Vegas Virgin (Nevada Bad Boys 1)

“Seriously? How do you know?” I asked.

“Come with me.” He walked to the window and pointed up into the sky. “You see those clouds over there?”

“Yeah?” I replied with a half-question, half-statement.

“Those are moving away from Wolf Creek. That’s what hit us last night. Now look over there.” He pointed to the left. “Those are headed our way.”

“My friends said it was supposed to be over by this morning...” I sighed.

“Yeah, they got their news from the weatherman. You can’t always trust what the radar says when you’re dealing with a storm in Wolf Creek. My grandfather used to say the atmosphere here was just different. I didn’t know what he meant back then, but after living here for a while, I can smell it in the air.” He walked back to the kitchen counter and sat down on one of the stools.

A hero and a weatherman; how delightfully delicious.

“So, what’s your story anyway, Mr. Shane Black?” I asked. “Why do you live in a log cabin?”

“What kind of question is that?” He asked.

“I mean, do you have a job? Do you live here part-time? Are you just having some kind of mid-life crisis?” I sat down on the stool next to him.

Well, he’s not that old, but I guess it fits.

“You ask a lot of questions, Heather. No, I don’t have a job. I don’t need a job. I have everything I need right here. This is my home, not somewhere I go on vacation. As for a mid-life crisis? Who doesn’t have one from time to time?” He sipped his coffee and shrugged.

Well that revealed...nothing.

“I see...” I nodded, taking in the information.

“How about you? Do you have a job? Do you live in a red sedan buried in the snow or do you just vacation there? Are you just having some sort of mid-life crisis?” He mocked me in a tone that was a cartoon version of my own.

“Fine, I get it. I do ask a lot of questions.” I sighed. “I’m a student. Some of my friends rented a cabin for winter break and I was headed there for a party. Obviously, I’m having a very bad mid-life crisis.”

“You left out the part where you’re also very bad with directions.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Come on...” I shook my head. “It isn’t my fault you live in the stone ages where the Internet hasn’t been invented yet!”

“We have road signs. You can buy a map at every gas station you pass. That’s how people navigated back in the olden days before you were born.” He sipped his coffee again.

“Oh, you mean when you were my age?” I wrinkled my nose at him.

“Ouch...” He shook his head. “I’m not that old, jeez.”

“So, what do you do for fun around here?” I looked around the cabin. “When you’re not saving girls that nearly freeze to death in their cars...”

“Well, I have a nice library. The television works. The radio works, lucky for you because that is where I heard you were missing. Honestly, I don’t have much need for fun. There’s always something to do between hunting, fishing, tending to my garden, and keeping this place standing.” He nodded and motioned to the cabin.

“Most of those aren’t really doable now, considering the blizzard.” I pursed my lips and raised my eyebrows. “I mean, we could read...I guess.”

“Oh, you mean a day like today?” He slid off his barstool. “No, there ain’t shit to do today—except get drunk.”

“I’ve never been a whiskey girl, but it’s growing on me.” A smile spread across my face.

The coffee had barely settled into my stomach when it was joined by a generous gulp of whiskey. It didn’t taste nearly as bad as it did the night before, but it still burned my throat. After my first glass, I decided to take it slow, but the buzz was already starting to create the kind of thoughts I really didn’t need to have with a man like Shane so close to me.

Breathe. Just breathe.

I walked over and checked my phone, but even though it was fully charged, I had the same blank bars I had when I was trapped in my car. Shane turned on the radio and walked up behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. It wasn’t a song I loved, but it was a nice melody. Shane took my hand and lead me to an open area in the middle of the cabin.

What the heck is he doing. Are we going to dance?