“Something wrong?” He was watching me with neutral amusement.
I couldn’t look into his eyes anymore, they were having an effect on me, so I dropped my gaze down.
That’s when I noticed his scarred knuckles, one finger slightly crooked like it had been broken and never set properly.
This is the kind of man who doesn’t even seek proper medical care.Not the kind of man I should be looking at like I wanted to eat him up for dessert.
“The other rental just got booked.” I wanted to kick myself for not reserving it the moment I saw the listing. I wanted to be anywhere but here, in this ramshackle house, with this man who smelled like mountain heaven and looked at me like he could see straight into my soul.
“Are you going to come?” he rumbled.
“N-no, thank you. I’ll just use the extra blankets.” There was a stack in the corner of the room sitting on a small wooden rocking chair.
“Don’t be a fool,” his granite eyes bored straight into me. “Your pretty city-butt’s about to get cold. Door’s open for a reason. Don’t let pride get in the way of a warm night’s sleep.”
I’d always gone a little weak-kneed for a man in control. And Clayton could damn-near get me to do anything he wanted.
But there was one pesky thing holding me back.
“Clayton, we’re strangers. I can’t sleep in the same bed with you tonight.”
He leaned in close, his eyes burrowing straight into my soul. Then he rumbled, “I’m not watching you freeze in my house tonight. If you don’t come soon, I’ll carry you in myself.”
Then he turned and marched his fine ass away, leaving me alone in my freezing bedroom.
As he made it to the end of the hall, that surly mountain man teased me, “Did I mention I have a space heater in my room? I’m about to crank it up to max.”
Aargh.
The man was infuriating.
And hot.
And how the hell could Ipossiblyshare a bed with him tonight? I’d end up sliding right onto his mountain cock if I did.
Nope.Notgoing to happen.
I tried to sleep. I really did. I piled every blanket I could find on the bed and curled into the smallest ball possible. But the cold seeped through everything, settling into my bones, making my muscles ache and driving sleep away.
At two in the morning, I finally gave up.
I knocked on his door, and he opened it almost immediately, as if he’d been expecting me.
“I’m freezing.” It came out sounding more pathetic than I intended.
He stepped aside and dropped a hand to my lower back, guiding me in.
Then he rumbled, “I’ll warm you up.”
A tingle of heat shot through me and my nipples perked up.
This was amistake.
But it was warmer in here, noticeably so. A space heater hummed in the corner, and the bed was covered in thick quilts that looked handmade.
“Take the left side,” he instructed as he climbed into bed as if this was perfectly normal, like sharing a mattress with a stranger was something he did every night. “Extra blankets are in the chest if you need them.”
Then he added, “Sometimes the dogs sneak up in the middle of the night. Feel free to kick them off if they bother you.”
