AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course they will. What’s up with Annika?”
“What do you mean?”
“No verbal jabs. A full-on smile. Is she getting laid?”
She swatted him on the leg before she could think better of it. Hard, hard muscle. Sweet lord. “Please do not speculate about my sister’s sex life.”
“Fine. I’ll stick to yours.” He slid a wicked sidelong look her way.
“Also off limits and against the Rules of Divorce. Let’s just have quiet time in the car.” It was the kind of thing she said to her boys.
“Only if you we can play ‘the wheels on the bus go round and round’ over and over until our ears bleed.”
As they both laughed at the memory, a flurry of snow came at the windshield like a whirling dervish of ice crystals.
“Maybe quiet time is a good idea,” Billy muttered. “At least until I get a feel for the roads.”
They both stopped talking and concentrated on the road ahead. They only had to drive for an hour and a half until they reached the small regional airport where they’d hop on a plane to Minneapolis. That flight would be less than an hour, and get them to the dinner in plenty of time. But they might have underestimated the trip back.
It suddenly occurred to her that they could very well get stranded somewhere along the line.
“I hope flights aren’t getting canceled,” Billy murmured after a while. “Can you check?”
After a quick phone call, she informed him that all flights were a go. “It’s not snowing as much up there, the plows are able to keep up with it.”
The snow kept falling in thick curtains of white. The windshield wipers raced to catch up, their frantic movements almost hypnotic. Jenna was very glad that Billy was driving. She felt completely safe with him behind the wheel. If she was driving, her neck and shoulders would be a solid ball of tension.
They both slumped in relief when the snow eased up just before they reached the Bemidji Regional Airport.
“Nice driving,” she said as he pulled into a parking spot.
He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. Her soft heart got the better of her. The poor man still had a flight and a dinner ahead of him.
“Here, let me.” Steeling herself, she reached for the back of his neck and massaged the tight tendons. He dropped his head and let her work. She felt his muscles relax under her strokes. She remembered exactly how hard he liked his neck rubs—not too deep, but not gentle either.
In the back of her mind, she knew this was asking for trouble. Right at the start of a whole day and possibly a night together, she had no business having physical contact with him. But he’d done such a good job getting them safely to the airport, and it felt so good to touch his skin again…
Stop. She ordered herself. And snatched her hand away. “We’d better check in.”
Billy’s phone buzzed. While he answered, she collected herself and pulled on her coat. She had to remember to be on her guard during this trip.
“Shit,” he muttered as he ended the call. “Thomas and Galen have to cancel. Thomas got stuck in a ditch and they’re trying to get his truck out.”
“Oh no! Is everyone okay?”
And then it sank in. “Oh no,” she said with an entirely different intonation. “So much for the family event. Should we cancel?”
Billy scrubbed a hand through his hair, then rested his forearms on the steering wheel. “I can’t. It’ll look bad if I don’t show up at this point. It would seem like a ‘fuck you.’ But if you don’t want to come, I can call a cab or an Uber to take you home.”
“I’m not driving in the snow with some random stranger.”
“You can take my truck. I’ll find my own way back. If you leave right now you can probably beat the worst of the snow.”
Drive back alone, with the snow accelerating into blizzard territory? Not a chance.
She weighed the situation, finding few to no options. “What will you do if I don’t go?”
“Go solo. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about that.”
