5. Knox
Knox
Her eyes are more lethal than any weapon.
“Yes,” she finally answers. “Aside from breaking a nail, I’m perfectly fine.”
Her body language says otherwise. I note the flushed color of her cheeks, the rigid shoulders, and draw my own conclusions.
She is far from ‘fine.’ That’s what the faux-fur coat and long blood-red nails are telling me. Fine is all the way back in LA.
Her eyes have me in another chokehold before I can figure out what to say next. They pierce through my soul, the same crisp blue as the water here when it’s not frozen over.
I glance at the necklace clasped around her neck. It has to be made of a hundred diamonds, same as her dangling earrings blowing in the wind, and yet I’m still convinced that her eyes are brighter.
“You should take your earrings out before the wind rips them from your ears.”
The woman scowls. “So I can give them to you?”
Big diamond earrings and an even bigger attitude? She may as well be carrying the Hollywood sign on her back.
“What’s your name?”
Her scowl transitions to confusion. She coughs, choking on her own breath or the gale-force winds whipping through the area. “You really don’t recognize me?”
Apparently, this is the first time this has happened.
I chuckle and take a step forward. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
She scans the snowy ground like she’s looking for her next sentence there. I can’t imagine that she’s often at a loss for words.
“I’m Sienna,” she says. “Sienna Lane?” Her voice creeps up at the end, gaze fixated on mine as she searches for recognition in my eyes.
“The name doesn’t ring a bell.” I stuff my hands into my pockets and take another step forward. “Look, Sienna, I came over here to let you know that the conditions up here are too unsafe for you to continue driving.”
A smile plays on her lips. “You’re the first person who’s ever approached me and not asked for my autograph.”
“I’m sure I am,” I say. “But here’s the deal… you’re not going to be able to go any further until the snow clears.”
“What?” she snaps. “I’ll do what I want.”
It’s obvious she’s used to living life without anyone telling her what to do.
“Snow tends to be very unforgiving up here.” I grimace at the state of her car, half buried in white. “It looks like you have no choice but to stay.”
Her beautiful eyes find mine, even angrier now. “I don’t appreciate being told where I can and cannot go.”
“Listen, sweetheart,” I begin, “all due respect, but you’re at the top of the San Bernardino mountain range in the middle of winter, driving a Bentley. I’m sure sports cars are perfect for LA, but this world up here is very different from the one you’re used to.”
“Sounds like a cold case murder documentary waiting to happen,” huffs Sienna, snapping her arms over her chest. She takes a step back and almost loses her balance, forgetting about the snow.
“I have mace in my car that I’m not afraid to use, and stilettos that I’ll happily gouge your eyes out with. ”
“There will be no gouging out of eyes.”
“Hmm.” Sienna narrows her cat-like eyes. “We’ll see about that.”
Damn, her face is made for a billboard.
I clear my throat, hoping to ease some of the tension I’ve accumulated since approaching this woman. “We have a spare cabin that you’re welcome to stay in until the snow clears. It’s around the back behind the main one.”
I point up at the cabin a hundred feet away, and her gaze follows my finger.
Her sharp brows bunch together, her eyes peeling back another layer of my soul, and I feel my cock twitch.
I could lose myself in those eyes, but I’m sure I wouldn’t be the first man to do so.
“Wait.” She blinks repeatedly. “Did you say ‘we’? How many of you are there?” Her eyes gravitate to my chest.
“There are three of us living in the cabin.”
Her eyes go wide. “Three?” She throws herself back into her car and gives me a dangerous side-long glance that is doing nothing to resolve the problem in my pants.
Her cheeks turn a deep pink, and her eyes, for the hundredth time, return to my chest. “What are you doing out here in the middle of a blizzard?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
Silence falls between us.
It’s a struggle to look away from her face. Her features are impossibly beautiful. Her brown hair somehow finds a way to shimmer even though there’s no sunlight, same as those goddamn eyes I can’t look away from.
Her immaculate appearance and entitlement suggest she’s big news in LA, which begs the question: why is she so far away from everything?
“Let me show you to the cabin. It’s small, but you’ll have your own space, and we won’t bug you.”
Her gaze travels up my body, leaving sparks in places that have been numb for a long time. “I think I’ll wait in my car for the blizzard to pass.”
“Okay,” I say. “Suit yourself, but let me know if you change your mind.”
“I won’t,” she assures me in a stubborn tone, as she watches my every move.
I turn toward the cabin, but it’s hard to keep my gaze locked forward when there are so many reasons to turn back around.
She’ll be waiting out the blizzard for a while, at least for a few days. I’d love to see a Hollywood princess like her survive alone in the wild without food and water, unless she’s planning on going off in search of it herself.
I can only imagine her surprise if she came across a black bear. They love to hunt this time of year.
I circle around the frozen pond and walk up the small incline toward the cabin. The pine trees surrounding it are heavy with snow, a real winter wonderland.
There are real threats up here, and Sienna wouldn’t last a day. Especially if her biggest concern is a broken nail.
I shouldn’t have given her a choice, just dragged her into the cabin myself so that I don’t have to stay awake all night worrying about whether she’ll make it through the night.
“Who died out there?” asks Cash as soon as I make it back to the cabin and he takes a look at my face.
“Not funny.” I tug off my shirt and collapse on the couch beside the crackling fire.
Goddamn woman… now I can’t get her out of my head.