Snow Way

By Alex Winters

It may be a brand new year, but Jace Carrollton is still in the same, boring slump: he’s dropped out of college and as the Strolling Snowman, walks around the mall all day wearing a musty snowman costume for a living. The only highlight of the job is Cory, the sexy owner of Vintage Vinyl, where Jace shops just for an excuse to flirt.

Cory Fairfield can’t believe it’s the last night of the mall’s Winter Wonderland promotion and, as such, the last time Jace will wear his furry snowman costume and walk in his store. Somehow Cory finds the courage to make his move: by hanging a faded sprig of mistletoe over Jace’s locker and offering to unzip his snowman costume, once and for all.

He’s finally shot his shot, but will Jace fall for it? And if so, what can an old grump do to melt his sexy snowman’s heart, one mistletoe kiss at a time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Feb 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9781685506544

Alex Winters

Alex Winters is the pseudonym of a busy restaurant manager whose curious young staff would love nothing more than to follow him around the dining room reading his steamiest, most romantic passages aloud! When not writing romantic holiday stories of various heat levels, he enjoys long walks with his wife, scary movies and smooth jazz. Visit him at www.awintersromance.com to see what stories are brewing up next!

Book preview

Snow Way

By Alex Winters

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2024 Alex Winters

ISBN 9781685506544

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Snow Way

By Alex Winters

Chapter 1

Jace

Bonus?

Jace Carrollton glanced at his paycheck, surprised by the four digits printed in the little rectangular box next to the dollar sign. It was nearly four times his usual amount, if not five.

Sure, kid. Denice Johnson’s voice was low but insistent, to match the almost urgent look behind her thick, black glasses. Didn’t you read your contract when you re-upped for the Strolling Snowman gig this year? Every seasonal worker is entitled to a percentage of projected sales from the holiday season. Must have been a good one this year, huh?

Jace smirked and slid the check back in the pay envelope with slightly trembling hands. He’d had his eye on a tiny loft apartment downtown, not far from the mall in fact, but had been struggling with a way to come up with the deposit. Though it was already January by now, the sudden windfall seemed like a Christmas do-over.

A much-needed one, in fact.

Especially considering the cold reception he still got back home after every shift, his surly father wondering when he was going to get the hell back to college no matter how many times Jace assured his old man that idea was a bona fide non-starter.

Do I ever? he teased, tucking his paycheck in his worn Georgia Eastern University backpack for safekeeping. I don’t remember getting one last year, though?

Denice’s soft, ebony cheeks curled upward in a stubborn smile. Naw, I guess you don’t. But the mall was bought out since you worked last year and the new owners have been fairly generous in how they treat the seasonal help, so…congrats.

Thanks, I could sure use it.

What, for books and such? Denise waved a chewed-up Pepper Ridge Mall pencil at his backpack.

Not very likely, he murmured, glancing down at his grubby sneakers. Ever since I dropped out.

Denice made a scrunched-up face and sucked in air through her teeth. Ugh, sorry. Sore subject?

Not for me, Jace insisted. I’ve never been happier. I was only going because it was my dad’s alma mater anyway. Now I’m free to be… Jace’s voice trailed off, the way it did whenever he got a little too excited about talking about a future where he might be free to be…himself. His authentic, lived-in, comfortable, potentially even happy self. Who he really was, and not his dad’s warped version of what a man was supposed to be.

A townie? Denise teased, as always, a motherly presence even though he only worked with her once every winter.

Hey, if the shoe fits.

Denise nodded sagely, waving her pencil at a pink and red flyer tacked to the crowded bulletin board next to the reception window. "Well, if you are sticking around for a hot minute, Valentine’s Day is coming up and they’re hiring for Mall Cupids, so…if you’re interested, I can sign you up?"

Heck yeah! Jace leaped at the chance. He’d been wondering what he might do now that his Strolling Snowman job was coming to an end and, like the surprise bonus check burning a hole in his backpack, sticking around for another holiday gig was just the shot in the arm the poor townie needed.

Denise beamed back at him from behind the frosted pay window. "I thought you might be interested, so consider it done.