“I wanted to give it to you last night but never got the chance.”
I placed a hand over the snowflake. “Thank you.” It was obvious there was more to say by the determined look on his face. “Why are you really here, Colin?”
With a heavy sigh, he stepped back and ran a hand through his hair. “Layla, there’s so many things. After last night and hearing about New York, it made me realize how stupid I’ve been.”
He closed the distance and grabbed my hands. “When we ran into Gabe at the tree farm and he told us both to take a chance, I didn’t realize what he meant at first. But then, I got to thinking. For so long, I was afraid to take a chance on anyone, least of all you. You’re famous as hell. What would you ever want with someone like me?”
I started to speak, but he held up a hand. “I have to get this out.” Taking my hands again, he held them to his chest. “I’ve fallen for you, Layla. I tried to keep my distance because I knew there was a huge chance you were going to leave. And then I started second-guessing myself on whether I was good enough for you.”
“Colin,” I breathed. My heart pounded so hard I was sure he could hear it.
He moved closer, his lips only a breath away. “It turns out, it doesn’t matter if I am or not. I want to be with you, Layla.”
I looked right into his emerald eyes. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that? You’ve dodged me every time I’ve tried getting answers from you.”
He sighed. “I know. All I wanted to do was tell you how I felt. I couldn’t let you leave without knowing the truth.”
I smiled up at him. “I’m glad you did … because I fell for you too.”
That devilish smile of his was back. “You did?”
“Yes,” I said with a giggle. “And just so you know, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve decided to stay here no matter what. Granted, I’ll have to travel every now and again, but my home is here.”
He held my hands tighter against his chest. “I don’t know what to say. What happens now?”
I looked up above his head where a bundle of mistletoe hung from the doorway. He followed my line of sight and chuckled. “Guess that answers it then.”
We stared into each other’s eyes and he leaned in close, our lips touching gently. I closed my eyes and he deepened the kiss. Our lips parted and he rested his forehead to mine. “Merry Christmas, Layla. Moving here wasn’t so bad was it?”
“It was the best decision I ever made.”
Runaway Christmas Bride
CINDI MADSEN
Chapter One
This was the day she’d dreamed about for so long, of having a winter wedding and being a Christmas bride. Then all her plans, her future—everything she’d been so sure about—had been ripped away the instant her groom had looked at her and said, “I’m sorry, Regina. I just can’t. I can’t marry you.”
Naturally he’d chosen to say it while they were standing at the front of the chapel, their family and friends all witnesses as she was dumped at the altar. Her bridesmaids had tried to stop her from fleeing the scene, but she’d needed out of there so she’d hopped in her car—decorated with streamers and cans, and don’t even get her started on the “Just married!!!” written in white shoe polish on the back window. The stupid, overly cheery phrase taunted her every time she glanced in the rearview mirror.
Tears had streamed down her face as she’d driven north. She wasn’t even sure how long she’d been on the road or where she was—she was almost sure there’d been a sign about entering Massachusetts—but the tears had finally mostly dried up. The gas tank was about to go dry too, which meant she needed to stop soon.
I should’ve seen this coming. Steve had always told her she didn’t know how to relax and have fun. They’d had fights about having fun—talk about the opposite of a good time. He thought she was too structured, and she thought he needed more organization and responsibility in his life. Silly her, she’d thought that was why they would make a good pair. Their weaknesses were each other’s strengths, and wasn’t there something poetic in that? She thought love would smooth out the times they grew irritated at their differences.
Perhaps, over the past few crazy months, she’d been a little too fixated on plans and the future instead of the groom. Still, he could’ve pulled her aside a dozen times to tell her he wanted to call off the wedding. It would’ve stung, sure, but there was stinging and then there was feeling naked and exposed in front of your family and friends.
We were supposed to be spending Christmas on the beach, and now I’ll spend it all alone.
A figure on the side of the road caught her eye. She’d never been able to walk by someone in need without handing over any spare change she had, and while her parents had made her promise to stop picking up hitchhikers unless she at least had company, she couldn’t leave the guy standing there with his thumb up. Not with the brewing snowstorm, and not when she’d experienced enough desperation today to have empathy for someone else who might be in a dire situation.
Regina slowed the car and pulled onto the side of the road. An icy gust of air whooshed inside as she unrolled the window, and she shivered, her bare shoulders breaking out in goose bumps. She’d worked so hard to get extra definition in her arms, and while she had a fluffy white wrap to go over her dress, she’d abandoned it like the rest of her wedding.
“Need a ride?” she asked, which she supposed was unnecessary considering most people didn’t hail cars if they didn’t need a ride.
A scruffy guy, wearing a dirty, worn beanie with holes and a coat that had seen better days, stuck his head inside. His bloodshot eyes widened as he took in her wedding dress. She could only imagine how crazy she looked, driving a car in poofy layers of white tulle, her veil batted back over pinned curls she felt coming undone, her professionally applied makeup a smeared mess by now, no doubt. “I’d love a ride,” he said. “Just down the way.”
“Hopefully, not too far down the way. I’m running low on gas.”