17
The Will of the Snow Gods
Q uinn let out a contented little sigh that stole Alex’s attention. While she seemed deep in thought staring into the fire, he took the opportunity to study her. It was no wonder Alex found her attractive. Physically, the lass was very bonnie. Auburn brown hair fell just past her shoulders. In the firelight, the glistening strands of rich bronze and copper appeared to be shimmering. A pert nose fit perfectly against the backdrop of soft angled cheekbones and full rosy lips. He was mesmerized as she took a sip of tea, and her pink tongue darted out to lick her lips. As if sensing his eyes on her, she glanced up at him. When he didn’t look away, her big brown eyes turned sheepish.
“You must think I’m an idiot.” She exhaled, looking down into her mug. “For getting stranded out there.” She closed her eyes, and he had no doubt she was reliving the events of the day.
“I dinnae think yer an idiot lass, far from it,” Alex replied honestly.
Quinn looked up at him with surprise on her pretty face. Her eyes searched his. He could tell she wasn’t sure if she believed him.
“My girls left in the early afternoon to go back to B.C., and I don’t know… I hadn’t intended to go hiking. I knew it was late in the day, but I guess I just craved getting out. And these mountains are just so dang gorgeous. It’s like they beckoned me.” She swirled the tea in her mug and stared down at it as if it was showing her the playback of her harrowing day.
Alex could relate to the need to get out in the fresh mountain air. He’d felt the same way today. These mountains often beckoned him too. He stayed quiet though and let her be with her thoughts.
“Well, and you know about my night.” She looked at him awkwardly, a moment later.
Recalling what he’d said to her the night before, he felt like an ass. Shite, he shouldn’t have said what he did to her. It was a low blow, and he knew it. Memories of the night before flickered in his mind—their almost kiss and all the other parts that should have never happened. Just recalling it made his pulse kick up a notch. It was dangerous territory. He definitely did not want to talk about last night, and he was silently grateful when she didn’t elaborate.
“I think I just needed to move and get some fresh air,” she said, “and it was so sunny and gorgeous earlier in the day. I didn’t even pay attention to the fact it was snowing pretty hard when I started the hike.” The remorseful look in her big brown eyes made him wish he had the power to steal away her regrets.
“I was so in the zone. You know?” she said as more of a statement than a question, but he did know. Nothing better than the zone.
“Then the weather seemed to turn bitter in a flash. I should’ve turned back sooner.” She shook her head. “The snow had been coming down thick for a while. It was stupid of me to keep going.”
There was remorse in every pretty feature.
“I got caught in it too,” he said with a dispassionate shrug. “The storm was expected but no’ until well after midnight. The weather can change in a flash in the mountains, but this storm kicked from zero to sixty faster than I’ve ever known.”
Alex was disarmed when the lass looked up at him. Her big brown eyes were filled with warmth that seemed to spread over his skin.
He could’ve scolded, he could’ve disapproved, or he could’ve agreed with her assessment of her stupidity. She half expected him to, but he did none of those things. And she found her heart a little lighter.
“Proper winter clothing.” She grinned, gesturing to her pile of winter gear.
“Aye,” he said as his lips tugged in a smile obviously catching her reference to his comment from the evening before.
It was the second time she’d seen him smile, and it was like the sun bursting through the clouds after a storm. There was absolutely zero possibility now of denying that the man was ridiculously hot. Breathtaking really. Wow. He was far from the intimidating Mean Cop now.
To her surprise, he actually seemed likeable. Perhaps out of uniform, he let that cold Mean Cop guard down. Although she hadn’t forgotten his jerk comment when he’d left her room last night, nor would she. It stung more than she cared to admit. It felt good that they seemed to have found a truce, but she’d be wise to remember that he wasn’t attracted to her like she was to him. So be it.
For now, Quinn was feeling toasty and contented. Her worries were at bay. It seemed she had all the feeling back in her feet and hands too. Thank goodness. She’d gotten used to the sickly sweet tea and found it had kind of grown on her by the time she took her last sip. Mug empty and as pleasant as the situation had somehow become, she decided it was time to head back to the inn. Unfolding her stiff legs from beneath her, she gingerly stood up, getting to her feet, she stretched out her arms above her.
“I should get back to the inn. Do you have a landline so I can call an Uber?” she asked, not wanting to put him out.
Alex laughed. “Uber’s dinnae come up here.”
“Oh right.” She bit her lip, concern winding through her as she contemplated how she would get back to the inn.
Not moving from his chair, he sat back looking amused. She had a feeling he knew what she was about to ask. She just hoped their newfound civility would hold.
“Would you possibly be able to drive me back then?” she asked him sweetly.
Without a word, he lifted himself out of the chair and took her empty mug from the tree stump end table as he did. Standing facing her, Quinn felt a little shiver of awareness race through her.
God, he was big, and when he stood towering over, for some reason, it tickled her horny side. She felt her cheeks heat as her mind flickered back to him carrying her to the chair and how his thickly muscled arms lifted her like she weighed nothing even in all her wet winter wear. That was when she caught his piercing blue eyes on hers, and her stomach did a little flip-flop as she felt certain that he knew where her thoughts had gone.
“I’m sorry, lass, but nobody is going anywhere for a while.”
The words were exactly what her perked-up nipples and tingling nether regions wanted to hear, but from the look in his eyes, she knew the intent was far different from her body’s interpretation.
“How long is a while?” she asked, feeling her stomach knot.
He shrugged casually oblivious to the emotions whirring inside her. “Hard to say exactly.”
“Mm-hmm. Right.” She tried to comprehend what that meant, and then in the next breath, she completely dismissed what he’d said. “Obviously, staying here is not an option. I need to get back to the inn tonight, so how do we make that happen?” She looked at him expectantly.
And there it was, his disapproving cold, Mean Cop look. The one that made her want to kick him in the shins. Without a word, he turned and casually strode back to the kitchen. Quinn felt frustration bubbling in her as she noted that clearly the uniform had nothing to do with the attitude after all.
“There must be a way to get back into town.” She didn’t even try to keep the exasperation from her voice.
Was the woman mad? She’d just narrowly been rescued from freezing to death in the worst blizzard in a bloody decade, and now she expected to be somehow magically transported back to her inn?
“Have ye looked outside?” he said in a clipped tone.
“Yes, but can’t we drive? You must have some kind of four-by-four. This is the mountains. The weather gets bad. You must have a way to get around. Surely things don’t just come to a standstill.” She ended on a shrill little laugh that made him want to ring her perfectly creamy neck and kiss her senseless all at once.
“We would get stuck before we even started, and it’s no’ like being in town. We are halfway up a mountain. Visibility is next to zero. Nobody is going anywhere.”
“Well, when do you think we can get back to town?” He could see she wasn’t going to give up easily.
Alex looked out the kitchen window as if assessing, but he knew the answer without looking, “Depends on when this finally lets up and they get the ploughs going.”
“You mean I’m probably going to have to stay the night?” she asked indignantly as if the thought was completely unacceptable.
God, this woman. He took great pleasure in his next statement because he knew it would irritate her pretty little head. “I’d count on staying at least three nights, maybe more.”
“ What? ” she shrieked. “Don’t be ridiculous! It’s the mountains. It snows. We are not in the dark ages, you know. We’re not just at the mercy of the snow gods.”
He had to hide a smile. The lass was bonny, but when she was fired up? Christ. For such a tiny thing, she was feisty, and the flush on her cheeks made him want to push her farther.
“Last time it snowed like this, it took them five days for them to get up here and do some clearing. So aye, little lass, we are at the mercy of the snow gods.”
Those big brown eyes gave away her every emotion, and right now, she looked as though she was going to cry. Alex certainly didn’t want that.
“But it’s almost Christmas.” Her argument was futile, and they both knew it. A growl of frustration erupted from her as she seemed to finally accept the reality of the situation. “And don’t call me little.”
Alex barely held in a laugh. “Did ye have plans for Christmas then? Ye have a laddie waitin’ on ye?” He was mocking her, but something about the idea that it might be true bothered him. Did she have a man in her life?
“No, no, it’s just, well, I…” She seemed flustered. Then she abruptly walked over to where she’d abandoned her backpack at the front door. Unzipping it, she pulled out her phone looking at it with sudden desperation, and then she slumped.
“There’s no signal up here,” he stated, to her utter annoyance.
“Yeah, got that,” she said with more sarcasm than she’d intended. Her mind was racing. Was she seriously stuck here with Mean Hot Cop? While he may not be a complete jerk as she’d originally thought—he had rescued her after all—she still found him to be annoyingly mean. Worse yet, he was definitively hot, like superhero hot. Much too hot to be stranded in a cabin with for God only knew how long.
She studied him with a crinkle between her brows. Sergeant Mackenzie now stood in his kitchen, washing their mugs like some kind of domesticated Adonis. It was impossible not to be impressed with his incredibly broad muscular shoulders and those massive biceps tight in his shirt. Jeez Louise. If he were any other guy, she’d jump at the chance to be stuck here with him, but no, this was Mean Hot Cop. The mean part was not to be forgotten about!
“You never said if you had a landline or not. I’d like to make a call,” she huffed, less than impressed with this whole ordeal.
He pointed to a phone on a table beside the couch. Immediately, she went over and picked it up. “There’s no dial tone,” she said in disbelief.
“Guess the storm must have knocked down the phone lines.” He shrugged as if it was insignificant.
“How are we supposed to get a hold of anyone to let them know we are here?” she asked, feeling her stomach clench, as anxiety pricked at her.
“The ranger knows there are a few of us that live up the mountain, and he knows that we all stay prepared for a snow in.”
“A snow in?” she repeated, still trying to comprehend the full extent of the situation.
“Aye, when there is so much snow you have to stay in.” He spoke as if he was explaining the concept to a small child.
A frustrated growl escaped her lips, and she flopped back down on the chair in front of the fireplace crossing her arms. Resignation set in. Like it or not, she was stuck here. With him.
“Trust me, I’m no’ thrilled with this situation either,” he declared as if reading her mind.