I really liked that this big, gruff guy was a little embarrassed about letting his mom decorate his home for Christmas. It was sweet how much he cared about her. A bit of dating advice I’d once heard popped into my head—judge how a man will treat you by how he acts with his mother. I had no doubt that Christopher would make some lucky woman an incredible husband in the future...after we got our marriage annulled. Feeling even more disappointed after meeting him, I heaved a deep sigh over leaving Snow Valley and Christopher behind once the town was safe from the Titan Corporation.
“If you don’t like the decorations, we can change them,” he offered, reaching over to pat my thigh before quickly putting his hand back on the wheel as the SUV slipped slightly on the snow-covered road.
I pasted a smile on my face and shook my head. “I’m sure they’ll be great.”
The air felt thick in the vehicle, silence swirling around us as I stared out my window. When we passed a ski slope, I craned my neck to keep it in sight. Christopher must have noticed because he asked, “Do you ski?”
“I’ve never had the chance, but I always thought it looked like so much fun.” My gaze followed the trail of a dark figure zipping down the mountain. “I bet the conditions are perfect with all the snow coming down.”
“I haven’t skied in ages, but I could take you sometime if you’d like,” he offered.
Spending time with Christopher doing something I’ve wanted to try forever sounded perfect to me—except for the part where he’d probably need to put his hands on me to help teach me how to ski. “No worries. I’m sure your calendar is already full. I can just take some lessons or something while you’re busy with other stuff.”
“No.”
When he didn’t add anything else to his one-word response, my head whipped around. Staring at him, I asked, “Pardon?”
“I’m your husband. If anyone is going to teach you how to ski, it’s going to be me,” he insisted gruffly, gripping the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles went white.
I didn’t understand why this was so important to him when I’d gotten the impression he wasn’t going to have much to do with me while I was in Snow Valley. “But why?”
“All the instructors are men,” he grunted, turning the wheel to pull into a driveway.
The two-story brick house with twinkling white icicle lights lining the roof was so pretty, I legit wanted to cry. I’d somehow found myself married—in name only—to the perfect man, who lived in the perfect town, and owned the perfect house. Life really wasn’t fair sometimes. Handing me everything I’d ever dreamed of but only letting me keep it all for a few months.
“Don’t get out yet,” Christopher commanded as he parked in front of the garage, the passenger door lined up with the sidewalk leading to the front of the house.
I figured he wanted to clear the walkway so I wouldn’t slip in the snow. Sighing over how thoughtful he was, I watched him walk up to the house and open the door. Instead of grabbing a shovel, he stomped back over to my side of the SUV. Then he flung open the passenger door and leaned in to unbuckle my seat belt.
“Thank y—” My whisper turned into a yelp when he slid his hands under my butt and thighs to lift me out of the SUV. Twining my arms around his neck to hold on, I squealed, “What are you doing?”
He kicked the vehicle door shut and started to march toward the house. “Carrying my bride over the threshold.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” I murmured, holding on tight even though he was carrying me as though I weighed almost nothing. “It seems silly to honor marriage traditions when I’m not your real bride, and I’ll only be here long enough to save your town.”
His hold on me tightened as the front door slammed shut behind us. He didn’t explain the logic behind his actions. Instead, he remained silent while he stomped up the stairs and down the hall. I didn’t catch what most of the house looked like, but I did spot a vase filled with pretty flowers in a bedroom as we passed. I found it a little odd since Christopher didn’t seem like the kind of guy who kept flowers in his home, but I didn’t get the chance to ask him about it before he walked into what had to be the master bedroom and practically tossed me onto the mattress of the king-sized bed.
“What in the world are you doing?” I gasped, bouncing on the soft surface.
“Getting ready to consummate our marriage,” he rumbled, shocking the heck out of me as he followed me down and covered my body with his, snowy boots and all.