Page 4 of Eight Days of Christmas
She had to still be asleep on the plane, having a nightmare. There was no possible way her luck was this bad.
“You think yelling at customer service is actually gonna get you to Colorado faster? Man, you haven’t changed a bit.” His face, while the same, was older, all sharp lines and dark brown scruff. And too beautiful to even be fair.
She could wake up now. Any minute.
“I just thought…I was just hoping…I,” she mumbled, her mouth going dry. This was real, and she sounded like a blubbering idiot instead of the accomplished woman she’d grown up to be. His words registered. “Wait. Haven’t changed a bit? What is that supposed to mean?” She glared. “And what are you doing here?”
“What does it look like?” he snapped.
Her brows pinched together. “You’re flying somewhere?”
The Leo she knew never left Pineridge.
His gaze shifted to the people who had their attention trained on the two of them. “Just take your hotel voucher, Izzy. You’re holding up the line.”
Isabella reluctantly faced Ben and forced a smile, her heart raging against her chest. After all the ways she’d thought about avoiding her ex once she arrived in Pineridge, he was here. In freaking Omaha, Nebraska. With her.
“Look,” she said to Ben. “I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to do your job. But you don’t understand. I need to get home to Colorado today.” She pushed back her unexpected emotions and cleared her throat, feeling the bizarre urge to open up to this guy and win him over. “My little sister is getting married on Christmas Day and—”
“That’s still a week away, ma’am. I can guarantee you’ll be there by then.”
“But you see, my family has this tradition…” She pinched the bridge of her nose, her back absorbing the scrutiny from the other fliers. “They call it Eight Days of Christmas. They expect me to be there.” She leaned forward and whispered, “I haven’t been home for Christmas in ten years.”
And the stupidly handsome ghost of her past had clearly appeared to remind her of that fact.
Ben inhaled a sharp breath. “Ten years? What kind of person doesn’t go home for Christmas for ten years?”
Isabella’s jaw dropped, and her first instinct was to give in to the fantasy of clutching the navy-blue tie around his neck and choking him with it. But she couldn’t be angry with Ben, because he was exactly right. What kind of person didn’t go home for Christmas for ten years? What kind of selfish person did that?
Her—that’s who.
“Damn it.” Leo groaned, now suddenly standing at her side, sporting that sexy, scruffy beard. “What are you gonna do, tell him your life story? It’s a little late to get sympathy when you’ve already pissed someone off.” He leaned over the counter, his phone in his hand. “Excuse me, Ben? Where’s the airport’s car rental located?”
Ben proceeded to give Leo directions while Isabella remained quiet, trying hard to be annoyed with him while also admiring his broad shoulders and obvious fit physique. He smelled good, too, like pine and citrus, and all man and… Jeez, this was a really bad scenario.
Leo took a few steps sideways, hiking a duffel bag over his shoulder. “You can either come with me and rent yourself a car and drive to Pineridge, or you can stay here and harass this nice guy and embarrass yourself further.” He held up a palm. “Your choice.”
“Whoa, hold on a sec.” She shuffled next to him, getting out of the customer service line. “How far is it from here to Pineridge?” Isabella hadn’t driven a car since she moved to New York. The thought of driving, especially through a snowstorm, caused her stomach to flip-flop.
“About six hundred miles.”
She gasped. “Six hundred miles?”
Leo blew out an exaggerated and annoyed breath. “Yep. And you might want to hurry. Before all of the cars are gone.” Leo stalked away from her, his attention fixed on his phone.
Isabella stood there stupefied, staring after the man who had once been her everything.
Pressing her lips together in a grimace, her mind battled over her options: remain stranded in the airport alone or chase after Leo and somehow persuade him to let her catch a ride with him.
With the flight information screens displayingcancelledfor nearly every departure, her chest tightened while imagining driving through a death-inducing blizzard. In the end, the panic won.
She bit the inside of her cheek, gripped the handle of her rolling suitcase, and stomped off after Leo.
Chapter Two
Leo
Leo Hoffman kepthis focus on the busy terminal ahead. He would’ve done a double take, glancing over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, but he didn’t have to. He could feel Isabella behind him, just like always; her nearness making his skin tingle with awareness.
