7. Eli
Eli
It’s like God finally listened and answered my prayers. I’ve never set eyes on a woman as spectacular as Sienna Lane and probably won’t again for the rest of my life.
“I can’t help but notice you look on edge, sweetheart,” I tell her as we make our way inside.
She glances around the room, turning her head quickly in all directions. When she settles her eyes on the fire, I see the flames mirrored in her eyes.
She has to be wearing contacts. Her eyes are so incredibly blue.
“On edge?” she repeats with a huff, snapping out of her trance. She looks at me like I’m crazy, like I’m the one who decided to drive up the mountain in the middle of a snowstorm. “I’m in the middle of nowhere without cell service, so, yeah, I’m a little on edge.”
We all stare at her like no one knows what to say.
Sienna presses her plump lips together, drawing my attention to them. “I need the ladies’ room. And I’d appreciate a glass of water when I return.” She stomps down the hallway in a huff, heels clacking aggressively against the wood floors.
“Second door on the right,” I call.
She huffs again, and then I hear the door close.
Cash is immediately on Knox’s case. “When you said someone needed to stay here, I thought you meant a normal person, not Hollywood royalty.”
“Sienna is a person,” says Knox, folding his arms over his chest.
“Barely.” Cash throws himself onto the couch and kicks up his feet. “She’s a thousand times more trouble than she’s worth, I’ll tell you that much.”
“Because of the attitude? I will not see anyone die up there, Cash, not a lost hiker or a Hollywood star. Everyone bleeds the same color, regardless of net worth.”
“Sienna Lane doesn’t think so.”
“You know who she is?” I step in.
“No,” sighs Cash. “But I know her kind, and they’re all the same. Ridiculous clothes, shitty attitude, always expecting you to run around like you’re their servant.”
“Well,” I say, entering the kitchen. “She’s our guest now.”
“Your guest.” Cash gives Knox and me a pointed look. “I want nothing to do with her.”
Knox pins Cash a warning look as soon as we hear the toilet flushing.
I focus on taking the bread out of the oven. It was supposed to be for breakfast, but our guest is looking hungry.
And perfect in every sense of the word.
She storms back into the room.
“Do you have my water?”
Cash tosses me a look from the couch, which I choose to ignore.
“Yes, it’s coming right up.” I pluck a glass from the shelf and fill it from the tap.
Sienna turns up her nose as soon as I hand her the water. “Tap water? Is this some kind of joke?”
“No joke,” I assure her.
“Is it triple-filtered?” She raises the glass and inspects it.
“I’m not sure, but our water runs straight from the mountains. It’s the purest you’ll ever taste.”
“Hmph,” grunts Sienna, taking a cautious sip.
Cash rolls his eyes. “You’re drinking water, not wine tasting, for fuck’s sake.”
“I don’t appreciate your tone,” replies Sienna, taking another sip.
I toss the kitchen towel over my shoulder and continue slicing bread.
Sienna, now finished with her water, tips her nose up and smells the bread. “I hope that’s gluten-free.”
“Kill me slowly,” sighs Cash, dragging himself up from the couch and walking away.
Knox watches him go, saying nothing. The guy’s not much of a talker unless it comes to upcoming weather reports and mountain rescue.
“No,” I answer Sienna. “It’s not gluten-free, unfortunately.”
“I’m intolerant to gluten. If I get even the smallest amount, I have brain fog for weeks. It makes it really hard to learn my lines.”
“I’ll figure something out,” I say, tearing my eyes from hers, even though I don’t want to look away.
Knox left out a lot of details, which is on brand for him. He really should’ve told us that we were inviting trouble into our home.
Sienna is definitely trouble, but not in the way Cash is saying. How the hell am I supposed to take care of my three-year-old nephew and get things done around here over the next few days if she’s staying here? I can’t even slice a loaf of bread without getting distracted.
The blizzard’s going nowhere, same as Sienna. If Knox’s predictions are correct, which they normally are, we have several more days of heavy snowfall.
We’re all trapped here. Together.
I’m just thankful the little cabin around back is unoccupied. She’ll stay there.
I glance over at her—she really is a work of art. I’m sure the jewelry she’s wearing is very expensive, but I couldn’t give a fuck about the jewelry or the clothes or the heels, now apparently ruined. She’s a breath of fresh air and those eyes seem to be staring deep into my soul.
I return to slicing the bread, making a mental note to bake a gluten-free version tomorrow to please the princess.
She really does look like a princess. She got caught out in a blizzard and her hair is still shiny, cascading down her shoulders in loose curls. It’s like silk.
“If you can’t eat the bread, perhaps you’ll try some venison?”
Sienna eyes me suspiciously. “How can I be sure you’re not trying to poison me?”
“Because you just drank our water and you’re still alive.” I lean in and accidentally catch a whiff of her perfume, which immediately makes me forget my train of thought. “Take it or leave it, but I would hate to see you go to bed hungry.”
Sienna jumps off the stool and enters the kitchen, her slender frame brushing past me. She eyes the meat on the stove.
“Is it up to your standards?” I ask mockingly.
“I’ll guess we’ll have to see,” she says, heading back to her seat.
“I’ll have it with a glass of red. Harlan Estate, if you have it.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for a Merlot from the grocery store.” I grab the bottle and twist open the cap, serving the venison and a side of vegetables, all of which Sienna turns her nose up at.
“That’s way too much food for me.”
I glance down at the cut of venison. Pretty average to me, but of course, women like her are used to being served appetizers as mains—a way to keep the weight off. Not like she would ever have to worry about that.
“Eat as much as you’d like and leave the rest. You must be starving.”
Sienna puts her nose closer to the plate. “It smells… okay.” It takes forever, but she finally cuts a small piece, places it gingerly in her mouth and chews.
Lines appear between her brows, and I’m getting nervous.
“Wow!” she says. “Where did you get this venison?”
“Approximately four hundred feet west of here,” chimes Knox.
“Is that where I’ll find the nearest grocery store?”
“That’s where you’ll find deer.”
Sienna’s eyes open wide. She whips around to face Knox. “You killed a deer?”
He nods slowly and looks like he’s trying not to laugh.
“Poor thing.”
“You’re eating it now.”
“I assumed.” Sienna grimaces and holds the fork mid-air before taking her next bite. “What else do you kill?”
“People.”
“Is that your idea of a joke?”
“Yes,” I answer for Knox, shooting him a look. “He’s joking. Eat the venison and have some more water.” I pour her another glass of water. “You’ll feel better soon.”
She moves onto the broccoli, cutting it into small pieces. Table manners, of course. Her kind applies etiquette to everything, even broccoli. I know this from working as a chef in LA.
“Yum,” she says. “Did you get these from Erewhon? There has to be one around here. I would die for one of their cold-pressed juices.”
“There’s nothing but snow outside of this cabin, sweetheart.” A smug smile plays on my lip. Even the princess herself is impressed with my cooking.
I’m not surprised. Cooking has always been my thing. “I grew the broccoli and roasted it myself.” I give her a wink. “It starts with the tahini sauce. A lot of people don’t use the right olive oil to make it, and that’s a mistake.”
Sienna squints. “You made the…?”
“Tahini sauce? Yes. All of my cooking is from scratch.”
“But that’s impossible.”
“You must hire the wrong private chefs, then.”
Sienna straightens her spine, her eyes narrowing again. “What do you know about private chefs?”
“I know that some are better than others.”
Sienna crosses her arms on the table, her bangles clanging against the wood surface. “Are you a private chef?”
“I was.”
“Why did you quit?”
For reasons she won’t want to hear. “I wanted a change,” I reply.
“But they get paid really well.”
Not everything’s about money, as I’ve come to learn in the past few years.
I return to slicing the bread, still not finished with the simple task.
Sienna continues to eat her broccoli, looking thoughtful. “What do the rest of you do?” she asks after a few minutes of silence, turning around in the chair to address Knox.
“Mountain watch, I already told you.”
“That’s not a proper job." Sienna turns fully around to meet Knox’s unimpressed face, determined to get an answer from him. “What do you really do?”
“I exist.”
Sienna huffs. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?” Knox rises from the couch, the leather creaking. He’s the most intimidating out of the three of us and looks more beast than human.
He takes measured steps toward a very tense Sienna, not stopping until their faces are inches apart. He could swallow her whole, but he won’t. Not after what happened when he was in the military.
I feel the tension coming off of Sienna as she locks eyes with Knox. They share a long, intense gaze that makes me uncomfortable. Jealousy shoots through me, but it’s gone when Knox breaks eye contact and announces he’s going to bed.
If anyone’s gonna touch her, it’ll be me. I’m the one putting in the most effort here.
“What the hell was that?” Sienna swivels back around, looking visibly shaken. She reaches back and pulls her hair into a ponytail, and her hand is shaking.
I notice her flushed cheeks and feel my cock twitch. “It’s nothing. That’s Knox just being… Knox.” I push the bread aside and lean into the countertop. “You’ve had a big day. You should probably get some sleep. I’ll show you to the cabin around back.”
“I don’t understand why you all live here, and why none of you have normal jobs. What the hell do you do all day? Sleep, eat, kill your own food and do it all again the next day?”