Chapter 3
There she is.
The invisible fist around my throat finally releases my Adam’s apple.
Liberty’s small SUV is parked haphazardly in the country store’s parking lot.
Turning off the road, I slow. The snow crunches below my wheels as my lights swing across the storefront, over the fogged-up glass.
She’s in there.
Even though I can’t see her behind the fogged door, I can feel her.
My cells shudder with relief, and in the next instant they go electric from her proximity. Happens every time I’m near her.
I don’t even bother parking somewhere respectable. Wasting no time, I fling open the truck door, striding the last few feet to the door.
I’m barely able to stop myself from sprinting and crashing my shoulder into the door, destroying any and all barriers keeping me from her.
Goddamn.
I’m a mess over this woman, and when I see her face, a rough sound comes from my throat.
There in a hole someone’s hand has wiped clean, she’s staring out like she’s just watched a spaceship land.
“Liberty, thank God,” I rasp as I jerk the door so hard the brass bell falls off, landing on my boot.
I hardly register it.
The entire world could fall down around me, and I’d only see her.
She’s so beautiful in her slightly off-kilter winter hat with her hair spilling around her shoulder.
I want to grab her and kiss the living hell out of her.
Faaaaak. This is not good.
I have to get control of this. Justice is going to knock my teeth out if I touch his sister.
Liberty’s plump and perfectly delectable mouth opens and closes, the mug of hot cocoa tipping and spilling over her hand. I grab it before she severely burns herself.
“Careful.”
Blinking up at me, she’s smiling, “Good heavens, what are you doing here?”
I have to clear my throat if I have any hope of sounding like a I didn’t just eat a bucket of sand. “I came to get you.”
“Me?” Her hand lands over her heart.
Placing the mug on the checkout counter, I take her shoulders in my hands. “Yeah, you. Thank god you’re safe. I was worried fucking sick when I found out you were on the road alone.”
A shiver runs through her. She seems to click into some other mode. Worried. “But the road is closed. How did you get here?”
Tipping my chin toward the truck, I grin. “Drove. I’ve got good traction.”
She seems baffled. “But the road’s closed. It’s dangerous. You shouldn’t have been out there.”
“Nothing would keep me from coming to find you.”
The truth.
“Where’d you come from?” the man asks, but I don’t bother to look at him.
“The old Henderson resort on the mountain..”
He whistles and makes an appreciative sound.
“Ah, the cave. Very nice. Very secret. Very romantic.”
“It’s a work thing,” Liberty quickly says with color creeping up her cheekbones. “My friend here works with my brother, so everyone’s spending the holiday there.”
The pulse in my throat is thumping erratically. The more I breathe her shampoo scent in, the worse it gets. Just being near the woman is like shooting up with testosterone.
“Right. Company party,” I add, staring into her eyes.
Only…fuck, there’s no company, unless you count us.
“Want to finish your cocoa—or what’s left of it—before we go?”
“Go where?” She asks, looking a little boggled.
“Up the mountain.”
She makes a strangled sound.
“It’s fine,” I tug her close, slipping my hand beneath her hair, battling my urge to kiss that worried tilt right off of her lips.
That’s such a bad idea. I NEED to stay the hell away from her. Like a thousand miles away.
“We don’t have far to go,” I say quietly.
She’s murmuring something about a blizzard as I zip her coat up to her neck, making sure she’s protected from the elements.
Everything about my teammate’s younger sister makes me irrationally protective.
“Spence, I can’t drive in this. It’s terrible out there. My car won’t make it.”
Shaking my head, I tuck her hair behind her shoulder. “Don’t have to. That’s what I’m here for.”
I’d be here for her for everything if I could.
We stare at each other for a beat, and the way she’s looking at me makes me realize how dangerous this situation is.
If Liberty wanted me, I’d walk away from it all. From my friend, from my new job. The flimsy excuse for a life I’ve been living.
“I’m worried about Justice and Rosalie and everyone else, too,” she says.
“I’m sure they’re fine.”
She’s going to freak when she finds out we’re alone for the next two days.
God knows I am.
With tension coiling up my spine, I turn to the store’s clerk or owner, or whatever he might be.
“We’ll be back for her car when the roads are cleaned up. Okay if we leave it on the side of the lot over there?”
He’s smiling from ear to ear, with a knowing expression on his weathered face. “Yes, sir. No problem ‘tall. Just park it over on the right. Enjoy the resort. I’m sure you two are in for a nice Christmas.”
Nice? Ha.
This is going to be torture.
“Give me your keys, sweetheart. I’ll move your car out of the way.”
She fumbles in her coat pocket. “I need to get my purse and my travel bag.”
“Let’s get you settled in my truck with the heat on, and I’ll take care of everything.”
With a glance at the clerk, she shrugs her shoulders, still dazed. “Thanks for the cocoa. Wish us luck. I think we’re going to need it.”
She wants luck now. Wait until she finds out the rest of the team isn’t coming for two days.