Chapter 10 #2
Slowly, Mila turned around until she faced away from him. Her sweater was long, covering most of her ass, so he lifted it as he peered down.
Her panties were as innocent as hers. Not granny panties, but she wasn’t wearing a thong. The practical cotton covered a fair amount of her ass, though not enough that he couldn’t see the small red marks that would probably be bruises come morning.
He growled, then stroked the sore spots, causing Mila to tremble harder. He didn’t pretend she was shivering from the cold anymore.
“You’re gonna bruise. Must have been a hard fall.”
Mila lifted one shoulder as she glanced back at him, a mischievous grin appearing. “I was trying to save the wine.”
Her humor faded in the face of his stern expression. “You getting hurt isn’t funny, darlin’. Why were you walking on the road instead of the path?”
“I thought the road might be clearer. Jace put salt down this morning.”
That made sense. And in a normal storm, the salt probably would have helped.
Unable to resist holding himself away from her, Boone wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest, kissing the shell of her ear.
He needed to hold her, needed to know she was safe and relatively unharmed.
“Never again, Mila. You ever find yourself in a position where getting home alone isn’t safe, you hunker down and call me. I’ll come get you.”
“Boone.”
Her tone told him she wasn’t going to agree. It was the wrong tone to take with him right now. He was still on edge.
He tightened his grip. “You will call me,” he stressed again. “This isn’t something that’s up for negotiation.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening here,” she whispered.
Boone wasn’t surprised. He’d been the king of mixed signals, flashing hot before turning cold. Even now, he questioned the wisdom of what he was doing.
The problem was, he couldn’t stop this. Mila was the moon and he was the tide, helpless to resist her pull.
He forced himself to let go, to take a step away.
He was coming on too strong. Best to slow things down for a bit.
“I’m going to get changed in the bathroom.
Those lounge pants have a drawstring,” he said, pointing to the pants he’d found her for.
“Hopefully, that’ll be enough to help you keep them up.
Once we’re changed, we can get that fire going and see about making some dinner. ”
“Okay.” Mila grabbed the pants. “I need to text my sisters. Tell them where I am. I called Nora before I left the winery and told her I was walking home. She’s probably starting to worry.”
He nodded, slightly relieved to know she’d at least told someone she was heading home in the storm, so they’d know to come looking if she didn’t make it.
Boone walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Gripping the edge of the sink, he bent forward and took several steadying breaths.
For a second, he considered jerking off because that was the only thing that was going to get rid of the raging hard-on being strangled in his jeans.
It had probably been a mistake grabbing lounge pants for himself because at least denim managed to partially conceal an erection.
The damn cotton pants were going to look like a pitched tent.
In the end, he decided against it, changed quickly and walked back out to his bedroom, which was empty. Heading to the great room, he spied Mila looking in the refrigerator. She glanced his direction when he joined her.
“Thought I’d see what I could make us for dinner,” she said. They hadn’t had a cooking lesson in three weeks, and he’d skipped Sunday dinners since that last impulsive kiss at her house.
“There should be plenty of options. I stocked up a couple of days ago, in case the storm hit as hard as they predicted.”
Mila gestured toward the window, where it was still a virtual whiteout, the woods completely obscured and hidden behind the snow. “I think it hit harder.”
“You’re not wrong about that.”
Mila pulled out a package of hamburger. “Burgers and fries?”
He grinned. “Sounds great. You want to start that while I build a fire?”
She nodded.
“Did you text your sisters?”
“I did,” Mila responded, grinning. “They joked and said they’d see me sometime next week. If the snow keeps falling at this rate, they might be right. I’m assuming Sadie’s with her mom now?”
“She is. Lena met us in Fredericksburg. The storm’s not supposed to be as bad there.”
“On the plus side, there’s a good chance school will be closed tomorrow and Friday, so she won’t miss anything.”
“Hadn’t considered that. That is good.” Boone placed several logs in the fireplace, along with some kindling, then lit it.
Took a couple tries to get it going, but before long, there was a roaring fire.
The cabin was usually warm enough with just the heat running, but on exceptionally cold nights, it could get chilly.
Tossing one more log on, he rose and walked back to the kitchen. “Put me to work.”
She tilted her head toward the bag of wine she’d placed on the coffee table. “Want to pick a wine for us?”
He grabbed a bottle of red, uncorking it and pouring each of them a glass as she flipped the burgers.
Since the fries were already in the oven, he leaned against the counter, watching her fry the hamburgers.
Despite the distance between them the past few weeks, they both fell back into the easy camaraderie they’d formed during the cooking lessons.
They sipped the wine, conversing about the weather and how it might impact the grapevines.
Once the timer beeped for the fries, Boone started pulling condiments out of the fridge. Mila plated their burgers and fries, and they each carried their own food and wine to the small kitchen table.
“I suppose Sadie was excited to see her mom.”
Boone nodded. “She was. Lena usually plans fun activities for them.”
“That’s nice.”
Boone smiled, pretending to agree. He worked hard to keep all his unkind thoughts about Lena locked away inside, never speaking them aloud, on the off chance Sadie overheard.
Obviously, there was no danger of Sadie hearing his real thoughts about her mother if he chose to talk to Mila about Lena, but he held his tongue.
For one thing, he didn’t want to think about his ex-wife tonight. Not when he was here with Mila. And for another, if he off-loaded his true feelings about Lena, there was no way he wouldn’t come off sounding bitter and angry.
They’d just finished the meal when the lights in the cabin flickered a few times before going out completely.
“Oh no,” Mila said, the room suddenly very dim.
“Power must have gone out.” She reached for her phone and quickly fired off a text to the family thread.
The sound of several pings followed. “Looks like we’ve all lost it.
Thankfully, the guys prepared for this and filled the generators with fuel.
Theo’s still at the brewery, so he’s starting the one there, and Jace is going to plow his way down to the winery.
Due to the forecast, there aren’t any guests at the B&B. Snow scared everyone away.”
“They need any help?” Boone asked. He hated the idea of trudging back through that snow again, but he would if they needed him.
Mila shook her head. “Nope. Sounds like they’ve got it covered.”
“Hopefully, the electric company will manage to get here to sort it out.” Boone rose, rifling through the kitchen junk drawer, pulling out several candles.
Mila was already walking around the room, lighting the decorative ones she’d put in the cabin prior to them moving in.
Boone had never lit them, but seeing the cabin now, in the flickering light provided by the candles and the fireplace, he decided to utilize them more in the future. The cabin looked downright cozy.
Boone carried their dishes to the sink, then topped their wineglasses. “Sit by the fire with me.”
Mila grinned as he did some quick rearranging of the furniture. The couch usually faced the television, but that wouldn’t be necessary tonight, so he pushed the coffee table to the side and moved the couch until it faced the fire.
“Tonight’s show,” he said, as he and Mila sat down.
“My favorite,” she replied.
He frowned when she claimed the opposite side, putting too much distance between them. He crooked his finger. “Come closer.”
Mila moved a couple of feet but it still wasn’t enough for him, so he reached over and dragged her over the cushions until she was pressed against him.
Twisting so that the arm of the couch was at his back, Boone parted his legs, placing Mila between them and reclining her against his chest.
She sighed, sinking into his arms, the two of them watching the fire spark and flash.
Silence fell, but it wasn’t awkward. In fact, this was the most peaceful Boone had felt in ages. He grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and spread it across their laps.
She glanced at him. “Thanks. After that walk in the snow, I was a little afraid I’d never be warm again. This is so nice and toasty.”
He grinned and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “I hope you don’t get sick.”
“I texted Jace and warned him your truck was stuck on the side of road. He said he’ll plow it out as soon as the snow stops. Winter is that guy’s season. Loves getting out on that tractor and pushing snow around. I swear it’s when he’s happiest.”
“What’s that expression? Boys and their toys? And how they get bigger and more expensive with age.”
Mila laughed. “That definitely applies to Jace.” She paused, then reconsidered. “Actually, it applies to all my cousins. Everett got that drone for Christmas.”
“The aerial shots he’s taken with it and put on the website are cool.”
“They are, but I swear he’s out every day flying the thing. Between that and Theo’s new digital grill slash smoker thingie, I don’t know who had the better Christmas. They’re both still raving about their gifts.”