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My breath hitches when he leans over me. “What are you doing?” I squeak out.
“Seatbelt, Red.” The click of the buckle is loud in the car. “You clearly need someone to look out for you.” He smirks.
I can't stop the sound of annoyance that comes from me. It only makes his smirk deeper and sexier.
This is going to be the longest hour of my life.
Merry freakin’ Christmas to me.
5
KNOX
She’s just like I remember her down to the last strand of hair. And her scent—it’s the same.
“Are you sure you’re supposed to be picking me up?” She shifts in her seat, her body facing me more, as if this is some sort of confrontation.
I don’t mind. It just gives me a better view of her. She has no idea how much self-control it took for me not to kiss her the moment I saw her. “I’m sure. Lorraine has her hands full at the bakery, so I offered to pick you up and save her the time.”
“Why?” One of her eyebrows arches.
I remember that look. But somehow it’s sexier now. All grown up.
“She has a lot of orders.” I shrug as I pull out onto the main highway leading to Reindeer Valley.
“Not ‘why couldn’t she come,’ more like ‘why would you ever volunteer to waste your time with a lowly little peasant like me?’” Her tone is almost cutting, but she’s still too sweet to really draw blood.
“Peasant?” I laugh. “It’s that the sort of talk they teach you in the city?”
She rolls her eyes. Adorable. “Just answer the question.”
“I wanted to see you.” That’s the damn truth and then some. Spying on her in the city was acute torture. Being close enough to touch her but having to sit back and wait—I honestly don’t know how I did it. But I wanted to give her time to find herself, to discover on her own that she belongs here with me. Of course, I can admit I may have given her a little nudge …
“You wanted to see me?” She blows a raspberry. “Lies.”
“Is that so hard to believe?” I pass a slow-moving truck laden with freshly-cut Christmas trees as a light snow shower falls all around.
“Yes.” She turns and looks out the window as the airport town falls away and the scenery becomes more forested.
“It’s the truth, Ruby.” I reach out to take her hand, but she wiggles in her seat and clasps her fingers together, her gaze still on the snowy woods.
“Sure, Knox.” She doesn’t sound the least bit convinced. “Whatever you say.”
I frown, unsure of how to convince her, but I counsel myself to be more patient. After all, she just got back.
“One thing’s for sure.” She sighs. “I’ve missed this. The way the air is so crisp, the snowy woods, everything that feels like home.”
“The city not living up to expectations?”
“It’s fine,” she replies quickly. Too quickly. And I don’t miss the furtive glance she sends my way.
“Just ‘fine’?”
She wrinkles her nose. “It’s not really your business, is it?”
Everything to do with her is my business, but I don’t want to push. Not yet, anyway.
“Grams told me you never left the Valley.” She cuts me a sly look. “But I guess you wouldn’t have to go anywhere. I mean, you’re already king of the town. You’ve got your mansion up on the hill where you can lord it over the rest of us. Must be nice to have everything laid out for you like a little prince.”
