Page 22 of Scoring the Mountain Man

“Is the grill somewhere out there?’ she asks and I can only nod. “Okay,” she says, taking a deep breath. “I’ll find the grill, you find everything else you need.”

“It’s not that simple, babe,” I tell her.

“What do you mean?” She looks at me confused.

“It’s a built in outside kitchen. You can’t move the grill around.”

“Oh,” she whispers. “That’s a lot of snow,” she adds.

“Yep. I didn’t think we would have this much. It’s blocking the door,” I say, wondering what we are going to do.

“I see that,” she says, probably thinking the same thing I am. “You got a snow shovel?” she asks.

“You are not going to shovel the snow,” I tell her adamantly.

She looks up at me and says with a straight face, “What? Do you think you are going to?”

“Well…” I start but she cuts me off.

“Not only no, but hell no. You can’t do this, otherwise you could injure yourself further.”

“If sex didn’t injure me, I’m pretty sure I can handle shoveling snow,” I tell her.

“Unless there is unseen ice under there and you fall wrong,” she counters back.

“Fair point,” I say as I bite the inside of my cheek.

She looks down at my body and says, “You got another pair of sweatpants and boots?”

I can’t help the chuckle that leaves me, “Yeah I do, but you are going to be swimming in them.”

She shrugs her shoulders, “Food is more important.”

“Fair enough,” I concede, and lead her back into my bedroom to ensure she has warm clothes on. I find her a pair of boots, as well as a coat and gloves.

She really does look like she is being swallowed up by clothes, but she also looks cute as hell. Reminds me of those videos where the little kids dress up in their moms clothes and heels. That's how she looks right now and I can’t help the laugh that leaves me.

“Laugh it up, but you will be the one out here cooking,” she tells me as she pushes on the door to get out and shovel a path to the grill.

I feel hopeless just standing here and not being able to help her. I should be the one shoveling the snow, not her. I rake my hands through my hair as I hear the shovel hitting the concrete.

A few minutes later she comes stomping in, “Okay, I think I got a good path to the grill and I even cleaned the snow off of what we need. I don’t know how long it will last, but it should get us through tonight,” she tells me.

I walk out, being mindful of the possibility of ice and check on the grill. She is definitely amazing. She made sure I could also get to the propane tank. I turn it on, wait a few seconds before turning the grill on to heat it up. I know once it heats up the snow around it will begin to melt, but it shouldn’t deter us from cooking our meal.

I walk back into the house and prep the steak and potatoes. I look over at Aubrey, seeing that she has already changed back into the boxers and t-shirt, and is watching me. I walk over, give her a kiss and say, “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry macho man, one day, when you are not injured, I will let you handle everything.”

I can’t help the laugh that leaves me. “Deal,” I say, looking forward to that day.

I get the potatoes on the grill as they will take the longest to cook. I bring in more wood for the fireplace, knowing we are going to need it for the night and probably tomorrow as well.

I go back out to the grill, rotating the potatoes to make sure they are cooked evenly. Twenty minutes later, I throw the steaks on the grill and allow them to cook to medium before pulling them and the potatoes off the grill.

I turn the propane tank off after I turn the grill off, then I take dinner inside, where Aubrey is waiting with plates and silverware.

Seeing her standing in my kitchen feels like a dream. I never thought I would have the woman of my dreams here with me.

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