Page 15 of A Very Titan Christmas
“Ah. That makes sense.”
He sat down next to her with enough of a buffer between them that it shouldn’t feel weird. It still did. Sitting alone on the side of a mountain with Rachel Porter. How the hell did that happen?
His phone buzzed with a text message. As Rachel’s phone rang, Bryce shifted to pull the device from his pocket.
“It’s my mom,” she said, then answered with a cheery hello.
He swiped the message from Roman open.
Roman:Where are you? Snow Queen wants to go off schedule.
Snow Queen referred to Mrs. Porter. Senator Porter was the Sleigh King. No one had planned for Rachel. He wondered what headquarters would call her.
“That’s not how I planned my day.” Rachel checked the time on her watch. “I hadn’t—Well, yeah, I’d planned to visit—Mom…” She closed her eyes in defeat. “Okay. Okay. Fine. I’ll go with you.”
Bryce threw his legs back over the fence and returned to the path.I have to go, he mouthed as Rachel glanced over her shoulder. He had to change and focus on the job. Another text message buzzed with a warning that they would attend a Christmas market. Open air and open to the public. Parker Black, their tech guru based in Boston, was pulling security information and sending it out within five minutes.
Rachel pushed her phone into her pocket. “I have to meet up with my mom.”
“You’re going to the Christmas market?” he asked, having a vague idea of tables with handcrafted ornaments and crocheted scarves for sale. Bryce offered her a hand as she crawled off the stone fence. Her warm touch was familiar. That was impossible. So much time had passed. Yet he could suddenly recall how his hand would wrap around her smaller one.
She made sure of her footing and followed him onto the trail. “You got it.”
The path wasn’t made for two people to walk side by side. Bryce tromped through the heavier snow and stayed by her side. He studied her expression. “You don’t like it?”
“No, I do. Actually, I love it.” She smiled. “It’s fun. Crafty but with lots of vendors who have homemade snacks. Toasted candy nuts. Maple syrup cookies. Apple cider doughnuts. Applepie with cheddar cheese. And don’t get me started on the snacks from the sugarhouses.”
“You sound hungry.”
She laughed. “Guess I do. But I’m here for work, too, and getting excited for different angles to write about.”
“What do you do?”
“I write forThe American Staymagazine.”
Rachel was a writer. He could imagine seventeen-year-old Rachel being thrilled about her future career. She’d written for their school newspaper, forcing him to give her quotes that she attributed to anonymous sources as he critiqued the lunch menu or acted as a Monday morning quarterback for the county-wide Trivia Bowl. “The American Staymagazine.” He tried to place it but wasn’t much of a magazine reader. Maybe she reviewed hotels or cruises. That didn’t sound like a bad gig. “This is a working trip?”
She nodded. “I’m here all month, taking in everything that makes Silverberry Ridge magical for the holidays.”
All month. That meant through the security summit—for as long as he’d be in Silverberry Ridge. Until this moment, Bryce hadn’t thought about how long Rachel might be in town. A panic over being too close to an old flame grew inside him, and his chest prickled like he’d choked on a ball of mistletoe.
Bryce cleared his throat and tried to tell himself he could handle the length of time they would be in the same vicinity. But depending on whether or not she still harbored a grudge from high school, a weekend with her might have been ideal. They could have caught up. Maybe even flirted. Everything about her made her his type. Smart. Hard-working. Pretty blond hair and bright, sharp eyes.
Spending a week with Rachel would be pushing his luck. More than seven days together would be a problem for twosignificant reasons: she might still hate him, and she was the kind of hot that could melt all the snow off the mountains.
He scrubbed a cocoa-scented hand over his face. Jared Westin was going to kick his ass once he learned of their connection. “I have to change before we head out. See you in a bit.”
He extended his stride as he set out on his escape. Snow crept into his boots. He hadn’t dressed to go off trail. The parts of his clothes covered in her hot chocolate were cold and sticking to his skin. Nothing was going as expected. Bryce grumbled as his phone buzzed with another text message.
Bryce expected an update from Roman but saw it was from Parker instead.
Parker:Addition to the entourage: Daughter Rachel Porter. Security name: Sugar Plum. She’ll need to be written into the security plan. Stay tuned for an update.
Sugar Plum. Bryce groaned. Sugar Plum made her sound far too enticing. He scoffed at himself. A code name wouldn’t be the reason he wondered if her lips still tasted sweet. That had everything to do with how he wished he could’ve changed the past.
CHAPTER SIX
Titan Group Headquarters, Virginia
