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“Hey, be nice, and if you can’t be nice, you’ll turn into Heather,” Maria said.
“There’s a warning tale for teenagers if ever I heard one,” Kristen said, snorting a chuckle when Heather offered them her middle finger. “And a Merry Christmas to you too.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
~
Zoe was suited and booted and ready for action when Billy walked out of the bedroom after taking a shower. He eyed her with amused curiosity. “Snowball fight?” he asked with a mocking grin.
Zoe considered it. “We could, but that would deplete my energy for the journey to come.”
“Journey?” Billy asked, yanking the sleeves of his sweatshirt up to reveal the corded muscles of his forearms.
Zoe tried to ignore any muscles on display. She was grateful that the man was civilised enough to wear clothes and not walk around naked – although, also a little disappointed, but she wasn’t telling him that. “Back to my cabin. I just need you to point the way.”
Billy chuckled to himself. “That’s not happening.”
“Just a few directions would do it,” Zoe said, trying to play nice while he was being awkward.
“Well, there’s a little rock formation about ye high,” he said, indicating at his knee. “But wait, that’ll be covered in snow. Okay, there’s a hollowed-out tree, but again, snow drift.”
“I get it, snow, but there has to be a way to navigate.”
“You could wait until dark and navigate by the stars, I guess,” he said, shrugging.
Zoe sighed. “You’re not being very helpful.”
“Helping you to kill yourself by getting lost in the snow again wasn’t on my to-do list for the day,” Billy replied.
“I didn’t get lost last night; I was just…” She winced as she tried to find a way to cover her backside and make her point.
“Communing with nature?”
“Yes.” She pointed a witching finger at him. “Nature.”
“Drunk, face down in the snow, and in the middle of nowhere?”
Zoe’s smile dropped, and she sighed again. “Not helpful.”
“Not going anywhere,” he replied.
Zoe drew in a long breath and held it. Then she eyed him with suspicion. “This attempt to keep me here with you – so you can woo me?”
“Whoa, you’re believing your own hype there, witchy,” he said, walking behind the counter and reaching for the coffee pot and his used cup.
“My own hype?” Zoe said and placed her hands on her hips, tipping her head to one side as she stared at him.
“I’m not wooing you,” Billy said. “If I were wooing you, you’d know I was wooing you.” He hoped he sounded convincing because he didn’t know the first thing about wooing a witch and wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
“Why do you wear a special sweatshirt with the word wooing on it?”
“No, I’d trim my beard,” Billy said.
Zoe couldn’t help but chuckle, she tried, and it came out in a snort. “Okay, look, timeout. I just want to get out of here.”
“I had a shower,” he said, his eyes sparkling with humour.
It took Zoe a moment to remember their first encounter when she’d directed him to the toiletries aisle, and then she folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow at him. “But did you use soap?”
