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Rachel looks out the window. “No, you shouldn’t be driving in that.”
Nick takes a breath. “Okay, Rachel, why don’t you call it a day and go ahead and head out.” He then looks at me. “My meeting will be ten minutes max and then we’ll get out of here.”
“But—” I start.
Nick is shaking his head. “Honey, please, if you drive in this, I’ll just be worried.”
I point at Rachel. “She’s driving in this.”
Nick smiles at me patiently. “Rachel is driving a company truck that has four-wheel drive. You drive a—”
I hold my hand up to stop him. “Uh-uh. No talking smack about Kringle.”
Rachel looks confused. “Kringle? What’s a Kringle?”
Nick walks over to me and puts an arm around my hip, drawing me back against him. “She’s named her car.”
Rachel laughs. “Of course she has.” She then smiles at Nick. “Thanks, boss man. I’m going to head out.”
I wave bye to Rachel and then turn in Nick’s arms with a frown on my face.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. “What’s wrong?”
I scrunch my nose. “I don’t want you to change your schedule because of me. You have important things—”
He stops me by cupping my cheeks in his hands. “Stop. You’re important to me, Joy.”
He looks like he wants to say more, but something stops him. He releases me and steps back. “Please, just let me do this for you. If I’m sitting here, I’ll just be worrying about you. This way, I can take you to Wrapped on Main, help you decorate, and then we can pick up dinner on the way home.”
He makes it all sound so easy. I’m not sure what is happening between us, but it feels right. Even though a part of me is afraid of falling too fast. This has all happened so easily, and I’m sort of afraid of letting my guard down. I’m not sure what makes me want to argue with him, but I do. “What about my car? I need—”
He cups my face again, stroking his finger along my cheek. “I’ll bring you to work in the morning.”
“It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, too.”
He shrugs as if it’s no big deal at all. “So what? I can drive you wherever you need to be.”
“But—” I start, ready to argue, but he just smiles.
“And if I have an appointment or something, you can just take my truck. It’s four-wheel drive and will be safe.”
My eyes widen. “I can’t drive your truck.”
He just nods. “Yes, you can.”
I stomp my foot and shake my head. “Nick, this is ridiculous. You can’t just take care of me. I’m living in your house, and now I’m depending on you to drive me around because of a little snow… I don’t want to be a bother.”
“A bother? Honey, you are not a bother at all. I want to take care of you.”
I open my mouth, but before I can say anything else, he speaks as if he already knows what I’m going to say. “And I know you don’t need to be taken care of. I just want to be here for you.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him what this is between us, but I don’t. I feel as if I’m pushing myself on him at every turn, and there’s no way he can answer the question of what this is between us. I’ve forced his hand by moving in with him and making something new into something else. I mean, I just met the man, and I’m living with him. I blurt out, “I’m going to move out as soon as my landlord gets a new apartment ready for me.”
He frowns. “I thought you liked living with me.”
“I do,” I assure him. “But I can’t just take over every aspect of your life.”
He shrugs. “You mean you can’t brighten up my house, get me humming Christmas songs, and make me happier than I’ve been in years?”
