Standing from the bed, my shoulders back, I open the door and make my way back downstairs. Conrad has a fire roaring in the fireplace, and the room is warm and cozy, a stark contrast to how it was when I got here earlier today.
“Hey,” he says when he sees me. “I called a local plumber. They’re supposed to be here tomorrow, weather permitting, to replace the water heater. In the meantime, we can just warm up water on the stove and use the tub in one of the bedrooms down here, so we don’t have to carry the water upstairs.”
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the fire. It’s nice.”
“Come here.” He holds his hand out for me, and I don’t know what to expect, but it doesn’t stop me from walking to him and placing my hand in his. “Let me show you this.” He moves to the left side of the fireplace and pulls on the bookcase. It opens, and behind it is a small room filled with dry firewood.
“That would have been good to know.”
“Yeah, sorry. You should have been better prepared for the visit. That has to be why Mom wanted someone here with you. Anyway, she didn’t want the wood in the house since it’s messy, so Dad made this room to cover it up. You can access it from the outside as well.”
“Any other secrets I should know about?” I ask. I’m not upset, just frustrated Conrad had to save me, and more than once in the short amount of time that he’s been here.
“No secrets, but Mom sent me with a ton of food. It’s actually still out in my car. I wanted to get the fire going before I went out to get it.”
“That was a good call on her part. With this weather, going to the store to stock up isn’t going to happen. Not tonight.”
“Agreed. I’ll be right back.” He gives my hand a gentle squeeze before letting go.
I watch him as he slips into a coat he wasn’t wearing when he got here. He disappears outside, and I watch him go. When the door closes, I jolt out of my Conrad fog and go to the kitchen to see what our options are. There are some canned foods, but other than that, it’s slim pickings. Thankfully, Lena Riggins was prepared, like I should have been.
Lesson learned.
Chapter 4
Conrad
The cold snow pelts my face, but I welcome the sting. I need something to smack my ass out of this Aspen fog I’ve suddenly found myself in. I’ve always thought she was beautiful. Both of the Steele sisters are lookers. I’ve been around her multiple times, but I’ve never had this reaction to her. You know, the “toss her over my shoulder, take her to my room, and bury myself inside of her until we can’t figure out where she ends and I begin” one.
I’m in trouble.
Grant will hand my ass to me if I do something to upset her, but the heat in her eyes isn’t helping me stay away from her. And her skin… her skin is so fucking soft, and she smells like heaven. Fuck, I need to stop this.
Making it to the car, I jerk open the back door and grab the cooler that Mom packed for the trip. I wouldn’t put it past her to have known about the weather. She’s always prepared for any and all situations. She claims to have learned that raising five rowdy boys. Did she know we would get snowed in? She had no way of knowing that the water heater would go out and that the beautiful Aspen would greet me in nothing but a towel. A very tiny white towel that barely covered her. She also had no way of knowing she would trip on the stairs and fall naked into my arms. Fuck, I can still feel her skin beneath the palm of my hands.
Silky.
Smooth.
Sexy.
How am I supposed to forget seeing her like that? I’ll tell you how. I’m not. I can’t. It’s not possible. The memory of her soft naked body in my arms will forever be burned into my brain. Basically, I’m fucked.
Closing the car door, I make my way through the snow back to the cabin. “Aspen,” I call out when I enter.
“In the kitchen,” she calls back.
“I don’t know what she put in here, but it’s heavy,” I tell her, hefting the cooler up on the counter.
“We’re stocked.” She opens the door to the industrial refrigerator Mom insisted on since she was feeding a small army.
“Mom must have arranged that. I wonder what’s in here?” I point to the cooler before opening the lid.
“What did she send?” Aspen bounces over to stand next to me, standing on her tiptoes to peer into the cooler.
Inside there are a few containers. I pull the first one out and see that it’s two pieces of chocolate cake. “She knows this is my favorite.”