Page 6 of The Mistletoe Switch

She smiles and bats her lashes. "Are you worried about little old me?"

Yes. "No. I just don't want to be blamed for your death if I'm the last one to see you before you tumble into a snowdrift. Come on. I'll drive you."

She takes a step back. "How do I know you aren't planning to drive me out of town, remove my organs, and bury me in a shallow grave?"

"As much as I'd like to rewind the last hour and have a do-over, I don't think you deserve capital punishment."

She gasps. "Me? You're the one who agreed to help then did the exact opposite of what I asked."

I cross my arms over my chest and rock back on my heels. She's far too adorable for me to be truly mad or even annoyed, but I can pretend as well as she can. "Yeah, I'm not going to flirt with my sister."

"Then why didn't you just tell me she's your sister?"

I drop my arms and sigh. "You told me the guy's a cheater, and I lost my temper. If I apologize, will you let me give you a ride—?"

"Hey, mayor," Paul Singelton says as he grabs his coat from the rack. "You going to do anything about the pothole out on Poinsettia road? I almost lost a tire in that thing yesterday."

"That's a county road. But I'll put another call into them."

He slaps my shoulder. "Thanks, man."

Paul heads out and Cherry turns to me. "You're the mayor?"

"Temporarily. The real mayor is out on paternity leave."

She smiles. "I do love a man in power." She looks me up and down, heat in her gaze, and my heart picks up its pace. She claps her hands together. "Okay. You can give me a ride."

"Oh, I'll give you a ride all right." The words are out before I can think better of them.

I'm ready to apologize, but she barks out a laugh. "Slow down, cowboy. I'm hoping to be an engaged woman before the week is out."

She heads for the door and I follow. She is possibly the strangest woman I've ever met, a guaranteed roller coaster of drama, but hell if I don't want to buy a ticket.

After I drop her off at her rental and suggest she invest in warmer winter wear, I head back to the bar. If James is about to drown his sorrows, I want to be there to get any inappropriate behavior on video.

CHAPTER THREE

Cherry

My toes will never be warm again. The internet says to warm them up slowly, so I'm sitting on the edge of the tub with my feet in lukewarm water. I've put on my warmest leggings and my fluffiest hoody, but I can't stop shivering.

I sip my wine and bring up Blue's contact info to video chat on my phone.

Her face appears in moments, Peach next to her. "What happened? Why are you in a bathroom?"

Relief washes through me. I have my mother and my older sister, Genevieve, but Blue and Peach are the family who just get me without me having to explain myself. "I fell in a snowdrift. It's so much colder here than I expected."

Blue shakes her head, exasperated with me as usual. "I told you to go shopping and get some warm clothes before you left."

"And I told you I'd rather look fabulous than be warm. Which I might be regretting." I don't mention being unable to afford a winter wardrobe after living in Vegas for the past two years. Blue's well aware of my sad lack of funds.

"What happened with RJ?" Peach's eyes are wide and worried. "He didn't push you in the snowdrift, did he?"

They aren't the biggest fans of my plan to win back RJ, so I choose not to answer her question. RJ didn't mean to push me into the snowdrift. He just didn't see me. "He's got a girlfriend who's everything I'm not."

"Horribly ugly? Stupid and drab, with no fashion sense?" Peach's sympathetic smile warms me. It feels good to have someone on my side, especially someone so sensitive and kind.

Before I saw their faces I was certain I'd never smile again, but I can't resist the smile that curls my lips and settles in my chest like happiness. "She's sweet and kind and pretty. She doesn't even wear make-up."

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