On Christmas Hill Read Online Free Page A

lip.
    “ Good.” He didn’t move,
except for his eyes. They dipped down to my mouth and it was like
he had touched them. And then he did. His hand moved up to cup my
cheek while his thumb ran over my bottom lip. “Molly,
I…”
    Remy chose that moment to bark and jump
on my leg. He single-pawedly broke the moment and I stepped away
from Nate. What was I doing? Waiting for him to kiss me? I’d just
met him and the jury was still out on his sanity. He was going to
tell me something, but the moment was broken, and I was relieved. I
wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what he was going to say. Side
stepping Remy, I grabbed my gloves off of the table and slid into
my jacket.
    “ Well, time to meet Santa’s
team.”

Chapter Four

     
     
    Nate chuckled at me as he pulled his
own jacket on. I couldn’t help but admire the way his shirt
tightened across his chest as he moved. “It’s going to take a lot
to convince you, huh?”
    “ Oh, until I see some
reindeer clickity clacking on a rooftop, you can assume I’m a
nonbeliever.” I rolled my eyes and opened the door for Remy to run
onto the porch.
    “ That can be arranged, you
know.” Nate pulled the door shut behind us.
    “ Really?” I winced at the
excitement in my voice.
    “ They only fly on Christmas
Eve, so you’ll get your chance tonight.” Nate led me toward the
barn through the snow. Remy bouncing happily along in my
wake.
    “ That’s hours away, Nate.” I
mock frowned.
    “ You sound like a kid
waiting for Santa.”
    “ Well, I kind of am, aren’t
I?” We got to the barn and he pulled open one of the large
doors.
    “ You’re waiting for Santa,
but you’re no little girl.” His eyes ran over my body in a way that
made me blush.
    “ Geez, Nate. You’re going to
make the naughty list if you keep that up.”
    “ Sweetheart, I’m always on
the naughty list.” Nate laughed.
    I hadn’t really given the barn much
thought since arriving on Christmas Hill, but I could see that was
about to change. There was something perfect about the old wooden
horse stalls and the smell of the hay. Gorgeous leather harnesses,
complete with silver bells, hung from pegs along one wall. An old
spiral staircase was near the entrance. I stopped and ran my
fingers over the iron railing and peered up toward the
loft.
    “ There’s an office up
there.” Nate walked over to a wall and checked some of the gear
that was hanging up. He grabbed a couple of helmets and tossed one
to me. “Heads up!”
    I caught it just in time and looked at
him with raised eyebrows. “Are we doing something
dangerous?”
    “ We have to take the
snowmobile to check the fence.”
    “ Oh.” This was going to be a
long, cold ride. I motioned for Remy to stay in the barn as we
headed back out. I didn’t want him to try to follow us.
    “ It won’t be that bad. I
checked some of it this morning, but there were some trees in the
back may have not lasted the storm last night.”
    He was right. The ride out wasn’t bad.
In fact it had been fun. I also didn’t mind that I had an excuse to
hang onto Nate. He took me the scenic route, pointing out landmarks
and the boundaries of the property. The reindeer were out, forging
in areas under trees that had little snow. Despite the engine noise
from the snowmobile, it was peaceful. The snow acted like a
blanket, muffling everything. When we pulled up toward a heavily
wooded area, I knew immediately that something was
wrong.
    One tree was completely upturned, lying
on the ground, parts of a fence smashed to pieces. Heavy branches
littered the area, making it hard to get to the actual damage. Nate
huffed and I knew he was seeing a lot of work. That gave me pause,
because I wasn’t really sure how he was paid. Did I owe him a
check?
    We jumped off the sled and made our way
toward the fence. For something I thought was pretty, it sure was
dangerous. I looked up over my head and hoped nothing else fell
from the trees while we were exposed.
    “ Leave your