Dead.
I was dead.
They would find my frozen corpse beneath a pine tree, cause of death: verbal self-destruction.
Behind us, three simultaneous sounds erupted:
Violet’s gasp.
Fiona’s strangled giggle-snort.
Beck’s extremely unhelpful wolf whistle.
My face lit up like a distress beacon.
“I meantyourroom…cabin,” I blurted. “Your…your guest bed. Bedroom. The room. That you sleep in. Alone. By yourself. In a very normal, standard way.”
Fiona dropped to a crouch, laughing so hard she wheezed.
Violet covered her mouth, eyes watering.
Beck actually leaned on a railing for support.
“Sienna,” he wheezed, “I swear you were born to entertain me.”
Carson looked at me with the kind of gentle amusement that should be illegal on someone that handsome, but there was something I recognized behind his gaze.
A rescuer. He felt my humiliation and wanted to save me.
I never needed saving.
“I figured that’s what you meant,” he said softly.
“Did you?” I snapped, mortified.
“Yes,” he said, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Though I appreciate the clarification about sleeping… alone.”
Violet choked.
I considered throwing myself into the nearest thawing snowbank and staying there until spring. The problem was that it was only about four inches tall now.
“Okay!” I said, clapping my hands together like I was announcing a raffle drawing. “Great. Fantastic. You get your stuff. I’ll… go check on the linens. And make sure nothing is… damp. Or on fire. Or dampbecauseof fire. I don’t know.”
Carson nodded slowly, like he was trying not to laugh. “Sounds good. I’ll be right behind you.”
Oh, perfect.
Right behind me.
Exactly where I needed the world’s hottest guide to be while my dignity fled into the woods.
As he walked toward his truck, I spun around to my siblings, ready to hiss threats.
Violet held up her hands. “We said nothing.”
“You saideverythingwith your faces,” I whisper-yelled.
Fiona giggled. “Do you want us to help you bury the part of your soul that just died?”
