Page 47 of The Mistletoe Bluff
“It appears so. I’ll go check.” I slipped my feet back into my boots and pulled the knit cap over my head before climbing out of the Jeep, stifling a groan as my legs fully extended for the first time in hours.
The world was a literal winter wonderland. At least a foot of snow had fallen while we were asleep. The car was covered, but it wasn’t buried enough to where we wouldn’t be able to pull back on the road. It still looked treacherous, but at least the wind wasn’t whipping the snow around anymore. Daylight was fading fast, and I would rather risk the roads while there was still some light than try it in the dark.
I grabbed the ice scraper from the trunk and used the brush end to swipe the snow off the Jeep. A few minutes later, the snow was on the ground, and I was back in the front seat, turning the blessed heat on in the car.
“What’s the verdict?” Maya asked as I rubbed my hands together to warm them up.
“We’ll have to go slow, but it’s better now than it was.”
With a nod, she crawled back into the front seat, buckled her seatbelt, and switched her phone on as I pulled back onto the main road.
“Holy poop!” she said as she looked at her phone. “It’s after three!”
I laughed. Somehow, such a phrase fit her perfectly.
“We slept for almost five hours.”
“Best nap of my life,” I said in answer, earning me another snort.
It was slow going as we drove through the country roads toward Meridel. Maya was quiet for much of the drive, which left me in spinning thoughts over our kiss, wondering how I could get it to happen again.
We were thirty minutes from Meridel when my phone rang, coming through the Bluetooth in my car again. This time I checked before answering. My father. Of course.
“Are you going to answer that?” Maya asked as it continued to ring.
“I think I’ll pass.” My father never had anything good to say, and the last thing I wanted was for him to burst the perfect Maya bubble my head was living in after that kiss.
“You should answer it, Oliver. Just pretend I’m not here.”
I grunted and said quietly, “Not likely,” then forced a breath into my lungs and hit the answer button on the steering wheel.
“Hello?”
“Oliver? Where have you been?” As usual, his tone was demanding which had my insides clenching tight.
My finger twitched to hit the end call button.Already off to a great start.
“Driving. Didn’t have a signal.”
Heharrumphed. “Well, this is important.”
“I’m waiting.”
I swear I could hear him roll his eyes.
“I received a phone call from my assistant. There’s a couple not far from Meridel that had inquired about having an engagement session done after seeing your photos in that magazine. They want to utilize the fresh snowfall and do it tomorrow while everything is white. I need you to do it.”
“That’s very last minute.”
“They offered to pay double the usual rate.”
My mouth flopped open. My father’s company already had a reputation for being expensive, but double? As nice as the money would be, I wasn’t interested if it took me away from my time with Maya.
“I told you I was on an indefinite break,” I said.
“Exactly. Then you’ll have nothing better to do.”
“A break means no photography.”
