Unwrapped (3 page)

Christian pulled into a gas station right off the exit. “Neither. I like beautiful women, not loose ones.”

At the moment, Blue thought she was probably out of the running then, because she felt pretty damn easy sharing this small space with him.

“Beautiful women like you.”

She almost blurted out a very middle school, ‘you think I’m beautiful?’ but she managed to contain it and be cool. “Thanks. Though I prefer gorgeous.”

Laughing he put the car in park in front of the gas station. “Okay, gorgeous, let’s go in and see if we can make contact with the outside world.”

There was only one truck in the parking lot and the gas station looked like it had seen better days. As they entered, the bell tinkled over the door, the smell of stale cigarette smoke smacked them in the face. A thin guy in his forties with two full-arm tattoo sleeves glanced up from the magazine he was reading. He scratched his scraggly beard. “Hey, what’s up? I didn’t expect to see anyone tonight.”

“Hi,” Blue said, coming up to the counter, her feet feeling weird and overstuffed in Christian’s wool socks and her ballet flats. “We had a car accident on the highway and I can’t get cell phone reception. Can we use your phone to call a tow?”

“Sure.” He shoved a chunky cordless phone over to her. “But I doubt you’re going to have much luck. It’s snowing and it’s Christmas Eve.”

Well, thanks, Captain Obvious. Blue fought the urge to roll her eyes. Fortunately, Christian stepped in, preventing her from saying something seriously sarcastic.

“Yeah, I know, bad luck, huh?” Christian said with an affable smile. “We have two cars. We were thinking of just leaving the one here and heading on to Lexington.”

They were? That was news to her.

“Do you think that’s our best bet? You know the towing companies around here and you know the roads. What’s the word?”

“You can’t drive to Lexington,” he said, shaking his head. “The highway south of this exit is closed. Guess it iced over bad at the curve and they declared a snow emergency. Only emergency vehicles allowed on the road. It was on the news.”

“Are you serious?” Blue asked, slightly stunned. Did they really just close roads? Was that allowed? “Is there another way to go south?”

“Well, there’s always Route 43, but I wouldn’t recommend that. It won’t be plowed and if you get in trouble, there’s nowhere to go for help. I suggest you sit this one out tonight and start over again in the morning.”

“But . . .” she was speechless. Absolutely speechless. This sucked. Really bad. Like if there were the definition of suck in the dictionary this would be it.

Christian put a hand on the small of her back and rubbed gently. It was an unexpected reassurance. Thank God she’d hit him and wasn’t doing this on her own. Not that he would probably appreciate that fact, but she was damn grateful.

“Is there a motel hereabouts?” Christian asked. “I’m not digging the idea of sleeping in my car tonight. I’ve stopped at this exit before and I seem to remember there’s a motel just on down the road.”

Noticing that the longer they stood there the more Christian’s Kentucky roots surfaced, Blue was amused. “On down the road?” she asked, grinning.

“What?” He looked bewildered.

“Nothing.” Blue squeezed her lips together as she glanced at the gas station attendant. He looked equally confused.

“Well, yeah, there’s old Roy’s place, but I’m not sure if he’ll be open tonight. It’s called the No-Tell Motel.”

Fabulous. They might as well call it Serial Killers and Hookers Sleep Here. Blue tried not to make a face, but given the grin Christian shot her she wasn’t successful. What could she say? All her thoughts were always splashed across her face, an unfortunate gift her emotional mother had given her.

“It’s about a half mile east.”

“Is that right or left?” Blue asked. Men always spoke in terms of north-south-east-west and it just made it more complicated than it needed to be.

They both raised an eyebrow like this was the dumbest thing they’d ever heard.

“I got it,” Christian said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“O-kay then,” Blue said, the eye roll slipping out before she could stop it. “But shouldn’t I call for my tow first?”

Ten minutes later she was gritting her teeth and glaring at the yellow pages in front of her. “I’ve called every tow service in the county and not a single one has answered their phone.”

Gas station man shrugged. “Told ya.”

“Don’t people need to work? Aren’t we in a recession?”

Another shrug. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

Whatever. Blue slapped the book closed and turned to Christian. “What are you doing?” she asked, irritated beyond belief with the whole situation. Even Christian’s cuteness couldn’t make up for the fact that everyone else’s obsession with Christmas was ruining her vacation.

Christian had a shopping basket loaded with bottled water, soft drinks, and a surely illegal quantity of snack foods.

“We have to eat. And I doubt this particular motel has room service.”

The guy behind the counter snorted. “You’ll be lucky if you get clean sheets.”

Lovely.

“Do they rent by the hour?” Christian asked, his tone joking.

“Oh yeah, definitely.” The guy cleared his throat. “Not that I’d know anything about that. Though be careful, if you go over even a minute, Roy charges for a whole ’nother hour.”

Eew. “Anyway,” Blue said, determined to steer this conversation away from the gas station guy’s fond memories of sixty-one minute hook-ups. “What snacks did you get?”

“Chips. Peanuts. Ho ho’s. You know, in honor of Christmas. And a pre-made margarita mix and a bottle of tequila so you can close your eyes and pretend you’re on the cruise.”

That was sweet. Really sweet. Even though all the tequila in the world couldn’t fix the fact that she was freezing her ass off with swollen feet from cramming them into her shoes with socks in the middle of the boonies of Kentucky in a motel that probably had Magic Fingers beds.

But she was willing to give it a shot. “Thanks. Let’s get some cups and napkins then too. And could you please change the radio station in here?” she demanded, whirling to the gas station guy as the fifth Christmas song assaulted her ears and took her over the edge.

“To what? It’s Christmas Eve. I like Christmas songs.”

“Well, I don’t.”

His eyebrow shot up. “That’s un-American.”

Blue debated using her scarf to strangle him. “What does being an American have to do with Christmas?”

“We invented Santa.”

“We did not!” Blue opened her mouth to launch into a recap of all the cultures who had a Santa figure in their lore, but Christian shoved in front of her and dropped the basket on the counter.

“Go on and get the napkins, gorgeous. We should head out before the roads get worse.” He nodded at the gas station attendant. “It’s been a long day.”

“Tell me about it.”

Was she really being dismissed? To go get napkins? Blue narrowed her eyes. Okay, she realized Christian was just trying to prevent a confrontation between her and the guy behind the counter, but she still didn’t like it. She was cold and tired and now that Christian mentioned it, she was hungry. The fact that it was extremely likely she was going to miss her cruise had her suddenly feeling like she wanted to cry.

This was all just further proof that she and Christmas didn’t mesh.

“Did you change your mind about napkins?” he asked when she didn’t move. “And hey, look what I got for you.”

Christian felt reindeer antlers slide onto her head and grinned. “Now that’s adorable.”

She stood there, seething just a little. A lot. She was wearing reindeer antlers. With jingle bells. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she demanded.

“Not in the least.” Then he leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose.

Just like that.

All familiar and comfortable and sexy and cute.

Blue was so caught off guard that by the time they left the gas station five minutes later, Christian whistling a Christmas song as he carried the bags, she hadn’t managed to spit out a single word.

And she was still wearing the antlers.

Christian beeped his car open and tossed the bags in the backseat, pleased that he had managed to catch Blue off guard. She had clearly been on the verge of losing it big time, and he knew she had good reason to. But hell, it was Christmas Eve, and they might as well make the best of it, so he had wanted to snap her out of her bad mood. Plus she’d looked so cute and pissed off in the antlers, he hadn’t been able to resist kissing her.

He wasn’t sure he’d cheered her up, but he had definitely silenced her. That was a start. She had just stood there dumbstruck while he’d paid for everything in his basket, plus two travel mugs for their makeshift margaritas.

When they got in the car, she finally spoke. “Where are your antlers? If I have to wear these dumb things you should be wearing them too.”

“Mine’s even better.” Christian dug around the bags on the backseat and pulled out a headband with a giant felt Christmas tree on top and shoved it on his head. “See?”

Her mouth twitched, but she held back her laugh. “Very nice. How long do we have to wear these?”

“Until midnight on Christmas Day.”

“Good luck with that.”

“I don’t need luck. I have charm.” Christian shot her a grin and made his Christmas tree bounce.

“Is that what you call it?” But she did smile at him, even if her arms were still crossed over her chest. “What do you do for a living, by the way?”

“I’m a toy engineer.”

“Are you serious? Now why does that not surprise me?”

“I admit it. I’m a big kid at heart. Or a total nerd. Whatever you want to call it. But I like my job. I work mostly in sports themed toys for the toddler and preschool set.” As he headed east, he glanced at her. “What do you do?”

“I’m a hairstylist.”

“That seems like a natural fit.” It did. She had that funky, edgy vibe that women in the salon always had. They were always on top of the current trends and changed their hair color constantly. Not that he could picture her with anything other than black hair. It suited her, as did the way the cut framed her striking face.

“Yeah, I like it. It’s a creative outlet and I like working with people. I didn’t have the patience to go to a four-year college. My mom hates it, though. She has issues with all the chemicals we use.”

“It sounds like your mom has some issues in general.” Then he realized that sounded totally rude. “No offense or anything, I’m sure she’s a great person.”

But Blue just snorted. “She’s unique, that’s for sure. And totally disappointed in her hedonistic chemically processed daughter.”

Christian could hear the underlying tone of hurt in her voice. She was trying to mask it with nonchalance and a snarky expression, but it was clear it bothered her. Having a great family himself, he couldn’t even imagine what it must feel like to essentially be alone on Christmas. “Well, we have Doritos and Slim Jims and she’s eating bugs, so it’s all good.”

“True that.” Blue pointed. “Look, there it is. The No-Tell Motel. God, I can’t believe that’s really its name.”

Turning into the lonely parking lot of the low slung motel, Christian eyed it through the raging snow. “There are probably worse. Like The Hell Motel. I wouldn’t want to stay there.”

“Or The Sleep and Peep.”

Christian laughed as he parked the car. “The Hills Have Eyes Inn.”

“Bubba’s Bed.”

“Pappy’s Shack.”

“The Resting Place.”

“Hot Brown Haven.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Hot brown. The sandwich. It’s turkey.” She clearly hadn’t grown up in Kentucky.

“Oh. I’ve never had one.”

“Well, I’d get you one, but I don’t think they’re to be found at the No-Tell Motel.”

“There’s no telling what’s at the No-Tell.”

“We’re getting good at being corny.”

“You’re drawing it out in me.” Blue grinned and shoved her feet back into her shoes. “Corny is part of your charm.”

“So you admit I’m charming.”

She made a face and opened the car door. But then she turned to him, one foot already in the parking lot. “Hey, thanks for hanging with me. This sucks a lot less with you.”

You’d have thought he won the freaking lottery the way he was grinning as he climbed out of the car and headed for the No-Tell.

He wasn’t sure how big a leap it was from her saying her day sucked less with him around, to convincing her they were meant to get naked together but he was damn sure going to try.

Chapter Four

B
lue stamped her feet in the forlorn lobby of the No-Tell, the air not much warmer than it was outside. There was no one at the desk. “Great, no one’s here.”

“The door was open. There must be someone here.” Christian leaned over the desk towards the back room. “Hello? Can you help us?”

Pulling her cell phone out of her jeans with nearly numb fingers, Blue scowled at it and shook. “I still don’t have reception. God, being cut off like this sucks.”

“Think of it as an adventure.”

All that cheerfulness must be exhausting. “Thanks, Dad.” Blue glared at him as he stood there in perfect nonchalance, clearly convinced this was all going to work out just fine.

She, on the other hand, was starting to think she might die before this was all over.

“Where the hell is the employee?” She paced and tried punching buttons on her phone again, just in case something had changed in the last sixty seconds. It hadn’t.

“Just relax, they’re just not expecting us, but someone is clearly here. I can hear the TV.”

“Did I mention I don’t have a lot of patience?”

“You’re also a little cranky, too, but it’s all part of
your
charm.”

And he lightly punched her on the arm.

Blue blinked. He should be exactly the kind of guy that drove her insane. She could only take so much optimism. Normally she went for moody artist types who spent large quantities of time on their hair and ridiculous amounts of money for vintage band shirts and designer jeans. They also tended to disappear for a week or two at a time without warning then reappear with whiny requests for attention.