Page 17 of Melting His Grumpy Heart
When Jake knelt to help him with the insulated snow boots, clearly skeptical of Ru’s ability to properly secure them himself, Ru gripped the utility room counter with white knuckles.
The sight of Jake on his knees, strong fingers adjusting the buckles around Ru’s ankles, sent a fresh wave of heat rushing through him. Jake’s fingers brushed against his calf through the fabric of his borrowed trousers. Ru did his best not to whimper again, but he wasn’t sure if he succeeded.
“Too tight?” Jake looked up. In this position, with Jake gazing up at him from below, his green eyes seemed evenmore intense. Jake’s face, way too close to his crotch, sent Ru’s imagination spiralling in dangerous directions.
“No,” Ru managed, his voice strangled and strained. “Perfect fit.”
Jake nodded, apparently oblivious to Ru’s reaction as he stood and reached for his own gear.
“Headgear and gloves, then we can move out.”
Jake thrust a thin snood at him, the material almost silky, and way too flimsy to keep out the cold. Jake caught his eye and smirked.
“Like the mid-layer you’re wearing, it’s designed for extremely low temperatures. You need this as well.” Jake handed over a padded hat with ear flaps. “Just have faith, all right?”
Ru nodded. He had faith in Jake Whitby, more faith than he’d had in any man for a long, long time.
Pulling his own headgear on Jake looked strong, capable and in charge, every inch the soldier he’d been. Ru glanced away. Everything he’d always looked for, everything he’d ultimately never found.
“Right, let’s go. And put your gloves on.” Jake stared down at him as Ru fumbled them on.
As they stepped outside, the cold hit with shocking intensity despite all the layers. “Christ, I knew it was cold but?—”
“The temperature’s nosedived since I found you in the barn. You picked the right time to get stranded. Here, one last thing.” Jake’s brow creased as he tugged the jacket’s hood up and over Ru’s head, fastening it at the throat.
Jake looked up suddenly, catching Ru off-guard. Their gazes held for a second that felt like an eternity. The moment snapped as Jake stepped back, and Ru let go of a shaky breath.
“Let’s get going. We don’t want to be out for too long.”
Ru’s breath clouded in front of him as he followed Jake away from the house, their boots crunching in snow that reached his knees. Even in the bulky winter gear, Jake moved with a predator’s grace, his body navigating the challenging terrain with instinct and ease.
“Stay in my tracks,” Jake instructed, breaking a path through the pristine white expanse. “The snow’ll be hiding uneven ground.”
Ru did as he was told, literally following in Jake’s footsteps, trusting Jake’s judgment about the safest path forward. It was sensible and practical, sure, but to Ru it summed up perfectly not only Jake’s protective instinct, buried under layers of grumpiness that, just maybe, might have been beginning to fracture, but also his own easy willingness to not just accept but want that protection. Ru stared at Jake’s broad back and frowned as the thought dug beneath his skin. Sure, he was easy going, always had been, maybe too much at times, but he’d never knowingly and consciously adopted a subordinate role so what?—
“Oofff!”
Strong hands grabbed him, stopping him from falling face first into the snow drift he hadn’t even seen. A pair of glittering eyes bore into him.
“When you’re out in conditions like this, you have to keep all your wits about you. The smallest lapse in concentration can mean big trouble. Look back at the house.”
Ru turned and gasped. The big, stone farmhouse was no more than a ghostly, fading outline. “But it was blue sky when we left. Or mostly,” he said, looking back at Jake.
“Freezing fog. Give it another ten minutes, if that, and you won’t be able to see to the end of your nose. Come on. And concentrate.”
As they trudged through the snow, Jake taking point, it wasn’t long before Ru was struggling and he began to fall behind. Jake stopped, turned, and waited.
When Ru reached him, he was out of breath. “I’ve never been in snow like this before, I’m sorry.” He didn’t meet Jake’s eye, embarrassed at being so woefully unprepared. Just another useless city boy.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. These are extreme weather conditions few people in this country experience.” Jake’s words were matter of fact, as if it were no big deal. “So you’re struggling a little? I’d have been surprised if you weren’t. But I’m here. If you fall I’ll pick you up, so there’s nothing to be worried about.”
No fuss, just plain and to the point. A statement of fact. Yet the words curled and twisted around Ru like the fog.
Jake would catch him if he fell.
Nobody else had ever made that promise…Stupid.Jake was talking about the snow, that was all. Nothing else, absolutelynothingelse. Yet, as they set off again, Ru just a step behind, he couldn’t help the twist of warmth in his chest, or the smile that pulled at his lips.
When they reached the patch of woodland, the holly bush was a vivid splash of green and red against the whitewashed landscape. Glossy leaves peeked through the snow, clusters of berries bright as drops of blood against the dark foliage.
