Her heart stuttered. “A bit nastier? Did you intend to be nasty?”
He sighed. “No. I just felt overwhelmed.”
She could have said, “Overwhelmed by what?” and forced the issue that he was having trouble with the fact that he wanted to be himself around her. Except he was here. Outside the door of her parents’ house...with a sleigh! He wanted to see her. He didn’t need to say the words. And she didn’t need to push for them.
“So is everything going okay at the hotel?”
“Yes.” He nodded at her white sweater and jeans. “You’re freezing without a coat. Go get one. We’ll talk while we ride.”
He turned and began walking back to the sleigh. She spun around, raced into her house and grabbed her coat, hat and mittens.
Her mother, a tall, thin blonde wearing a colorful apron over jeans, walked into the front hall. “Kristen? Did I hear you talking to someone?”
“Dean Suminski, the guy I went to New York with...he’s here with a sleigh.”
Her mom frowned. “The man working at the hotel?”
Sliding into her coat, she nodded.
Her mom said, “You should invite him to dinner.”
Kristen froze. Invite him to dinner? Have him meet her parents? That would probably freak him out. “Didn’t we already eat?”
“I didn’t mean tonight. I meant tomorrow or Friday,” her mom said with a laugh. Then she shooed her out the door. “Go. Have fun.”
Kristen raced out onto the big front porch of her family’s old farmhouse and down the three steps to the snow-covered sidewalk. Dean stood by the sleigh. When she reached him, he helped her climb inside, then pulled himself in behind her.
The air was crisp, the night freezing cold, but, God help her, to her it felt just plain magical. Every step he took was a step closer to him being the man he was supposed to be, the man who could love her.
She slowed her thoughts. Told her brain to settle down. He was a broken man. A man who’d grown up without love, whose first love had used him. She wasn’t going to wave a magic wand and he’d be normal again. His wounds might be healing, but he would need time to learn to trust again.
Still, she knew her heart was racing ahead of things because she had feelings for him far beyond anything she’d ever felt. If she wanted this, wanted him, and she did, she had to take her time. Give him a way to get to know her enough that he’d trust her with his heart. Not rush. Not nudge. Just enjoy the sleigh ride.
After all...he was here, wasn’t he?
Spreading a thick blanket over both of their legs, he said, “I actually learned how to drive the sleigh from the internet. YouTube.”
She glanced over, saw he was serious and laughed. “So why aren’t you driving?”
“Clyde up there,” he said, pointing to their driver, “knows his way around the countryside. I don’t.”
“Good point.”
Powdery snow muffled the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, but caused the sleigh blades to make a swoosh, swoosh, swoosh noise as the sled moved along. A light in the front illuminated twenty or so feet ahead, but otherwise her world, her county, was dark and silent.
Dark, freezing cold and silent.
The kind of cold where two people who shouldn’t like each other, shouldn’t belong together, could snuggle under a cover and get to know each other.
She slid her arm beneath his, nestled close, seeking his warmth but also basking in the chance to touch him.
“So tell me more about what you did today.”
“Being this far away from the US and being plunged into darkness more hours of the day than any human being should have to endure has had an odd effect on me.”
She cuddled closer. “Let’s not forget that it’s cold.”
He stiffened, but he said, “It is cold.” Then he slowly relaxed beside her, as if he couldn’t deny he wanted the closeness too, and using the cold as an excuse made that easier. “But it seems to work. The employees came back today more energetic than I’ve seen them in months.”
He leaned back, relaxed. Saying all that out loud seemed to have helped it to sink in that everything was working out.
“I’m glad we could help.”