Chapter 3
Rachel
An hour and a half later, I was almost done with the last report.
My fingers were clumsy on the keyboard from all my shivering. I’d long since slipped under the covers to work, and I could see my breath now, small white puffs that dissipated in the cold air.
It had been toasty warm when I first got here, but now it was obviously much, much colder.
I wonder if he’s one of those guys who turns off the heat at night?
Some people do that to save money, and I got the feeling he didn’t have much set aside. Not based on how his home looked.
The power flickered once, then twice, and then the worst thing in the world happened. My internet connection died completely.
I stared at the spinning wheel on my screen, willing it to reconnect, but it didn’t.
“Come on, baby, I just need ten more minutes.” I could live with spare accommodations for the night, but I needed an internet connection to do my work.
A knock at the door made me jump.
“Just a minute,” I muttered as I set my laptop aside and opened the door.
Clayton stood in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest, expression unreadable. “Furnace died. Temperature’s dropping fast.”
“I noticed. Is there anything you can do?”
“Not tonight. Parts won’t be available until morning, assuming the roads are clear.” He shifted his weight, and I watched the muscles in his forearms flex beneath rolled-up sleeves. “My room’s warmer. You can take half the bed. But I’m not sleeping on the floor.”
I blinked at him. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” His tone was blunt, practical and utterly devoid of anything resembling flirtation. “It’s going to get close to freezing in here. Don’t argue with the weather. Grab your blankets and follow me.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll just make other arrangements.” I bristled, already reaching for my phone, pulling up the three-hundred-dollar Airbnb listing.
I’d pay the difference out of pocket if I had to. I’d do anything to avoid sharing a bed with this man who made my thoughts go fuzzy.
The listing showed “Booked” in bright red letters.
I stared at my phone, willing the word to change. But it didn’t.
“Something wrong?” He was watching me with neutral amusement.
I couldn’t look into his eyes anymore, they were having an effect on me, so I dropped my gaze down.
That’s when I noticed his scarred knuckles, one finger slightly crooked like it had been broken and never set properly.
This is the kind of man who doesn’t even seek proper medical care. Not the kind of man I should be looking at like I wanted to eat him up for dessert.
“The other rental just got booked.” I wanted to kick myself for not reserving it the moment I saw the listing. I wanted to be anywhere but here, in this ramshackle house, with this man who smelled like mountain heaven and looked at me like he could see straight into my soul.
“Are you going to come?” he rumbled.
“N-no, thank you. I’ll just use the extra blankets.” There was a stack in the corner of the room sitting on a small wooden rocking chair.
“Don’t be a fool,” his granite eyes bored straight into me. “Your pretty city-butt’s about to get cold. Door’s open for a reason. Don’t let pride get in the way of a warm night’s sleep.”
I’d always gone a little weak-kneed for a man in control. And Clayton could damn-near get me to do anything he wanted.
But there was one pesky thing holding me back.
“Clayton, we’re strangers. I can’t sleep in the same bed with you tonight.”
He leaned in close, his eyes burrowing straight into my soul. Then he rumbled, “I’m not watching you freeze in my house tonight. If you don’t come soon, I’ll carry you in myself.”
Then he turned and marched his fine ass away, leaving me alone in my freezing bedroom.
As he made it to the end of the hall, that surly mountain man teased me, “Did I mention I have a space heater in my room? I’m about to crank it up to max.”
Aargh.
The man was infuriating.
And hot.
And how the hell could I possibly share a bed with him tonight? I’d end up sliding right onto his mountain cock if I did.
Nope. Not going to happen.
I tried to sleep. I really did. I piled every blanket I could find on the bed and curled into the smallest ball possible. But the cold seeped through everything, settling into my bones, making my muscles ache and driving sleep away.
At two in the morning, I finally gave up.
I knocked on his door, and he opened it almost immediately, as if he’d been expecting me.
“I’m freezing.” It came out sounding more pathetic than I intended.
He stepped aside and dropped a hand to my lower back, guiding me in.
Then he rumbled, “I’ll warm you up.”
A tingle of heat shot through me and my nipples perked up.
This was a mistake.
But it was warmer in here, noticeably so. A space heater hummed in the corner, and the bed was covered in thick quilts that looked handmade.
“Take the left side,” he instructed as he climbed into bed as if this was perfectly normal, like sharing a mattress with a stranger was something he did every night. “Extra blankets are in the chest if you need them.”
Then he added, “Sometimes the dogs sneak up in the middle of the night. Feel free to kick them off if they bother you.”
Okay, this was not how I’d expected to spend my night. In bed with a sexy mountain man and his two dogs? Everything about tonight felt surreal.
“I’m not much of a dog person.”
“Wake me up if they bother you. They’re uncivilized beasts, but they’re generally good-natured. Rachel, meet Nuts and Bolts. I picked them up on the side of the road when they were pups.”
“Thank you again,” I whispered.
“No problem. Sorry about the inconvenience of it all.”
Shelly had called him all bark and no bite, and for a second I’d almost believed it. But there was something in the way he looked at me, like a man who chose when to show his teeth.
And something was wrong with me because I wanted to feel that bite.
I slid under the covers fully clothed, positioning myself as far to the edge as possible without falling off. The mattress dipped under his weight, and I was suddenly, acutely aware of how large he was.
He took up so much space.
And he also ran like a furnace.
Heat was radiating from his body, calling to me like a siren song.
I turned my back to him and stared at the wall.
I wasn’t the dating type. Or the one-night stand type either.
My last attempt at dating had been three years ago with a fellow claims adjuster who’d seemed safe and predictable, but who’d turned out to be sleeping with half the office.
Thomas had left a bad taste in my mouth, not that we’d been serious enough to be exclusive. I just hadn’t realized I was sharing the man with my coworkers. That was a little too close for comfort.
Since then, I’d poured everything into my work.
I didn’t need the complication of a good fuck if it came with a man attached.
And I certainly didn’t want the distraction.
But lying here, inches from a man who smelled like cedar and sawdust, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years.
Want. Pure, physical, inconvenient want.
And the realization hit me somewhere low in my belly. Pussy channels, activated.
I let out a tiny laugh as I settled into place. I hadn’t felt the stirrings of hunger for a man in three years. And here this one was, making me want to climb on top and ride him straight to the rodeo.
I bet he’s wild in bed.
He’d have to be with all those muscles.
The house creaked around us as wind howled against the windows. They must be single-pane and as old as the house. I listened to him breathe, slow and steady, and tried to match my rhythm to his.
Just as I thought I might be able to drift off to sleep I shifted one more time to find a comfy position, and our legs brushed under the blankets.
He jolted away from me. “Holy fuck! Your feet are like icicles.”
“Sorry.” I shifted away, pulling my legs up toward my chest, mourning the loss of his warmth.
Many minutes later, his breathing deepened, slowing into the rhythm of sleep. Then light baby-bear snores rumbled from his side of the bed.
A snoring man had never sounded so cute before.
I needed to get some sleep. I had a full day in front of me tomorrow. There were enough claims on the mountain that I’d be busy here for at least three days.
But as I was slipping closer to sleep, his arm drifted across the blanket, settling near my waist. Close enough that I could feel the heat of him through the quilts, a warmth that made my whole body ache.
My feet still felt like ice. They were always running cold. And that one moment when our legs had collided, I’d felt the heat rolling off of him.
Maybe I can warm up for just one second.
I wiggled my feet toward his legs, just barely brushing against him. The relief was immediate, his body heat seeping into my frozen toes, and I let out a breath of relief.
He didn’t wake. His snores continued, soft and steady, and his arm stayed where it was, a warm weight that I wanted desperately to roll toward.
But I stayed where I was on the far side of the bed until sleep finally came for me.