Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
I’d set up the guest room for her and even added a bouquet. It was a poor apology for being forced to live with my quiet, brooding ass for the next months, but they said more than I did.
While I waited for the train to arrive, I stood just off the platform, leaning against the brick wall of the station house. It was cold as fuck, but I loved the crisp, clean smell of the air when snow was headed our way. I glanced at my watch and saw that the train was running about fifteen minutes behind. My eyebrows tilted down into a frown. If they didn’t beat the snow, it would be a dicey ride back to my house. I wasn’t too far off the beaten path, but the plow only cleared the main roads. I kept a small blade to attach to my truck when I needed to get to town on snowy days.
For some reason, I’d felt some weird desire to impress Winter, so like an idiot, I’d driven my SUV instead. We’d still be able to get home, but it would be slow and steady. It meant more time in the car, which was bound to be filled with tense silence.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I dug it out to glance at the screen.
Lincoln: She there yet?
Lincoln and I had been best friends since we were kids, even though it made no sense since we were practically opposites. He was outgoing, funny, and the life of the party while I was the man of few words who would rather be working in my office or at home with my dogs and a good book.
Me: No. Train is late.
Lincoln: Got your horse and wagon all ready to take your mail-order bride back to the homestead?
Me: Been reading your sister’s romance novels again?
He’d been joking about my life becoming an old Western romance since I told him about the plan.
Lincoln: You know me. Swoon.
I barked out a laugh. Lincoln was a former SEAL and one of the burliest guys I knew. And while he didn’t turn his nose up at the idea of love and happily ever afters, he certainly wasn’t a romantic.
Lincoln: When is the wedding?
I shrugged as if he could actually see me while I typed my response.
Me: Sometime this week. Whenever I get a break from work and the judge is available.
Lincoln: Whoa, there. Slow down, Don Juan. Sounds like you’re going to sweep her off her feet!
I rolled my eyes before glancing up to see the lights of the train in the distance.
Me: Fuck you.
Lincoln: Save it for the wife, buddy.
One corner of my mouth ticked up as I shook my head and stuffed my phone back into my pocket. My hands were nearly frozen solid, so I shoved them in the fleece-lined pockets of my heavy leather coat and clenched and unclenched my fingers to get the circulation going.
Finally, the locomotive rolled in, the brakes squealing and hissing as it came to a slow stop. I pushed off the wall and ambled closer, stepping onto the platform. The doors slid open, and a few people exited from a handful of cars.
Holly had said that Winter was short with blond hair. I looked at each person as they deboarded but didn’t see anyone fitting her description. There was a girl one car down who might have fit the bill if she wasn’t so young. She was bundled up so much that I could barely see her face and only knew she was blond from the wild strands poking out from beneath her cap.
My mouth curled down when the last person had exited the train, and I saw no sign of my bride. Maybe she’d changed her mind. Fuck.
“Christopher Mistletoe?”
I glanced to my left to see the girl speaking to me. Except now that she was close, I could see that it was a woman staring up at me with the brightest, clearest, most incredible blue eyes I’d ever seen in my entire life. The world tilted, and I wondered if this was what Lincoln was talking about when he said swoon because I felt completely off-balance. My dick did not have the same reaction; it was solid as a rock.
“I’m Winter,” she said with a beautiful smile on her plump, red lips, showing off straight, even white teeth. Her nose was pert and tipped up just the tiniest bit at the tip, and her round cheeks made her look almost angelic.
She pulled off her cap and mountains of white-blond curls fell all around her. My breath caught in my lungs, and when I was finally able to suck in some air, I wheezed. Her eyes became alarmed, and she put a concerned hand on my arm. I would have sworn I felt the heat of her palm searing my skin through my heavy coat and long-sleeved sweater.