Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
James extended his hand to help me into the sleigh.
I took it, but every innocent contact was like a spark that ignited a memory. The wine cellar in Ireland. The kiss at the tasting. How it felt to feel his erection between my legs when I’d woken up on top of him…
My heel promptly slipped on the metal step. James caught me before I could face-plant into the sleigh, his hands firm on my waist.
"I got you," he murmured close to my ear.
"You two are so cute," Lily gushed again as she cozied up next to Marcus in the seat behind ours.
The resort had arranged three sleighs for our group. Ours was me, James, Lily, and Marcus. Behind us, Richard, Dick, and one of the three brothers sat with a pair of older women I assumed were some of the aunts. In the back, the other two handsome brothers sat with Charity and another older pair of Wellington men.
Now we were all tucked into the red sleigh with its plush blankets and gleaming brass bells. The horses shifted impatiently in their harnesses, their breath forming twisting clouds in the crisp afternoon air.
"Everyone settled?" the driver asked.
I nodded as James situated one of the blankets over our laps. To my pleasant surprise, the blanket had been heated and felt amazing. His thigh pressed against mine as he situated himself closer than strictly necessary.
"Gotta keep my girl warm," he said innocently.
I glared at him. He knew exactly what he was doing.
The sleigh jerked into motion, bells jingling as we glided over the snow.
It was beautiful. The forest around us looked like something from a Christmas card, all snow-laden pines and sparkling ice crystals with mountains rising around us in every direction.
Within minutes, we had left behind the well-traveled roads that were full of packed snow from vehicles. We cut across a perfectly untouched field of white snow and headed for a forest trail that wound between the trees.
It was like another world, with no sound but the trotting horses and the thick silence of the blanketed forest.
"This is so romantic," Lily sighed, snuggling into Marcus' side.
"Sure is." James' hand found mine under the blanket. I tried to pull away, but he just threaded our fingers together. "Cold hands," he explained, loud enough for the others to hear.
"So," Lily said, "how did spilling your drink on my sister lead to you two dating, exactly?”
I tensed. We hadn't thought to work more on our cover story, which wasn’t like me at all. I was usually so careful with all the details. I was usually so concerned with preventing disaster that I thought of everything. When it came to our fake relationship, it felt like I wasn’t using my brain at all.
No. I was too busy thinking with another part of my body when it came to James.
But he had made up several stories about our dating life that first night over drinks. I guess I just assumed nobody would want to know more than that, but it was a stupid assumption.
"She needed something to wear," James said smoothly. "She was meeting with a client a few minutes from where we were, and didn’t have time to go back to her place. We hit my apartment and I let her borrow some of my sister’s clothes. It was almost a perfect fit.”
“Your sister keeps her clothes in your apartment?” Marcus asked.
He has a sister?
“She was staying with me for the week. Lucky coincidence.”
“And then what?” Lily asked.
“Well, I was admittedly smitten. So I slipped my phone number into the pocket of my sister’s jacket with a little message.”
“What was the message?” Lily asked. She was eating the story up.
So was I.
It was like he was imagining how this could have happened between us in another world—one where our professional lives didn’t clash so spectacularly.
“It said he hasn’t been with a woman in years,” I said before James could continue. “That he was desperate, and went on to beg me to call him back.”
James cleared his throat. “Ah, yeah. Something like that.”
Lily laughed. “Really? What possessed you to write that on the note?”
“I’m persistent when I want something,” he said softly.
The way he said ‘want’ sent heat through my entire body.
"What about you two?" James asked. "How did you meet?"
"Oh, it was so cute," Lily started, but she was cut off by a sudden lurch of the sleigh.
One of the horses had spooked at something in the trees, rearing up with a nervous whinny. The other horse danced sideways, making the sleigh rock precariously.
"Whoa!" The driver pulled on the reins, but the horses were properly scared now. They were trying to walk in different directions, which was making the sleigh rock from side to side. If they kept this up, the whole thing would tip, or maybe be dragged straight into a tree.