Page 43 of Romancing His Heart
“Wanna bet?”
A quick glance to my right, and I see he’s sizing me up. “Come on, Loki, wanna bet?”
“What are the terms?” His voice is growly and low, and my core clenches in response.
“If I win, you have to answer my question about blue balls.”
“And when I win?” he asks.
“What do you want?”
“That’s a pretty loaded question there, Red.” The flirtation in his deep voice sends shivers down my neck.
“I’m an open book—”
“In three hundred yards, turn left.”The Australian voice echoes in the small space of the car.
Pressing on the brake, I slow to a stop but am hesitant to turn. “There?” I ask, pointing at an overgrown path.
“Yeah, just …” Loki unbuckles and leans over me to turn a dial next to my door.
“What’s that?”
“Four-wheel drive. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
Slowly, I make my way onto the makeshift driveway, and we immediately bounce around like we’re at a trampoline park.
“Just take it slow, Red.” Loki’s soothing voice calms me, and we inch forward. “We’re going to climb for about a mile. Don’t worry about the brush. Just keep the tires in the ruts of the road.”
I want to give him a ‘what the fuck’ look, but don’t dare to take my eyes off the road. True to his word, we climb the side of the mountain and finally come to a clearing. Set back against the forest is a traditional log cabin, each log notched and nestled into the next. Pulling up in front, I park and look to Loki for guidance.
“Welcome home. It’s going to be cold as fuck in there. Why don’t you take what you can inside while I go around back and get some wood for the fireplace?” He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a set of keys.
Taking them, I notice he has attached them to a tiny candy cane. Holding it up to the moonlight, I can see it sparkles, and I look to him for an explanation.
He shrugs his shoulders. “I forgot it was on there. It was my mom’s. Here …” After handing me a flashlight, he walks around the house.
I’ve been to the mountains before, but in the summer, so I’m not expecting it to be so damn cold. The floorboards creak beneath me as I rush up the front steps. Fumbling with the keys, I finally insert them into the lock. My fingers have frozen stiff in the few minutes the’ve been exposed to the frigid mountain air.
Jiggling the key, I finally get the lock to engage, and then take the flashlight out of my pocket. Shining it ahead of me, I open the door, and I’m startled to see four glowing, round eyes staring back at me.
“Aghh,” I scream as two furry beasts dart toward me. I try to turn and run, but my feet get tangled, and I trip down the stairs just as two raccoons come barreling out of the cabin. Thinking they are attacking, I scream again.
Loki has rounded the corner before I even hit the ground, running for me at full speed. I see the confusion cross his face as he spots me. Turning my flashlight toward the stairs, I illuminate our houseguests who stand there glaring at me as if I’m the intruder.
“What the hell happened?” Loki asks, not at all affected by the mangy beasts now scurrying up the steps. Pulling me from the ground, he wraps me in his warmth, still searching for danger.
“Right there,” I screech. “You have tenants. Dick and Harry over there were in the house.”
“Dick and … what?”
“The raccoons. They were in the house.”
“Fuck. Okay, get back in the truck while I evict them.”
“Dick and Harry.”
“Sloane, it’s almost midnight, and I need to get some very smart, very dangerous animals out of the cabin so we can go to sleep. Are you seriously going to argue with me about their names?”
