Page 39 of Snowed In With the Maverick
He sat on the couch opposite her, the one he’d been meant to sleep on, where the duvet still sat folded on the cushions. “How’d you sleep?” he asked.
Andrea pulled her blanket up slightly. Was she going to be uncertain again, defensive, the way she’d been before she’d let down her guard only hours earlier? But instead, she sighed and laid her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes, and the vulnerability of the action told him everything he needed to know. “I slept like…” She paused, then looked over at him. Her blue eyes looked tired but so damn pretty they stirred something in him he wanted to bottle up and keep. “I can’t remember.”
Seth grinned. Fair enough. By the time he figured they’d drifted off—her mumbling something about not wanting the blanket to get too close to the fire, him doing everything in his power not to fall asleep and miss any moment of holding Andrea’s warm, naked body against his—they’d both been so exhausted, it was no wonder they’d slipped into a coma level of slumber.
“Can I make you some breakfast?” he asked. He didn’t really want to make her breakfast. What he wanted to do was shed his jeans and sweater, and crawl right back under the blanket with her and pick right up where they’d left off the night before.
“That would be nice,” she said. “But—” She looked outside again, then back at Seth. “But maybe we should go outside first. It looks so pretty out there. My first Tenacity snowfall.”
Clearly, she wasn’t thinking along the same lines he was, but he’d go along with anything she wanted to do. “What do you have in mind?”
“I got something in the mail last week,” Andrea said. She sat up, took another sip of her coffee, then stood up from the couch, the blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a queen’s cloak, her naked calves visible.
“I’m intrigued,” Seth said.
“I’ll be right back.”
Andrea disappeared down the hallway and returned with a cardboard box she slid across the floor toward the couches. She grabbed her keys from a hook near the entrance, used one to slit the packing tape holding the box together, then lifted the top and extracted a set of snowshoes, then from underneath, another larger pair. “Shall we get some warm clothes on and check out the snowfall outside?”
Seth would have preferred to remove clothes rather than add them, and stay inside where the fire he’d just started was now burning strong, but the sparkle in Andrea’s eyes was all he needed to nod his head and grin. “Sure,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
* * *
The new blanket of snow was soft and downy, not the thicker packing snow that could be used to build a snowman or a snow fort, but the wide planks of the snowshoes kept them near the surface of what must have been over two feet of snowfall. Andrea slid her sunglasses from the pocket of her parka and slipped them on to guard against the brilliant light of the sun on the sparkling snow.
Seth trudged through the snow beside her, and as they walked quietly, breathing in the fresh, cold air, Andrea allowed her mind to wander back to the night before. She’d had a moment, right before slipping into sleep, when she’d wondered if things would be awkward between them in the morning. If she’d feel a pang of regret for how little willpower she’d summoned, how easily she’d given in to her deep desire for Seth.
But what she felt this morning was a sense of peace. Satisfaction. Seth had made her feel things she’d never felt before. In control, yet cared for. Powerful, yet soft.
There wasn’t a trace of awkwardness between them—not yet at least. But Andrea couldn’t shake the questions circling in her mind. Where would they leave this when it came time for him to leave? Was it a one-night stand for him? Was this something he did on a regular basis? Did she want it to be more than a one-off? She suddenly felt a need for some kind of definition for what they were, what they would be.
“You okay?” Seth said, and when Andrea glanced up to see the way he was looking at her, there was no doubt in her mind that what was happening between them wasn’t a one-night event. He cared about her. And she most definitely cared about him.
“I’m great,” she said. “I hope you didn’t have anything important planned today.”
“Just the usual Saturday stuff,” Seth said.
“And what’s that?”
“Drop in and see my mom. Get some groceries. Go to the gym. Check out a football game or two.” A slight breeze blew the top layer of snow off the ground, sending a light mist up into their faces. “I like this for an unexpected change of plans, though.”
Unexpectedwas right. Although if she were really being honest with herself, had a small part of her known exactly what she was getting into, going to the party with Seth? Putting on a dress she knew he’d like, sinking into his arms on the dance floor, pressing her body up against his in such an intimate way?
When he’d entered the living room this morning, holding their coffees, his hair slightly messy in the sexiest way, it took everything in her not to take his hand and pull him back under the blanket with her in front of the fire again. There was no doubt now that they were compatible in that way. But what was next wasn’t something she could think through with his body so close to hers, soaking in the perfection that was Seth Taylor. No. She had to cool off, and being outside was the best idea.
“So what’s next?” Seth asked.
“What do you mean?” said Andrea. Was he talking about them? Or the ranch?
“I guess the idea of getting a dig in before the ground freezes wasn’t exactly realistic,” said Seth. “But I still want to move forward.”
Andrea considered it, the snow crunching as they clomped along an unmade path. “What do you think about me hosting a luncheon? At the ranch. For town stakeholders. Or anyone else you can think of who might be interested in being involved in some way.” Hosting a large meal like that would be a lot of work. But seeing her place come together, and the idea of spending time with a group of people she was starting to like more and more as she got to know them, was kind of exciting.
“I think that’s a great idea,” said Seth. “Your place is—” He paused for a moment. “It’s like walking into a Christmas snow globe. It’s homey. And cozy. It’ll make people open their hearts and their wallets.”
Hearing Seth’s description of her home gave her a warm feeling inside. When she’d packed up her condo, it had been hard to believe she’d ever find a space that felt so much like a perfect home for her, and what she had now was even better than she’d allowed herself to hope for.
“I can make lasagna. That’s good for a big group. Or do you think I should do a roast or something? I can—”
