Page 12 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
“Yes.”
She turned to face straight ahead, shaking her head as if she didn’t know what to do with him. “How’d you end up traveling so much anyway? Were you in the military or something?”
“Nope.”
She glanced over when he didn’t offer anything else. He scratched the back of his neck and looked up at the screen, flinching when the flashing “delayed” sign turned red.
Dahlia’s head whipped around to follow his line of sight, her shoulders sagging only moments later.
“Canceled?” she whispered.
The sheer horror in her tone had him biting back any teasing, glib remarks. He might not understand why she was so anxious to get back to a job that stressed her out, but it wasn’t for him to judge.
She shot out of her seat, and from the set of her chin and the bulldog expression on her face, he felt a stab of pity for whoever would be stuck dealing with her.
He watched her interacting with an airline employee, but it wasn’t until he saw her shoulders sag again and her rigid posture slump that he hopped up to join her.
“Is that the only option?” she was asking.
She wasn’t being rude, but her disappointment was palpable. Even the airline employee looked sympathetic.
“I’m afraid so. The closest airport we could get you into tonight would be Philadelphia. You’d have to rent a car from there, or…” She glanced down. “Or we could try rerouting you through in the morning, or—”
“No.” Dahlia sighed, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. “No, I’ll just…” Her voice faltered, and JJ felt his heart falter along with it.
“Come back with me,” he murmured.
She shot him a glare.
Granted, it had come out as a command rather than a request. But what other option did she have?
He tugged on her arm, pulling her away from the counter. “Come back to the ranch. Enjoy some more time with your sisters. They’d all love to have you there.”
She let out a sharp exhale, rolling her eyes like he’d just suggested that Aspire was a thriving metropolis and Dr. Dex was secretly a villain.
He ignored that, even though he ached a bit on her behalf.
But it wasn’t his right to do that. He could feel sorry for her, but her issues were hers, not his.
“We can try again in a couple days,” he coaxed when her silence went too long.
She sighed. “I guess I’ll have to.”
He picked up her luggage, and he knew she was really down when she made no attempt to argue with him about carrying her own bag.
“I’ll have to convince them I can work remotely,” she muttered. She seemed to be talking more to herself than to him.
Still, he hated seeing her so down. So, even though he’d never once adopted a Yoda voice before, he gave it a shot now. “Mmm. Convince them, you will.”
She stopped short just outside the sliding glass doors to the outside. Flurries came down and caught in her dark hair as she gaped up at him. “Did you… you…” she sputtered. “Did you just…”
He shot her a grin before walking on. He heard her hurrying to catch up behind him and was pleased to see a little smile on her face when she climbed into the passenger side of the truck.
When the heat was on and her luggage stowed, he maneuvered them out of the snow-covered parking lot.
Dahlia was largely silent, her gaze distant and her brows drawn together. He’d bet his cabin that she was fretting over what work would say.
“Want some music?” he asked.
