Page 19 of Christmas In Love

Cade stared out the window, seemingly speechless.

Natalie looked from the window to him. “What was that you were saying about me driving us into a snow bank?”

The corner of his mouth hitched up and he shook his head, the smile growing.

“My memory is suddenly feeling foggy… maybe itwasyou who got us stuck in the snow last time.”

“Oh no, that was definitely you.” He was still looking out the windshield, giving her a great view of his jawline. She’d often wished she was a better painter—it would have made decorating the B&B a lot easier if she could have just slapped some paint on canvas. Plus, artwork was expensive! But at that moment, she wished she was a talented sculptor. The only way to truly capture how fantastic Cade’s jawline was would be to chisel that thing from stone.

“What are you staring at?”

Natalie pulled her eyes away, feeling heat creep up her neck. “Nothing.”

“Were you admiring my sculpted neckline?” he teased, finally turning to look at her. Awesome. Just in time to see how flustered she was.

“Definitely not.” It had been his jawline.

“I don’t blame you. I’ve been told I have fine bone structure.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Have you now?”

He nodded seriously. “Of course, it was my mom who told me, but that woman would never lie.”

“No, never.”

“She’s a woman of integrity.”

“Never said she wasn’t.”

The full effect of his wide smile was intoxicating. How had she made it four years without seeing one of those smiles?

She looked out the window. Maybe staring at the snow would cool down some of this attraction. It was her only hope at this point.

Chapter 7

Cade

CadewatchedasNattried to bite back a smile. The corners of her eyes crinkled, and her nose scrunched up in that cute way of hers.

But then he followed her gaze out the window.

And remembered they were stuck on the side of the road. Crap.

“I’m going to try to dig us out,” he said, leaning over her to pop open the glove box. Conveniently, a pair of thick gloves was inside, tucked between receipts and car documents.

“What can I do to help?”

He pulled the gloves on. “I’ll let you know when to try to back the car out.” He slipped out the door, closing it before too much cold air could get in. Then he rounded the truck to see how bad the damage was.

They were in several feet of snow. This was going to be fun.

But there was nothing else for it, so he started shoveling with his hands—pulling snow out and trying to clear a path for the tire to move back. A door slammed, and Nat appeared on the other side of the truck bed. She took one look at him and started doing the same on the other side.

“You don’t have to help, this is my fault.”

She threw him half a smile. “You helped me when I got my car stuck.”

“That was different,” he grunted, digging into the snow.

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