Page 68 of All I Want For Christmas Is You

“Don’t worry.” Beau wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. “This is the coldest month. It only gets better from here.” He ushered her into the back of a black sedan.

“Welcome to Calamity,” the driver said before heading out of the airstrip’s parking lot.

“Thank you. I’m so excited to be here.” Hot drinks sat in the twin cupholders. It was a kind gesture, and she didn’t want to be rude, but she didn’t drink black coffee.

Beau tasted his. He lifted it so the driver could see through the rearview mirror. “Perfect. Appreciate it.”

“No problem,” the driver said.

Beau tipped his chin to hers. “That should warm you up.”

He knew her preferences, so she chanced a sip and found it was the best vanilla chai latte she’d ever tasted. “How did you know?”

The driver smiled. “Mr. Gentry told me what to get you.”

Impulsively, she leaned in and kissed Beau’s cheek. “Pinch me.” She grabbed his hand and forced his thumb and index finger together. “So, I can be sure I’m not making you up.”

Grinning, he pinched her cheek. “You’re cute, getting excited over a chai.”

“I think you know it’s not about the chai.” When she cuddled up to him, he gripped her thigh in a claiming gesture, and it made her pulse go wild.

She couldn’t believe she’d actually done it.

She’d moved across the country with a man she’d just met.

But what-ifs were swooping around her mind like bats in the dead of night.

What if the passion fizzles out?

What if I get up one morning to find I’ve awakened next to a stranger?

All those possibilities seemed more probable than things working out between them.

Damn you, Scott.

Look what you’ve done to me.

Her ex had changed her definition of the word love when he’d shown her self-preservation trumped it. He’d shown her that loyalty hinged on the conditions of one’s life.

She’d known Beau for a few days. He could be bored of her in a week. He could fall in love with someone new next month.

Or… It could work. And if she didn’t believe that, then she should turn the car around and run back into her room at the lodge.

Nope. Not going anywhere.

She kissed his cheek, breathing in his woody, pine scent.

“You okay?”

“Perfect.” She wasn’t going to vomit her anxiety all over him. She needed to get it under control. The only way to make sure the relationship fails is to sabotage it.

Yes, her ex had screwed her over, and no, Beau’s character hadn’t been tested, but something in her gut pressed her to trust him, to give him—them—a chance, and so, she’d give it her all.

The snow-covered forest on either side of the highway was right out of a fairy tale. “This is beautiful.” A horse-drawn sleigh cruised across the vast acreage of the bison preserve. “We’re going to have so much fun.” If we make the time. Her ex wasn’t a great communicator, so she’d made a lot of assumptions. She wouldn’t make that mistake with Beau. “I know we’re both busy, but I hope we make the time to have some fun together. All I’ve done is work, you know? But now that I’m here, there’s so much I want to do and see. I want to live again.”

He gave her a warm smile. “I have a pretty good incentive to delegate even more now.”

And just like that, the anxiety broke. See? All you have to do is talk to him. “I want to see moose. And wolves. Do you have grizzly bears here?” She was talking too fast.

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