"

Did he mean when he touched me?

Because I was still trying to figure that out myself.

How could one innocent touch make my body respond like that?

But it had always been that way between us.Me loving the feel of Seaver's hands on me.I was just surprised I still loved it, even after he broke my heart all those years ago.So inconvenient.

"I assume it wasn't another car since there weren't any signs of a hit-and-run."

Brow furrowed, I said, "No, it was just me.An animal ran into the road, so I swerved not to hit it.Then I hit a patch of ice and ended up in the ditch—I blame you for that by the way."

"Me?Why?"

I sniffed."Because you jinxed me as I left the house.It was almost like you wished it on me or something."

"Jesus, Em."

"What?"

"You could've been seriously injured," he said."Do you get that?"

Of course, I did.

"And for what?You'd sacrifice yourself just so Bambi can go home to her family."

I frowned."One, you know I hate any movie where the animal dies.Two, it could've been a dog, and there was no way I was hitting one of those.And three, what do you care anyway?"

"I care," he said.

Staring at him, I saw a muscle tick in his jaw.I wasn't sure if it was his words or the jaw-tick, but something had my heart fluttering."Funny.I didn't know you had jokes."

"Not joking."

"If you say so."

"If I didn't care, why would I be out in a snowstorm searching for you?"

I forced a laugh."Yeah, right."

He raised a brow."You said 30 minutes, remember?Turns out I couldn't wait that long."

I opened my mouth to reply, but only air escaped.

If I'm not back in 30, send out a search party.

I couldn't believe he'd been listening.

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