Chapter 12
Tex
It had felt strange leaving Chloe at my cabin. There had been something domestic about it, as though she were my wife saying goodbye to me as I left the house.
And when she’d taken my hand, I couldn’t make myself let go. Evidently she couldn’t either, so we’d stood there for a long time saying goodbye to each other.
Whatever was happening between us, it was happening fast.
I felt like we’d skipped the first date, first kiss, first fuck and moved straight into domestic bliss.
I shook my head. I probably only felt that way because she was staying with me. But I had to remind myself it was only happening because we were snowed in.
With one last look over my shoulder, I got on the snowmobile and started heading out.
But I only made it twenty feet before I saw my friends Holt and Ellie snowshoeing up to my cabin. I turned off the snowmobile and asked, “What are y’all doing out here?”
Chloe must have heard the engine turn off because I heard the back door creak open. She came out to see what was going on.
Ellie laughed. “Is that an elf? Tex, you’ve been holding out on us.” Then she turned to Chloe. “I’m Ellie. Who are you?”
“Hi, I’m Chloe. And I got stuck out here during the storm. Tex was a sweetheart and took me in.”
Ellie smiled. “Let’s go inside and let the men have their chat. It’s too cold to be out here.”
The two ladies headed in, and I turned to face Holt. This couldn’t be good news, even though Ellie had seemed upbeat.
“Is Rod okay?”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m here to tell you. He lost power, but the Garbers checked on him. He’s good. They have a satellite phone, so they were able to call my neighbor Johnny with a message for you. Johnny came by and told me to come out to your place so you don’t worry yourself to death.”
Something hard and painful that had been lodged in my heart released, and I felt a surge of relief flood through me. “Is that the message? That he’s okay?”
Holt grinned and pulled out his phone, pointing it at me. “Naw. He wanted you to know that he had a secret stash of cookies and chips hidden away, and he’s already made it through one box and halfway through the bag.”
“Well, that little sneaky fuckstick. He knows he can’t be eating that shit.” I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doing with your phone?”
“Oh. He asked me to record your face when I told you.”
I started laughing. I’m sure my face had turned into a deep frown for a second. Rod always managed to lighten my mood. And here he was, doing it from a distance.
Somehow my mind always went to dark places. But Rod had always been my rock. Nothing ever got to him, and he seemed to go through life satisfied and happy.
Like the way he still loved Christmas.
I grumbled about it and always acted like I hated the extra effort he put into the holidays. But the thought of never having a Christmas with him again had put things into perspective for me. I needed at least one more with him.
Holt asked, unaware of the heavy thoughts in my mind. “Is the hot elf from the singing telegram company?”
I punched him lightly on the shoulder. “I knew it was you.”
“Not just me. Cash, Jasper, and the other guys went in on it, too. That shit was expensive! But I never expected to find you shacking up with her. You must have done something right. Did you manage to smile at a woman for once?”
A tiny grunt escaped my mouth. “You heard her. She got snowed in. I’m just helping her out.”
He gave me a questioning look. “So there’s nothing going on there?”
I shrugged. “I mean… maybe.”
That’s when Holt roared with laughter. “Holy fucking shit. Wait until I tell the guys! Maybe we actually managed to get you out of your celibate monk phase.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I growled, “You hired a singing telegram service, not a hooker. And… I already knew her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I met her before.”
“When?”
“A couple of weeks ago. She came out for one of the Santa Sleigh Rides.”
Holt slapped me on the shoulder. “Well, you should get on that. She might just cheer your sad ass up.”
He was right. A night with Chloe—a real night—would definitely cheer the fuck out of me. But she seemed to have her shit together. Would she even want to be with me? And if she did, would it just be a one-time thing or something more?
Holt shook his head. “I can see you thinking too hard. This is how it works. You walk up to her and you say, ‘Honey. I’m hot for you. Let’s fuck. Then wait for a response.’”
He made it seem easy. Holt had taken one look at Ellie, fallen head over heels and reeled her in.
But women had never been easy for me.
A late-night fuck? Sure. I was good for that. But relationship material? Women didn’t see me that way.
A dark weight landed back on my chest as I thought about my last ‘relationship’ with Tiffany.
Would Chloe turn out the same way?