Page 1 of Wrecked for the Holidays

Chapter 1

Jakob

Bam.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

“Hello, this is EmerCall. Are you all right?” The robotic voice echoed through the interior of my car. This was not the magical experience I was hoping for today.

“I’m fine. Please call a tow truck.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Calling a tow truck now.”

“Thank you.”

“Emergency contact notified.”

Gah. Did anyone remember to update their emergency contact info as adults? I couldn’t even imagine being so on top of the minutiae of life that updating contact information for a service you weren’t supposed to need made the top ten—or even the top hundred—on a person’s to-do list.

I quickly assessed myself, and the only thing in significant pain was my right hand. The airbag had deployed upon impact, and my hands had been at ten and two, just as my driving school instructors demonstrated, so I suspected perhaps my fingers were sprained from the force of the bag.

This was…suboptimal.

“Are you okay? Sir! I need you to answer me. Are you okay?”

I turned to my open car door—when did that happen?—and looked into the prettiest brown eyes I’d ever seen. With flecks of gold and green, hazel was a better description, but they were outlined by long, thick lashes. I wondered if thecrinkled corners were from laughing or frowning. His brows were strong, straight, not too dense, and furrowed in concern. I reached up to smooth the lines, and holy smokes, that hurt. His brown hair was cut short like he didn’t have time to mess with it and wanted the easiest option possible.

“Hey, let’s start with something easier. Can you tell me your name?”

What a lovely voice. It was deep and burly but kind. The kind of voice that would be perfect to read you a story and tuck you in. He was crouched in the door opening while I sat in the driver’s seat. The truck in front of me didn’t seem damaged, but the front end of my car was crumpled.

“Jakob. I’m Jakob with aK.”

“Jakob with aK, it’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry it’s like this though.”

“I don’t think this can be my lucky day.”

“Was it supposed to be?”

“Yeah. It was my first Christmas. That ought to be lucky. I made a wish for it and everything.”

“The day is still early. There’s still time for it to turn around.”

In the distance, I heard the approaching wail of a police car and a second siren I couldn’t place. The EmerCall robot voice droned on about something, but there was no chance I’d pay attention to that when I could watch this man instead.

“I’m Reed, with a doubleE,” he said as he gently manipulated my fingers. He asked a few questions about pain and motion, but it was hard to remember my answers. “At some point, we should probably exchange information.”

He looked up with those pretty eyes of his, and I got a chance to pay attention to the rest of him. He was older than me, probably by close to a decade, and wasn’t big and bulky. If I were to guess, he was most likely about my height, maybe a few inches taller. He was dressed in scrubs. Convenient. His smile tried not to show it, but I could tell he was tired and more than a little rumpled. I’d probably ruined his day.

“Why?”

“Because our insurance companies will need it?” He said it like a question but it wasn’t. Ugh. I had crashed into him.

“It wasyourtruck I hit?” This truly was the unluckiest of days. Now that my mind had cleared the fog, I realized how much this would set back my plans. Step one of theBest Ever Holiday Extravaganzawas to have a Christmas tree, my first ever, in my temporary home. The crash had knocked it loose, and now the branches and whatnot were messed up. And I had no idea how I was going to getit back to my hotel room.

“Yeah, it was.”

“I’m really sorry. I was trying to turn up the radio and got the buttons confused. I was looking for the right one and took too long.” His brow creased in confusion at my jumbled explanation.

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