Page 72 of The Jinglebell War
“Since we’re talking again, why is Barry in the back? Didn’t you say she gets carsick in the back?”
Garrick glances over at me. “Um, yeah. I lied.”
Ugh, I should have known. Can’t believe I fell for that one. “Just to be clear, your dog doesn’t get carsick.”
“Nope.”
“And you told me she does and made me sit in the back when I was doing a huge favor for you, because….”
“She was in the seat first. She was comfortable. I couldn’t ask her to move.”
“Yeah, I’m not buying that.”
He huffs. “Fine. It was one last prank before our truce became official. I’m sorry.”
I laugh. “That was stupid.”
He glances over at me, his annoyed face set in stone. “What?”
“You heard me. Risking me telling you to stuff it if I figured out your prank was really stupid. Would it have been worth it?”
It’s clear he doesn’t like being called stupid. He glares at me, only breaking the eye contact to glance at the road as needed. “You didn’t figure it out, so I’d say it was a brilliant plan.”
His answer surprises me so much I snort in disbelief. “Sure it was.”
His jaw works as he stares at the road ahead. “I didn’t want you sitting too close to me because I wanted you too much.”
I can’t have heard that right. I go still. “What?”
He clears his throat. “The night before we left, I had dreams about you, Blue. Really sexy, really intense dreams. Dreams I’ve been having for more than a week if I’m being honest. I didn’t want you sitting right next to me, because I was afraid I’d do something really stupid like tell you when you’re in a room Ican’t see anyone else or that I’ve been hard constantly since you moved to town. Even when I hated you, I still wanted you.”
It takes me several long moments to absorb his words and, once I do, not to climb on him and kiss the hell out of him. “Did I live up to the dream?”
He laces his fingers through mine. “Baby, you surpassed it. Exponentially.”
Silence returns to the truck as he leaves the town of Sugar Valley behind. The sun has set, and it’s now fully dark. The road is quiet and empty, Garrick’s headlights the only light around. It’s eerie and beautiful, with the beam of his headlights reflecting off the snowy roadsides.
And I can’t stop replaying his words in my mind. I’m certain I’ll be playing them on repeat for the rest of my life.
“Should we talk about the possibility of you being pregnant?” he asks.
“No!” I shout, stunned he would bring that up. “Don’t even say that word. You might jinx us.”
He chuckles like this is some damn joke. I guess it is for him. He can walk away no harm, no foul. It’s not so easy for me. “Guess you don’t want kids.”
“We’re talking about this? Seriously?”
“Why not?” he asks. “I’m curious.”
I sigh. “I will only talk about this in the abstract. We are not making plans or discussing the possibility of me actually being you know what right now.”
“I accept those terms.”
“Good.”
The only sound in the car is the pop music playing softly on the radio. I’m not opening the conversation back up if he’s not going to.
“So, do you want to have kids?”
