Page 18 of Wedding Bet

I stared blankly at him “Shmear of shit?”

Jamie’s lips quirked into a smile. “Scherenschnitte, I learned today, is a type of Swiss and German paper cutting,” he said, opening the folder to reveal multiple delicate, beautiful pieces of paper with intricate patterned cuts in it. “They do it in the Swiss Alps, and in a proper ski lodge tradition, the Snowcock owners fell in love with it and brought it here to Colorado. They had a free beginner’s class on it today, so I tried my hand at it with my mom.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “You made these?” I asked, leaning in to see the precise pattern. The papers were thin, some of them red, some blue, and some black and white.

“Yeah,” he said. “It was finicky at first, but then I kind of got into it. It was nice spending some time with Mom, too. It was actually kind of relaxing.”

“Has your mom been enjoying her vacation?”

He nodded. “Surprisingly, yes. Moving around isn’t always easy for her, but this resort is laid out well. We grabbed some food, saw Chase for a bit, and now she’s back in her room resting.”

“You sound like a good son.”

“I do my best,” he said. “And it’s easy. My mom’s good to hang out with. And good to take random papercutting classes with, too.”

“These are beautiful, Jamie,” I said, looking through them again. “You could frame them.”

“It was a good way to get my mind off of things.”

I nodded. I certainly had needed to get my mind off of things too, today. I looked from the papers up to him again, momentarily lost in his eyes.

“Is… is this elevator even moving?” Jamie asked, a little shy.

“Oh,” I said, snapping out of my trance and turning back toward the panel of glossy buttons. “No. It isn’t. Because we didn’t actually press any buttons. I apologize. I’ve been a bit spacey today.”

Jamie still looked amused as he reached out and pressed the number for his floor. I pressed the button for the top floor, where my suite was, and the elevator finally lurched into motion.

“Are you headed to the festival?” I asked him.

“After I put myScherenschnitteback in my hotel room,” he said, nodding up at me. “I have no idea what the festivalis, really, but I’m going.”

“Me either. I just hope it involves funnel cake.”

“It’ll probably have things that are a lot better than funnel cake,” Jamie said. “I’m hoping there’s some hot chocolate.”

“There isalwaysgood hot chocolate in the mountains. You probably won’t be disappointed.”

The elevator dinged and Jamie stepped out. “See you there.”

“See you there, Jamie,” I called out, watching as he seemed to float away.

Part of me had been worried that the next time I ran into Jamie, he’d have some sort of expectations that I wouldn’t be able to meet. After we kissed, was he going to think we’d do it again? Expect more from me?

But Jamie had been cool as a cucumber. And, I was surprised to find that as the elevator shut and whisked me up to my top-floor suite, maybe there had been another part of me that actuallywishedJamie had tackled me in the elevator, pressed his lips to mine again, and taken me right then and there.

No use thinking about it, though. Tonight was going to be innocent fun at the winter festival, and then a quiet night in my suite alone.

That was easier. Better. Safer, for both of our sakes.

I was only a few beers into the evening, meandering around the fair aimlessly, when I realized two crucial things.

The first was that I’d barely eaten anything since my quick protein bar earlier, and I was already getting tipsy.

The second was that I hadn’t spotted Jamie once yet tonight. I’d been walking around long enough that I was starting to think I’d missed him.

Maybe I was a littlemorethan tipsy, in reality.

I was surrounded by picturesque, snow-covered mountains in almost every direction, tons of booths and stalls selling pretzels, pastries, hot cider and cocoa, and various alcoholic drinks. The festival was packed with people, both local and tourists, all decked out in coats, scarves, and hats, buzzing around each glowing stall.

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