Chapter 7
Nicolette
Well, Aspen was right about the couch being uncomfortable. After tossing and turning all night, I can’t say my attitude is at its finest.
At first light, I yank open the cabin door, only to be hit by a gust of freezing air, so cold it stops my breath and kills the determination I had to march back to the lodge. I watch the snow swirl violently, the white blanket stretching as far as the eye can see.
My heart sinks at the thought of being trapped here with this rugged man, although he turned out to be much kinder than he first appeared. Something about this man makes me want to throw out all my morals. I’ve only just met him, and we’ve barely spoken, but the draw I feel toward him is magnetic.
All-consuming.
What little sleep I got last night included dreams of him. The time spent awake wasn’t much different. And all that has left me with unfulfilled desire and an incredibly needy libido.
Talk of the devil, the floor creaks and the scent of coffee fills my nose.
His presence is a warm weight behind me.
Spinning, I find him leaning on the counter, his arms crossed, with two mugs steaming before him.
“Planning on leaving?” He quirks a brow in challenge.
“You could go for a stroll; see how far you can get.”
I scoff, not wanting to be called out; I step into the cold, my boots sinking into the thick snow piled just outside the door. There’s no path ahead, no sign of a road to take. Glancing around, I try to find the smallest sign of civilization, but all I get is a fresh slap of the wind on my face.
“Well, that’s just bad.” I turn around and walk inside, slamming the door shut and twirling to face him.
Aspen smirks. “Didn’t find a better offer out there?”
I glare angrily at him. “Do you ever say anything without a hint of sarcasm?” I walk to the couch and plop back onto it. “I have a whole lodge full of people who need me. Besides, I’m only supposed to stay for a night.”
He shrugs, grabbing both cups of coffee, he walks around the counter, giving me the first glimpse of the man this morning.
He’s wearing flannel pajama pants slung low on his hips and not a single other stitch of clothing.
Soft hair dusts his chest, trailing down into a thick line that stops right above his…
“Why is a lodge full of people waiting for you? Either way, please stay. You don’t have a choice.
” He offers me a steaming mug, and I grasp it like a lifeline, swallowing a bitter sip and feeling the caffeine zip through my muddled brain.
My horny brain.
“Plus, it would be a shame for you to freeze out there when I have a roaring fire and plenty of food to share.”
“That’s really kind of you.” I moan after another sip when a thought pops into my head.
My phone. Placing my cup on the beautiful wood coffee table, I jump up and grab it from my coat pocket before pressing the screen.
Two percent. No signal, no Wi-Fi. I tap again, desperate to see a little sign of hope, but nothing.
Aspen watches me with twinkling eyes. “It all went down last night when the snow got heavy. Might be back quick, might be a few days. Why don’t you plug it in while we still have power? Is this your first big snowstorm?”
“No,” I retort. “However, I have never been trapped in one before. And I’ve got a business to run. An entire lodge filled with guests, and my partner, Wanda, can be a bit volatile without me.”
“Oh, your… partner?” he asks, not too subtly. My heart gives a giddy leap, hoping all the attraction I’m feeling isn’t completely one-sided.
For a moment I consider lying, but the truth is I want this man. “Not that kind of partner. She’s my business partner. I’m a matchmaker, specializing in happily ever after events.”
“Are you kidding me?” He snickers. “People really pay for that crap?”
“Oh,” I can’t tell when I get up from the couch or when my hands hit his biceps, “Don’t be rude about my life’s work.”
“Alright, alright.” He flinches. “You are a master of love voodoo, and those people are dang lucky to have you puppeteering their love lives.”
I laugh and toss a pillow at him. He ducks, chuckles and bestows a devastatingly handsome bad boy grin. If I had been wearing panties under these loaner pants, they would be soaked, but now I just hope I don’t leave a wet spot on his ugly couch.
The sight is beautiful and, surprisingly, beneath all that grumpiness and brooding, he’s both attractive and kind. I’d rather not admit that out loud.
Sinking deeper into the couch, I sigh with contentment. “So, what happens now? We just sit here and wait for the plows?”
“Because I’m so remote, it can take a while before they come to clear me out.” He walks over and tosses a log into the fire, the embers crackling. “And the storm isn’t actually over; there might be a few more days of bands before it fully lets up.”
“Days?” I groan, brushing my hand through my wild hair. Panic spirals through me. What could happen at the lodge in days? One bad event could topple the reputation I’ve painstakingly built.
Aspen ignores me, heading into the kitchen and throwing over his shoulder, “You eat meat?”
The random question surprises me, breaking through the anxiety spiral. “Yes?” I follow him to see what he’s up to.
“Great,” he says, pulling out a pan and turning the heating on. “Because I’m not making pancakes and scrambled eggs shit.”
I roll my eyes behind him, even though I’m starving and would appreciate a sumptuous meal. Watching him move around the small kitchen tells me he’s done this a million times without fail.
He assembles the ingredients—steak, potatoes, and something I can’t quite place, which could be butter or oil—and starts cooking. I watch on, marveling at how self-sufficient he is. “Need any help?”
He looks at me with another devastatingly handsome grin. “You any good with a knife?”
I dare him. “Try me.”
“Grab those veggies and start chopping. A nice even dice? I mean, if you can without slicing off your finger?”
With a snort of derision, I slice the potatoes confidently.
In truth, I haven’t been in a kitchen for a while.
With event planning, I’m often so busy that I grab food quickly, eating in my car on the way to and from meetings.
But I don’t want this overly confident mountain man chef to know.
Halfway into it, I realize the pieces are uneven.
Aspen leans over from behind me, his minty breath fanning my neck.
He picks up a large chip. “This is an abomination.”
The twinkle in his eye shows that he’s joking, but I elbow him anyway. “Oh, shut up.” Electricity arcs between us, his eyes falling to my lips. For a moment it seems like he’s going to kiss me, but then Aspen clears his throat and takes the knife from my fingers.
“Here, let me.” He takes over, chopping the rest into clean, even slices.
For the next twenty minutes, we work quietly in the kitchen. Moving around one another in a careful dance, like we’ve been living together for ages. The smell of sizzling steak in butter wafts through the air, and my stomach growls in response.
Once the food is ready, Aspen fetches two plates and loads them with diced potatoes and a good cut of steak, then slides them in front of me at the counter. There are two stools, and he comes around to sit beside me.
“Oh,” I moan. “This is amazing. Just what I needed.”
“Make that sound again,” he rasps, eyes darkening.
Rolling my eyes at his silliness, I dig in, taking a good bit of the steak and shoving a spoonful of potatoes into my mouth. “Okay, you are good at this.”
As expected, he says nothing. Just gives me a nod before digging in.
“Honestly. It’s good enough to sell. Open a restaurant or something.
Maybe a cute little diner.” I take another full bite and watch him as he eats.
“So, Aspen, why are you up here all alone?” His expression goes cold, guarded.
But I can’t help it. The need to know more about him grows.
“I’m sure you could make a good living, filling people’s stomachs for cash. ”
He scoffs. “That’s all you lot think about. Cash.”
I shrug, taking another bite. “Hey, gotta earn a living somehow, don’t you?” He ignores me, but I press on.
“So, no hidden wife in the attic?”
He tenses a bit. “No wife.”
“No family to drive you mad at the holidays?” I probe further.
“Not anymore.” His jaw tightens.
Sensing that I’ve stepped onto a minefield, I look at him and swallow, suddenly feeling guilty for hitting a nerve. “Oh.”
He continues chewing and chokes out only a single word. “Yeah.”
It’s closed off, and I can sense that he doesn’t want to talk about it any further. It isn’t my place to pry. But this man is a mystery I’m itching to solve. The air shifts, and we finish our meal in awkward silence. Grumpy mountain man.
After breakfast, I stretch out on the couch for a while. “Would it be alright if I cleaned up a bit?”
“You want a bath or a shower?”
I startle, not realizing that there was a different bathroom in this tiny cabin. “A shower would be fine since I’m not half frozen.”
He nods and gestures for me to follow him. Pausing at a closet, he opens it and grabs a fresh towel. “Here you go. Don’t take too long; the hot water heater isn’t all that big, and I’m not sure how long the power’s gonna hold out.”
My eyebrows rise. “I don’t like to rush good hygiene.”
He shakes his head, annoyance written on his face, then waves me into his bedroom.
The space is larger than I thought it would be.
A king-size bed takes up most of the room, with two small, expertly crafted end tables sandwiched between the mattress and the wall.
There are two doors directly across from the bed and not a single TV in sight.
“No technology in here?” It’s been years since I fell asleep without the sound of the television to lull me off to sleep. Then again, it happened last night—but that hardly counts; I was so tired, and there was a warm fire.
He grumbles under his breath, something about fire hazards, before walking past. Aspen ushers me toward the second door, popping it open to a reasonably sized en suite bathroom. There’s a toilet, sink, and stand-up shower. Nothing luxurious, but so much nicer than the tub out in the common area.
Without another word, he leaves, quietly closing the door behind him.
Wasting no time at all, I strip down and turn the taps to scalding.
The water is just as I want, creating plumes of steam that fog the glass shower door.
I sigh with relief and allow my mind to wander.
How are things going at the lodge? Did my evil date even bother to let people know I got lost in the woods?
Did he tell the truth, and if so, are people out searching for me?
My thoughts shift to Aspen. His rugged good looks, his chiseled abs.
Even his gruff personality. Is he out there thinking about me being naked in his bathroom?
My hands start to wander, need rising between my legs, but his reminder about time rings in my ears.
All my wicked thoughts of him make a blush spread across my cheeks.
Down, girl. You barely know the man.
I wash up quickly, scrubbing my back and allowing the scented lather to seep into my skin.
It’s the closest thing I have to deodorant here and I wonder how weird it would be to borrow some.
Pretty damn weird. Stepping out of the shower, I wrap the towel around me with a happy sigh, feeling nearly human again.
My relief is short-lived when I realize I don’t have a stitch of fresh clothes to wear. The borrowed clothing from earlier mocks me from a haphazard pile on the floor. Perhaps I should have been more careful about keeping it neat. Now I’d dripped all over it.
What to do? What to do?
Gathering my courage, I wrap the towel tightly over my breasts, frustrated when it seems too short. Everything is covered, but just barely.
Taking a deep breath, I step out into Aspen’s room, and my eyes fall to a t-shirt and pants folded neatly on the bed. The sight makes me melt inside, all gooey and thankful. Every man I’ve ever been with has treated me like an afterthought, while he’s anticipated my needs without even knowing me.
A gentle snore has my eyes snapping to the bed. Aspen’s snoozing on top of the covers, one arm tossed above his head.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one who didn’t get any sleep last night.
The big bed looks so warm and inviting…