A Curvy Carol (A Curvy Girl Christmas #2)

17. Carolynn

17

CAROLYNN

W hit wouldn’t give me a single hint about what he wanted to add to the list. He just kept dragging me along behind him.

The only clue I had was that it involved the lodge because that’s where we were headed.

I was out of breath by the time we got there, and so was he. But he had me wait in the warm lobby before I looked through the windows and saw him pull around a shiny blue snowmobile.

My mouth fell open, and I stepped outside. “A snowmobile?”

“Come on,” he said with a grin, reaching his hand out to help me get on.

I hesitated. “I don’t know about this, Whit.” There wasn’t a lot of room on that seat.

“Trust me,” he said.

And I couldn’t say no to that smile.

He helped me on before climbing on himself. He sat in front of me, with his hands on the handlebars. And I realized just how close we were.

My front pressed to his back, and I tried to reach back to give him room. But he glanced over his shoulder at me, eyes heated, and said, “Don’t make me beg to have your arms around me.”

Butterflies erupted in my stomach. Was Whit flirting with me?

Before I could overthink it, the engine roared, and I clutched on to him for dear life.

“Whit, I don’t know about this!” I shouted to him through the noise of the engine.

He turned back, another big grin on his face. “It’ll be fun.”

I hugged him tighter, and we took off.

We absolutely whizzed through the snow, making a turn back toward town. But then he turned off toward the main road.

Where were we going?

I tried to guess where we were heading, but everything I could think of was in town.

Right when I thought maybe we were simply riding around for the fun of it, we turned a corner and I saw it.

Mistletoe Hill.

At the top of the small tree-covered hill, there was a secluded place with no trees. Just a large rock where couples were known to sit and do more than just talk, blaming it on the mistletoe leaves.

Maybe he didn’t realize this was Mistletoe Hill, I thought.

Except he took the snowmobile straight up the hill like he knew exactly where he was going.

My heart beat just as fast as when we were flying over the snow.

I held on to him even tighter, his warm body shielding me from the cold air.

Finally, we made it to the rock, and he turned off the snowmobile.

He got off and held his hand out to me again.

I couldn’t do anything but stare at him, shocked.

Was this actually happening?

Whit let his hand drop, and instead, he took a step or two closer to me. “You said a kiss at Mistletoe Hill was a Christmas staple around here.” He paused, looking at me with the most mesmerizing brown eyes. “I wanted to share it with you.”

I didn’t trust myself to speak. Instead, I lifted my hand for him. Before I knew it, he’d helped me off the snowmobile.

He led me toward the rock, and we sat on top of it, surrounded by trees. “It’s beautiful up here,” he said softly.

“Yeah, it is,” I managed. Everything seemed so still, like even the wind was holding its breath to see what would happen next.

He turned to face me, held my gloved hands in his. “This has been the best Christmas I’ve had in a long time.”

I smiled. “Me too.” I meant it.

Whit looked so steady, but I thought I might pass out from nerves. My heart was pounding inside my chest.

Slowly, he leaned in, and I closed my eyes in response.

Before I could overthink it, his lips were on mine. All at once, it felt sweet and powerful and about a thousand other emotions.

His hands went to my waist. My hands went to his shoulders, as if I’d somehow learned this dance without knowing it.

This was the most amazing Christmas Eve ever. Maybe my wish on the Garland Christmas star had come true.

A persistent buzz interrupted us. We pulled back, and Whit grabbed his phone from his pocket. “It’s my dad,” he said sheepishly. “He needs the snowmobile back. There’s an emergency.” He took my hand. “Come on.”

Just like that, the moment was over.

As we rode back to the lodge, I couldn’t help but wonder what the kiss meant to him. Was it the start of something more? Or the last item crossed off our list?

Despite the high I felt at my first kiss, my heart sank as I realized… our time together could be over.