Page 16 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
FOURTEEN
JOHANNA
Johanna couldn’t escape Connor Howard. He was everywhere.
His face was plastered on the side of buses as she weaved through downtown on her way to the airport.
Those perfect pearly whites gleamed at her with a bright, cheeky smile as her cab sat at a stoplight like he was taunting her from every direction.
The thing was, she knew they weren’t even veneers.
Some of the other anchors and sports reporters had had subtle and not-so-subtle work done—veneers, nips, tucks, spray tans, hair implants.
Not Connor. He’d been born with a set of glistening white teeth, destined to star in toothpaste commercials, and those rock-hard abs that never seemed to show the slightest sign of wear despite the fact that the man lived on cheeseburgers and buffalo wings.
Connor followed her at the airport, too. His face taking up every screen as he rattled off stats and scores on the morning sports report.
Leave me alone! she wanted to scream, but instead she slogged through the security line and tried to find a seat at her gate without a view of a TV.
Why did he have to be so damn handsome and congenial?
He was too wholesome.
Too earnest.
Too polished.
Too conceited.
And yet here he was, taking up every corner of her mind.
She leaned against the hard plastic chair, ignoring the throng around her—families loaded down with baggage and brightly wrapped gifts racing to make it to their gate, business travelers with their heads buried in their laptops, the overhead speakers paging people about to miss their flights.
She banged her head softly against the uncomfortable chair, wishing she could pound out the rush of sweet memories.
Connor had managed to worm his way in through seemingly romantic gestures when they began hooking up.
Like Thanksgiving Day, when she’d been happily curled up on her couch watching the Macy’s Day Parade alone, content not to be at the office for once, and he appeared at her door with bagels from her favorite shop around the corner, a spiced latte, and an entire pre-prepared meal complete with the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
Or on the first day of December, when he waited for her after work and scooped her away for sushi, ice-skating in Central Park, followed by hours of wandering through neighborhoods with hot chocolates in hand, taking in the holiday lights and decorations.
For a while there, she almost believed it might be real.
It wasn’t, Jo.
She blew out a breath and let her head flop against the chair.
None of it was real.
It was all a ploy.
A ploy for her job.
“You’re diabolical, Connor,” she whispered to herself as the gate agent announced that her flight was about to board. “And you’ve met your match.”