CHAPTER1
Aimee
If I stand out here much longer, I’m going to freeze to death. The snow falls at a steady pace now. Every thick flake that lands on my face melts and runs down, under the collar of my coat, soaking the neck of my favorite ugly Christmas sweater.
It seemed like the easiest thing in the world, get out of the car and walk into the house. If only what waited for me on the other side of the wreath-adorned door wasn’t my father’s disappointment when I tell him I got fired.
Any other job, it wouldn’t be a big deal. He’d hug me and tell me everything will be all right. There’s no way he’s going to hug me for losing the job I wouldn’t have gotten without his help. My dad pulled strings. Very short ones that I’ve probably broken permanently.
If only I’d told my dad “no” when he offered to make those calls. I didn’t want the job. I’m a small-town girl, through and through. After college, that’s where I wanted to find a job. Someplace like home. Being project manager at the largest tech company on the planet in one of the biggest cities was the furthest thing from home. Failure was inevitable. I knew I’d never find my place there. Never be happy.
A figure crosses the living room window, casting a shadow on the sheer curtains drawn over it. My heart flutters in a panic against my ribs. I climb back into the driver’s seat of my car careful not to slam the door behind me. The rapid beat continues not knowing what the hell I’m going to do.
My options are limited. It’s after 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve eve in one of the smallest of small towns. I’d be lucky to find a hotel for miles that isn’t booked solid.
I bring up the browser on my phone and search for other options. There’s only one I’m aware of but I’m not prepared for that encounter either. If there’s anything else, anything at all, I’ll take it.
But there isn’t anything else. The only place showing an opening is just outside city limits. Up the mountain at the What Cheer Lodge. The gorgeous mountain getaway owned and managed by Killian Tucker, also known as the only man I’ve ever loved.
I groan and try to rub away the stress ache growing fast in my stomach.
It’s not that Killian and I ended on bad terms. The decision to break up was mutual. We got into different colleges, in different states. Instead of risking a bad break-up later from the stress of a long-distance relationship, we decided to break up before we left to preserve our friendship. Not even our friendship survived the distance.
We tried to stay in touch but after a year, then two, the phone calls, then the texts, and finally the occasional comment on social media stopped. After I graduated, I thought about trying to reconnect with Killian but so much time had passed without a word it just didn’t feel right. Sort of shallow and, I don’t know, he deserves better than a “Long time, no see” sliding into his DMs from an old girlfriend that ghosted him for no good reason.
Not no good reason. Well… not a great reason. I hadn’t done anything with my life. I got the college degree, but I wasn’t happy with what it could do for me. And I didn’t want Killian to find out that we’d broken up for nothing because college didn’t do a damn thing to better my life. Leaving him for it was the worst decision I ever made. So, yeah. I’ve avoided him the last several years, afraid of finding out he’s been doing just fine without me. Because I know he is. He owns his own lodge, for crying out loud.
My car windows are completely frosted over now. I should just go inside and face the crushing guilt sure to come with breaking my dad’s heart.
Or I could avoid that pain for one more day and have a where-are-they-now reunion with my high school sweetheart.
Where am I now, you ask? Well, Killian. I’m jobless, soon to be homeless, and forever loveless. But it’s great seeing you again.
It just goes to show what scares me more, my dad’s judgment or my ex-boyfriend’s ridicule, as I start up my car to head for the What Cheer Lodge.
CHAPTER2
Killian
“And a very Merry Christmas to you, too,” I tell the young couple handing them the key to their room.
I’ve been on my feet all day, the overstuffed sofa in the lobby next to the roaring fire in the rustic stone fireplace is calling my name as I finish the daily audit. With only a couple of clicks left to save my spreadsheet, the front door swings open. Cold air and a flurry of snow waft in. My jaw drops when the one woman I never thought I’d see again follows the sparkling flakes as though the storm itself carried her here.
At first, I wonder if she’s just a figment of my imagination. A manifestation of all the times I’ve dreamt of this very moment.
“Aimz,” I say and her head whips my way. Long wavy locks swish over her shoulders under her knit hat. Her eyes are wide and unblinking when she finds me. I’m guessing she didn’t expect me to be here at this hour.
I shouldn’t have been. Normally, I wouldn’t be working the front desk this late but I live here, in the cottage only a few paces from the main lodge. The way the snow is coming down, I decided to send my staff home early to be with their families, just in case it doesn’t let up and so they won’t get stuck up here until after Christmas.
I’ve always thought Christmas holds a special kind of magic. I believe it even more watching the Christmas wish I’ve made many times before walk my way. “Welcome to the What Cheer Lodge.”
“Killian. My God, it’s been way too long.” She drops her bags and her eyes well with tears as I come around the front desk, gather her in my arms lifting her feet off the floor.
Her body is soft and all of her curves fit against me so perfectly that I never want to put her down. She even smells the same. Like honey and apples.
I hesitate to put her back down, give her the room to run away from me again but Christmas is on my side with the weather out there growing more frightful by the minute. She’s not going anywhere in this storm.
Which is why I have to ask her, “Why are you here and not at your parent’s house?” She would have had to drive past their house to get up the mountain.
