Page 7 of Eight Days of Christmas
“I don’t know.” She threw up her hands. “Jeez, Leo, you don’t have to be such an ass about it.”
He couldn’t help himself, his mouth tugged at the corner into a crooked, cocky smile. “Okay, what else?”
“And…” she dragged out the word, hesitation in her tone. “We don’t talk about the past.”
Leo narrowed his eyes at her like he’d just sent a trail of burning fire licking across the roof of the car. “Don’t talk about the past?”
“Right. No talking about past relationships. With other people,” she paused, tucking her long, brown hair behind her ear, “or ours,” she clarified.
He glanced over his shoulder, pinching his tired eyes shut while tapping the car keys against the metal roof a few times. “Fine.” Under his breath, he mumbled, “you’re a real piece of work.” He slid behind the steering wheel and slammed the door shut, jamming the key into the ignition.
The back door flew open, and he watched in the rear-view mirror as Isabella struggled to get her suitcase handle down. Ultimately, she gave up and shoved the luggage onto the back seat, the handle still in the upright position. She climbed into the passenger side, scowling at him. Her long and still-muscular legs, all wrapped in fitted, dark jeans distracted him—but only momentarily. She was still the same girl who chose New York over him.
“What was that supposed to mean?” she snapped.
“What?” He hunched his shoulders and shifted the car into reverse, not bothering to wait for her to put her seatbelt on.
“I’m a piece of work?” She buckled in.
Leo groaned. “This is gonna be the longest eight hours of my life.”
“You’re telling me.” She crossed her arms, staring straight out the windshield.
It wasn’t Leo’s intention to be a jerk. And again, it wasn’t like he didn’t know she was coming to town. She may have broken his heart six years ago when she unexpectedly decided to not come home as she’d promised after college graduation, but she’d never let her sister, Norah down.
He just hadn’t been ready to see her today is all. Especially not at the airport. He thought he had one more day. One more blissful Isabella-free day.
Leo had been on his way home to Pineridge, Colorado, after completing two photoshoots in Michigan. He’d taken a job capturing engagement photos for an old friend who wanted their session done at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. He typically didn’t take engagement or wedding photos any longer—he’d done so many of those when he first started his photography business six years ago that he’d felt like poking his eyes out. But accepting the favor meant he could take photos of the picturesque frozen waterfalls too, and he knew the prints would not only be a huge hit, but he’d make a killing.
He’d planned on spending today editing those photos, uploading a few of the best ones, and getting his colleague’s opinion, along with his dad’s. Leo had no clue that when he began his photography business—LH Photography—his dad would have a knack for editing landscape prints.
But the biggest storm of the season to hit Colorado had decided to come now of all times. What a bastard. Leo’s last free day before celebrating the Whitley’s tradition of Eight Days of Christmas along with the wedding plans would be spent trapped in a car with Isabella. And those epic images sitting on the flash drives would have to remain unedited until after Christmas. Where was the justice?
Leo had already promised Landon and Norah he’d stay at his dad’s house all week and help with whatever they needed. Some days he felt like cursing the day his brother Landon and Isabella’s sister Norah made their relationship official. But the two were perfect for one another. And it wasn’t Norah’s fault she just happened to be sisters with New York’s resident ice-princess.
Leo maneuvered the matchbox car onto the main road and hopped onto the freeway entrance that luckily displayed wet asphalt. Snow piled the sides of the freeway in uniformed mounds, but the temperature gauge reflected it was too warm for the roads to be frozen.
He cleared his throat. “So, there’s a large town in about two hours. I figure we can stop there and fill up. Use the bathroom and get something to eat, since I’m guessing you haven’t had dinner yet.”
When she didn’t respond, he glanced over his shoulder and caught her staring at him. Her eyes flicked away, pink instantly staining her cheeks. Had he just caught her checking him out?
“And how do you know the town will even have a gas station? Google?”
“As a matter of fact, yeah. Google. But I’ve also been through all these towns, from Omaha to Pineridge.”
“Seriously?”
He narrowed his eyes in her direction, while also trying to keep his focus on the road. “We had a lot of away hockey games during those four years of college.”
“Oh, right.” She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, and he glanced away before his body betrayed his mind. “I guess I forgot about those.”
“Not surprised,” he mumbled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Old, long-ago anger hovered at the surface where it had no business being anymore. “Nothing, just forget it.”
“No, I want to know.”
