She grins. “Only when someone kisses me stupid.”
I narrow my eyes. “You trying to get kissed again?”
She leans in. “Maybe.”
The snow howls outside. The wind slams against the glass. But all I hear is the silence between us.
And her breath.
And mine.
And the heartbeat that thuds hard in my chest like it already belongs to her.
I don’t kiss her again.
Not tonight.
Because if I do… I won’t stop.
And if I don’t stop, I’ll never let her go.
Chapter 13
Noel
The power goes out sometime after midnight.
One second we’re both staring at the flickering flames and trying not to make eye contact again, and the next, the cabin hum dies. The lights vanish. The heater clicks off.
Then silence.
And dark.
Pitch black, until Nash tosses another log on the fire and the room flares orange and gold again. Shadows stretch high on the log walls. My pulse kicks like it’s trying to dance away from me.
Nash straightens. Towering. Barefoot. That damn flannel half-unbuttoned, hanging off his hips like sin wrapped in plaid.
He doesn’t speak.
Just watches me from across the room like he’s trying to decide something.
My heart thunders. I say the first thing that comes to mind, because silence is dangerous around him. “You think the power's out in the whole town?”
He shrugs. “Only place I care about is here.”
Of course.
Because he’s like this—intense. Focused. That same laser-beam glare he gave me the moment I barged in here, dripping with snow and sarcasm.
And now I can’t tell if I want to slap him again…
Or climb him like a tree.
He moves to the side table, flips the switch on the lamp. Nothing. “Breaker’s fine,” he mutters. “It’s the lines. Storm must’ve snapped ‘em.”
“And the crew?” I ask. “They said they were headed back up tomorrow?—”
“They’re not making it up the mountain in this.”
