“Let’s get on with it then,” I muttered, cutting her off.
Winter looked up at me with confusion, but I just grabbed her hand and tugged her along as I followed the judge into his living room.
Five minutes later, we were married. I considered kissing her when the judge got to that part, but I didn’t trust myself to stay in control. So, I brushed a simple kiss on her forehead and thanked the judge before dragging Winter back out to the SUV.
4
Winter
Christopher wasn’t acting at all how I’d expected a man who didn’t want a real wife to behave. I had thought he’d be friendly but distant. Instead, he was a little gruff and seemed to want to keep me close. He was also way too handsome for my comfort. My fingers itched to run through his dark hair. I felt as though I could stare into his brown eyes for hours on end, and his butt—along with the rest of his tall and muscular frame—could feed my feminine fantasies for years.
Keeping my hands off him and my heart from getting all mushy was going to be difficult—but there was no backing out now since we were already married. I was going to have to figure out how to stop myself from jumping his bones, though. That chaste brush of his lips across my forehead when the judge announced that he could kiss the bride made it clear he didn’t feel the same magnetic pull to me as I did with him.
Knowing my attraction to my new husband was one-sided left me feeling awkward as we drove through Snow Valley. It was even more quaint than I’d pictured, with charming storefronts lining the streets in the small downtown area. As we passed a tree farm, I asked, “Is your Christmas tree up, or do you like to wait until closer to the big day to do that?”
“Yeah, my mom took care of it for me this year.” He cleared his throat, and his cheeks filled with a ruddy color. “She goes a little overboard when it comes to the holiday season. She and my dad took care of the tree while I was working at my pub one night last week because my mom convinced him that I had put it off for too long. But I did the lights on the outside of the house. The last thing either of them needs to do is climb two stories high on a ladder.”
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.