AllFreeNovel
Share Us
By the time I choke my heart back down into my chest and pry my eyes open, we’re in some small town near the highway, parked with one tire on the curb of what I’m guessing is Main Street. And Diesel’s sprinting through a doorway tucked between a couple shops with twinkle lights framing the windows.
Shit.
I climb out and follow, ending up in a small entry/mailroom.
Empty. And the security door to the apartments upstairs locked.
I dick around for a second, contemplating pushing all three call buttons when the door to the street opens behind me, and a redhead with her hair up in one of those sexy-as-fuck messy knots blows in with half a dozen shopping bags in hand. She stops short and, cheeks rosy from the cold, stares at me with the widest, greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.
Damn. She’s gorgeous, and with a chunky scarf in the same evergreen as her eyes, red coat, and ginger hair, this girl looks like Christmas incarnate. I bet she bakes cookies and sings Christmas classics in the shower.
And the way she’s loaded down with gifts, I’m guessing there’s a big family holiday ahead. Boyfriend planning the big ask, maybe. Who the hell knows, but I like it for her.
“Oh, hey,” she says, taking a hasty step back. “Can I help you?”
“I don’t know. Think you can wrestle a pro-hockey player into my car and keep him there long enough to get him on a flight to Vegas?”
A smooth brow a shade darker than her hair wings up in a wry arch—my kryptonite—and I’ve changed my mind. No boyfriend. For the thoughts that raised brow stirs, I’m sincerely hoping this girl is single.
I grin. “Say yes, and there’s a ticket for you in it too.”
Her mouth drops open, but whatever shutdown she’s about to deliver gets cut off by the muffled sound of arguing coming from upstairs.
We both move for the security door, which is stupid since only one of us has a key. I wave her ahead, and she inches past with her bags.
She gives me the side-eye.
“Who are you?”
“Noel. I’m with Diesel,” I say, pointing up.
She stills, door halfway open, and turns to me with an unreadable look. “Diesel?Here?”
Barreling through the doorway, she takes the stairs two at a time, and yeah, with a response like that, I have to follow.
* * *
Misty
No freaking way is Diesel,theDiesel of my sister’s Do-Not-Mention-Vegas misadventures actually here, in our apartment.
Did they somehow reconnect in Seattle while she was interviewing? But then why would he be here? Fighting with her. Ugh.
I reach the second floor with this Noel in tow. He’s big, like really big, and I half expect him to steamroll right over me, but he hangs back. The door to our place is open, the voices inside quieter now but still coming with some urgency. Not the alarming kind where I need to barge in there. I’ve been accidentally overhearing my big sister’s conversations since she was old enough to have anything good to listen to, and this is not an intervention-level engagement.
But I’ve waited a year to find out what happened on that trip, and no way am I walking in and risking Stormy’s already tight lips clamping shut even tighter when she sees me. So, I inch closer to the door on tiptoes, straining to catch a bit of the tea she won’t willingly share with me.
Rude. I know. But we’re only a year apart, and this is how I roll. She wouldn’t expect anything less.
“Get anything good?” I startle at the too-close, too-gruff whisper and turn to find Noel beside me, one heavy shoulder propped against the wall, bulging arms folded over his chest, and his powerful legs casually crossed.
I blink. This guy is seriously hot and built like whoa. Even beneath the bomber jacket and jeans, there’s no missing that muscular frame.
He’s got dark hair that’s falling in loose, overlong curls around his face, a crooked nose, and a lopsided grin that’s so contagious, I find myself smiling in return and revising my assessment. He’s a seriously hotgoof.
Unraveling those big arms, he signals for my bags and then sets them carefully at our feet.
Our eyes meet, and we lean in to listen.
