For the first time, I found myself wishing that he didn’t know my real name. I’d happily answer to Celery Stick for the rest of my life if it would get me out of this absolute catastrophe. Still, I couldn’t deny feeling a splash of warmth heating my frozen tundra of a body as my name fell from his lips. It was a mystery as to why, but I had no time to break the code before Chloe struck again.
She laughed. “Yeah.” Her eyes brightened suddenly, her voice low as she said, “Are you here to surprise her? She acted like she wouldn’t be seeing you during the break.”
At what I can only assume was a very confused look on Miles’s face, Chloe chuckled again. “Sorry. She told me you guys were dating. I hope that’s ok? But I feel like she didn’t have any idea that you’d be here, or else she would have told me.”
Again. Long pause. I could feel Miles calculating his answer. As for me…my body turned into a frigid hunk of ice, one strong wind away from toppling over and shattering.
“Yeah.” His voice was low with a scheming edge. “I definitely came here to surprise her. How long did she tell you we’d been dating?”
“A few weeks.” Chloe’s eyes widened. “Why? Has it been longer? She’s been annoyingly close-lipped about this whole thing.”
“No. That sounds about right.”
“Omigosh, can I please watch you surprise her? She’s going to freak out.” Chloe turned her head suddenly, her focus probably going to her confused husband and children. “Where’d she go?”
Miles’s head snapped over to where she was looking. “She’s here?” Why did his voice go up two excited octaves?
“She was…” Chloe’s voice trailed off as she searched the crowd. “Honestly, I thought she was lying about dating you, so I was messing with her by pretending to try and set her up with somebody. I don’t think she realized it was you.”
Another low chuckle. “Oh, she might have.”
She smiled at him playfully. “Should I do my overbearing-sister warning now or later?”
Miles was scanning the room. I knew he was. Santa came early this year, and he had a present to torture. He seemed distracted when he answered her, “Your what?”
“My speech. The one where I tell you if you hurt her, I’ll kill you. Because up until yesterday, all I had heard about was how terrible you were.”
He chuckled again, seeming to snap back into the real Miles. “Let’s see how this week goes. What cabin is she in?”
I shot daggers into Chloe’s head, using telepathy to force her to NOT TELL HIM, though I was aware he could probably very easily find out from his mother where we were staying.
“Seven. With us. She’s on the pull-out. We had another cabin rented for her, but we gave it up so my parents’ friends could come—Olive’s ex-boyfriend and his parents, to be exact.” She gave him a meaningful look.
Was there NO girl code of honor anymore? She could never resist throwing down some drama if an opportunity presented itself.
“Hey, Chloe, it was nice to meet you, but I just remembered something I need to take care of.”
That was my cue. I knew what Miles was about, and I flew into a panic. He would be coming to find me, and I needed to be G-O-N-E.
My intentions were semi-honorable.
My speed was impressive.
The execution was unfortunate.
I was halfway out the main door when the strap of my purse caught on the door handle. My body reared back from nearly clotheslining myself. While I was frantically trying to untangle the strap, I felt a warm body at my back, and a hand grasped my arm. Then I heard the low drawl that filled my heart with dread and my body with chills.
“Hey there, Celery Stick.”
My shoulders dropped, along with my head and every ounce of my dignity. The hour of reckoning for all my sins was now upon me.
“Or should I say, girlfriend?”
I turned around. Miles was standing much too close to me, filling my view with flannel stretched across a broad chest and a little peek of hair past the top button. I swallowed, bringing my gaze upward, past the annoying grin, strong cheekbones, and five o’clock shadow, until they met his eyes—brown, crinkly, and full of mischievous glee.
“Did I miss something? I’ve been a boyfriend a time or two before, but I remember a lot more kissing.”
Even though I was embarrassed and annoyed that he was in my space, and my fingers itched to pull that stupid gray beanie over his obnoxious face, I couldn’t help my cheeks as they began to warm. Which was ridiculous. It was MILES. My nemesis.
“But I mean…you did email me that romantic love note, so…” he continued.
I felt like I’d been dropped in the middle of a tennis match and somebody was handing me a golf club. I couldn’t think how to begin processing this entire situation, let alone deciding on a course of action. I was still confused as to how Miles was here. In my face. Teasing me. I forced my brain to focus on a response.
“That wasn’t a love note.”
“Sure had an over-abundance use of flattering adjectives.”
“It was sarcastic.” I scowled at him.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking completely at ease with our entire exchange. “You could have at least added a line in there about wanting to meet my parents.”
Granted, I deserved all of this. I had brought this on myself. But still, couldn’t he have just a bit of gracious dignity?
“Care to explain a few things, Olive?”
My eyes shot up to his. For the second time in five minutes, he had spoken my name, and for the second time, warmth emitted from my chest.
I peered past his shoulder and was satisfied we were alone. I really didn’t want to bring up the whole Glenn thing, and so far, the threat of Glenn seemed pretty mild—as in…he wasn’t here. Out of sight, out of mind. But as infuriating as Miles was, I did owe him an explanation.
“Okay, listen,” I began, then stopped, my cheeks flushing, mentally smacking my head into a wall. Why did I have to use Miles’s name? “To stop my family from trying to set me up with an ex-boyfriend…I might have told them that I was dating somebody.”
He put his hand over his mouth as though deep in thought while he nodded. “I see. Understandable. The only problem is that your sister seems to think it’s me, specifically.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath through my nose. It did nothing to calm me. But he wouldn’t rest until I spoke the words. “When I found out he was coming–my ex…on a whim, I told my sister...”
His eyebrows raised appreciatively, waiting for me to finish the statement. With me standing there…really not wanting to.
“And…” he prodded.
“And when she asked who…your name came out.”
“There it is.” He sighed happily.
“For the record, it was only because we’d just had that fight in the kitchen yesterday that my mind even went there.”
He reared back at that. “Fight? What fight? That wasn’t a fight.”
I scoffed, folding my arms and glaring up at him. “You yelled at me in the kitchen, trying to make me feel stupid for helping out.”
His brow furrowed. “I never yelled. And that’s not what I meant.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Listen, I just needed a name. For some crazy reason, yours came out, but I never thought that it would ever matter.”
He was silent for a moment, staring at me. “Haven’t you ever heard me talk about the lodge before?”