“Great,” he shouts, throwing his hands up. “And my phone is dead.” Quickly leaning into the car again, I fetch mine and hand it to him.
“Here, use mine. I barely touched it on the drive here.” Luckily, there are two bars of service, enough to search for a towing company.
He calls and explains to them where we are, I cross the street and look down over the ledge. If he weren’t so quick on thinking, we could be down there, or worse.
“Okay, great. See you in a few,” Jon says and walks over to me, handing me back my phone. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you,” I respond with a smile. “That could’ve been far worse than it was.”
He throws his arms around me, pulling me in for a warm hug. As if shielding me from the harsh weather. Whatever the case may be, I need it.
A few short minutes later, a large tow truck pulls up with flashing yellow lights on the roof. A tall man in a blue jumpsuit steps out and looks the car over. “Not too bad. I can get you out. But the best I can do is drop you off somewhere for the night, and I should have the car as good as new by morning.”
“Are there any hotels around?” Jon asks, and the man shakes his head.
“No. A few of them are rental homes, though, if you want to look that up.” As the man walks around the truck and grabs the cablethat hooks to a car, I pull my phone back out of my pocket and pull up the search engine.
Luckily for us, there’s still one open for the night. It’s an Airbnb just up the road a few miles. A cute, cabinlike A-frame house. It’s not a hotel like he’s used to, but it’ll have to do for one night.
The only issue now is that there aren’t two separate rooms. It’s a one-bedroom house, so there’s no escaping my thoughts…No escape from the man that I want to pounce on. What could possibly go wrong?
“Alright, you’re all hooked up. Know where you’re going?” the man asks and I nod, showing him the picture. “Oh, I know that place. It’s right down the road from the shop. I’ll drop you off and then you can walk down in the morning.”
While not ideal, it has to do for the time being. Besides, I’m happy that we made it out of the wreck without a single scratch.
The drive is silent as I sit in the middle of both men on the bucket seat. I’m practically sitting in Jon’s lap, something neither of us expected, but it’s not the first time. My cheeks feel hot, and I barely breathe the entire time.
I’m not sure if it’s intentional, but his hand brushes against my leg a few times. I try my best not to react, but inside, I wish he would touch my entire body with those strong hands.
“Alright, this is it,” the driver remarks as he pulls into the gravel driveway. “Looks quiet enough.” He laughs, nudging Jon as if they have some secret bro code.
Jon fakes a smile and jumps out, helping me down before thanking him for all his help. The man waves and pulls ontothe main road once more, leaving just Jon and me alone in the snowstorm, staring at the cottage.
“Well, no use catching a cold,” Jon says and starts walking up the porch steps. I follow and grab the spare key in a hidden compartment under the line of rocks that would normally border a summer garden and unlock the door.
Once inside, the smell of warming cinnamon air freshener fills my nose. It’s all one big room, other than a bedroom and bathroom set off to the side, and a large, floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the mountains and canyon.
“Wow,” I remark. “This is absolutely breathtaking.”
“I have to agree,” Jon replies, but when I look at him, he’s not looking outside like I am. He’s staring directly at me. My heart leaps in my chest as I smile and turn my attention quickly back to the view.
I’ve never been good with compliments.
He clears his throat once I smile and turns toward the fireplace. “I’ll get this started so we can be warm. Why don’t you look up somewhere that delivers so we can eat? I’m starving.” It doesn’t take him long to get a fire going while I order takeout Italian.
While we wait for the food, I wander around the cabin. I can’t help but appreciate the stunning woodwork they used for the interior. Even down to the hand-carved bed frame that’s been stained dark and top-coated.
As I walk back into the main room, Jon still kneels in front of the fire with a fire poker, moving around the crackling logs.
“Thank you,” I say to him as I sit on the edge of the couch behind him. “It’s already toasty in here.”
“Not a problem. My father forced me into the Boy Scouts until I was too old to go anymore. If you ever need a tent put up or a knot tied, I’m your guy.” His sarcasm has me laughing loudly, covering my mouth as I normally do.
“You know,” he continues. “You shouldn’t cover your mouth when you laugh. You have a stunning smile.”
My body warms up, but it has nothing to do with the fire. He stands, still facing me, and slowly walks toward me.This is it…I’m not strong enough to turn him down.
Maybe I shouldn’t. I mean, how awful is it to do something that makes me happy for once?
