Chapter 9
Chloe
When I woke up, it took me a minute to remember where I was. But then all the details of the night before slowly came back to me.
I became aware of the soft sound of Tex snoring, and the feel of his calloused hand in mine.
He was spooning me, and something hard and happy nestled against my ass.
Who would have ever thought that Tex was the hand-holding type?
I wish this were real.
The reality of the situation wasn’t lost on me.
There was a spark between us that threatened to turn into a wildfire if we let it.
But what would it mean in the long run?
I wouldn’t turn down sleeping with this man if the opportunity presented itself. But that didn’t mean he was looking for anything serious. He’d already told me he’d sworn off women.
So whatever might develop between us in this short time I stayed with him was likely to just be a short, snowbound adventure. A fling with a mountain man.
Already the bills were ticking higher in my mind. Most likely, I’d miss today’s shift. That was sixty dollars down. Tomorrow, if the roads were still bad, would be another sixty dollars. Plus, I’d be missing the Christmas shift, and my boss would be mad.
That thought weighed heavily on me.
Working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day may not sound ideal to most people. But I liked it, because I found that the customers tipped better on holidays, as if they felt bad that I was working.
I needed the roads to clear up so I could get that tip money.
The diner didn’t offer any paid days off, so I’d be out the flat wage, too.
Tex rustled in bed, shifting slightly, his cock jamming closer against my butt.
It made me want to strip out of my Christmas elf costume and show him what a Merry Christmas could really be like.
Tex had something sad and forlorn in him. And I wanted to soothe that pain and take it away.
The pain I felt in him might also be one of the things that drew me to him. I’d had a slight feeling of melancholy that had come to live with me long ago and never left again. We were kindred spirits in that regard.
I hid it from my friends well. If I were being honest, I even hid it from myself.
But it was there. Always lurking. A small reminder of everything I didn’t have in life.
Like Tex had said, it wasn’t about physical possessions. I missed something I’d never had. Stability. Community. A place to belong. And people to belong with.
Astrid was great. She was my best friend, and I loved her dearly. But I needed more than just one friend. The rest of our friends were lovely, but I wasn’t as close to them. We had fun times, but I wasn’t sure they’d be around when bad times struck.
Those were the kinds of friends I wanted. The kind that would have my back through anything.
I got the feeling Tex’s friends were like that. He’d known most of them since childhood.
I could count the times I’d gotten close to someone as a kid, only to move a few months later. It had made it hard to build deep connections.
Tex stirred again, a tiny satisfied groan escaping past his lips.
Then he breathed deep, as if he were inhaling the scent of my hair.
But then he must have woken up because he muttered, “Oh, shit. Sorry,” and pulled away.
His hand let go of mine, and suddenly there were inches between us.
Instantly I missed his warmth.
So I told him, “I didn’t mind. You were warm.”
He let out a sleepy laugh. “Don’t tempt me, Chloe. Or I’ll find a way to really warm you up.”
“Did Grumpy Santa just tell a joke?” I asked as I flipped around to face him.
It was early morning, dawn just breaking, and his face looked soft in the morning light, and younger.
I was tempted to run my fingers through his beard to find out how soft it was.
“Grumpy Santa?” he asked with one sleepy eye open now.
“Hm. It was either that or Sexy Santa. Those are the two nicknames that Astrid and I came up with for you.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You gave me nicknames?”
I gave him a wicked grin. “We sure did.”
Tex cleared his throat. “So, Sexy Santa. Is that what you thought of me? Or was that all your friend?”
“You got the sexy vote from both of us.”
He almost looked like he was blushing, but strong men like him didn’t blush, so I knew I was seeing things.
Tex rumbled, “I was an ass that day.”
“Is that not your normal disposition?”
He laughed. “I’m not usually that bad. I was worried about…”
“About what?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it again without saying anything. Then opened it again, the words finally coming out. “Like I mentioned last night, my uncle… was in the hospital. It was weighing on me.”
I snuck my hand over to him and wrapped my fingers around his again. “Mm. That sounds tough.”
“Honestly, I do hate working the Santa ride. I used to do it in high school, back when life seemed lighter somehow. Now it just seems like a farce, driving tourists around in a sleigh while poor, old Sally works the same tired track. Sometimes I think that horse must get bored of going in circles.”
“How is your uncle doing now?”
He sighed. “I’m still worried about him. He drinks whiskey like it’s water. And he never met a steak that didn’t have his name on it. I’ve been trying to make the man eat vegetables, and he just won’t do it! He hides them under his plate and feeds them to his dog when he thinks I’m not looking.”
My heart went out to him. That day we’d gone on the sleigh ride, it had been obvious Tex hadn’t been happy. But I had no idea it was because his uncle had been so sick.
“I’m sorry to hear he’s not doing well. Maybe you need to sneak the veggies into his food.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how do you prepare them now?”
“Uh. I put lettuce in a bowl. Or I boil cabbage. Sometimes broccoli, but he really doesn’t like broccoli.”
I giggled. “I used to work as a nanny. I learned all kinds of tricks for making kids eat their veggies. Want me to teach you? We could start with meatloaf, since he likes steak so much. He might be willing to go for that.”
Tex frowned at me. “Meatloaf isn’t a vegetable, hon.”
He called me hon.
I liked getting a nickname from him. Even if it was casual, and one that he probably used with all the women he bedded.
I sassed, “I know meatloaf isn’t a veggie. But you can sneak carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, whatever you want into the mix, hon. It’s all about the ratio.”
He opened his mouth at that, then shut it again without saying anything. Then his frown disappeared, and a tiny smile lifted his sexy lips. “You just called me hon.”
I gave a little shrug and grinned.
His eyes searched mine, and the undercurrent that had been flowing between us, sparked up.
How had we gone from virtual strangers to teasing each other in bed in less than twelve hours? I wasn’t sure.
But I knew if I didn’t get out of this bed right now I was going to sleep with this man. I’d be straddling his cock and plunging down on it in thirty more seconds, yelling, ‘Fuck me, Santa, fuck me hard,’ if I didn’t do something now.
So I scrambled my butt out of the bed, while he looked on in surprise. “Uh, you mentioned a shower last night. You think I could take one now?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Of course. Anything you need. My kingdom is yours. At least temporarily.”
I couldn’t help but notice the temporary he’d thrown in. Like he needed to remind me that he wasn’t the settling down type.
I ignored the sting in my heart as I headed to his bathroom. I needed to keep this in perspective.
Whatever was happening between us was just a blip. An anomaly in the middle of my normal life. I’d be back to the grind as soon as the snow melted.
Tex wasn’t the kind of man any woman could tame. Least of all, someone like me.
As I turned the shower on and stepped under the stream of water, I thought about everything that had happened since I’d pulled into his driveway.
He probably dates hot women.
I looked down at my big body, with all its extra padding. If a man like him wanted something from me, it was probably just due to being horny.
He wasn’t attracted to me. He was probably just hungry for pussy, and mine happened to be within reaching distance.