Page 10 of Rocky Mountain Desire
“Stay awake, okay?”
“Sure.” She shivered, and he held on tight as he drove one-handed through the side streets to reach the back-alley entrance behind Main Street.
He parked in what he hoped was her stall. There weren’t a lot of people moving, or lights on anywhere. Seemed most people knew enough to stay home when it was this damn cold.
He got out and pulled her after him. Hope draped her arms around his neck without him saying a word. The outside staircase up to her apartment was buried under an unmanageable amount of snow, so he carried her to her shop back door.
“Keys?”
Hope paused. “Shit.”
“In your car?”
She nodded, then her eyes lit up. “There’s a spare. I hid one.”
She looked so pleased with herself, Matt had to laugh. Freezing his ass off and laughing in a back alley with his hands going numb and his feet and butt turning into blocks of ice.
“You gonna tell me where it is?”
“Oops.”
She wiggled free and stepped on a box, reaching overhead behind a light. Then she turned and fell, exactly what he’d expected to happen, so he was ready. He caught her in midair, swung her to her feet and pulled the key from her fingers. “Either you’re way colder than you’re letting on or you’ve got a bad case of the clumsies.”
“Co…co…old.”
He opened the door and pressed her in ahead of him. Faint security lights glowed in parts of the shop, fabric bolts and whatnot on the shelves, and quilt samples displayed on the walls. It was warmer out of the wind, but it still wasn’t warm.
“You turned the heat off?”
“Down. Saving money.”
She stumbled and Matt read the signs all too clearly. Screw it. Physically she’d lost it. He guided her up the private stairs to her apartment. Every step he took, his socks squelched. Every pace he was more aware of the icicles clinging to his backside.
Hope turned on the landing. “I have a key here too. Wait.”
By the time they were through the door, Matt’s teeth were chattering like the gears on the old Ford. “Strip.”
He had already gotten off his winter coat and was working on his boots before he noticed Hope stood motionless in front of him.
“Hope, you listening?”
She lifted her hands to paw at her zipper before letting her arms fall. “I’m here. The brain is working, honest, but not the fingers. Can’t. Too cold.”
He dragged off his final boot and wondered what he’d done to deserve this kind of punishment. “Okay, I’ll help you. Just…relax.”
She nodded, eyes closed. That made it easier—not having to watch those expressive orbs as he peeled off her outer layers and got her down to her T-shirt and slacks. Goose bumps rose on her arms, and he was a bastard for noticing her nipples were rigid under the thin layers of her top. When he led her into the bathroom, she went without a complaint.
He turned on the taps for the tub and she nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s what I need. Perfect.”
That’s when the lights went out.
A million scenarios flashed through Matt’s brain where this would be a good thing. If he’d rescued some random damsel in distress from the side of the road who he’d taken back to a hotel and the power had gone off, they’d have to share body heat to survive. One thing would lead to another, and the heat they generated would be most enjoyable.
Hope. This is Hope.
“Matt? I’ve got candles.”
She bumped into him. He’d half-expected it though and managed to keep his balance. Logic and self-control were going to be the only way out of this mess with his sanity intact. “You need a hand?”
