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Audrie scanned the setup behind him and laughed. “That’s the horse from the set.”
He nodded. “Lucky. I borrowed her and this costume, which the wardrobe department has on hand. Apparently, there’s a Santa in one of the upcoming shoots.”
“But why?”
She looked at the platform he’d been standing on. She assumed it was supposed to be a sleigh, but it was really just a large plank of wood covered in snow.
“It was the best we could do on short notice,” he said. “Your friend Christian helped me put it together, but the idea was all mine.”
“Exactly whatisthe idea?”
He smiled and spread his arms wide. “I’m bringing Christmas to you. To wherever you are. I was hoping you’d be at the salon, but Christian told me where your house is just in case you weren’t here.”
At that point, he pulled the beard down, propping it below his chin. That was better. This whole conversation was weird when she couldn’t see his full face. As he looked at her now, there was no mistaking the emotion in his eyes. Whatever he was about to say, he fully meant it.
“I’m falling in love with you, Audrie Bishop,” he said. “I told my brother and everyone who was within earshot, so I figured I should probably let you in on it. You know how rumors can travel in a small town.”
All she could do was nod. The ability to speak seemed to have left her.
“I know I messed up,” he said after a few seconds of silence. “I messed up multiple times. And I’d understand it if you never wanted to forgive me. I just want another chance. Go tell Jessica off if you want. Nobody else is going to get in the way of me demonstrating how I feel about you.”
He turned slightly, indicating the makeshift sleigh behind him. Was it her imagination, or had Lucky started to get a little restless up there? The horse snorted and shuffled her feet as if to say, “let’s go!”
If Landon noticed it, he didn’t let it show. He just continued talking.
“As you can see, there are no limits to what I’ll do to win you over.”
She had to say something. She had to recover her ability to speak somehow. Landon was doing this big gesture for her when she should be showing him that she was ready to jump in with both feet.
The fear would still be there. But as he looked at her, she knew she could trust him. He would take good care of her heart.
“I’m falling in love with you, too,” she said. “And it terrifies me, but only because of past experience. I have a bad habit of choosing guys who are unavailable because I’m afraid. All this time, I’ve been running from getting close to someone. But I’m ready to stop running now.”
“I’m not unavailable.” He stepped toward her, looking down at her, and the warmth in his eyes made her feel like she would never have to fear anything again. “I know I live in California, but that can change. We’ll make it work.”
Smiling, Audrie shoved her phone into her back pocket, then reached out and took both his hands in hers. As she looked up at him, she couldn’t imagine ever thinking he’d hurt her. For the first time in her life, she felt completely safe in a relationship.
He leaned down to kiss her. Just seconds before his lips would have made contact, something distracted her. Something that was moving.Luckywas moving.
Gasping, Audrie stepped back. “Lucky’s getting away.”
It seemed to take Landon a few extra seconds to register what she’d said. By then, the horse was already making good progress down the road.
They paused only long enough to exchange a look before taking off after Lucky. By the time they caught up with her, Audrie wasn’t sure if she was more tired from the sprint or the laughter that had overtaken both of them.
EPILOGUE
“Are you busy?”
Landon lowered the remote to his side and turned to look at his wife. Audrie stood in the doorway, her long, flowy tank top and leggings telling him she’d changed since arriving home from the salon a couple of hours ago.
She worked at the same downtown Corbin salon she’d owned when he met her. But now she had a slightly farther drive to get to their ranch on the property Landon had bought ten miles away.
“Just scanning through the Christmas movies. Did you know it’s Christmas in July?” Smiling, he turned back to face the big-screen TV mounted to the wall in their living room. “Who knew our movies would get year-round airtime?”
After a too-long silence, he turned back to face her again. His smile faded. Was something wrong?
“Are they showing our movie again?” she asked.
