“I got a text message from Judy using your phone telling me you’d been in an accident and were being taken out in an ambulance, and then she never responded to my text or answered the many times I tried to call. I walked out of a meeting and got on the next plane out.”
“A commercial flight?” She laughs again, and I hear Natalie snort. “You’re not driving a rental car, are you? You hardly ever drive a car yourself, so you shouldn’t be talking on the phone while you’re behind the wheel.”
“By some miracle, I was able to get the last seat on a commuter flight. And don’t worry about me.” I give Natalie the closest thing I have to a pleading look. “I have a driver.”
Natalie not only rolls her eyes—she rolls her entire head. But she doesn’t laugh in my face or say anything that will embarrass me.
“But back to you,” I say to my mom. “Did you hit your head? Is there anything you’re not telling me? I mean, Judy sounded panicked and then I couldn’t reach her.”
“You know Judy. I love the woman, but she gets distressed if I stub my toe. Staying calm while I’m being rescued from the side of a mountain isn’t in her skill set. And she left her phone in our suite. I put mine in the outer pocket of my shell instead of inside and the cold killed the battery, so it died right after she sent you the text.”
After hours of imagining the worst, listening to the teasing affection in Mom’s voice as she talks about her wife releases the tension in my muscles. I lean my head back against the headrest with a sigh of relief.
“I’m just waiting for my discharge papers,” she continues, “and then we’re heading back to the resort. Judy said we’ll order room service and watch movies.”
I wince because crashing my mom and stepmom’s anniversary trip isn’t on my holiday to-do list. But there’s no sense in going back to the airport until they find my briefcase. “I’ll be there at—“
I glance at the phone, but there’s no bubble at the top indicating the GPS is offering directions—and an ETA—in the background. When I look at her, Natalie shrugs and gestures at the swirling snow and flash of brake lights ahead of us. And a glance at her dashboard tells me we’re doing thirty miles per hour under the highway’s speed limit.
“I don’t know when I’ll get there, but I’m on my way. Can you see if they have a room for me at the resort? I don’t care what kind of room, but I don’t have my phone, so it’s easier if you handle it when you get back.”
“You don’t have your phone?” Not only does she laugh, but I can hear Judy laughing in the background. “Not having your phone would require you to have actually set it down.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Are you calling from your driver’s phone, then? Can I reach you on it?”
I look over at Natalie again. She nods and then recites the number for my mother.
“I’ve got it,” my mom says. “I hear the snow is really coming down, so be careful.”
I’d just disconnected when Natalie mutters something and veers right unexpectedly, taking the exit we’d been about to pass by.
“Where are we going?”
She jerks her head back to the highway, where I can barely make out a mass of brake lights through the snow. And also some headlights, which means some of those stopped cars aren’t facing the right direction. “The highway’s going to be closed. We’ll take the back roads.”
The Jeep slides a little when Natalie reaches the stop sign at the bottom of the exit ramp, but I exhale when she brings it back in line.
Having control is important to me, but I have none, so all I can do is lean against the seat and try to relax. I don’t know Natalie, but I can see she’s a capable driver in the snow. Her vehicle has four-wheel drive.
My fate’s in the hands of a pretty brunette I just met, who’s singing “Last Christmas” off-tune under her breath. It’ll be fine.
Chapter Three
Natalie
* * *
I knew when I left home that, unless the meteorologist really got it wrong, I’d be driving home from the airport in the snow. No big deal. But this is definitely more of a wintry mix, and if it tips over into freezing rain, my Jeep and I are going to be in trouble.
And because no good deed ever goes unpunished, I’ll be taking this guy along for the ride. It’s not like I can abandon him somewhere with no phone and no wallet. Leave it to me to pick up a broke billionaire.
He smells good, though. A spicy scent that’s too subtle to be cologne. Body wash, maybe. Or aftershave. And under that, a slight tang of sweat, probably from his stress in the airport. Donovan’s scent blends nicely with the cranberry air freshener hanging from my radio knob, and my mouth waters a little. I’m hungry, and it’s been a while since I’ve had a meal or a man. A billionaire wasn’t necessarily to my taste, but he’d make a sweet snack.
It’s probably a good thing keeping us on the road and facing the right direction keeps me from staring at him because I’m not sure I’d be able to stop. But the road’s getting increasingly slippery and I keep having to consciously loosen my grip on the steering wheel when my fingers ache.
I picture the map of the storm I saw on the news, and I know it’s going to be even worse when we cross over into Vermont and start heading north. If we make it that far, and it’s a big if. Home, however, isn’t that far away.
