Page 70 of Never Sleigh Never
“Hi Brie!” Josie chirps.
My head shoots up.
“Hi, Josie. Wow, your snowman looks amazing.” Brie’s gaze lingers on Josie’s creation… and then slides to me.
“No thanks to my dad,” Josie adds with a dramatic sigh. “Maybe you can help me instead. He’s kind of useless.”
Brie laughs, and my dick jumps. Her laughter shouldn’t be so sexy, but damn if it doesn’t do me in.
“I’d love to,” she says, “but I’m judging the contest. If I help, it’s cheating.”
“So when do we get crowned snowman champions? I already cleared a spot on the mantel for the trophy.” I playfully rub my gloves together.
Brie teases, “Confident, are we? You’ve got stiff competition. But over the next few days there will be a judges vote and a community vote. After those are tallied, we’ll make an announcement.”
“How about you come over tonight and we can build a snowman together?” Josie turns her attention to me, big hazel eyes boring into mine. “Dad, can Brie come over later?”
“Uh.” Brie’s gaze whips to mine. I rub the back of my neck. I glance from Brie to Josie and back to Brie, praying Josie gets distracted and forgets she asked, but she’s like an unwavering stone. “That’s up to Brie.” Ha. Deflection. Now it’s in her court.
“Um.” Brie pinches her lips together.
“I had so much fun building one with you the day we baked cookies. And my dad can even make his famous chicken and wild rice hotdish,” Josie pleads.
Brie chuckles. “Oh boy. That’s hard to turn down.”
Her finger taps her bottom lip, and my focus zeroes in. God, I want to kiss that spot.
“Alright,” she says softly. “Snowman building and hotdish it is.”
Josie jumps up and down. “Yay!”
Shit. She said yes. My palms sweat in my gloves. Date? Not a date? Either way, I’m wildly out of practice. “Um. What time are you free?”
“I can be at your place at four. That will give us a little time to build a snowman before it gets dark. Is that okay?” Brie drops her gaze to Josie.
“Yes!” Josie exclaims.
“Since my snowman-making skills are lacking, I’ll cook dinner,” I say.
Brie’s eyes catch mine, something sparking there. “Then I’ll see you at four.”
“Bye, Brie!” Josie waves her snow-covered mitten.
“Bye, Josie.” Her dark-brown eyes lift to mine. “Bye, Logan.” She flashes me a sultry smile.
Fuck. I want nothing more than to tackle her in the snow and do what we did in Santa’s Workshop, but this time with Frosty watching. Santa’s definitely putting me on the naughty list.
Four o’clock on the dot, Brie’s walking up my driveway. My heart thunders in my chest like it’s seeing her for the first time, and it’s only been three hours. I glance at the street, but it’s empty. No SUV. My brows draw together. Did she walk? If it was summertime, sure, our houses are only a mile apart, but it’s winter. I yank open the door. “You’re punctual. I like it.”
She holds up wine and cookies. “Luckily, I had these at home. Didn’t have to make a pit stop.”
“You didn’t need to bring anything.” I take the offerings and stand to the side to let her in. “Where’s your car?”
Her shoulder brushes mine as she slips past, close enough that my blood heats. “Parked around the corner.
“You could have parked it in the driveway.”
“Then the speculations would fly about why my car is in your driveway.”
