Page 74 of The Holiday Ex-Files

Unless Annika really is a psycho. I have my suspicions. The sparkly side of me was clinging on to some hope. She interpreted our dance with Noah very much like I had at first.

All I knew was my head hurt and I had zero clue who I was supposed to be. Sparkly or snarky? On the love train or the plane to virgin paradise? The beaches were quite lovely there, albeit lonely. But lonely was safe. There were no STDs or cheaters on that beach.

But I knew what Sparkles would say: there were no hands to hold or feverish kisses in the night. No chance of babies. She was sure one day we would walk that virgin beach and regret we never lived the life we’d dreamed of—a beautiful life of working through all the hard things with your second self.

Ugh. Regardless, I knew one thing, if I ever hopped from the plane to the train, Noah wouldn’t be a fellow passenger. He was taken and that was that. Friends forever.

I settled Neville next to me and opened Noah’s file. I wasn’t prepared for what appeared on my screen. Holy amazingness. There Noah stood, in his swim trunks, showing off why many women thought he was a gift straight from God. Each muscle he owned was on display. Most notable were his chest and rock-hard abs. I think I drooled and probably popped another egg. I barely even noticed the bikini babe standing next to him, who resembled a sexy pixie. Not to say it didn’t sting. It didn’t help that they were in one of my most favorite spots—Soldier Meadows Hot Springs. The amber waves of grass, with the hills playing in the distance at sunset, made it a gorgeous spot. I could feel the warm water and see the millions of stars that shone there at night.

I had to give it to Noah—he had good taste in where to take his dates or girlfriends. Who knew? I think every photo shoot of his I’d ever edited had been at a prized spot for me. Whether it was the hot springs or the slopes.

I stared a bit longer at the couple, mostly Noah. He’d done his body good. I noticed, though, how he didn’t touch his date even though she had a rockin’ bod. Not even Claudia looked as good as this woman.

“Sorry, honey,” I said to the screen. “You never had a chance. But don’t worry, Annika is just as beautiful as you.”

Bad thoughts of covering this bikini-clad woman in boils filled my mind. But mainly, I was annoyed with Noah for leading these poor women on. Even if she did look bored, which said there was something innately wrong with her. If Noah were standing next to me with hardly a stitch of clothing on, I would be pretty dang excited. Yet, I had to remind myself, I had been around Noah plenty like that. How had I been so blind? Sure, I was in a relationship, so it would have been bad form to ogle Noah. But seriously, how had I never noticed him?

While I painstakingly began to crop the woman out of the picture, my phone buzzed. I looked over to find it was Noah calling. I debated on whether or not to answer. I was kind of thinking of ignoring him from here on out. Last night was awkward to say the least. Besides, he would surely be busy with Annika now. She had totally put her number in his phone last night. I debated too long, and he hung up.

Not to be deterred, he called again and again. I finally answered.

“Did you know I’m editing your latest photo shoot and annoyed with you?” were the first words out of my mouth.

“You know, I was getting that vibe.” He laughed.

“What do you want?” I said, half-annoyed. His laugh was pretty charming.

“Since you asked so nicely,” he oozed sarcasm. “I was calling to tell you that I’m bringing you dinner tonight.”

Uh. I wasn’t expecting that. “You don’t need to do that. I have a lot of work to catch up on.” And I need to avoid you.

“It’s perfect, then. You don’t have to worry about dinner now.”

“I was just going to eat cereal or something.”

“That’s a crime against humanity. Especially when you hear that I’ve ordered dinner from Nico’s.”

Ooh, I loved Nico’s. “Did you order shrimp carbonara and their homemade breadsticks?”

“Uh-huh. With a side of chocolate and pistachio biscotti. I thought it would go perfect with your hot chocolate. We’re supposed to get our first snow tonight.”

It was an old family tradition that when the first snow of the season fell, we would make hot chocolate and turn on the fireplace. I was surprised Noah remembered I used to do that.

That all sounded lovely. Too lovely for friends. “You probably don’t want to drive up here, then, if it’s going to snow.”

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