You Had Me At Christmas: A Holiday Anthology(72)

Between the awkward pillow and his arm, her neck was turned at a strange angle and she’d have the mother of all cricks in the morning. His legs were too long for the seat, and he’d compensated by draping one leg over her. She was completely cocooned in him.

Breathing deeply, she waited for the moment of panic to strike. The moment when she felt trapped, worried that he would take advantage of her, that she wouldn’t be able to escape or stop him. But the moment never came. Her breath slowed without her even trying to force it. She wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she was warm and safe, which was more than she’d felt in months.

“This will be great,” she said, closing her eyes. “Good night. And thank you.”

*

Marc woke up with an erection. And not regular morning wood, either. His face was full of the floral smell of a woman’s hair and his arms were hugging a soft, curvy body. He was warm. Hot, even, which he hadn’t expected, but the ski clothing, blanket, seats, and Selina’s body were providing more than enough heat to combat the cold. Even his face, which was buried in Selina’s neck, was warm. He lifted his head to get her hair out of his nose before he sneezed and woke her.

Sunlight beamed in through the back windows, glinting off Selina’s pale hair. He propped himself up on his elbow so that he could get a look at her. Her face, which had been tight even when she was laughing, had relaxed in sleep. Her jaw was soft, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she was snoring quietly.

She was so beautiful. He’d already liked the look of her when she was sour and serving him breakfast, but the pretty waitress was no comparison to the sleeping woman. This was what she was supposed to look like when she wasn’t worried about her physical safety, or money, or where she was going to sleep at night.

He noticed the moment she woke up because her eyelids fluttered. And then she stiffened. His erection hadn’t gotten any less prominent while he’d been admiring the way her lashes fell on her cheeks.

“You warm enough?” he asked, deciding that the best course of action was to pretend he wasn’t sporting a boner. He didn’t think she was actually afraid of him, but she was skittish and, from what she’d told him of her home life, she had good reason to be.

“Overly so.”

At least she wasn’t rushing to get away from him. And she wasn’t moving his top arm away, so he kept it—and the leg he had draped over her—right where they were.

“Sleep okay?”

Her mouth curved into a slight smile. “Yeah. Once I fell asleep, I slept like a rock.”

“It’s sunny,” he said stupidly. “The storm has passed.”

She laughed, blinking. “I can see that.”

Her stomach growled. “I wonder where the nearest coffee and donuts are. Where are we?”

“Still don’t know.” He shifted as well as he could, stretching his arm out in front of them. Scooting to straighten out his knees, he bumped her forward a bit. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I should move. I’m pretty sure my foot is asleep. Or it ran away in the middle of the night. One of the two. And I need to pee.”

“Right.” He held on to her until the count of ten, then opened his arms and she climbed to sitting up as best as she could.

The side of her face that had been resting on the duffel had a massive, deep wrinkle running across her cheek from her ear to the corner of her mouth. She had sleep in the corners of both eyes and a little mark of white drool that met up with the wrinkle. She looked like she had slept well, and he was sure he didn’t look much better. After a good night’s sleep his hair usually looked like loosened coils of brown yarn.

At least it distracted from the morning breath that had him wanting to smack his mouth.

She grabbed for her pack of tissues, then looked back at him, her hand on the door handle. “Um, it’s light out. Please don’t look.”

“I won’t. But do a little scoping while you’re out there, would ya? I want to make sure we’re still on the road and not snowed in. There’s a shovel in the back, though if you need to dig to find it, we’ll both be sorry.”

While she was outside, he had the chance to smack the staleness of sleep out his mouth in private and dig in his center console for some mints.

“It’s not so bad out there,” she said, climbing into the car. “It must have stopped snowing soon after we stopped. The tire tracks are easy to see, and we should be able to get out no problem.” She patted his leg. “From what I could tell, you even stayed on the road up until you pulled over.”

Her touch zinged up his body, rushing into his ears and tingling the tips of his fingers.

Fuck. He’d promised her that the trip had no cost, that there were no expectations, and he’d meant it. He still meant it. He was a man, not a bull. But not thinking about what she would feel like if they were so close had been easier before she’d been curled up in his arms, before his erection, and before she’d touched his leg of her own accord.

They’d have to get double beds in each hotel room. He would have asked for them anyway, but now it was sleep in separate beds or he’d be on the floor. Or he’d have to pull the old fairy tale trick and sleep with a sword between them. He didn’t want her to wake up with an erection pressing against her again.

“Well good,” he said, plastering a wide, innocent smile on his face. “I figure we can drive for five hours or so, then see what’s interesting wherever we stop. In the meantime, it’s my turn for a trip to our expansive bathroom.”