Page 3 of Sleigh Me Baby

“I’ll tell you what, how about I think about it and get back to you? I am looking forward to that sleigh ride we have scheduled for tomorrow, it’s going to be so much fun.”

Celeste rolls her eyes and shakes her head at me. She’s the more adventurous one out of the two of us. She’d rather go hiking and camping while I’d rather stay in by the fire, reading a good book. Speaking of books, I’ve loaded my Kindle with a bunch of books I haven’t had the time to read yet. This vacation is just what we needed.

“Natalie don’t miss your exit,” Celeste says tapping my arm and pointing to the exit on the right.

I totally would have missed my exit if she didn’t say something. “Don’t worry, I got it. Now, which way am I going, left or right?”

“You’re taking a left.” She says staring down at her phone.

I don’t know how people did this before GPS. I can remember going online and printing out MapQuest directions whenever I needed to get somewhere, but what about before that? I don’t know if I would have ever been able to follow a map to get anywhere too far away. I mean, I still get lost listening to the GPS on my phone.

I take the left and take in my surroundings. There isn’t much out here after we pass the gas station except for a bunch of trees. After a few miles, I see an intricate wooden sign that reads Maier Cabin Resort. The sign looks hand-carved and reminds me of something I might find in Germany.

“Turn right at the next road.”

“Celeste, we aren’t in Kansas anymore,” I say when we pass a few more hand-carved wooden signs.

She laughs. “I read up on this town when I was doing research about where we were going. Supposedly it’s some tiny Bavarian town. We should definitely venture into the town and eat at an authentic German restaurant while we’re here. I bet the food is amazing.”

I give her the side-eye then burst out laughing. “You would want to do that.”

“You need to loosen up and try new things Natie.”

I don’t say anything. Instead, I make my turn and follow the road until we come up to a cabin with a sign out front that reads Maier Cabin Resort. I park and look over at Celeste. “Ready?”

“More than you’ll ever know.” She sighs.

“Girl, me too. Let’s go get our keys so we can get this vacay started.”

We both get out and walk towards the cabin. I open the door for Celeste and she’s about to walk in when a guy walks out, straight into Celeste, knocking her on her ass. He’s dressed in a dark blue flannel, jeans, and boots. The guy is massive. He reaches down to help Celeste up, but she gives him a dirty look.

“I’ve got it.” She snaps and gets to her feet herself.

“How about next time you watch where you’re going.” He mutters and walks off.

“He was trying to help you, Celeste.” I try to reason with her.

She rolls her eyes. “He’s the one who should have been watching where he was going. He ran into me.”

“Easy there, tiger. Come on, let’s do this.” I motion for her to walk through again, but instead, she grabs the door from me, so I’ll enter first.

When I walk in, I notice immediately that the cabin looks more like a home than an office. There’s a fireplace on the back wall with three couches situated in front of it in a U shape and a wooden coffee table in the middle. There isn’t much in the way of decorations, except for a few pictures hung on the walls. If anything, it reminds me of a tidy hunting cabin. When I look to the right, there’s a desk with a computer, a desk calendar, and a phone. There’s also a small picture frame that says, “ring bell for service.”

“Well this place is -”

“Rustic?” I answer.

Celeste elbows me in the side and brushes past me to ring the bell that’s on the desk. I pull my phone out to check what everyone is up to in Facebook land while we wait. About a minute later, we hear someone walking down the hallway on the right, so I move to put my phone in my purse when I see a tall, dark-haired man dressed in a light grey Henley and warn jeans, walking up to the desk. I’m so busy staring at him, that I don’t realize my phone isn’t in my purse when I drop it in. My phone falls to the ground, snapping me out of my hot guy fog. I bend down to grab my phone when he does the same.

Grabbing my phone, he hands it to me, and I look up into the darkest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Everything about this man calls to me on a level I’ve never felt before. He’s gorgeous, but does his personality match his looks? For all I know, he could be a complete asshole. He clears his throat and offers me my phone again and I finally grab it from him. My hand accidentally brushes against his sending a shiver of awareness through me.

“Thank you,” I say and stand.

“Not a problem,” He answers and stands to his full height, making me feel small at five foot eight. “Welcome to Maier Cabin Resort. Are you ladies wanting to rent a cabin for the weekend?” He asks walking around the desk.

“We already have one booked. It’s under the name Michaels.”

He looks between us, at his computer, then back at us wearing a confused expression. “You’re the couple that won the couple’s romantic cabin weekend on the radio?”

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