2. Maggie
2
MAGGIE
When I found the limo in the church parking lot left unattended with the keys still in the ignition, I knew it was a sign from my parents. I was doing the right thing.
But as the wind howls and the snow flurries come down faster, I’m not sure my decision to drive up a mountain was the best move, even if it does happen to be called Mount Bliss.
I turn on the windshield wipers and squint to see through the quickly falling snow. By now, Sebastian has probably realized I’m not showing up. His father will be furious, but I deserve better than his cruel son. I deserve someone who’s willing to accept all of me and will love me for who I am.
I take a deep breath and wonder if that guy exists. Between running the family business and caring for my grandfather who has dementia, dating hasn’t exactly been easy. I’ve only managed a few dates and they never went beyond the first one.
At this rate, I’m likely to die a virgin. A horseface virgin. I shrug off the thought and remind myself that Sebastian and his friends are just privileged assholes who aren’t worth my time anyway.
Not that it makes it sting any less. I may have been wealthy growing up but even at a private school, there are always the kids that get bullied. The ones that don’t quite fit in for one reason or another.
I’m so lost in thought that I don’t see the tiny little deer bounding across the wet road until it’s too late. Seconds away from colliding with it, I jerk the wheel to the left. The car spins, narrowly missing Bambi, and the wheels leave the asphalt.
My last thought before the vehicle collides with a large pine tree is that I can’t die yet. My grandfather still needs me to care for and protect him.
Crew
The wind howls even louder as my truck chugs along the mountain road. I’m only a few miles from home but in this blinding snow, it could take an hour or more to make the trek safely.
There’s something a few feet in the distance that makes me slow down. It’s black and shiny and my heart sinks when I realize it’s a car in the ditch. Not just any car. A limousine.
Bracing myself, I get out of my truck and prepare for the worst. I don’t reckon I’m likely to find this person still alive.
The passenger side is smashed in with a tree limb going through it, but the driver’s side looks unaffected. There’s a woman slumped against the wheel, surrounded by the deflated airbag.
I open the door, bracing myself to catch her as she tumbles forward. Dark red ringlets surround her face but there’s no sign of visible injury. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing and wish I had the skills to help her. I’m of more use to her injured car than her.
“Can you hear me?” I have to shout the words to be heard over the howling wind.
After the longest few seconds of my life, her long eyelashes flutter and the prettiest chocolate gaze I’ve ever seen is blinking up at me. It hits me like a punch in the gut.
“I didn’t hit the deer,” she says. “He was just a baby.”
“Can you walk?” I take in the wedding dress she’s wearing. It’s lowcut, showing off her ample cleavage. Yeah, I’m an animal for noticing those round tits of hers when she’s just been through an accident. “Where’s your groom? Was anyone with you?”
I peel the coat from my body and place it over her. I don’t know how long ago she wrecked and the thought that she could have been sitting here in the cold for hours has me feeling strangely protective over her.
“My groom is at the altar about now.” She shivers despite the coat I gave her.
Suddenly, every bit of my attraction melts quicker than the snowflakes falling onto the wet asphalt. She’s another runaway bride that humiliated some poor fool.
She touches the back of her head with a groan. When she pulls her fingers away, they’re coated with blood. Not a lot but she’s obviously hurt.
“I hate the sight of blood,” she murmurs just as her face drains of color and her eyelids flutter closed again.
I reach out a hand to keep her from slumping forward and look around. There’s a bag on the passenger floorboard. I lean across her to grab it, hating the way my cock hardens in my pants when I catch a whiff of her floral scent.
“We need to go,” I tell her as sleet begins mixing in with the snowflakes. If I don’t get us both out of this weather soon, we’ll become human popsicles. But it’s too far down the mountain to take her for medical help. The best I can do in this storm is get her back to my place and hope she’s not injured too badly.
I wait for her to acknowledge my words, hoping she’ll wake again. But she doesn’t.
Cursing my luck, I haul her into my arms bridal style. Her curves fit perfectly against me, like her body was made for mine.
I remind myself that up until a few hours ago, she was happily engaged to another man. Why the thought has a growl ripping from my chest I don’t know. There’s only a primal need to claim this woman, to have the whole world know she’s mine.
I set her in my truck, pausing to brush those curls from her face. They’re even softer and silkier than I thought they’d be.
One look at my tanned, calloused hand against her pretty porcelain face has me backing away.
I have millions more than I know what to do with thanks to my automotive company and smart investments I made along the way. But this woman and I are from different worlds. I’d be a fool to forget that.
Maggie
There’s heat surrounding me. It’s so inviting that I snuggle deeper into it. I can’t remember the last time I felt this safe and protected.
A rumbling noise is against my ear, and I finally force open my tired eyes. I haven’t slept so peacefully in ages.
Something cold hits my face and I realize snowflakes are falling. Images of the past twenty-four hours come together. Suddenly, I remember the stranger at my car. Despite his rough mountain man appearance, he smelled so good. Like woodsmoke and raw masculinity.
“You’ll be warm soon,” a deep voice promises.
I glance up, finally connecting the dots that I’m in his arms. I’m in the arms of the handsome stranger from earlier.
“Where—?” My voice sounds rough and scratchy. I clear my throat, my head still feeling funny.
He kicks open a door and carries me into a cabin with a bare living room. The only pieces of furniture in it are a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace, a brown leather couch, and a wooden coffee table.
He deposits me gently on the couch before moving to the fireplace. He squats in front of it to start a fire. Despite how disoriented I’m feeling, I still notice the way those black jeans are clinging to his hips and outlining a very firm ass.
There’s an answering hunger within me. It’s primal and fierce, something I’ve never felt before. All I know is I want to reach out and trace the curve of his ass. I want to know what it would feel like beneath my hands.
When he’s done with that task, he rises and his fine figure is no longer on display. He doesn’t even glance in my direction.
“Where am I?” I ask again as I suddenly realize the gravity of my situation. He might be hot. But I’m alone with a stranger in an unfamiliar place. An unfamiliar remote place. No one knows where I am.
He doesn’t answer as he stalks from the room and back outside, his heavy boots thumping along the porch.
“Not a very talkative host,” I mutter under my breath as his footsteps fade. I shrug out of the coat he covered me with and find I’m still clutching my purse on my shoulder.
Keeping one eye on the door, I start searching through my bag. I don’t know what this stranger wants from me or what his plans are, but his quiet ways are unnerving.
Fortunately, he left my cellphone in my bag untouched. I turn it on, breathing a sigh of relief when I see it still has some battery life left to it.
But my relief is short-lived. There’s no cell reception. I try to send a text message to my friend and call my grandfather. The message won’t send, and the call won’t go through.
“Tower is down,” my mountain man grunts as he enters the cabin again. He drops one of my suitcases on the floor. There was supposed to be a matching second one.
“I want you to take me into town,” I say the words firmly. The past year of taking over my grandfather’s business has taught me to be assertive. The first step to getting what you want is to state it firmly and clearly so there are no misunderstandings.
Mountain man snorts. “Keep wanting, sweetheart.”
My body stills at his words and my heart rate speeds up. I work to keep my tone calm and unaffected as if I were negotiating with a vendor that’s trying to raise his prices far above the market value. “Are you keeping me here?”