Page 57 of Deck the Hauls

Thank god.

Dana rushed forward, enveloping me in her arms.

“Oh my god. I’ve never been happier to see someone in my life,” I murmured into her neck.by

I leaned into her warmth, a huge weight lifting off my shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Dana asked, pulling back to look at me.

My hands dropped to her waist, not wanting to let go.

“I am now,” I said smiling.

God, she was beautiful. Slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed, lips red. Lips that were inches away from mine. Her breath was warm and sweet.

I swallowed.

I wanted to close the gap between us so badly.

I raised my gaze from her lips to her deep-brown eyes, and a jolt of electricity surged through my body.

She wants it too.

I leaned forward, my body shaking with adrenaline and anticipation.

A gust of wind rushed through the trees.

I slammed my eyes shut as a cloud of biting snow crystals blasted my face and my body swayed.

Dana reached out, grabbing my hips to steady me.

I blinked, pushing down the disappointment rising in my stomach. It was for the best. Kissing Dana would have just made my life even more complex than it already was. Between the distance and my career… No, it just wouldn’t work.

“We’d better find some shelter before we completely lose visibility,” Dana murmured. “I think we’re closer to my cabin than the truck now, so we’ll go there, and then I can grab my flashlight and go get the truck.”

“Okay,” I said, slightly dazed.

Had we almost just kissed, or had it all been in my head? Dana was acting like nothing had happened. Then again, we were in the middle of a snowstorm as night fell around us. Not exactly the time or place to ponder the situation.

She let her hands fall from my hips, but instead of disconnecting entirely she grasped my hand in hers. “I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

Even though we were still officially lost and the light had almost disappeared from the sky, any worries about perishing in the snowstorm had vanished. Dana was here. I would be okay—physically, at least. Mentally, I wasn’t sure. Phillip, Austin, my career… and then what had possibly almost just happened with Dana. It was a lot to process.

Just focus on getting to safety.

“Aha!” Dana pointed through the trees a few minutes later. “That looks promising.”

I followed her finger. A light shone in the distance.

Another gust of snow hit us, reducing visibility to almost zero.

I screwed up my face, squinting to protect my eyes from the ice, and kept going.

“Thank god I forgot to turn off the lights in the front room,” Dana said as we stumbled out of the firs and into the clearing in front of Dana’s cabin. Without the protection of the trees, gusts of snow seemed to increase two-fold. It was a full-on blizzard. There was no way Dana was going out in these conditions to get her truck.

We stumbled up the steps to the cabin. Dana fumbled with the door, and we fell inside.

I released a breath, letting my shoulders relax. We were safe. I hadn’t realized how much I’d been bracing my body against the cold and the wind.