Page 30 of Carry Me Through Christmas

“I’m so glad you love the decorations, dear! The inn has been in my family for generations and we always love decorating for the holidays. It’s a guest activity the weekend after Thanksgiving.”

I tore my gaze away from Cole’s and smiled at Louise.

“The house looks absolutely beautiful. I’m planning the Christmas festival in Holly Ridge, so I consider myself something of an expert in decorating touches and I can tell you have an excellent eye.”

At this, any harm that was caused by Cole’s glower was rectified and Louise flushed with pleasure.

“Well, thank you, my dear. Let me go grab your dinners out of the warmer in the kitchen. I’ll be right back.”

Louise walked away and I looked back at Cole, who was avoiding my eyes by looking at his phone again.

“My battery is almost dead and all I have is a car charger. Guess I’ll just be unreachable until tomorrow.”

Cole said this with a frown, his finger flying across the screen, apparently trying to send out one last missive before his phone powered down. I had a battery pack in my bag, but after his crack about my Christmas decoration gazing, I wasn’t feeling particularly charitable.

Louise was back with two to-go containers full of food that smelled delicious and a bottle of red wine to go with it.

“To make up for the mix-up with the rooms and all,” Louise said with a smile, handing the food and wine to Cole and then handing me a key with the number six on the tag attached to it.

“Y’all are the room at the end of the hall on the third floor. You’ll have the best view of the snowstorm...well, you’ll see. Have a great night. Breakfast is served starting at 7:00 a.m.!”

Having been dismissed, we made our way up two flights of stairs and to room number six. I opened the door and held it so Cole could make his way into the room.

The room was a complete dream, and I felt like it was going to be wasted on Cole and me sharing it together. The bed faced a three-paneled massive window which offered, as promised, a beautiful view of the grounds the B&B was housed on. More strings of lights were strung on trees throughout the immediate property, which illuminated the area and painted a beautiful winter wonderland.

I walked toward the window and took in the scene for a little bit while Cole set things down behind me. I heard him unzipping his bag and rustling around but couldn’t be bothered to check and see what he was doing. I couldn’t take my eyes off the view.

“C’mon, Thomas, holiday-related things removed, you have to admit that’s a gorgeous winter view.”

I heard Cole approaching from where he had been by the bed and came to stand next to me at the window. I looked over at him to find him not looking at the scene but watching me as I gazed out the window. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, “It’s hard to see how pretty it is when it’s stopping us from getting home, but yeah, I guess it’s not horrible.”

I rolled my eyes at his inability to live in the moment and turned around to locate dinner, or more importantly that bottle of wine.

“Um, if you want to change before we eat, I have a T-shirt and gym shorts here that you can wear if you’d like,” Cole said awkwardly.

“Oh. Okay? I mean, I don’t want to take them from you. You’re the one who had a bag in the car.”

“It’s okay, I have an undershirt on under my button-down, and there were a pair of sweatpants in the bag as well, so we’ll both be more comfortable that way. Do you want to change out here or in the bathroom?”

“I’ll head into the bathroom,” I answered, needing to splash some cold water on my face and game up for the fact that Cole and I would be in the same room, presumably in the same bed, All. Night. Long.

Before heading into the bathroom, I stopped to unzip and take off my boots. I groaned slightly in relief when my legs were freed from the boots, looking up to catch Cole watching me out of the corner of his eye. I had thought I was imagining his eyes straying to my boots a few times throughout the day, but this was the first time I had actually caught him in the act. The sidelong glance told me I wasn’t the only one feeling the tension between us. Yup, definitely was going to need some cold water and game face to make it through this night.

I went into the bathroom and closed the door, leaning back against it, looking at my flushed face in the mirror. This was fine. It was a king-sized bed. I bet Cole slept like a vampire on his back with his arms crossed and didn’t move all night. We could make a pillow wall, all would be great. I went ahead and splashed water on my face, twisted my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head, and changed out of my clothes and into the clothes Cole had set aside for me. I had to roll the shorts a few times so they didn’t fall below my knees, and decided the shirt was baggy enough to remove my bra without detection.

As I opened the door to re-enter the bedroom, I realized I was going to spend the night enveloped in Cole’s scent and had to stop myself from tucking my nose under the collar of his T-shirt and breathing deep. I stepped back into the room and saw Cole illuminated by the lights from the window, apparently deciding to give the winter wonderland a second chance. His undershirt clung to his defined upper body and was fitted to highlight his narrow waist, which drew my attention to the grey sweatpants that hung low on his hips. The hips where his hands were currently resting, drawing my eyes to that level like a beacon, noticing that those pants weren’t not doing his ass a favor. He turned around suddenly when he heard me enter the room, and my eyes stayed at hip level and I was now taking in his grey sweat-panted crotch. My eyes briefly met his, which told me he had caught me in my crotch gazing, and then my eyes were dancing around the room, trying to locate that bottle.

Cold water and a game face were not going to be enough. It was time for wine.

Chapter 16

Cole

Cole (9:07 p.m.): Hey Austin, I’m going to be stranded off the interstate tonight. The storm hit faster and harder than expected. My phone is going to die until we get back into the car in the morning. Can you go check on Mom first thing and shovel her sidewalk if the snow has stopped?

Austin (9:32 p.m.): You got it, man. Sorry to hear you’re stuck overnight.

Austin (9:33 p.m.) And without your phone, whatever will you do? *devil emoji*

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