Chapter 6 Ember
Irushed into the room and opened the luggage I’d packed and wanted to yell!
Why hadn’t I packed anything semi-cute!?
Because I never planned I’d meet someone whom I would want to dress up for!
After almost tossing the entire luggage on the ground, I decided to relax.
He’d already seen me in my pajamas, and there wasn’t any way I’d missed the way his eyes liked what they saw.
I pulled on an oversized baby-blue sweater Tabitha had given me for my birthday that she said was the exact shade of my eyes.
The thing was huge and went past mid-thigh, barely letting the bottom of the satin sleep shorts peek through.
I tossed everything back into my luggage and shut it before I stepped out and went to look for him.
I didn’t have to look too far. I found him sitting on the couch, two mugs of what looked like steaming hot chocolate with whipped cream sat on the coffee table.
“Hope you don’t mind. I picked up hot chocolate but used your whipped cream.”
“I don’t. That looks really good.” I pointed, shyly approaching the man.
“Sit with me?” he asked, and something inside me wanted to do anything that would please him. What the hell is wrong with me? I sat down next to him, and he handed me the mug.
“Thanks,” I said. “So, have you thought about what you’re going to do?”
“Honestly?” I nodded. His eyes left mine as they glanced outside. “Snow’s coming down hard, and as much as I really don’t want to stay with Tiffany—“
“Your sister?”
“Yeah, older sister,” he clarified. “I might not have another choice. Seems this storm is a blizzard. I looked up the hotels in the area, and you were right. Everything is booked solid.”
“And you don’t get along with her?” I asked, feeling nosy.
“No, we do.” He stretched his legs out. “It’s just… Her place is small. And with her three kids, I don’t want to add to the… noise.” I smiled. I understood more than he could imagine.
“Where did you drive or fly in from?” I asked.
“Los Angeles.”
“Nice,” I whispered as my mind ran down the logistics.
He lived at the very least eight hours away.
Figures. I almost wanted to laugh at myself.
Just as I was about to let myself believe in Rosie’s manifestation of me finding someone on this little getaway, he lived way too far for it to be anything more than…
“Why don’t you stay here?” I asked, weirdly calm and sure of the offer.
“What?” His brows bunched.
“I’m here. Alone. And as you know, since the place is yours, there is more than enough space. And you’re already here. Plus, it’s probably way too dangerous to drive right now.” I glanced out the window, and my eyes widened.
I set my mug back on the table and pointed out into the darkness. Snow had been falling hard when I drove in, but holy crap! I hadn’t expected to see both of our cars completely covered.
“Look.” I pointed. He scooted over, turning his body so we could both look out at his driveway.
We were both half-kneeling on the couch, so close our shoulders brushed against one another.
I couldn’t ignore the way my body seemed to hum around him.
Like everything about me was weirdly attuned to everything about him.
From how he felt to how he smelled. The heat of his body.
“Our cars,” he murmured. “They’re covered— Fuck,” he cursed under his breath. “I should get out of here. I couldn’t impose on your vacation.” He shifted and stood.
I couldn’t deny the way I missed his body next to mine.
I shook the thought away and joined him.
When I stood next to him, the size difference between us was more evident.
He was huge. Tall and strong. Somehow imposing without being intimidating.
Not to me. Something about that made me reach for him, and I felt his eyes connect with mine when I curled my fingers around his.
“Stay,” I urged. “I’d hate for you to drive out in this and something happens. Plus… maybe the company wouldn’t be such a terrible idea?” I shrugged, forcing myself to let go of his hand and stepping away. “What do you think?”
“I think…” He swallowed, and my eyes traced the line of his neck and the way his prominent Adam’s apple rose and fell.
Something about it made me want to stand on the tips of my toes and lick it before I dropped on my knees and licked something else.
Get on my knees and lick… I shook the dirty thoughts away as our eyes locked. His eyes are beautiful.
“I think that—“ His voice sounded lower than it was a moment earlier. “That if you don’t mind, I’d love to stay.”
“Good.” I smiled and crossed my arms over my chest. “Do you want to call your nephew or sister? I’m going to go…
” My eyes peeked at the kitchen. “Go get dinner—“ His hand took mine and carefully pulled me in closer to him. So far that my hand landed on his chest. Not exactly to push him away but to steady myself on him. I’d figured he was strong, but what I hadn’t been ready for was to feel just how hard his chest was.
“Don’t cook.” He shook his head. “I’ll do it.”
“But—“
“I mean, I picked up a lot of food from the diner. More than enough to feed an army. Eat with me. I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have. And I’ll make sure that whatever you paid for the rental will be refunded to you.”
“Don’t do that,” I said softly. “I know…” I chewed on my bottom lip.
“What? What is it you’re not sure you should say?” My eyes widened, not sure how the hell he could read me that clearly.
“Well… I wasn’t eavesdropping…”
“Sweetheart, I had the phone on speaker.” He smirked. Usually, I didn’t like anyone calling me that, but coming from him, it was different. A lot was different when it came to Asher.
“Your nephew did a bad thing, but he had a good reason for it. I don’t think you should take money from him that’s going to go to a good cause.
Even if you were planning on paying for his tuition.
” I shrugged. “I remember being a college student. Extra money is never a bad thing.” He watched me carefully, his gaze softening with every word I said.
“You’re right. But I’ll deposit the money directly from me to you, not Dane.”
“You don’t have to do that, either.”
“We’ll figure it out.” He winked and gave me a smile I was almost positive had gotten him what he wanted countless times throughout his life.
“Okay,” I found myself agreeing.
“Let me call my sister and nephew, and then I am all yours.”
“All mine, huh?” I smiled and didn’t miss the way his eyes dropped to my mouth before returning to meet my gaze, this time with a darker look in his stare.
“All yours,” he confirmed. Something flashed in his eyes before he took a deep breath. “Or at least until this storm lets up.”
The reminder we had a shelf life shouldn’t jar me as much as it did.
“Blizzard,” I corrected, brushing away the reminder that this, whatever this weird gravitational pull we felt towards one another was, was going to end. It couldn’t go anywhere. Long-distance relationships were rumored not to work for a reason.
It was stupidly impossible to even let myself think about more than… a mere moment. I cleared my throat. “I think we could consider it a blizzard now,” I pointed out, and he nodded.
A seriously comfortable silence fell between us.
One that made everything inside of me feel all gooey and warm.
And wet. Shit. What was it about him that made me want to drop every wall I’d built against men and dating and falling in love?
It was more than his good looks. It had to be.
I’d hate to be close to turning thirty and find out I was that shallow.
“I’m going to get a snack,” I said, softly pulling away from his heated embrace, and he let me. I could hear the deep sultry tone of his voice while I went through the stuff I’d picked up at the store.
Opening the box of my fudge striped goodness, I took two from the sleeve and moved towards the windows.
It was dark outside, but there was no denying this storm was a lot worse than any blizzard I had ever seen. I could hear the wind billow against the walls of the cabin as I munched on my cookies then took two more out and started to eat those.
All while trying to think of a way to block out the way Asher’s velvety smooth voice made me a little weak in the knees.
I shut my eyes, but the sound seemed to seep in and wash through me. My thighs pressed together as something inside me, not just my body or hormones, but something bigger, seemed to call out to him.
I ached. For him. Daddy. The name slipped through my mind, and I took a shuttered breath.
Daddy. It suited him even though I’d never, not once, called anyone that.
Abby and Tabitha and Rosie were all to blame.
Their smutty book recommendations had done me in, making me curious about the role play.
Not that I ever thought I would ever come close to meeting someone I would ever want to explore the whole dominant daddy/little girl dynamic.
But just as Asher I-had-no-clue-what-his-last-name was walked through the archway of the kitchen and leaned against the wall, his attention and focus completely on me, I couldn’t imagine calling anyone else daddy.
Damn, I was in trouble now. Snowed in with a man I’d want to talk dirty to me and sweetly boss me around and tell me what to do so I wouldn’t have to make any kind of decisions.
Shit. I took the last bite of my cookie and licked my lips.
Right or wrong, love at first chill might not be a thing, but I was going to take a chance tonight with the sexy stranger just like Rosie had told us to start doing.