Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
BILLIE
“ N o,” I said, shaking my head and waving my plastic Baileys bottle in the air. “No way.” The naked man pushed the whiskey-soaked towels to the side before picking up the broom and continuing to sweep up pieces of glass. “Gran or Mason would have told me about you.”
“Mason from the Buzz On In Bakery Cafe?” He stopped sweeping and looked up at me. Arms crossed over the top of the broom, he used it like a cane. My pulse roared in my ears.
How could this guy be so nonplussed about being naked in this kitchen? His voice was low and sexy, so calm and even. It was downright irritating. Naked Guy sounded like grace under pressure while I felt like a hummingbird trapped in a greenhouse.
“Yes, Mason from the Buzz On In Bakery Cafe. Is there any other?” I countered.
“Mason’s great,” he said, and when I didn’t answer, he continued to sweep.
“Mason’s great?” I said, exasperated. “You know Mason?”
“Everyone knows Mason.”
“He knows you are here?”
“Yeah, he knows I’m here. ”
“Bullshit.” I crossed my arms, Baileys bottle against my chest.
“Look, I don’t know what Louise or Mason did or didn’t tell you.” He shrugged. Using the broom, he gathered a tidy pile of brown glass shards together on the cracked linoleum. “But I signed a one-year lease last winter.”
“That’s not possible,” I said. But was it? Six months ago was around the time Gran died. I wondered, had she really rented the cabin before she died? Was it truly not possible? If you’d asked me an hour ago my odds of finding a naked hot guy in the cabin kitchen, I think I would have said the odds were pretty low.
“Actually, it is possible,” he said, stopping his sweeping. “All things are possible. You are probably thinking it’s not probable.”
“What?”
“Probability being how likely something is to occur. It sounds like you think it’s unlikely.” Then he bent over and put the dustbin on the ground. Legs spread, his dick hung down between his muscular thighs like a pendulum above the broken glass.
“Oh, my God,” I said, looking away after looking a little too long. “Who are you, and can you please just put on some clothes?”
He glanced down at his nakedness before standing. An arrogant smile crossed his gorgeous face. I had the distinct feeling that he’d waved his cock in the air on purpose.
“Well, when you broke into my house … ” he said.
“ My house.”
“ … I was taking a bubble bath.”
The image stunned me. “A bubble bath?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Like in a tub.” I knew how small the bathtub was in the cabin’s tiny bathroom.
“Like in a tub,” he repeated.
“You’re just so tall,” I said, gesturing to his body. “How does all that fit into Gran’s tiny tub.” Without thinking, my eyes traveled down his body, once again taking in his damp, dark hair, trimmed beard, broad shoulders, and chiseled chest. He turned, revealing a tattoo on his left arm that looked like a military emblem of some sort. I coughed to clear my head and focused on glaring into his beautiful, green eyes.
“I fit,” he said. “In fact, it was quite relaxing until I heard banging in the kitchen. I figured raccoons had gotten inside. So, I grabbed the poker.”
“I know you grabbed the poker. I was here to see it. Remember? You held it over your head, all scary.”
“I am sorry I scared you, but this is probably about the time you should apologize to me ,” he said.
“For what?”
“For breaking into my home.”
“I’m not apologizing. And maybe you should be thanking me for bringing your dog inside.”
“Oh, yeah. Thank you, though she was fine,” he said, giving me another maddeningly wicked grin. “She’s got a fur coat.”
“Well, she seemed pretty cold to me.” I glanced out the window from my perch on the countertop next to the fridge. Heavy snowflakes blanketed the sky. This wasn’t a flurry. It was a storm. I was supposed to be halfway done emptying out the truck and enjoying a hot toddy in the process. Instead, I was trapped in Gran’s kitchen by a naked Adonis like a treed cat in the woods.
I put down my bottle of Baileys, exhaled, and dropped my hands on my knees in defeat. I leaned against the fridge. I was so tired.
“Don’t fall,” he said, moving toward me, hands raised.
“I’m fine,” I said, glancing down at him. “And please don’t touch me while you’re naked.”
He took a step back. Without a word, he reached for a dish towel and held it over his junk with a sly smile. He cleared his throat. “Better?”
“It’s better,” I said, cheeks burning. Somehow, the fact he had masked his action like Adam with a fig leaf made him even more attractive to me. What was happening to me?
He gave me a gentlemanly nod that made me feel a bit melty.
“How about I help you off the ledge,” he said, offering me one of his hands .
“No, thank you,” I said, gripping the edge of the fridge.
“You just looked a little unsteady.”
“I can do it myself, thank you.” I held up a hand and used the side of the fridge to lower myself to the ground. “See? Just fine.” I cleared my throat.
“Nine out of ten on the dismount,” he said, stepping back to give me room.
“Hilarious,” I said. This guy had a smart-ass edge. There was also a sweetness to him that felt like the soft nuzzle of a golden retriever nudging me for a hug. A golden retriever with a cock that looked like a goddamn magic wand.
“How about you tell me your name, and we figure out what we are going to do about this misunderstanding?” he said softly.
“There is no misunderstanding,” I said, straightening up. “This is my gran’s house. If she rented this place to you, it’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“See, this definitely has the ring of a misunderstanding.”
“There is no way you can stay here,” I said. “I don’t care if you have a lease.” I knew it was irrational, but I didn’t want anyone in this house but me or Mom.
“I get it. You are surprised Gran didn’t keep you in the loop. You are hurt.”
“I’m not hurt.”
“Well, I would be. I mean, she made a plan with Mason and me and didn’t include you.” He shrugged. “Maybe you should just ask her?”
I inhaled, my breath catching. Didn’t he know Gran was gone? I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn’t get the words out. “I don’t need to do that,” I said. “I’ll talk to her later. I just drove here tonight to store some of my mom’s things in the barn. It wasn’t supposed to snow.”
“And I wasn’t supposed to be here?”
“Right,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Okay,” he said, nodding as if thinking through a plan. “You can store stuff in the barn. It’s half-empty. ”
“Half-empty?” I said. “It should be full-empty.”
“When I signed the lease, your grandmother and I agreed that I could make improvements here — ” he said.
“Wait. What?” I shook my head. Once again, confusion overtook me.
“It’s a little bit like being a caretaker,” he said. “I pay rent, but it’s lower because I take care of stuff.”
“I know what a caretaker does,” I fired back, my voice punchier than it needed to be. “I told her to hire someone, but she never did. Mason checks on the place from time to time.”
“Mason’s a baker,” the man said, moving to the stove. “Besides, why would he need to check on the place when I live here?”
Keeping one hand over his privates, with the other he opened a cupboard, took out two mugs, and filled each of them with hot water from the kettle. “Chamomile?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said, feeling bewildered again. Every time I got my footing, he said something else to send me spinning. He opened another cupboard, took two tea bags out of a fancy tin, and plunked one into each cup.
Stunned, I thought about the well-groomed drive, the repaired fence posts, the sparkling-clean kitchen. Someone took good care of the property, that much was true. I assumed it was Mason, but what if it was naked Mr. Neat Freak? Why would Gran hire him before she died and never tell me or Mom?
“You want milk?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
“No, thank you,” I said, swallowing.
“All right,” he said, glancing down at his own bare ass and giving me a wink.
I looked away, cheeks burning. Damn. He had caught me.
He turned and handed me a cup of tea.
“You live here year-round then?” I asked, thinking back to the times I’d thought about coming to visit and never pulling the trigger.
“I’m in and out during the summertime. My business takes me out of Smoke River,” he said. “Winter, I’m here full-time. Your gran insisted on that. She said she wanted someone on-site to manage the pipes and clear snow off the roof. She was also super worried about the river swamping the lower field — ” He glanced over his shoulder. “ — though I’ve never seen it come close, so all good there.”
As he spoke, the fire inside me went out, along with all doubt about his story. The naked guy wasn’t lying. Gran always talked about the risk of the river swamping the lower field. The way he described his winter tasks sounded like Gran herself standing in the kitchen, reminding me to do my chores. He spoke just like her. Plus, he navigated this kitchen as if he lived here. What more did I need?
Of course, I’d ask to see the lease, but I had no doubt the man holding a towel over his privates met my Gran and lived here.
He walked toward me, one hand on his crotch, the other extended.
“I’m Axl Grey,” he said, “and I can show you the lease.”
“I’m Billie Prescott,” I said. Ignoring his extended hand, I kept my eyes on his face and not the rest of him. “The only thing I want you to show me right now is you, in pants.”
He dropped his hand and smiled. His deep-green eyes crinkled, and there was a pulse of sweetness in his expression that made my stomach go all swirly.
“Good call. And sorry I threatened you with a poker — and all my nakedness,” he gestured down his torso, and despite my effort to focus on his face, I stole a glance at his abs and more.
Well, this guy was gorgeous and rippled in all the right places. Heat flared from deep in my core.
“Thank you for bringing Cam inside,” he added.
“You’re welcome, and I’m sorry I threw a whiskey bottle at you,” I said, hoping if I met his apology, he might not notice my burning-red face.
“It was good whiskey,” he grinned, still naked and not moving. “I think I managed to sweep up all the glass.”
“Yep, looks like it.” I bit my lip. There was a tension and a heat between us that when mixed with the woodsy smell of spilled whiskey made the moment feel downright combustible .
“My pants are that way,” he said, pointing down the hall. “I’ll be back in a flash, and we can sort through this misunderstanding.”
“All good,” I said. Holding up my hands, I pretended to block my view of his broad, muscular chest. “I’ll be here. No worries.”
He gave me a wicked smile and then walked to the only bedroom. My eyes followed him down the hall like magnets. The man’s toned and naked ass was a thirst trap, and I could not look away.
With shaking legs, I took a seat at the kitchen table. What was I going to do with naked Axl Grey, and where was I going to sleep tonight?