Her eyes continued to survey the area as she ate her wrap and pulled a water bottle from her bag, offering it to him before getting one for herself. “I take it that’s the infamous holiday meditation spot,” she said, pointing her bottle toward one particular stall with a red curtain around it.
He nodded. “Yup, that’s it. You should take a look.”
“I’m not going to be weirded out, am I?”
“Not unless he’s changed it since I looked in earlier today.”
“Okay, well, now I’m curious.” She jumped from her seat, stuffing her empty food wrapper in her pocket. He followed behind her, watching as she pulled the curtain back to reveal the inside of the stall.
“You did this?” she asked.
He wished he could tell her yes because she appeared impressed. “No. All I did was nail up the fabric around the stall.”
“My God.” Natalie plopped onto a small red chaise, running her fingers along the edge. “He brought this in?”
When Stan had asked Mason for help in dragging the velvet chaise into the barn, he had agreed but not without rolling his eyes because, as usual, Diva Santa was being ridiculous. But seeing Natalie upon it did funny things to his imagination, things that Stan had never intended for his chaise, and they got Mason’s heart beating. He leaned casually against one of the stall’s posts because, if he didn’t, he might take advantage of the couch. In addition to the chaise, there was a small table with a mirror propped up and a candy dish full of peppermint balls. He leaned to flick on the battery-operated twinkle lights so she could get the full effect. Pinned on the wall was a copy of theEl Dorado Timesarticle, a small photo of a tan and white guinea pig wearing tiny antlers, and a selfie picture of Stan and Candy the Elf.
“Yup,” Mason answered. “He said the couch was something he had lying around at his place.”
She leaned to grab a peppermint candy from Stan’s dish, unwrapping it before popping it into her mouth. “We might have to fake break up. Stan is starting to win me over with his style.”
He put his hands in a surrender pose. “Fair. Maybe you understand now why I was so eager to keep you guys apart.”
“It’s too bad he’s obsessed with Christmas. I’d probably only make it until November before wanting to stab myself in the eye. Christmas guys and I are probably a recipe for not only disaster but also severe food poisoning and vomiting.”
“Yikes. I hope it won’t be that bad.” Did she also see a relationship between them as that same recipe? He brushed the thought aside, reaching an open hand to her. “All right, food’s gone. You’re getting too comfortable. It’s time to go tubing.”
She put her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up. “I don’t suppose I can request a coffee meditation stall.”
“I’m going to have to start charging stall rental fees. Do you think I should add that to my future business plan portfolio?”
She laughed.
They left the barn, each with one of the tubes Mason had filled earlier, venturing to a nearby hill. The area was one he’d snow tubed many times with his mom when he’d been a kid.
The sun was already setting, making the day shift into dusk, but there were still a few rays of light, plus Mason had made sure to turn on the lights on the side of the barn so it wouldn’t be too dark. They trudged up the hill in at least a foot of snow, Natalie dragging her tube behind her.
“Do you want me to carry that?”
“I got it,” she replied, even if she was breathing heavily as they continued up the hill. “God, I run marathons in the summer. I feel like if I go down the hill, I’m not going to want to come back up again.”
“Come on,” he said, feeling somewhat winded himself. “We’re almost there.”
After reaching the top, she set her tube on the snow and gingerly sat inside it with her legs dangling over the edge. “Can you just push me? It’s been a while since I’ve done this and I’m tired from being on my feet all day.”
Putting his hands on her shoulders, he leaned closer and said in a low voice, “I think you are exactly the type of villain who likes getting her hair pulled.”
“What?” She turned her head, but it was too late because he gave her a good shove and she went over the edge. A gleeful shriek transitioning into laughter followed her.
Mason couldn’t wait and grabbed his own tube before tipping himself over the edge as well. As much as going up the hill was a pain, doing it with her was nothing. He might be able to float up.
“Maybe we should go at the same time, make it a race, and see who gets to the bottom first,” she suggested.
“Okay.” It wasn’t a fair race considering he weighed a lot more than she did. This had to give him an advantage but perhaps he could use one. “Does the winner get to pick their prize?”
“Hmm, maybe.” She tapped a finger to her chin, her eyes drifting upwards as she pondered the proposition. “Okay, if I get down the hill first, I get my own meditation stall in the barn.”
“All right, and if I get down the bottom of the hill first…” which Mason definitely would because, again, he had the advantage here “…I get a kiss.”
