Page 11 of Snowed In With You

I laughed and rolled my eyes, ‘I’m never going to live this down am I?’

‘Probably not,’ he agreed.

‘Luckily I have a few persuasive tricks up my sleeve to help you forget.’ The words were out of my damn mouth before I could think them through, his surprise was almost tangible in the air between us and I could hear the smile in his voice when he replied.

‘I look forward to it.’

The room felt colder as soon as Fletcher left and I hurried to drop my towel and pull on the complimentary robe before digging around in my duffel for some underwear and socks.

Oh God.

My hands dug deeper into the bag as I rummaged, trying not to panic. I pulled out a pair of thick socks and tried to cast my mind back –had I actually packed any panties? I’d been so concerned about the swimsuit that I wasn’t sure I’d remembered to bring any. I stared down at the shadowy form of my bag in horror. Had I self-sabotaged or was this a sign? First I got snowed-in withthe guy I was tryingnotto sleep with and then I discovered I didn’t pack any underwear? Like, none at all? Maybe once it was daylight I’d be able to find them in the bag.

The dark was starting to creep me out again so I hurried into a pair of soft and comfy PJ pants and an oversized tee before tying up my mostly dried hair into a messy bun. There. Easy, scruffy, clearly not seductive.Except for the fact that you’re currently commando.

???

Sara emerged from upstairs a few minutes later, her hair was still slightly damp and the red strands curled towards her temple in sweet ringlets that I wanted to tug. She’d found a blanket from somewhere and had it draped around her shoulders as she sat down near me on the couch, peering shyly upwards and darting her eyes away quickly.

‘I take it you made it down the stairs without any further attacks?’ I teased and she turned a light shade of pink that only made her more alluring in the candlelight.

‘Yes, thank you,’ she gave a small, embarrassed laugh. ‘Do me a favour and don’t tell Rob. He’ll only try and bring it up at the most awkward moments to embarrass me.’

I grinned at her and felt a curl of anticipation at the way the colour in her cheeks deepened and her gaze fell to my mouth. I licked my lips slowly, deliberately and her head jerked up as she looked around the room. I let out a low laugh, ‘I make no promises and favours won’t come cheap. I’ve already rescued you once tonight.’

She raised a cocky eyebrow, ‘From a robe.’

‘Yes, well,youdidn’t know that at the time, now, did you?’

‘True,’ she laughed lightly and something inside me relaxed at the sound. I hadn’t been sure if saying what I had last night would do more harm than good, but things between us definitely seemed… better. ‘When do you think the power will be back on? I was surprised the generators didn’t automatically kick-in.’

I shrugged, ‘I’ve not been in a snowstorm before so I don’t know how the generators work, but a fancy place like this must have them, especially out in the middle of nowhere. This AirBnB is wild, I don’t know how Rob and Tanya found this place.’

‘It’s just like Rob to pick something obscure, force me to come and then not show up himself.’

I raised an eyebrow, ‘Pretty sure he didn’t schedule the snowstorm, sweetheart.’

‘He would have if he thought it would annoy me.’

I laughed loudly, ‘Times like this I’m glad I’m an only child. Anyway, I’ll go down to the basement level tomorrow when there’s daylight again and take a look, I’m sure we can just flip a switch or something and they’ll turn on.’

‘And if they don’t?’

She looked worried, one lip pulled in between her teeth. I couldn’t resist. I leaned in and brushed that bottom lip with my thumb, exhaling roughly as she let it go for me to stroke the full length. ‘They will, but even so, we have candles and food – I didn’t really buy anything perishable aside from milk, which I’m pretty sure we can put outside to keep cold.’ I grinned at her and her mouth popped closed as she gave a light nod. ‘so what do you want to do tonight?’ The question felt loaded and I could tell from her big pupils that she agreed. I wanted to know where her thoughts had gone but before I could say anything she sat up straighter, pushing down whatever it was she was feeling.

‘How about a movie?’

‘...The power’s out.’

‘My laptop is charged and I had a couple things downloaded.’

I considered it, movie in the dark, snuggled up to Sara… ‘Okay, sounds good.’

She leaped off the couch and hurried up the stairs to grab the laptop and I took a few moments to settle myself. We were going to take this slow, the way we should have done originally. I liked her too much to want to mess this up again. I readjusted myself in my pants and built up the fire in the fireplace a little more as I waited for her to get back with the movie.

Sara padded down the stairs and then hesitated looking at me, ‘Where should I put it?’ I wanted to groan, was everything out of this woman’s mouth a euphemism?

‘I’ll bring over one of the chairs and we can put it in front of us.’ I moved the chair over and could feel Sara’s eyes on my back as I placed the laptop on it and then settled back onto the couch with her.

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