Chapter One

Jen

“This isn’t something I make a habit of. Cut me some slack!” I stare at my friend Heather with firm intent. Maybe if I look confident, my decisions will sound more confident too.

She laughs, “Yeah, no slack here, sorry. I mean, what are the chances that a guy who owns a Christmas tree farm is also an axe murderer?”

“I mean, he already owns the axe, so I guess it’s possible.” I laugh at my own joke, but my stomach tightens a little as I speak. I don’t usually make a habit of getting together with men I meet online.

“You should’ve talked to him more before you flew out there. I mean, what if he’s not even who he says he is?” Heather and I met at work a few years back and we became fast friends. She’s the school counselor, which explains a lot.

“I didn’t want to jinx it.”

“What exactly are we jinxing by talking to the man ? Talking seems like the least of the requirements before meeting up with someone. Do I need to give you the pamphlet on online dating? I feel like teenage girls have more sense about this than you right now.”

“Ouch! You jealous or what?”

She lets out a short laugh and I have a feeling I’ve struck a chord. “No. I’m not jealous of your paid boyfriend. I’m just, ugh… I’m being a bitch. Sorry.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Bryan broke up with me last night. Well, technically, I broke up with him, then he told me he was planning on breaking up with me anyway, so…”

“What the hell? What happened, babe? I’m so sorry!” I roll my suitcase through the busy airport as I hold the phone to my ear, attempting to filter Heather’s voice out from the announcements and Christmas music turning over the speakers. I’m not sure how many more times I can hear the same Mariah Carey song, but the universe is tempting my sanity as we speak.

“He’d been acting weird lately, so I showed up at his office last week and followed him to lunch with some girl.” Her voice shakes when she talks. “He was… yeah. I… he was cheating. I don’t know for how long.”

“Jesus, babe!” I’m gutted for Heather. She’s one of the sweetest people I know. The kind of person who spends days coming up with plans for families in need of their free time. The kind of person who looks out for everyone else before herself.

“Why didn’t you tell me before I left? I would have brought you out here with me. You guys were together for almost a year. You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“I’m fine, just feeling dumb and not sure what I’m doing for Christmas anymore. We had this whole thing planned. How could he be shopping for Christmas gifts with me and also,” she huffs out a sigh, “it doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Love is just some stupid excuse to get people to help with your bills.”

“Okay… you’re coming out to Rugged Mountain. I’ll send you a ticket. Consider it my Christmas gift.”

“No, you’re not buying me a plane ticket last minute on Christmas Eve. That’s insane. I know how much money we make. Besides, I’ll be fine here with Fargo.”

“You are not spending Christmas alone with your cat. You’re coming here to spend Christmas watching me make an ass out of myself. End of story.” I pull up the flights as I talk. There’s one left leaving in the next hour and arriving in Colorado Springs right after the eclipse. “I’ve got you on the two o’clock. Throw some shit in a bag, ask your neighbor to feed the cat, and get to the airport. I’m sending the ticket right now.”

“What?”

“Yes! Now go get ready. Maybe you’ll meet a nice, big, mountain man who can help remind you how great you are.”

I can almost hear her eyes roll. “The last thing I need right now is another man, but since I see you’ve already bought the ticket. I guess I’m on my way. How are you? Throwing up yet?”

The automatic glass doors that lead onto the sidewalk open and I pull my small suitcase through, making note of every truck, car, and SUV currently waiting. None of them are Sam. “Kind of. I know this is dumb. This guy is way out of my league, and everyone is going to see straight through the little play I’m putting on. I just,” I blow out a heavy breath, “I can’t take another holiday alone.”

Security motions for the cars parked in the drop-off zone to move. “I can wait here for you. I mean, you’ll be out here in—”

“No way. I’ll rent a car and meet you wherever you’re at. You have a man to meet.”

Right, a man to meet . Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I watch a family of four stand with their rolling cases in hand, waving down an SUV with a taxi sign on it. They’re dressed like they’re going skiing for the week, or maybe spending Christmas in some fancy cabin in the mountains. Everything about them is normal, and it’s never been more glaringly obvious that I’m not.

“Maybe I should bail on this whole thing. The cinnamon rolls smelled pretty good walking through the terminals. I could order two with a coffee and wait for you. I bet we could rent our own cabin and have a girls’ Christmas.”

“Next year, for sure. This year… you’ve just paid a man two grand to give you an adventure. I think you need to see how this plays out.”

When I hear it out loud, I sound desperate. Lord, am I this desperate?

Bags shuffle and something loud clanks against the phone. “Sorry, packing in a hurry. I should probably let you go. I’ll text you when I land. Please, please, please, leave your location on… just in case this guy is crazy. Oh, and write down his name and everything you know about him, then send it to me. I need something to give the cops.”

“Is this on the pamphlet as well?”

She laughs and another loud bang ensues. “Yeah, so is meeting in a public place, not taking rides from him, and video chatting before you meet in person, but I suppose we’re past all that by now.”

I’m not sure we are because I’m not sure he’s even coming. “Love you, girl. Safe travels. I’ll text you everything.”

“Love you, too. See you soon!” The line disconnects and I go typing out the message with all the personal information I know about Sam, which isn’t much. His parents left the Christmas tree farm to him and his four brothers. He’s hot as hell, covered in tattoos, and he drives a dark green Silverado. Oh, and I paid him two grand to show up and pretend he’s in love with me.

Pathetic text sent. The news can have a field day with that one. I can see the headlines now. ‘ Small-town teacher pays for Christmas nightmare’ .

Maybe I should be a writer. That was pretty good.

I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly as another announcement alerts over the loudspeaker. An older couple wearing matching Christmas sweaters shuffle in through the glass doors as though they’re about to miss their flight. I hope they don’t. They’re so cute! Ugh, cute and another reminder of how incredibly dumb I am for coming out here. I should’ve just shown up alone like the loser I am and let my family tear me apart like they do. At least I wouldn’t feel like a liar on top of everything else.

I clench my hand around the handle of the suitcase and try not to burst into tears, but they’re flowing anyway.

Shit.

I spent hours following a makeup tutorial on YouTube this morning in hopes that I could manage to look halfway decent. Fumbling through my bag, I search for a tissue. Of course, there’s nothing. I really need to prepare better for things like this. A tissue seems like a super relevant thing to keep around, especially considering the number of times I burst into tears lately.

I pull down the sleeve of my sweater and dab under my eyes, carefully flowing the trail of wet streaks toward my chin.

“You okay?” a deep, raspy voice says as it settles beside me.

Oh, dear God. That’s him. The man I’ve been talking to.

My gaze follows his big work boots, up his tight jeans, over his dark inked biceps, and across his broad chest.

Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into? This man is nothing like the man in the pictures on his website. This man is bigger, hotter, and so much freakin’ cooler than I imagined, and I was imagining a pretty cool dude.

He wears a red, long sleeve flannel rolled loosely at his giant wrists and brushes his hand down over his salt and pepper beard. “Everything okay?”

Oh God, did he ask me the question twice already and I haven’t answered? “Yeah, I’m good.” I straighten the kitten sweater I’m wearing and tug on the Christmas tree earrings I thought sounded like a good idea when I left the house.

What was I thinking? I guess I thought a cute Christmas sweater and tree earrings would be appealing to a guy with a tree farm, but now I feel like a giant dork.

Rejoining my top and bottom lip, I stand from the bench and push a strand of hair from my face, pretending that I’m as normal as they come. “How are you?”

Wow. How are you? Dear God, please help me.

“Good. Sorry I’m a little late. There was extra traffic getting out of town this morning with the eclipse and all. I swear folks are coming from everywhere to see this thing.” He shrugs. “Anyway, I’m here now. You hungry or want to head back to Rugged Mountain? We’ve got a couple hours drive from here given the traffic.” He sounds stressed and immediately my stomach starts turning like I’ve made a horrible mistake. I’ve probably ruined this guy’s day. No, I’ve probably ruined his Christmas. Still, though, I can’t stop staring. He’s a literal god. A tall, inked, dark, flannel god, and I can’t look away.

“I guess we’ll stop to eat then,” he says, his voice low as he looks toward me. “You like steak? There’s a good steakhouse around the corner.” He glances down at his watch. “We’ve still got a few hours before the party starts. We should get to know each other, anyway.”

The air is cold, but I think I might be sweating. “Yeah, steak sounds good.” I grab my suitcase and roll it forward toward the truck that’s waiting a few feet away.

Sam takes it into his hands, pushes down the lever, and lifts it up into the back seat before turning back for me. His giant hand stretches out toward mine, and I quickly realize this is going to be a problem. I can’t think straight around him. Hell, I can barely breathe. He’s like the guys I’ve read about in books. Hard working, calloused hands, gritty voice, and an edge that I can’t describe. Whatever it is, it’s way too cool for me and I have a feeling I’m about to make a complete ass of myself. Keep Reading FREE IN KU