Chapter 4
IVAN
The frozen pipe isn’t hard to locate. I soak a towel in hot water and wrap it around the cold metal while North watches curiously from the bathroom door.
I’d hoped it would take a while to find the frozen section—a task to occupy my mind.
But no damn luck. Found it immediately. Now there’s nothing to distract me from the pretty little redhead staying in my rental cabin, no task I can lose myself in to forget those thick curves.
Fuck.
A crazy part of me wants to head straight back to the rental just to see her again. I could think up some excuse, some dumb pretext for being there.
Goddammit, old man.
Control yourself.
I shouldn’t be losing it over a stranger half my age. Ruby looks like she’s barely into her twenties, and I turned forty-six last month. Hell, with all my gray hairs and lines, I look even older. She’s young enough to be my daughter, for fuck’s sake.
So why the hell can’t I stop thinking about her?
Why can’t I stop replaying our whole interaction?
Wish I hadn’t acted like such a damn grump.
Wish I’d asked questions, found out more about her.
Too late now. She’s checking out on Christmas Day, which is less than a week from now. She’ll go back to wherever she came from, and then maybe I can stop feeling like my heart is doing gymnastics in my chest.
The pipe doesn’t take long to thaw. I give it half an hour before turning the water back on and testing the shower. It gushes to life.
There goes my last excuse to see Ruby again.
I turn the shower off and step out of the bathroom just as a knock sounds on the front door. North is instantly alert, barking a warning at me like I didn’t hear the knock myself. He may be a teddy bear, but he’s pretty damn protective.
“It’s okay, boy,” I tell him, giving him a quick pat.
I assume it’s somebody asking about firewood.
I have a reputation for selling big bundles at decent prices to businesses around Cherry Hollow, so it’s not unusual for people to come knocking.
But they’re out of luck. I sold out fast this year, and the next batch of firewood won’t be fully cured until January.
The stuff I have left is to see me through the winter, with enough left over to restock the rental cabin’s supply.
“There’s no firewood left,” I grunt as I push the door open.
I almost fall to my damn knees. Ruby is standing outside, blinking at me with those warm brown eyes. Snowflakes are melting in her hair, white on red, and she tucks a lock behind her ear as she looks at me.
“Oh…uh, that’s okay.” She sounds a little confused. “I don’t need any firewood.”
My mouth is too dry to speak at first, but I finally croak out, “Sorry. Thought you were someone else.”
North is peering out of the door beside me.
Now that he’s satisfied Ruby isn’t a threat, his whole demeanor changes.
He bounds past me and jumps up at her, barking excitedly.
My dog is the size of a damn grizzly, and Ruby is all of five-foot nothing; he nearly topples her over as he tries to lick her face.
“North!” I pull him away from her. “Sit.”
He does as he’s told, a panting mound of white fluff, looking from me to Ruby with those big puppy dog eyes.
“Sorry about that,” I tell her. “He doesn’t meet new people often.”
“That’s okay,” she chuckles, reaching out to pet him. “It’s North, right? Nice to meet you, cutie.” He nuzzles her hand and she smiles widely. “Oh, look at you! What a beautiful dog!”
It does something to me, seeing this woman standing on my doorstep, fussing over North. Something hitches in my chest. It squeezes me tight, a deep longing I can’t understand.
Fuck, I wish she were mine.
I wish she belonged here with me.
“Anyway, I’m really sorry to bother you again,” Ruby says, straightening up from North to look at me.
“I was trying to open a window in the kitchen and the latch broke.” She grimaces.
“Totally my fault for trying to force it open. I can pay you back for any damage…but now I can’t get it to close, and it’s letting all the cold air inside. ”
There’s something so damn hypnotic about her sweet little voice. I could listen to her talk about something as dull as a broken window latch all day. Hell, she could read me the dictionary from start to finish and I’d be fucking riveted.
“I’ll come take a look. Just let me grab my tools.”
“Thank you.” She smiles at me, her freckled cheeks dimpling.
Fuck, she’s so adorable.
“Can North come, too?” she adds when I reemerge from the cabin with my tool belt on my hips.
“Sure.”
The three of us descend the porch steps and head into the woods, our breath forming clouds of mist in front of us.
Snow crunches beneath our feet, a few tiny flakes still drifting down through the canopies.
North is showing off for Ruby, making her laugh.
His tail wags as he leaps around the trees, digging at the snow and jumping into drifts, looking back at us for approval.
But right now, all my attention is on the woman beside me.
We’re walking close together, and the space between us feels like a red-hot danger zone, making my skin prickle with heat despite the freezing weather.
When her side accidentally brushes mine, I feel my jaw clench tight.
Goddammit, what is happening to me?
“It’s so beautiful out here,” Ruby says wistfully. “I still can’t get used to the snow…how pretty it makes everything look.”
“Guessing it doesn’t snow much where you’re from?”
“Nope. Not at all.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see her tip her head back and catch a snowflake on her tongue. “I live in Miami.”
Her words hit me like a slap in the face. Miami. This girl lives over two-thousand miles away. Hell, it feels even further than that. Florida seems like a whole different planet to Cherry Mountain.
“It did actually snow in Miami once,” Ruby continues. “I googled it. There was a freak weather event back in the seventies, waaay before I was born.”
Another slap. I was born in the seventies.
Sure, it was late ’79, but still. Another reminder that this pretty little angel is at least twenty years my junior.
Not that any of this should matter to me.
So what if the girl staying in my rental cabin is half my age?
So what if she lives in Florida? She’s a stranger, and she’ll be out of here in less than a week.
“What brings you to Cherry Mountain?” I ask, trying to ignore the hollow pang in my chest.
“I’m visiting my brother for the holidays.
I stayed in his cabin for a couple of weeks, but it got a little cramped, so I booked your rental instead.
” She grins at me. “I’m really glad I did.
This place is perfect for the holidays. I went to Cherry Hollow yesterday and everything just felt so… festive!”
“Too damn festive if you ask me,” I mutter.
The words are out before I can stop them, my bad mood seeping out like an icy chill in the air.
“Huh. So you’re not a fan of the holidays?” Ruby asks.
“No. Can’t stand this time of year.” My leg twinges, almost in agreement, pain pinching my thigh.
“Really? How come?”
“Feels fake to me. Like people are putting on a show.” I leave it there. I shouldn’t start ranting to this sweet angel about my lack of festive cheer—she must already think I’m a miserable old grump.
Ruby looks thoughtful. “Maybe some people are pretending. But I don’t think the holidays are the problem…
it’s more the expectations around them. The pressure to spend money or to force cheer.
But if you resist all those pressures, then I think Christmas can be whatever you want it to be.
That’s why it’s my favorite time of year. ”
The warmth and passion in her voice thaw my heart a little.
“Glad you like it so much. Don’t let an old Grinch like me ruin your holiday spirit.”
Ruby grins. “You might still find your festive cheer. It’s not Christmas just yet…there’s still time for you to become a reformed Grinch.”
I let out a noncommittal humph. “Don’t know about that, Candy Cane.”
Her eyes glitter. “Candy Cane?”
Damn, where’d that come from?
Why am I giving this girl cutesy nicknames?
“Sorry. Don’t know where that came from.”
“I like it.”
I chance a glance at her just in time to see her mouthing “Candy Cane”, like she’s trying to savor the words on her tongue. It’s starting to feel like this girl was sent to me as some sort of test. Some kind of cosmic design to test my restraint. Why else would she be so damn adorable?
As we approach the rental cabin, the stabbing in my leg is getting hard to ignore. All my attention is focused on masking the pain, and it’s getting harder to speak. But Ruby doesn’t seem to mind my silence. She fills it as we climb the stairs, telling me all about her Christmases in Florida.
“It’s not exactly the Winter Wonderland you have out here. No snow-capped mountains, just palm trees and sand. But anywhere can be festive if you try hard enough.”
North bounds past us up the stairs, waiting by the door. Ruby reaches it first, opening it for him. I’m glad her back is turned, so she can’t see the way I’m gritting my teeth, trying to breathe through the pain.
These fucking stairs.
I huff with relief when I reach the top, following Ruby and North inside. The smell of burning hits me—charred and acrid. It fills the whole cabin. In the kitchen, I find the source: a sheet of coal-black cookies on the counter. They’re shaped like Christmas trees. Of course.
“You been baking?”
“Trying.” Ruby makes a face. “I thought I couldn’t go wrong with packet mix. But apparently there are no limits to my ability to burn things.”
I almost smile. “At least you tried.”
The kitchen window is flapping open, and as I lean over the counter to inspect the missing latch, Ruby mumbles something too quiet to make out. I crook my neck, looking back at her.
“Sorry, didn’t catch that.”
“They were meant to be for you. The cookies…”
I look at the burned Christmas trees then back at Ruby. “For me?”
“Yeah.” She looks bashful, a blush rising on her cheeks. “I was going to bring them over to apologize for checking in too early and…you know…walking in on you and all that.”
My throat feels scratchy and dry as I look at her.
This angel wanted to bake me cookies?
It’s hard to wrap my head around. I’m not used to people wanting to do stuff for me.
Hell, I’m not used to people, period. I’m a grumpy old Grinch with a bad leg and a worse temper, not the kind of guy people want to get to know.
But when Ruby looks at me with those chocolate brown eyes, all sweetness and light, something stirs inside me.
Something new. Like a flicker of fire in a long-dead hearth, heating places I forgot existed.
Fuck, I want her so badly.
Every second in her company makes it harder to ignore.
She’s like a craving, an addiction I can’t shake.
And standing together in this cramped kitchen sure doesn’t help.
She’s close enough to touch. Close enough to kiss.
My cock strains against my jeans, throbbing when I think of how I could reach out right now and pull Ruby against me.
I could take her right here on the counter.
Feel her curves. Claim her. Taste her. Make her scream my name like a prayer…
God help me, I’m losing it.
I’ve let the silence drag on too long. Ruby is peering at me through her lashes, and I swallow hard, forcing myself to speak.
“It was thoughtful of you to bake for me. Thanks, Candy Cane.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiles at me apologetically. “Sorry I burned them.”
“Doesn’t matter. Thought that counts.”
It takes all my self-control to look away from her. I turn back to the window. But it’s useless. I can still feel Ruby behind me. Beneath the bitter scent of burning, I catch her scent—warm vanilla and cinnamon. My pulse is racing. The air is so damn thick I can hardly breathe.
I shouldn’t want her.
I can’t want her.
But resisting her feels like trying to hold back a fucking avalanche.