Page 42 of Snowed In on Valentine's Day

He ignored me and looked at the small screen with his usual bland expression. “Hi, Mariana. I hope you’re doing well.”

She grinned at him. “I am, though our flight back is delayed. Thank you so much for taking care of my best friend during this storm. It sounds awful!”

He nodded and then turned to me. “Hazel, I just wanted to see if you were hungry for breakfast yet.”

Still fuming, I turned to him and whispered, “I’ll find something to eat myself when I’m done.”

His eyes lingered on my face a little too long before he walked away. Admittedly, I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been looking at him too.

When I turned to look at the screen, Mariana’s lips were curved into a frown, and her forehead was creased. “So, you’re not getting along?” It was a question, but she said it like a statement.

I sighed. “Sometimes. But not today.”

“And you’re stuck spending Valentine’s Day with him.”

I grimaced. “OK, enough about Valentine’s Day. I don’t want to talk about it.” Hearing a noise, I looked sideways, and sure enough, he was still in the room, tidying up around the sofas. Seriously? I clenched my teeth as I forced another smile. “But I want to hear about your honeymoon. I mean, it’s Italy! I need to hear everything.”

Mariana looked at me warily for an extra beat before smiling reluctantly. “And I look forward to catching up, but your picture is blurry and you’re not using your own phone, so ... we should connect again when I’m back.”

I nodded. “You’re right … just missing you. Pinecone too. I’m going insane here.” Sighing, I raised my hand in a small wave. “Bye, Mari. Call me when you get back!”

Fortunately, Peter had finally gone, so I padded over to the couch and set the phone on the coffee table. I grabbed the thick blanket that he’d carefully folded and tossed it over me as I lay down.

I might as well nap. With any luck, the power would be restored when I awakened.

This afternoon couldn’t come soon enough.

*****

After lying awake for an hour hearing my stomach growling, I finally dragged myself off the couch. I wasn’t the sort of person who could sleep while ravenous. Was anyone that sort of person? I couldn’t imagine it.

I grabbed my overnight bag, which had, naturally, been woefully inadequate for more than one night. I was wearing the same leggings and long-sleeve shirt from yesterday, and I’d packed no makeup, only a few hygiene essentials. I hadn’t freshened up since the second day of my stay here. Yesterday, hoping to be able to go home, I had put off bathing. I sighed as I walked to the bathroom just down the hall, deliberating on whether I should shower or wait until I got home.

But what if my pipes were frozen or the hot water heater took a long time to start working again—or any number of other technical failures I didn’t want to imagine? I grimaced as I pushed the bathroom door open.

And for the thousandth time since I’d arrived here, I screamed. The unlocked bathroom door had caused me to assume it was unoccupied, which is a normal assumption, right?

But there he was, wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist, with his wet hair slightly dripping on his face and his chest.

Holy … his chest … oh no.

No, no, no!

I didnotneed to see this.

Against my will, my eyes drank him in. I wouldn’t have expected a stuffy CEO workaholic to have a six-pack … or sculpted shoulders like that. Every inch of him was firm, muscular, lean without being bulky. I shouldn’t be surprised, as I’d seen hints of biceps when he wore a short-sleeve shirt to bedor when I’d seen his calves in his sleep shorts. Of course, he hadn’t worn shorts again since that first day.

I needed to stopnow. My hands flew up to cover my eyes.

“I—you—” My voice sounded like a squeal. “Don’t you lock the doors when you shower?”

His voice held a note of amusement. “Not usually. I live alone.”

“But—but—” I sputtered. “Not right now you don’t. I’m still here, or did you forget?”

“No, I definitely didn’t forget.” A trace of a smirk graced his lips.

And I knew then that I’d been caught.

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