Chapter 8 Phoebe
PHOEBE
I don't know if it was the cold or the absolute silence inside the house that woke me. Maybe both. I can hear the wind blowing still but none of the normal house noises, like the hum of the refrigerator or the heater. Damn it, I bet the electricity’s out.
I reach out and gently shake Ollie's shoulder. How is he so warm? We’re on the couch, and his huge hands are resting on my legs draped over his lap.
That simple connection makes me feel safe, even with whatever storm is raging outside.
Being in the dark together feels so intimate, and with Ollie, I love it.
“Ollie?”
He snuggles under the blanket we’re sharing and rubs my legs. He’s still asleep. I try again.
“Ollie,” I say more insistently and shake his shoulder harder with my good hand. “Wake up. I think the electricity went out.”
He yawns and gives my calf a gentle squeeze, slowly waking up. “What's up? Did you turn the TV off?”
“No,” I say. “Did you?”
I hear him sigh. “No, I guess the electricity went out due to the storm. Let me grab a flashlight.”
I move my legs off his lap so he can rise from the couch. I don’t know how good his night vision is. There’s a click, then a flashlight beam sweeps around the room. He flips a switch on the wall and…nothing.
“Yeah, power’s out. Which means we don’t have heat either.
” He runs a hand over his cheek and chin covered by his dark beard.
The flashlight beam is powerful enough to show his face.
His handsome, sweet face I hold so dear.
He swings the beam over my way, keeping it toward the floor so it isn’t directly in my eyes.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
He blows a breath that makes his cheeks puff out as he checks his watch. “It’s after midnight. I guess we could try to sleep? Can’t do anything until the snow stops and it’s light out.”
Thank goodness for the darkness because it’s disguising the flush creeping up my cheeks as I think of how we could spend six hours or more in the dark, but I know Ollie isn’t that kind of man.
Even if he was, I don’t know that I could do it with a sprained wrist. At least, not how I want to do it with Ollie.
“I guess?” I rub my arm and glance at the dark hallway behind. “I’ve been sleeping on the couch because I don’t want to sleep in their bed, but that’s too small for both of us. Oh! It’s a sleeper sofa.”
He nods, then appears to realize I may not be able to see him since it’s dark.
“Yeah. Everything is already out here—sheets, pillows. I need to pull the bed out and make it.” He rubs the back of his neck.
“You’re okay sharing? With me? We’ll get all the blankets together for maximum warmth. If…if you want.”
Oh, I want.
“That would be great. Thanks. I promise not to attack you.” I wink to let him know I’m teasing him, but duh, it’s dark. “Kidding.” Wait. That didn’t make sense. “I mean, I’m serious I won’t attack you, but you didn’t need to worry I would.”
His low chuckle in the dark does things to me.
What would it be like to be in bed with him, resting my head on his chest, and have him chuckle like that?
Hearing it, feeling it, causing it. Goosebumps race across my skin that have nothing to do with the falling temperature.
Okay, they didn’t have anything to do with the temperature when I was under the blanket, but now that I’ve thrown the blanket off and am standing in the dark living room in only Ollie’s T-shirt with bare legs, it’s temperature-induced. Yep. Sure.
“Where’s another flashlight?” I ask. “I need to pull on some leggings. And I’ll grab the extra blankets from the main bedroom and bring them out so we can have a cozy little nest.” I look around. “Where’s Marsha?”
A lump on the couch goes mrww. Ollie swings the flashlight beam to show me where the other flashlight is.
I grab it and my leggings from the bathroom, then go to the main bedroom to add another layer.
It’s awkward, but I manage to pull on the leggings and some fuzzy socks.
I’m about to start removing the blanket and bedspread when there’s a tap on the door.
“Yeah?” I call out.
“Checking you’re okay,” Ollie says.
I open the door to find him there with a furrowed brow. Was he worried I wasn’t going to come out?
“I’m fine. I added leggings and socks. About to take the stuff off the bed.”
He swings his light around the room, then hands me his flashlight. We both realize I only have two hands and one of them is wrapped and the other already has a flashlight, so he turns it off, and I tuck it under my arm.
“I’ll get the bedding, can you shine the light?
” he asks. I do and admire the way his muscles flex as he undoes the bed.
He’s in a T-shirt and gym shorts, and hockey has given the man muscular thighs and a bubble butt that I want to squeeze.
His legs are hairy. Not as hairy as if he was in his Bigfoot form, but manly hair.
I never thought I had a thing for leg hair, but on Ollie, I do.
He takes the flashlight, and I follow him into the living room.
“What side of the bed do you sleep on?” I ask.
He chuckles again, and it does things to me. Again.
“Whatever side I want, Phoebe, I’ve always been alone. What side do you sleep on?”
The first time he shares a bed with someone, and it’s with me? I want to be the last. The only.
I cough lightly to clear my throat. “The left. I sleep on the left, and I’m a side sleeper. On my left side.”
Ollie drops the bedding on the sofa bed he’s already set up. The extra blanket and comforter are on my side.
“I’m naturally warmer, so I don’t need as many layers,” he explains. “And I can always shift and have a built-in fur coat. You need the warmth more than I do.”
Thank goodness the darkness hides the heat that must be staining my cheeks. “You could always come to my side and cuddle if you get cold.”
Maybe subtlety isn’t going to work. I’m going to have to be the aggressor if we’re going to get together.
I’ve never done that before. Yeah, I have sexual experience, but no experience initiating.
Guys weren’t pursuing me, but stuff kinda happened without me having to get it going.
I’m probably as clueless as Ollie when it comes to that.
It’s his turn to clear his throat. He keeps plumping the pillow in his hands.
If he does it too much more, we’re going to have a blizzard of feathers in here.
To break the tension I’m suddenly feeling, I go to the fridge and grab a bottle of water and hold it up.
Ollie swings the flashlight beam my way to see what I’m doing.
“Do you want water?” I ask. “Wait, why is the light on in the fridge?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I have one, and the Tylenol is here too if you want some.” I hear the pills rattle in the bottle he holds up.
“And I plugged the fridge into a battery-powered power inverter Finn has. It uses the same batteries as some of his tools do. Figured, try to do what we can to save the food in the fridge and freezer. In a pinch, we can plug in the microwave or stove to cook stuff.”
My heart does funny flips. He’s so smart, and he’s making sure we’re safe and comfortable. He’s going to be the best husband and father someday. My heart aches a bit, and I rub my solar plexus to undo the knot forming there.
“Wow, you really are warm!” I say when I stand next to him to get a tablet. “You’re not sick, are you?”
Thank goodness he waits for me to swallow the pill and sip of water I’m washing it down with before he says in a deep, sexy voice I haven’t heard from him before, “You think I’m hot, Phoebe? Maybe I burn for you.”
The most unladylike snort-laugh bursts out of me. Shelby and I love to watch Bridgerton, and he got stuck with us during a season one rewatch binge and guffawed at how swoony we were when Simon told Daphne that.
“You’re such a dork.” I shove at his chest with my good hand. His firm, broad, muscular chest. I quickly pull my hand back like it was burned because I was one second away from feeling the poor man up…and maybe giving him a nipple tweak.
He laughs good-naturedly. “I’m your dork.”
You sure are. Now you need to realize it.
“Can you help me turn down the blankets on my side, Ollie? It’s awkward for me.”
He pulls down the blankets on my side. I think I count six layers.
“Wow, this looks so cozy,” I say as I slide under with a sigh. I’ve never been on a sofa bed this comfortable. “Ooh, it is.”
Ollie pulls the covers over me and gently tucks me in.
When Marsha jumps up, he tucks her in under the top blanket.
He walks around the foot of the bed and climbs under the covers.
Even with six layers covering me, having Ollie next to me takes it to the next level.
I don’t care that my nose will probably freeze, it’s worth it to be this close to him.
We’re lying side by side, a few inches between us.
So close, but so far apart. I can hear his heart beating, or maybe it’s mine.
“Ollie,” I say, “I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t think I could go through this alone, even without a sprained wrist. I never thought I’d say this, but I guess it’s a lucky not-break.”
He chuckles quietly before turning on his side to face me.
“Phoebe, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be tonight than here with you.”
An indignant meow is heard. Ollie raises on an elbow and reaches across me to scratch Marsha between her ears.
“And you too, Marsha,” he says in a placating tone.
With him reaching across me, we’re so close.
It would be easy for him to lower his arm, pull me toward him and kiss me.
I wish I could see his face, but with the flashlight off, we’re in total darkness, and I can make out his form but not his features.
My breath catches in anticipation, but I release it slowly in disappointment as he retreats to his side of the bed.
“I guess we may as well try to get some sleep,” I say. “Hopefully the storm will be over in the morning, and we can figure out what we need to do to clean up and get out of here.”
“Yeah,” Ollie says into the darkness. “I’ll see what it looks like tomorrow. Maybe I can move the trees enough so we can maneuver your car around. How does your car drive in the snow?”
I shrug even though he can’t see me. “It can handle a couple of inches, but there’s no way it’s going to be able to get through unplowed roads. And we can’t even really tell what’s the road and what’s a marsh here.”
Ollie’s minty breath blows against my cheek when he sighs.
“Yeah. Well, let’s try to sleep, and we’ll see what the morning brings,” he says.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say with my own sigh.
I roll to my left side, facing Marsha with my back toward Ollie.
I use my good hand to pull the blankets up and over my ear so only the part of my face from my nose up is sticking out.
My left hand is tucked under my cheek, and my right arm with the wrapping is resting straight down my side with my wrist at my hip.
My knees are bent, and I can feel the heat from Ollie’s chest a few inches away from my back.
I wish I had the courage to scoot back and snuggle against him and be the little spoon to his sexy big spoon, but I don’t.
The only spooning happening tonight is possibly me and Marsha. Oh well.
“Good night, Ollie,” I say.
“Night, Phoebe. Sweet dreams.” His deep, smooth voice is like another cozy blanket settling over me.
If I can dream of him holding me, they’ll be the sweetest dreams I’ve ever had.