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“Cordi, nice to meet you My friends call me Russ,” he replied as he returned her handshake

The heat of his touch radiated through her, war her in a way that she hadn’t felt before She thought how different she expected this night to go She had been nervous to ated to i to play the ga to know someone new

Sitting there with Russ felt different She felt at ease without the added pressure of expectations, and she found herself hoping Grahaht-hearted conversation

The snow began falling around a half past nine, and Cordi decided she had better get going if she was going to get ho down She lived in an apart to be a cold walk home

Even though Grahaiddy sense of contentured those warh the cold, the wind, and the falling snow on her way home

“It was nice toMaybe you should, too, if you don’t want to get caught in the stor on her coat

He insisted on paying for her ciders before offering to walk her out, and she wasn’t going to protest to either She really hated for this evening to end

Once they got outside, Cordi began heading down the block toward her apartment as Russ went to open the driver side door of his har

d-top Jeep He turned to look back at her and noticed her walking onward down the block in the freezing cold

“You’re not walking ho wind

She pulled her collar up around her neck and wrapped her arht around her as she stopped and turned to look back “Yes,” she called back to him

He motioned for her to come back “Get in I’ll drive you home”

She thought about declining the offer It wasn’t that far, after all The hipped past her once again, chilling her to the bone The war she needed, and before she knew it, she was clier seat next to him

“Where to?” he asked her with a wide smile

“Thirty-fourth and Main”

Chapter 2

When Cordi booted up her laptop to work fro been snowed in fro to the night before, to Russ and his infectious s with Christina Aguilera crooning on her living room Bluetooth speakers, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christed into her company’s network

It wasn’t long before a notification popped up at the bottom of her screen, a video chat request from Marta She clicked Accept, and her friend’s expectant expression immediately appeared

“Well? How did it go last night?” Marta asked

“It went fairly well, considering your guy never showed up,” Cordi answered, crinkling the skin between her eyebrows

“What? That’s not right Jake talked to Grahaotten home from his date He said he really hit it off,” Marta explained in a defensive tone, shaking her head