Page 31 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage
“Have you seen this one?” Dani handed Bronte a case that had Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman with a train behind them.While You Were Sleeping. Sounded like something Lexi would like.
“I haven’t seen this one.” She handed the case back to Dani.
“What?” Mia pulled it from Dani’s hands and clutched it to her chest. “We’re watching this one.”
“We’re definitely watching that one.” Dani pointed both her pointer fingers in Mia’s direction.
“Which movie?” Jonah asked from the couch.
Mia held up the case.
All three guys groaned. “Come on, that’s not a Christmas movie.” Liam’s head dropped to the back of the sectional.
“It is too.” Dani glanced over her shoulder and gave her fiancé a flirty grin. “And I’ll have no complaints from you, Liam Stone. I happen to know you really like this one.”
“You’ve seen this one?” Cody’s mouth hung open.
Jonah just shrugged and slurped another bite of soup.
Movie selected, everyone settled into their seats. Dani and Liam snuggled on one side of the sectional, bowls cradled in their hands. Mia and Cody somehow both fit in the oversized armchair, and she and Jonah were opposite Liam and Dani—not anywhere close to snuggling. It was strange to see couples that had a much different relationship than she and Brad had ever had. They were all touchy-feely and could joke back and forth without anyone getting their feelings hurt. Maybe it had been a knee-jerk reaction when she’d sworn off love forever.
“You good?” Jonah whispered as he leaned over. In the dim lighting, the blue in his eyes deepened.
Bronte could only nod past the lump in her throat. Jonah squeezed her shoulder and moved back to his side of the couch. He would never know how many tingles he’d left shooting through her body with that one touch. Bronte chewed on the inside of her cheek. It was more than just the tingles Jonah caused. The way these people made her feel like a part of their group after having just met her…she’d never really had that before. Especially considering her best friend was also her agent.
Maybe she just needed to get out more…
Or maybe this place was special. She could see, just a little bit, why Jonah believed in happily ever afters and true romance.
ChapterSeven
DateDecember 19
Days until Deadline18
Words to be written80,759
Why had Bronte thought she’d be able to make up her word count from yesterday? She couldn’t. Well, maybe she could if she were able to write the correct manuscript.
Dani, Liam, Cody, and Mia had left late, but since Bronte had decided to go to the Christmas stroll on Saturday, she’d stayed up to get extra words in. After making herself another cup of tea, she’d gone to her room for the night. She’d started writing just fine, but a hundred words in, another story idea had popped into her head.
She’d agreed to write the Pike book with a happy ending and had been attempting to work toward that, but instead, she hadn’t been able to get a scene for a completely different project out of her mind.
This one had friends and family gathered around and eating a big meal during the Christmas season, and there was a handsome military man with all the witty banter and adorable smiles. Before she knew it, she’d had another document open, her fingers flying to get the scene out. How the keyboard hadn’t caught on fire, she had no idea.
It had been well after two in the morning before she’d stopped writing and fallen into bed. She’d woken up around seven, the story still flowing out of her, and had spent the rest of the morning typing furiously.
When was the last time a story had come to her this easily? None of the Pike novels had come out like this.
The shrill tone of her cell phone startled her out of her story. Reaching over, she pulled it off the charger, only slightly disappointed to see it wasn’t Jonah. Not that he’d need to call her—or even had her number.
Pushing down the unfamiliar feelings, she answered the phone a little breathlessly. “Hello?”
“Good morning to you too.”
Bronte could hear the raised eyebrow in Lexi’s voice.
“I’d thought I’d call and make sure you were okay after talking to you yesterday, but it sounds like you’ve been…running?”
