Chapter Eight

Christian watched Blue across the table in Roy’s kitchen, wondering what was going through her head. She was animated enough with their host, smiling and laughing as he told her stories, but she was not meeting Christian’s eyes, and she seemed nervous.

Maybe not nervous. Remote. She had retreated from him. That was obvious. He didn’t know why.

Or maybe he did. He just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

He was too much of a goofball for Blue. She was a cool chick, into cool guys. He was a toy engineer who got off on family dinners, playing with kids, and singing off-key while doing the sprinkler. Not her style.

How could he expect her to prefer coming to his sister’s house for dinner when she could be on the beach in Florida? He couldn’t.

“So I got out of the navy in ’51 and settled down here and took over this place,” Roy was saying. “Ain’t exactly the Ritz but I did alright. Thought about changing the name, but it always gave me a chuckle and people around here knew the No Tell.”

“We were so glad to find you and this place last night,” Blue told him, piling egg on her fork. “I don’t what we would have done without you, Roy.”

If Christian wasn’t mistaken, the old guy blushed a little. “Hope it was comfortable enough for you all.”

“Very comfortable,” Christian interjected, willing Blue to look at him and remember what had passed between them.

She did, but her look was definitely one of disapproval. Oh, so now not only was she not coming to dinner with him, she was going to pretend that the night before hadn’t happened? The hell with that.

His goddamn world had been rocked by this woman, and she was going to have to hear about it.

“You can call on my house phone to get your tow, though I don’t know how soon they’re going to be able to dig your car out.” Roy said. “I checked on the Internet and it looks like the highway is reopened so you can get south if you want in your good car. If I were you, I’d just book a tow truck and go on and enjoy your Christmas and worry about getting your car from the garage in a few days.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Blue said with a nod.

Christian was still stuck on the fact that Roy had checked road conditions online.

“That is, if Christian doesn’t mind me hitching a ride with him to Lexington.”

That was the stupidest thing she’d ever said and he was actually a little bit offended. “Of course not. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

His bed would be preferable but if that weren’t an option he would make sure she was safely wherever she wanted to be.

Suddenly feeling gloomy, Christian bit off a piece of his bacon and chewed it hard, watching Roy stare at Blue with no small amount of admiration as she smiled at him. Is that what he looked like? Moony? He felt kind of moony and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

After another twenty minutes of eating and small talk Blue indicated they should be heading out. “If that’s okay with you?” she asked politely.

What was with the sudden solicitous manners? It didn’t suit her. He liked it better when she just said what she was really thinking, not this tea party attitude.

“Sure,” he said easily, reaching down to get the second unopened bottle of tequila he had bought at the gas station. He handed it to Roy. “Just a little thank you for putting us up.”

Roy’s eyes lit up. “Tequila. Alright, sir. Haven’t had a worm since I don’t know when.” He got up and shuffled over to a kitchen cabinet where he stowed it away. “I won’t be sharing that with the grandsons. They can get their own liquor.”

After handshakes and Blue giving Roy what seemed like a spontaneous hug, they headed out into the parking lot. Christian had already loaded up the car with all their stuff.

Blue started walking in the direction of their room.

“Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom if you need to know,” she said testily. “And no, I don’t need help.”

That was it. He didn’t deserve the cold shoulder. Bending over, Christian packed some snow together. As Blue stomped off, back to him, he launched a snowball at her. It smacked right between the shoulder blades, bursting on the velvet of her jacket. She came to a grinding halt and whirled around, face furious.

“Did you just throw a snowball at me?”

“Well, I doubt it was Roy,” he said, fighting the urge to grin. She looked so outraged.

“You’re a jerk.”

“Come on, lighten up. It’s Christmas. Throw one back at me, you’ll be amazed at how good it feels.” Christian held his arms out. “I won’t even duck.”

Blue hesitated but then she bent over and scooped some snow up, packing it quickly. She hurled it at him and he took it right in the face. Fortunately her packing skills sucked so he didn’t break a tooth or his nose, but it was damn cold when it burst in powdery wetness all over his face.

“Lucky shot,” he told her.

She was laughing, wiping her hands off on her jeans. “You’re right, I do feel better.”

That was more like it. He hated seeing her so aloof. “Run, Farrow, or it’s on.”

When he launched another snowball at her she shrieked and ducked.

Then they were engaged in full-out combat, Christian landing five snowballs to every one she managed. She was having trouble getting them to stick together and half of hers fell apart in the air, but they were both laughing, snow falling off their coats, hands red and raw, snow kicked up all around them as they dodged each other’s missiles.

He stalked towards her, a ball in each hand ready to launch as she frantically tried to scoop up more snow, her cheeks pink, eyes bright. When he was two feet away, she slipped and went down on her ass, laughing, hands up.

“Ack, shit! I give up. Don’t hit me.”

Christian pretended to throw one and she screamed even louder. “Just kidding.”

Grabbing a handful of loose snow, she tossed it at him, but it just blew back all over her, coating her hair, her eyelashes, her lips. “Crap!”

“Ah, poor baby.” She looked so cute and cold, Christian squatted down and brushed her hair and shoulders clean. He leaned in to kiss her.

And ate snow instead. Her eyes danced as she laughed, and Christian blinked at her, a mass of snow crammed into his mouth.

“It was just too easy.”

Christian spit out snow and shook some off his nose. Damn, he loved her sass. “Good one. Now get in the car before I throw you in the snow plow pile. You’ll sink to the bottom and no one will find you for a week.”

As he helped her to her feet, she said, “Liar.”

“Only on Christmas.”

She laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I’m pretty ridiculous.” Christian smacked the bottom of Blue’s jeans.

“Hey.” She swatted at his hand.

“I’m getting the snow off.”

“Uh-huh.”

“We should have made a snowman,” Blue said, glancing around the parking lot.

Christian didn’t want to make a snowman. He was suddenly understanding her earlier sense of urgency. If this was it, it almost seemed better to walk away now, before it got worse. He was afraid the more time he spent with her, the more he was going to argue with her about why she should spend the night with him.

“We should go.”

“I’ve never made a snowman before,” she said, looking back even as she started following him to the car.

Shit. “Never?”

“No.”

Christian fell just a little bit harder for this beautiful badass woman who had never gotten presents and had never made a snowman.

“Then let’s make a snowman. But first . . .” Christian reached into his car and pulled out some gloves. “Put these on. Your hands are beet red. Then we’ll make a killer snowman.”

Blue was constantly amazed at Christian, how thoughtful, kind, easy to be with he was. She had expected he would ignore her request, given that she had been rushing him out before, but he just gave her one of those searching looks then agreed. Just like that. Even dredging up gloves for her. Maybe it wasn’t that big of deal, but it more than anyone had done for her before.

As she followed his lead as he rolled a ball of snow across the parking lot, accumulating more snow with each roll, she blew her hair out of her eyes and promised herself she would just enjoy the moment, not feel sorry for the future. Right now, she just wanted to feel the snow on her face, and appreciate what Christian had done for her, that she hadn’t spent the night alone.

“By the way,” she told him. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He brought his ball to a stop. “Here, roll yours over. It’s about the right size.”

As she struggled to maneuver the ball of snow three feet, her shoes slipping, she told him, “For everything. For not leaving me on the side of the road. For driving me to Lexington.”

“You’re welcome.”

Her ball of snow reached his. She stopped and looked up at him from her awkward half-bent position. “And for last night.”

But he shook his head. “You don’t need to thank me for that. It was definitely my pleasure.” He worked his jaw, glancing out at the road. “Blue, are you sure you don’t want to come to dinner?”

She wasn’t sure at all of anything, really. But she knew it wasn’t fair to him to pretend that they could be something they weren’t. It wouldn’t be fair to disrupt his Christmas with his family, and God knew, she didn’t want to feel like the holiday orphan everyone felt sorry for.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m sure. But thank you for offering.”

He just nodded. Then he picked up her ball and settled it on the bigger one. Another five minutes they had the head on, with mulch from the flower box hidden under the motel awning as eyes and a nose.

“Wait.” Christian went into the car and emerged with the half empty bottle of tequila. “I think he needs it more than we do.” He settled it at the snowman’s feet.

“Good call. What should we name him?”

“Bob.”

“Dick.”

“Jane.”

“Herman.”

“Parson Brown.”

“Beaver.”

“Beaver?” Christian raised an eyebrow. “You dirty girl.”

Blue laughed. “I never claimed to be as pure as the driven snow.”

He grinned. “For which I’m grateful.”

“Hold on.” Running over to the car, Blue pulled her camera out of her purse. She’d had it at the ready for the cruise, but now she took a few shots of the snowman. The motel. Dashing back into the lobby, she snapped a shot of a grinning Roy.

And then Christian. She took a picture of Christian, his arm around the snowman. Then pretending to steal the liquor bottle back from Bob, the snowman. Maybe they hadn’t officially named him, but she liked Bob.

“Come here,” Christian said. “Get in the picture.”

“How are we going to do that?” But she handed him the camera when he reached for it.

“Not on that side,” he told her with a headshake when she tried to pose on the opposite side of Bob from Christian. “On this side.”

Seeing where he was going with this, she let him. She put her arm around Christian and smiled as he held the camera out and took their picture. It was a moment she wanted to capture. Happiness.

But after Christian took three shots, she told him. “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go.”

With each picture she shifted from joy to regret, like she had been all morning, and it was time to leave.

 

Christian glanced over to see Blue waking up as he pulled into the airport. She had slept the nearly two-hour drive to Lexington, which had been a disappointment. He had wanted to have every minute with her, to savor their time together. Then again, she had been in a weird mood when they’d left the motel and he didn’t think the conversation would have been comfortable anyway.

She had asked him to take her to the airport before she’d fallen asleep so here they were. Blue rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Are we here? That was fast.”

“For you, sleeping beauty.”

“Sorry. How was the drive?”

“Not too bad. Could have been better, could have been worse.”

Christian swung into short-term parking.

“You don’t have to park. You can just drop me off.”

“If I was a jackass,” he told her. “You don’t even have a flight. I’m going to walk you in.” And he didn’t want an argument. She was going to take his company and his concern whether she liked it or not.

She sighed, like he had suggested something really burdensome for her. “That’s really not—”

“Ah,” he cut her off. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“But you—”

“No. Forget it. I’m parking the car.”

“Jerk,” she muttered.

“Yes, I’m a total jerk for wanting to make sure you’re safe,” he said calmly, swinging into a parking spot.

She made a face. Christian laughed. He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. “Punk.”

“Thanks.” Blue gripped the lapel of his jacket and stared into his eyes. “Thanks.”

He knew she wasn’t talking about calling her a name. “Yeah,” he told her. “Blue . . .”

But that was enough to send her bolting. She was out of the car and standing at the trunk waiting for him to open it.

With a sigh, he popped the trunk and got out too. She was putting her purse over her body cross-wise so her hands would be free and reaching in to get her suitcase out of the trunk.

“Wow, look at all these presents,” she said in amazement.

“Six nieces and nephews, six adults, it adds up.” Christian stared at all the gifts, poorly wrapped by him two days earlier. “And maybe I overdo it with the kids. Just a little.”

“Nah,” she said softly. “I think that’s great.”

“Blue, I want your number,” he told her, pulling out his phone. “I want to call you when we both get back to Cincinnati.”

“It’s not a good idea . . .” She bit her lip and stared down into the trunk. “I’m not the right woman for you . . . you have traditions, a family, a different kind of life than I do.”

He understood her feelings, but he’d be damned if he would agree with them. “Why don’t you let me decide if you’re the right woman for me?”

“Christian.”

“Let me have your number. Please. That’s all I’m asking for.” God, he was sounding pretty close to begging. But he couldn’t let her walk away with no way to contact her. He just couldn’t.

Blue gave him her number, though she wasn’t looking at him, but at the concrete floor of the parking garage.

But he had it, that was what mattered. He sent her a text to give her his number, and to make sure she had given him a legit number. Her phone chimed in her purse and she pulled it out.

“I have a text that just says ‘Bob.’ I take it this is you?” she asked ruefully.

“The one and only.” Then Christian took advantage of her distraction and leaned down and kissed her, pouring all of his hope and want and attraction to her into the kiss.

She responded immediately, her hands resting on his waist, her breath soft and satisfied. But after a minute, she broke away, and he let her.

Christian reached into the trunk and rummaged around, finding the small gift he knew was there. It had been meant for his eight-year-old niece Caitlyn, but he’d also gotten her a nail polish kit, so she’d never even miss this side gift. He pressed it into Blue’s hands.

“Merry Christmas, Blue.”

“But . . . this is someone else’s present. I can’t take this.” Her face was stricken.

“I got my niece another present too, and this is something I want you to have.”

To his horror, tears pooled in her eyes. “Oh. Thank you. I . . . I . . . have to go.”

She grabbed the handle of her suitcase on the ground and started walking towards the airport entrance. What the hell? Was she really going to just leave like that?

“Blue.”

Christian started to follow her, but she swung around and he saw she was crying for real, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Don’t follow me! Please.” She clutched the little wrapped box he’d given her, then whirled around and walked off so fast she was practically jogging.

Christian stood there in the silent gloomy garage and watched her disappear, feeling like something amazing had just slipped out of his hands. As he got into the car, he decided it was a blue Christmas after all.