I watch her chew for a long moment before turning to grab my own bowl. My stomach twists from hunger, but not for food. No, I want Sophia,needher, but I know she’s off limits. Not only would she never be interested in a scarred man like me, but she’s also Cooper’s sister.
Cooper, who was once one of my closest friends. We’d spent more time together at the firehouse than a married couple—we all had.
I feel the burn of her gaze as I return to the table. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you to the hospital. It would be a hell of a lot better than being stuck here.”
She swallows a mouthful of soup before saying, “Has the storm hit?”
I nod. “Yeah. We’re trapped until the storm passes and the roads clear a bit.” As if to punctuate that point, wind howls through the trees and the shutters on the window beside us rattle. “We’ll be here a few days at best.”
Sophia makes a sound in the back of her throat, eyes straying to her wrist. “I may need to make a splint for this. It could be broken, I’m not sure. I don’t think it is.”
I reach across the table and gingerly take her hand. “It doesn’t feel broken. And the swelling has gone down since I wrapped it.”
“I don’t think I have any other injuries,” she says as she trails her fingertips over my hand. “My nose isn’t broken, but I’ll have some serious bruising over the next few days. I have some bruises along my chest from the seatbelt, too, but they aren’t bad.”
My eyes stray to her chest, then up to her face. Her eyes are already locked on mine, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. It takes a lot to not leap across this table and pull that lip into my own mouth, to taste her and drink her in completely.
Instead, I sit back, pulling my hand free from hers. “After you eat, you should ice your wrist. Just to keep the swelling down until we can get you to the hospital.”
Her lip is released as she nods. “Yeah. Right. That would be great.” She clears her throat, before taking another sip of the soup. “So, tell me about the cabin and living on the mountain.”
“I don’t want to bore you.”
“I want to hear about it. Promise. I’ve met a couple of the other guys who live up here, and I think it’s so fascinating.”
I stiffen at the mention of the othermen. There are a dozen or so who live up here, isolated from the rest of the world. My land backs on to another’s, who recently started working on an extension to his cabin to accommodate his new wife.
During the long day waiting for her to wake up, I’d wondered what it would be like to have Sophia here, living in the cabin with me. What she would need in order to stay.
I look away from her expectant face and twirl my spoon around my soup. “Well, it was only meant to be a passion project. I wasn’t sure if I was going to live up here, it wasn’t really the plan...before, but after—” My throat tightens, and I pause. Sophia’s eyes soften, andshe takes my hand in hers. “—After being released, I decided being up here would be best for me.”
“I can understand why. The snow must make it difficult, though.”
I shrug and try to ignore the warmth from her hand, and the way it makes my heart race. “I’ve enjoyed the escape from town. The quiet has been good.”
“So, I guess I’ve kind of ruined that, then,” she laughs, though the sound is stiff, not the bright one I heard earlier.
“No, you haven’t,” I replied, shaking my head. “If I had my way, I’d keep you here and never let you go.”
FOUR
SOPHIA
His words make my heart race and belly do flips. There’s a sincerity in his eyes that makes me both nervous yet warm and fluttery, a feeling somehow only he can dredge up.
When he used to look at me like this during poker night at my brother’s apartment or when I stopped by the firehouse on my way home from work, I used to get the feeling he either: didn’t like me, or was interested but too aware that asking his friend’s little sister out might cause tension. Noah has always been quiet. Not grumpy, but more reserved. And for some reason, I was really drawn to it.
Even now, I find myself wanting to get closer to him. Strip him of the walls he’s so obviously put up tokeep all of us away. How do I tell him I came so close to coming up here several times over the last three years to check on him? How do I explain the reaction his words seem to have on me?
I clear my throat and finally look away, taking in our still joined hands, the bowl of soup left forgotten. “Well,” I say lightly, “you know how to render a girl speechless.”
Noah watches me for another moment before releasing a breath. “That was a little too intense. I’m sorry.”
I swallow hard and push the rest of the soup aside. With the tension now broken and the fluttery feeling in my belly gone, I suddenly feel the extent of my injuries again. My chest aches from the seatbelt cutting into my skin, and there’s a pressure building around my eyes which makes it hard to breathe, let alone eat.
“Don’t be,” I reply, waving my injured hand with a wince. “Anyway, if you keep talking, I might forget about how sore I feel.”
Something darkens in Noah’s grey eyes as he sits up. “You’re the professional around here, but I might still have some stronger pain meds from…” He trails off without needing to finish the sentence. I know what from, even without having to look at him or the scars healed across his body.
