Snowed In For Christmas: A Fun Feel-Good Holiday Romance Novel - Kimberly Krey Page 0,8

if not many occasions prior, ambition like hers could land one in a whole heap of trouble.

Easton twisted the knob to the yurt and pushed his shoulder against it. Massive flakes covered every inch of him as he turned to motion the woman inside.

She hesitated, her eyes seeming to search the area for a blink.

“Go on in,” he hollered over the whistling wind. He sighed out a breath of relief when she ducked her head and hurried inside. The ducking, she’d soon realize, wasn’t necessary. The dwelling, a round, teepee type structure, had a ceiling roughly thirteen feet high. Each yurt held the basic necessities. Tools, kitchen supplies, seating, and a fireplace that safely funneled the smoke outside. As well as a port-a-potty just off each structure. It was as close to roughing it as they dared to get for their brave winter crew. Not that they didn’t spend nights in snow caves too some of the time.

Ivy spun in place for a blink, eyeing her surroundings while shivering against the cold. “Does that port-a-potty I saw out there work?” she asked, still taking a slow turn.

“It sure does.”

When she’d made it full circle, she pointed at him and let out a shock-laced laugh. “Your hair!”

Easton patted at the coated mass of snow atop his head. He raked a hand through the strands of his hair to break it up, and chunks of matted snow tumbled to the rug. He stole a quick glance in her direction. “You’re lucky there’s not a mirror in here,” he said. “You’d have yourself a real laugh.”

The smile fell off her face. Hesitantly then, she reached blindly to pat at her own head. Her eyes widened in shock, and then she laughed again. “Oh my gosh,” she said, laughing some more. “I think I could make a snowball out of all this.” She tipped her head to the side and began to shake it off. “Oh,” she said suddenly, “should I be doing this outside?”

The look she turned on him took Easton by surprise. In truth, he was still stuck on the unexpected way she’d reacted to her messed up hair. In his experience, women from LA who dressed like her and talked like her…well, they didn’t like getting their hair wet.

“What was that?” he had to say. In truth, after a wordless, white-knuckle drive home, and an also wordless venture from the Jeep to the hut, Easton wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I probably shouldn’t be letting all of this snow drop onto the floor in here,” she said, trying to cup her hands to prevent the rest from falling.

Easton shook his head, surprised again that she’d even taken that into consideration. “No, it’s all right. This floor covering is a blend of bamboo and polyester. It will dry quickly once I get a fire going.”

“A fire?” She straightened up. “We don’t have time for a fire. I’ve got to get your interview done so we can hurry back to the airport.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”

Ivy’s jaw clenched shut. Her nostrils flared the slightest bit.

This was more what he expected.

“You don’t understand,” she said, tone more pleading than severe. “My promotion at the station depends on delivering these interviews on time. And second, it’s my family’s big Christmas Eve party tomorrow. I’ve never once missed that.”

“Until this year,” he assured her.

She studied him for a beat, allowing Easton to do the same with her. Most of the snow had fallen from her head, exposing the strands of her silky blonde hair, a nice compliment to her rather fair complexion.

Suddenly a soft, unexpected smile pulled at one side of her lips. “I’m probably coming across rude,” she said. “I’m not trying to. So let’s see if we can start over.” She took a few deep breaths—the sort the staff therapists called calming breaths—and leveled a look at him. “My job is the most important thing to me right now. Most important, that is, next to my family…”

He nodded, then absently shot a glance at her left-hand ring finger. No ring.

“So when I booked these back-to-back flights to conquer all five interviews before Christmas, I did so because it will help me get the promotion. But I would never have done it, if I hadn’t known I’d make it back in time to celebrate the holiday with my family, you know?”

Her voice had lost some of its steam. Her shoulders were starting to deflate. And her dark