Easy.Because he’s in your home.Sleeping with a guy from town goes against your rules and having him here is forbidden and tantalizing.
Once she got him out of her house, all this nonsense would stop.Regret piled up in her stomach.She’d never get to find out if he knew how to use all that muscle on display.
CHAPTER 3
Sweat trickled overJaxon’s forehead, and he brushed it away.The wind howled outside the window.Cracking open an eyelid proved it was morning—already.Despite being old as dirt, the log cabin held warmth better than any new homes he’d been in.That or McKenna had the heat cranked to hell fires.
He threw back the comforter and sat up.The promising aroma of coffee floated through the air.Shit, had he really paraded around in his underwear last night?It wasn’t as if he’d had much choice.She’d taken his clothes when he passed out, and the cougar creeping around the property had driven away what little modesty he had.The heaviness in his chest had subsided, but every muscle in his body screamed as though he’d been run over by a train.He cleared his throat.The tickle lingered, but it wasn’t as intense as it had been the previous night.
Surely it was rest that had helped his body heal, not the syrup or other stuff she’d given him.He stood from the pullout couch and his gaze landed on his pants and shirt, folded neatly on the table he’d moved out of the way to make room for the uncomfortable mattress.
He lifted the shirt.The bloodstain on the collar was gone.He brought the material to his nose and inhaled the scent of lavender.Great.Just what he needed—her scent clinging to his body all day, just as it’d stuck to his mind through his dreams last night.
That and her nipples.Christ, she had the most perfect, pert little buds begging for attention beneath that flimsy shirt.He pulled on his clothes and went into the kitchen.No noise sounded from the hallway, and the door that led to her room hung wide open.
“McKenna?”He went to the coffee maker and filled the blue checkered mug she’d left on the counter for him.
No reply.He lifted a glass container filled with thick white...milk?Was this her coffee creamer?There was no other substance on the counter.Just a spoon.He opened the lid and took a sniff.Vanilla and...coconut?Screw it.He was too tired to care about what she drank, and whatever it was didn’t smell bad, so he’d give it a whirl.
Where the hell was—
A slip of paper lay beneath the spoon.
Jaxon,
It’s still snowing heavily so I’m walking into town and will come back with a ride home for you.Fix yourself some coffee and there’s eggs in the fridge if you feel like cooking.I’ll be back in an hour.
McKenna
Christ!He balled up the paper, took a few quick sips of caffeine, and snagged his coat off the kitchen chair on the way to the front door.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.Was she crazy?The damn mountain lion had been lurking around her house only a few hours earlier.It could still be out there.His gaze landed on the shotgun against the wall.Dammit, she’d gone out completely unprotected.And why hadn’t he heard her bustling around the house?The thought of being passed out in her living room, half naked, while she snuck off to walk a half hour in a bloody blizzard to gethima ride was beyond emasculating.
He shoved his feet in his boots, grabbed the gun, and exited her cabin.His gaze swept the front yard, which had been blanketed in an additional two feet of snow since he arrived.Snowshoe tracks danced along the surface, barely breaking through the piles that surrounded the property.
Dammit to hell and back.Whatever weight had lifted from his chest had returned tenfold.He’d probably get pneumonia now thanks to her running off.But he couldn’t leave her to be the mountain lion’s breakfast.
He stepped into the snow and sank to just above his knees.Juggling the gun under his arm, he zipped up his coat and dug his gloves from his pockets.“McKenna!”he bellowed.The more noise he made the better chance he had of scaring away the beast—or alerting it.
The rising sun’s brilliance was hidden behind the rampage of flurries, but its glow was still there to let him know it was a new day.He followed her tracks as he scanned the wooded area.
“Unfuckingbelievable.”When he caught up to her, he’d tell her exactly how ridiculous this was.Hell, if he’d known she was so uncomfortable having him there, he would’ve walked into town himself this morning—gun in hand—and suffered the consequences later.The wind pelted him in the face and a slew of snow whipped into his jacket.
“M—”
He stopped at the sight of a figure in the distance.A small dark shade of purple amid the sheen of white.He slowed, but his pulse cranked up a notch.
No.It wasn’t an animal.It was walking upright and had a wild curtain of hair blowing in the wind.He broke into a run, and McKenna’s hunched frame came into view.She picked up her pace, flouncing over the snow in her fancy snowshoes.
He closed the distance between them and caught her shoulder in his free hand.“What the hell are you doing?”
Snowflakes caked her thick eyelashes, her pale lips almost gray.“I—I left a note.”Her chin quivered.
He tucked her into his side.“Yeah, you said something about wanting to get eaten by a fucking mountain lion,” he mumbled, as he towed her back toward her cabin.“Are you all right?”
“Fine.It’s too cold.I can barely see.I doubt I would’ve made it to the road.”Her voice was carried away on the wind.
He bit back the assault of reprimands.It hurt his lungs too much to talk in the icy air.She huddled against him as close as the snowshoes would allow and followed their tracks.
