Page 7 of Christmas in His Arms

"Come in!" I shouted. "It's cold. Let me get you a hot cup of coffee." The temperature gauge on the front side of the house said it was below twenty degrees, perfect for a hot beverage. And this time, Ryan didn't balk at my invitation. I left the front door ajar as I hurried inside to the kitchen and popped a coffee pod in the machine.

By the time Ryan was inside with his coat off, the coffee was steaming in his mug. "Black, please," he said casually as he hung his coat over the back of the chair I'd been sitting in. "Wow, it's cold out there."

"Yeah, it is. I hope Mom's car starts. The battery is weak." I picked up theWorld's Best Dadmug and spun around to hand it to Ryan, who grinned at me in gratitude.

"Oh, gosh, that smells heavenly. Thank you." He wrapped both hands around the mug like he was warming them and said, "I can put a new battery in Helen's car if you'd like. Just bring it down to the dealership. Sam or one of the techs will handle it."

This man never ceased to try to be helpful. I loved that about him—or about people in general. It was one of the good thingsabout small-town life. There were goodhearted people who still understood what it meant to be neighborly. I didn't get that much in Chicago.

"Sit," I said, gesturing at the table, and he sat where he'd hung his coat.

I took my almost empty mug and slid around to the far side of the table where Lisa had been sitting and watched Ryan suck coffee through his teeth. Dad did that too. He always said it helped cool the coffee off so he could drink it faster. I said it just burned the roof of my mouth and my tongue.

"So, have you heard from Helen this morning?" he asked, and then he sniffled. His nose was probably running from the cold weather.

"Not this morning. I plan to head over there in a few minutes, but you looked cold." That hot cup of coffee was tempting, but after the tea upset my stomach, I didn't dare make myself a cup. Besides, sitting across from Ryan was comfortable, and I didn't want to be rude.

"I'm sure they're going to see improvements soon. Your dad's a fighter." His smile was electric, and I shifted in my seat at the flurry of butterflies it sent through me.

"So, I couldn’t help but notice that there was almost no snow out there today. Are you stalking me?" I joked, and he chuckled. The baritone rumbled through me, and I felt chemistry clicking between us again.

"Would it be so bad if I was?"

The tone Ryan used when he said that made warmth pool in my groin. And the fact that he made eye contact and didn't lookaway only said one thing—he was flirting with me. But why? Part of me wanted to believe this genuinely amazing man was actually taking an interest in me, but he was so much older than me. Some people would think that was creepy.

So to test the waters, I decided to flirt back. If he thought I'd be too shy to call him out, he was wrong. "I've never had a hot stalker come shovel my walk before. Do you watch me through the windows while I'm changing too?" I lifted one eyebrow and smirked at him and instantly felt foolish.

Ryan was so much older than me and a very prominent member of the city council. He'd been married and divorced and basically widowed, and the town already spread rumors about him. As if that wasn’t enough, he was Dad's best friend. I could never get involved with him, no matter how much I liked the attention he gave me.

"Carrie, let me ask you something…" Ryan sighed softly, and his flirtatious expression shifted to one of curiosity. I was all ears, but I said nothing and he continued. "Would you ever consider dating a man much older than you?" His eyes twinkled as he asked the question, and I knew he was talking about himself.

I thought about it briefly and I knew my answer. "Yes, I'd date an older man." He just wasn't going to like it. "But I don't think I could ever date you." I offered a sad smile, and his head dropped, but when he looked back up at me, his expression was calm. "You know Dad would totally freak out."

Ryan chuckled and said, "He might surprise you, but I completely understand." He picked up his coffee and took a long swig, and I didn't even know how he didn't wince. Then he set the mug down and picked up his coat. "I'd better get out of your hair. Helen is probably waiting for you."

I stood with him and hugged myself, praying my stomach would just settle. Between the yucky feeling I woke up with and the butterflies from flirting, I was so nauseous.

"Thanks again," I told him.

"Thanks for the coffee. Let me know if you need help with the battery." He winked at me, and I couldn't have been more disappointed that I had to turn him down. Dad would kill me, though.

"Any time." My smile faded when he walked away, and when the door clicked shut, I slumped back into the chair.

This morning had sucked. I still had to go sit with Mom for a while, and all I wanted was to not feel like throwing up. I just wanted to go home now—to Chicago. For good.

6

RYAN

With only a week left until Thanksgiving, car sales had taken a dip. It was an average November, though, and my business partner, Sam Lawson, sat across my desk from me in full agreement. This year's Black Friday blowout was going to be the best sales day of the year.

"The team is making sure all ice and snow stay off all one hundred and fifty-two cars, and as long as we don't get hit with another squall, we should be able to accommodate the crowd we expect." Sam took a bite of his hoagie and nodded as he chewed. The parking lot in back was typically where all the excess snow got pushed, but we had to truck it out to the park to make room for customers to park.

This working lunch was more work than lunch. I snacked on some jerky while running projected sales reports, but Sam hadn't eaten yet. It was a typical Thursday management meeting, except without our sales managers. They all had the day off this week in preparation for the holiday weekend when we planned to keep the dealership open longer hours.

"That's perfect, and if the team can get the final few banners hung this weekend, we'll be all set. We have to move this inventory. We have dozens of new cars coming in after Christmas." I stared at my own reports and felt satisfied that we'd turn a good profit this year. We had already seen a forty percent increase over last year's sales and the fourth quarter wasn't even complete.

"I'll make sure we get things locked down…" Sam slurped a drink of soda from the can on my desk in front of him and set it back down. "Say, you've seen that hot little brunette around town? What'd they say her name is? Carrie?" Sam's face contorted to a dirty smirk. "Is she really Walter Bennett's daughter?"

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