Curiosity gets the better of me. I stand and cross the room, settling into the armchair across from him, tucking my legs beneath me.
“Know what this place needs?” I ask.
“No,” he says dryly, “but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
I smile. “A Christmas tree. You should go chop one down, and then we can decorate it.”
He looks at me like I’d just suggested he dive into a frozen lake. “I don’t think so, Snow Princess. I don’t celebrate holidays, and I sure as hell don’t decorate.”
I hide a grin, thinking,Good thing I brought my own.I’d planned to spend Christmas alone this year, so I came prepared, with ornaments and twinkle lights. But that could be tomorrow’s surprise.
“You know,” I say softly, “most people talk about themselves a little after they’ve trapped someone in a cabin for days.”
He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t shut me down either. That was progress.
“Why did you really come up here, Hunter?”
His jaw flexes. “Told you. I like quiet.”
“People don’t hide in the mountains because they like quiet.”
The silence stretches, heavy and brittle. Finally, he says, “Because the last time I let people get close, they died.” He looks toward the spot where I’d been sitting before. “You should go back over there.”
The words hang in the air like fog. My chest aches. Before I can stop myself, I reach out and lay my hand over his. He goes still but doesn’t pull away.
“I don’t scare easily,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Maybe you should.”
“And maybe you should stop pretending youwantme to be scared of you.”
Our eyes meet, and the space between us seems to shrink. Heat blooms, slow and steady. His thumb brushes against mine, barely, but enough to send a tremor through me.
Neither of us move.
Outside, the storm howls.
Inside, something else is building.
For the first time, I feel it, the faint crack in his armor. I’m getting through to him.
And I don’t even know why I want to so badly. Only that the more he gives, the more I want.
5
HUNTER
Sierra sits curled up on my couch, one leg tucked under her, a thick blanket draped around her shoulders. Outside, the snow keeps piling up against the porch railing. She’d been here for four days already, and I still don’t know how to handle it. I’d assumed she’d stay one night, the storm would ease up, and I could send her on her way. But the snow hadn’t stopped, and there was no way in hell I could send her out there alone. I wasn’tthatbig of a dick.
Plus, she made my big dick stir. And I like it.
No, I don’t.
Yes, you do.
That damn angel and devil that’s been sitting on my shoulders, hasn’t stopped whispering about her since the moment she walked in.
She’s hot. Have some fun. It’s her fault she got lost.
