Chapter Five
Leo
Ten minutes. I’d been gone less than ten minutes.
What the hell happened between the two of them in such a short space of time to cause this shitshow?
Christ, what had I gotten into? They were going to kill each other before we had a chance to get off the damn property. Then I remembered Gabe and his big mouth and the nerve he’d hit which had caused me to run in the first place. My instinct had compelled me to get out, get away from the guy. My client obviously had a different approach.
I stood inside the entrance as Mitchell slammed the door and secured the lock behind him for good measure.
He stared me dead in the eyes. “He stays out of the house, you hear?”
“You can’t leave him out there,” I said aghast. “He’ll freeze to death.”
“You unlock that door”— he stabbed his finger toward my face—“you’ll join him.” He waited a beat. “Do you understand me?”
Christ . I reluctantly acquiesced. “Can I at least give him my keys so he can run my vehicle to keep warm?”
I’d expected him to refuse, but after a brief hesitation, he grudgingly agreed. “Fine. But he doesn’t come in the house.”
Raising my hands in submission I walked over to my jacket and extracted the keys from my pocket. Not wanting to chance opening the door, I slid up the window beside the door, and threw him the keys. From the lights on the porch, I could make out Gabe, who remained on all fours in the snow, and I had to lock down every instinct I had to refrain from going outside to help him. I’d been on my knees, defeated, often enough, so turning away from him and closing the window was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do.
“Please,” I begged, “don’t leave him out there.”
No answer.
When I looked over my shoulder, Mitch had already left the room.
In the kitchen, I found him with his hands braced on the countertop, head bowed under the harsh fluorescent strip light, making me wonder all the more what cruel words were spoken between the two of them, for things to go so bad, so fast.
I hesitated on the other side of the antique pine kitchen table unsure how to proceed. I’d been told in no uncertain terms if I didn’t seal the deal, along with Caitlin losing the care she desperately needed, I would also be responsible for Malcolm having to lay off staff. But at this precise moment, I deliberately disregarded thinking about Caitlin’s needs or other people’s jobs. Mitchell Houghton was hurting, and the waves of pain emanating from his entire body were almost overpowering.
“For what it’s worth, he’s an asshole to me too,” I ventured. His body stiffened at my voice, but he didn’t tell me to leave him alone like I expected. “I’m sure everyone who’s met him thinks he’s an asshole as well.”
A grunt of agreement.
I stepped around the table, moving closer toward him. “I’m not sure he even realizes he’s doing it.”
“Oh, he knows all right.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, maybe.”
He swung his head my way and the look of disbelief at my comment made me smile. He stared at me for a couple more seconds before he grinned too, and my whole world turned on its head. He was beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
The permanent scowl he’d worn since we’d arrived first thing this morning, along with the dark shadows haunting his gaze a few moments ago, had disappeared, and in their place were dancing eyes and a dazzling smile. He seemed so relaxed, as the stress drained from his body, I had to hold on to the top of the kitchen chair to stop the same dizziness I’d first experienced with Gabe from enveloping me once more and spinning me out of control.
I’d no clue why these two men caused such a visceral reaction within me. I mean, I wasn't even sure I liked them very much. That didn’t appear to matter, though, as whenever they smiled at me my body came alive, sending all the blood from my normally analytical and logical brain flooding right to my deprived and needy cock.
“Maybe?”
Maybe what? I needed a second to recover the thread of our conversation. “Yeah, okay, you win.”
His laughter, rich and deep, strummed every single nerve ending I had.
He turned to fully face me and rolled his shoulders, dissipating the remaining tension. “We’ve spoken on the phone a few times but have never been formally introduced.” He held out his hand. “I’m Mitchell Houghton.”
Charmed by his old-style manners, I eagerly took his large hand in my own. Everything stopped once more as his strong fingers enclosed me in their grip. His hand was hot, way hotter than mine, and created a surge of electricity all the way to my toes. As with Gabe, I lost the ability to speak and had to force my lungs to work and suck in some air.
“But, as we’re highly likely to be spending the foreseeable future together, you can call me Mitch.”
“Mitch,” I replied and swallowed hard. “Leo,” I managed to respond, embarrassed at the slight catch in my voice when I did. I’d never had a reaction like this. Not with a single person, let alone two. When he released me, I shivered at the loss of contact but had no chance to decipher the feeling as Mitch’s comment filtered into my addled brain.
“What?”
He looked a little sheepish, which came across cute on such a big guy.
“I spoke to some friends at the fire house and the forestry.”
A sinking feeling developed in my stomach.
“Looks as if they’ll not be able to get to us for at least a few days.”
My jaw dropped open. “A few days?”
Mitch stroked his fingers along his beard. My eyes automatically followed the movement, entranced by the way they caressed the wiry hair covering his face, and I wondered how those same thick fingers would feel stroking down my abs to caress my pubes. I swallowed hard.
“Too busy with other emergencies to get to us any sooner.”
So riveted by his fingers, I’d again missed what he’d been saying. “Sorry. Other emergencies?”
He frowned. “Yes. The emergency services are swamped. After I told them I had enough food and water to last us, they confirmed it’ll probably be a few days, maybe more, before they’d get out and rescue us.”
“A few days, or maybe more?” A second ago, it was only a few days. Now it’s a few or more days?
“That’s what I said.” He answered carefully, as if talking to a child. “A few days or more.”
“What’s, maybe more?”
He shrugged. “Two, perhaps three days, I guess.”
My brain short-circuited. “So we three will be stuck here?” Mitch frowned hard at me. “Sorry, but the three of us might be confined here, in your cabin, for up to six days.” I didn’t think he quite understood the severity of our situation. “You, me, and asshole Gabe , together in your one-bedroom cabin for up to six days.” Was I the only one seeing the downside here?
His eyes bulged comically wide, and his mouth opened and shut a couple times, which might have been amusing if things weren’t so dire. I closed my eyes and dropped my head back on my shoulders. “Seriously. Is it just me who sees how bad this will be?”
“Then he stays outside.”
I reopened my eyes and focused on his. Light brown with the palest of green flecks. Lovely. “You can’t leave him out there for six days,” I responded carefully, reaching out to touch his forearm, liking that he didn’t flinch or try to pull away. “You understand that, right?” When he didn’t instantly respond, I squeezed his arm. The taut muscle flexed under my fingertips. “Mitch?”
He grumbled out a “Yeah.”
“So, can I go let him in? Inform him of what’s going on?”
He shook his head and grinned slyly. “Not just yet. Let him stew out in the cold for a while. I want him to be the one pissed off for a change. See how he likes it.” His grin turned evil. “I also want to be here when you tell him he’s stranded with us for the next few days.”
“Up to six days,” I reiterated.
“Oh, I don’t think we need to tell him about that possibility just yet, do you?”
The sinking feeling returned.
“I mean, everybody likes surprises, don’t they? So why would we want to spoil a doozy for him?”
It came as a bit of a shock to realize Mitchell Houghton had a fun side after all. Dark as hell and would get us both murdered when Gabe found out, but fun all the same. “You’re as bad as he is,” I rebuked him.
He beamed at me and winked, making my face go all hot. “You’ve no idea.”
Mitch’s infectious laugh meant I automatically joined in, laughing along with him. Whatever happened over the next few days, I had a pretty good idea our enforced time together wouldn’t be the least bit boring.
*
Slipping on my jacket a few hours later and going outside, darkness shrouded me as I headed over to my Jeep. The tall pine trees encompassing the property seemed to absorb all the light, and I shuddered at whatever predators may possibly be lurking within their pitch-black depths. Shining the flashlight in front of me, I kept my eyes firmly fixed ahead, breath streaming from my mouth in the bitter cold whenever I exhaled the warm air from my lungs.
Gaps had appeared in the clouds and every so often I caught a glimpse of the twinkling stars and full moon, the pale white globe seeming to light up the snow from the inside as it reflected off the frozen landscape.
The idle of the engine disrupted the deathly quiet, the exhaust fumes pumping from the tailpipe, and the windows all steamed up, not allowing me to see inside. But the sight had relief flooding through me, Gabe hadn’t frozen to death in the time he’d been banished from the house. I pulled on the handle, but he’d locked the door, so I knocked on the window a couple of times and waited. This close I heard music playing from within the cab and thanked the stars he’d managed to keep himself occupied during his isolation.
A hand smeared the condensation off the window, irritating me. I hated smears on my glass; they took forever to get out, for some reason. I tried to ignore the section of glass, but I had to wonder how one guy could rile two people so easily, seemingly without effort. If I thought about it long enough, I’d have to acknowledge he really had a major talent.
“It’s Leo,” I stated the obvious and shone the light into my face. The locks clicked open, but he didn’t attempt to get out, so I took the initiative, and opening the door to a blast of heat, climbed inside, then quickly shut it behind me.
Except for the muted light emanating from the dash and radio, I hardly saw a thing, and needing to see what type of reception I headed into, I reached up to flick on the interior light. Gabe sat stiffly in the seat, looking straight ahead at the steamed-up windshield, hands resting on his thighs. He seemed so isolated and alone, all I wanted to do was reach out and touch him, to lay my hand over his and offer him comfort, a connection. I reined myself in though as I didn’t think he’d welcome any type of physical contact from me at the moment. At a complete loss what to do or say next, in the end I did neither; instead, I sat beside him quietly, listening to the music until he was ready to speak.
I didn’t have to wait long.
“Well, ain’t this cozy.”
Sagging into the seat, I wondered how I’d gotten to be the one stuck in the middle. As a lawyer, I got to negotiate for a living and had been in court for hours at a time arguing my case, trying to get the best results for my clients. But having to be the one to keep the peace between these two all day was exhausting.
“Please don’t do this,” I pleaded, turning to look at him. “Please.”
His jaw clenched.
“I’m sorry, okay?”
“Oh? For what exactly? You weren’t the one who threw me out of the house, were you?”
I sighed. “No, no, I wasn’t.”
“So why be sorry?”
I didn’t know how to answer him. I shouldn’t feel the need to apologize, but somehow this all felt like my fault. If I hadn’t let Gabe rile me in the first place, I wouldn’t have gone outside, and he wouldn’t have been alone with Mitch. They were responsible for their actions, not me, but as I set the meeting up in the first place, I should have been the one in control of the negotiations, no matter how long we were together.
“How did everything get so fucked up in such a short space of time?” I replied instead. “Because I can’t figure it out.”
He didn’t answer for a while, and I didn’t think he would, until “It’s me,” he stated softly. “I’m the cause.”
Not what I was expecting. “Why would you say that?”
He closed his eyes and let his head fall against the headrest. “I’m thirty-two years old and still haven’t learned how and when to shut the fuck up.”
I smiled at his admission. “You won’t hear any arguments from me.”
His mouth twitched, a barely there lift to the corner of his lips, giving me hope.
“Would you tell me what you argued about?” Mitch was too guarded to tell me himself, so Gabe seemed the easier to approach, which considering his arrogance and self-important attitude said a hell of a lot.
He turned to look at me, the harsh light making his face all sharp angles and shadows, the jade green of his eyes vivid and bright. “He didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t ask. I’m not sure he’d have given an answer.”
Gabe’s laugh held no humor. “Yeah, he’s real easygoing is Mitchell Houghton.”
“So what do you think’s going on?” I prompted.
He frowned, a crease forming on his brow, as he thought it through. “I hit a nerve somewhere along the line when I pointed out how run-down the property was. He didn’t like my observation, though I fail to see why, as it’s true, after all. The place needs a huge amount of work. He must see that, surely?”
He paused and glanced my way. I shrugged, totally in agreement with him. “Perhaps you dented his pride.”
He mulled my response over. “Possibly.” I’m not sure he believed me though. “Then he told me to be careful about what I said in his house.” He winced. “I might have told him it wasn’t strictly only his house, and I owned as much as he did.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, that did not go down well. He got in my face, punched me in the gut and basically shoved me out the door. The rest, well, the rest you already know.”
I did, though I got a shock on finding out they’d had a physical altercation before Mitch threw him out of the cabin.
“Are you okay?”
He waved me off. “Yeah, yeah. It was more of a dent to my pride than anything else.”
The front door of the cabin opening caught my eye, the light spilling out into the night. I wiped the window with my palm to get a better view, the condensation dripping down my hand. I’d have to clean the driver’s side window anyway, so why not add one more? I watched as Mitch, muffled up against the cold in his thick jacket, hat, gloves, and boots, made his way over to the stables on the far side of the property.
Whatever was going on with him all alone out here every day with no interaction from anyone? Why would he create such a bleak and lonely existence for himself? Probably around Gabe’s age, maybe a couple of years older. Ruggedly handsome, tall and broad, muscular, funny when he wanted to be, he had everything going for him, so why hide himself away on a property gradually falling to pieces around him, taking him down along with it.
Sure, he was a grump and pricklier than a porcupine. But talking with him today, seeing the glimpses of the man underneath the hard outer shell, I failed to understand how he’d gotten himself in this mess. It didn’t make any sense.
“What happens now?” Gabe asked. “Are we getting out of this place or what? Because, frankly, I need a long hot soak in the tub to try to wash off the crap today has turned out to be.”
Ah .
“Why don’t we go inside first.”
“What the hell for? So I can immediately get thrown out again? Thanks, but no thanks.”
“He won’t throw you out.”
His look told me otherwise.
“Honest. Plus, I’ll be there keeping you two apart.”
His amused snort made me smile. He stared out of the side window for a few moments, and I almost heard the gears churning in his brain as he made up his mind. “Ah, screw it. Come on.” He turned the keys in the ignition and cut the engine. Then, flicking off the interior light, he went to open his door. I rested my hand on his arm to stop him and, while unable to see much in the dark, knew he’d turned to face me.
“I told Mitch the same thing I’m saying to you. Please promise me you’ll try and be civil, okay? And don’t rise to anything he says.”
“Fine,” he replied. “But I’m saying to you, my patience only goes so far. I’ll do as you asked and try to keep a lid on my temper and a zip on my sarcastic mouth, but if he pushes me to my limit…” He paused. “I will retaliate. Got it?”
It was as good a promise as I’d get from him. “Got it.”
“Okay. Let’s go. I’m starving, so the sooner we eat, sleep, and get out of here, the better.”
Which left me being stuck in the middle, because as soon as Gabe found out we weren’t going anywhere for the next few days, or more , whatever ceasefire I’d managed to broker would go right out the window.