Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

I nodded my agreement and set mine next to hers. “I don’t blame you.”

“So, Mr. Boy Scout. Why don’t you go catch us something tastier to eat then?”

“Have you looked out the windows? You’d be lucky to find a bug in this weather, much less anything edible. All the smart animals are huddled up somewhere warm, waiting out the storm.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Sarah signed and leaned back on her elbows. “I guess we’ll be stuck here for the night, huh?”

“Looks like it. Doubt anyone is going to be driving in the dark in this weather.”

I hated that we were going to be stuck here for the night, but there wasn’t much I could do, which seemed like the theme of this trip. Walking up to the lodge definitely wasn’t an option now. Walking it during the day would’ve been dangerous. Walking it at night was just suicidal.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Sarah.” I looked into the fire, focusing on the flickering light.

“For what?”

“For this.” I waved my arm around the empty cabin. “For getting us stuck out here.”

Sarah turned to look at me. I could just barely make out her frown from the corner of my eye. I bit my lip and waited for the overdue chastising, but it never came.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not like you knew your car would break down.” She scooted over until she was right next to me. Then, she put her arm around my shoulders and leaned against me. “I appreciate you trying to make my birthday memorable. Not many guys would go out of their way for me like that.”

The scent of strawberries and mango washed over me. I turned and took a deep breath, relishing in the scent of Sarah’s shampoo. I’d never noticed it before, and I briefly wondered why I was now.

“They would, if you’d let them.” I smiled at her, then put my arm around her and hugged her close. “You’re a great girl, Sarah, even if you do drive me bonkers sometimes. If you got out more instead of huddling up in your room, you’d have guys all over you.”

Sarah snorted and shook her head. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s what I want, a bunch of drunk guys who can’t keep their hands off me. I had enough of that at your birthday party, thank you very much.”

My party? What had happened at my party? I knew Sarah had been there, since I’d dragged her out of her bedroom myself, but I really hadn’t seen much of her that night. I’d told her to invite Kelly, so it wouldn’t just be my friends, and I’d assumed they’d spent the night together, dancing among the crowd.

But now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing Kelly on the dance floor a few times, but I couldn’t recall ever seeing Sarah out there. Then again, I’d been so drunk she could’ve been right in front of my face and I probably wouldn’t have noticed her.

“What happened at my party?

Sarah shook her head. “Nothing, not really. Just a bunch of drunk guys trying to get laid.” She rolled her eyes. “At least you’re not like that. You were as plastered as the rest of the guys, but at least you weren’t humping everything with tits.”

Well, not publically, I thought to myself. But I wasn’t going to mention what had happened after the party. That didn’t seem like an appropriate discussion to have with my step-sister.

“You sure nothing happened?” If one of the guys made a move on her, I might just hit them upside the head. Yeah, she was an adult and could hook up with whoever she wanted, but only if that was what she wanted, not what they wanted,

But Sarah nodded and smiled up at me. “Yeah. I’m… I’m just not a party girl, you know? That’s more Kelly’s scene. She had a blast that night. I’m sure so did some of your friends, judging by the way she was dancing with them.”

Sarah laughed, and I found myself laughing with her. She didn’t show any sign of moving off me anytime soon, but for some reason, I didn’t mind. It was nice having her laying her head against me like this. It was relaxing, and if I focused on the fire, I could almost forget we were stuck in the middle of a blizzard.

“I guess that’s why you didn’t want to throw a party for your birthday.”

She nodded. “I know you were hoping I would, I just wasn’t feeling it. Relaxing at the house with everyone was more than enough for me.”

“I’m sorry for pushing you to come on this trip.”

Again, she shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I know you were just trying to make sure I had fun. And I appreciate it, really.” She smiled at me again. “Besides, I figured this trip couldn’t be too bad. I could always find a nice fire to sit in front of with one of my books, if I got tired of everything.”

I laughed. That’d been exactly what she’d done today. It was kind of cute how she could retreat into her head like that and zone out everything going on around her. I was the exact opposite. Whether it was books, movies, or even video games, nothing kept my attention for very long.

Looking over at her bag, I grinned. “So exactly how many books did you bring?

“Just a few….” She said, her face flushing read.

“Yeah, a few dozen, probably!”

She smacked my leg, then laughed. “I’m not that bad!”

“I know.”

I looked down at her and all of a sudden had the urge to kiss her. With her eyes closed, she looked so peaceful, those puffy red lips just begging to be kissed. But I pushed the thought away, immediately. This was my sister, even if we were only related through marriage! I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about kissing her, no matter how cute or sweet she seemed.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I stretched. “I guess we better clean up the stuff from dinner.”

Sarah nodded, then yawned before sitting up and stretching. She picked up the bowls and the two of us headed into the kitchen to clean everything up, since it was pretty clear neither of us were eating any more of that crap. It may have been edible, but it was far from enjoyable.

“We should probably get some sleep,” Sarah said as she did her best to clean the bowls without any soap. “Maybe someone will come by early in the morning and we can get out of here.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

I had my doubts, but Sarah was right. I’d rather be up and ready to go if someone did show up, rather than be sound asleep and miss them completely. The last thing I wanted was for us to be stuck up here

for another day!

Once the dishes were clean, Sarah and I retrieved the now dry, and much cleaner, bed linens. It only took a few moments for us to remake the bed, and I looked forlornly at the discarded comforter. I walked over and picked it up, dragging it in front of the fire place.

“What’re you doing?” Sarah watched me, hands on her hips, her blue eyes sparkling in the firelight.

“I’ll sleep with this. You can have the bed.”

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ll suffocate from all that dust. We can share the bed, you know. We’re both adults.”

“Are… are you sure?”

Sarah nodded, then sat on the bed and began removing her boots. “Yeah. It won’t kill us. And I doubt you’re going to try and molest me in my sleep.”

“Never!” I said instantly. Not in a million years would I have even dreamed of doing something to Sarah while she slept.

“Then we can sleep together.” She stood up and undid her jeans, sliding them off without even a second thought. Then she stood up and grinned sheepishly at me. “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind. But these things are not comfortable to sleep in, trust me.”

I snorted. Her jeans were practically skin tight, so I really didn’t blame her. Even my jeans, which were much baggier, weren’t the greatest to sleep in. Whoever invented the damn things apparently hadn’t wanted anyone sleeping in them.

She nodded at my jeans. “You can take yours off too, if you want.” Her flush deepened. “Not that you have to, or anything, I mean. I just thought you might be more comfortable without them, that’s all.”

I laughed and shook my head at her rambling. I walked over to the bed and sat down, taking off my boots and tossing them over with hers. Then I stood up, grinned at her, and removed my own jeans. I wasn’t much one to say no to a challenge, even if it was just an implied one.