Don’t look at his body.
Only look at his face.
The space between his eyebrows pinches slightly before he speaks. “Are those my clothes?” he asks, knowing full well they are. The heat of his gaze prickles my skin as I watch his eyes slowly begin to move from my chest, down towards my feet. I feel like I’m on full display for him as he gives me a once-over.
“Yeah, so?”
“Didn’t want to ask before you borrowed something of mine?”
“Well, considering the pajamas I have in my suitcase aren’t exactly… appropriate to wear, especially around you, I didn’t think I needed to.”
“Hmm,” he hums, giving me a final glance before turning away from me and lifting the coffee jug from the machine and pouring some into his own cup. “I’ll ask again, coffee?”
God, what has crawled up is ass this morning?
“Yes, please.” I step closer to the kitchen island, pull out one of the bar stools, and hoist myself onto it.
“Milk? Sweetener?” he offers.
“Uh, no. Black, thank you.” I wait for a few moments before I begin speaking again, breaking the silence between us both. “For someone who owns a house like this, you sure like to skimp on the heating. It’s so fucking cold in here.”
“And the temperature is about to drop a hell of a lot more.” He chuckles dryly as he hands me my freshly brewed coffee, before taking a sip of his own. “Looks like you’re going to be staying with me for the foreseeable future. Much to my dismay.” His voice oozes with sarcasm.
I frown, not following what he’s saying. “What do you mean?”
He jerks his chin to one of the large windows behind me and I turn around. I know the windows have a switch so you can automatically frost them when pressing it, but this… this is.... “No,” I breathe, jumping up from the stool and lunging forwards.
When I reach the window I wipe my hand along the glass, removing the condensation covering it, and peer into the blizzard happening before me. Thick snow falls to the ground in thick clumps, swirling like a tornado as the heavy gusts of wind carry it into a crazy pattern. I can barely make out anything in front of me, and the once-black wrought iron gates of Jack’s house are now entirely invisible.
What I am able to decipher—even with all the snow outside—is that somehow overnight I managed to sleep through the roar of the whiteout, and over time it’s gradually accumulated high enough to meet the top of his Range Rover wheels.
How many inches of snow even is that?
“No,” I mumble, trying hard to keep my voice from shaking as I run to the front door and yank it open as though I’m seeing things. When I do, a thick gust of wind swarms through the door, chilling me to the bone. Thick flakes of white snow fall to the already snow-ridden ground, and I know there’s no way this is going to calm down anytime soon.
“Fuck!” I exclaim as I glare out into the storm. “You have got to be fucking kidding me right now!” Jack stifles a chuckle from behind me, and I slam the door as I turn to face him. “You think this is funny?” I snap, pointing behind me as I make my way towards him.
He lifts his right shoulder. “I think your reaction to a bit of snow is—”
“A bit of snow?” I snort. “I don’t want to be stuck here withyoufor the next… however many days.”
“That’s unfortunate for the both of us, then.” He steps closer to me. “Because you’re not going anywhere, little bird.”
Robyn jerks her head back in reaction to my words, and a disbelieving snort sails from her lips. “Yeah, that’s not happening, there’s no way I’m staying here with you.”
“That’s too bad, because unfortunately neither of us have a choice in the matter.” I’m just as pissed as she is, believe me, but there’s nothing either one of us can do about it for the time being. The snow is falling way too hard, the roads are already starting to ice over, and the chance of an accident happening in a car is higher than usual.
When I woke up this morning with the worst pain in my neck—not to mention how tight my shoulders were—from sleeping on the world’s most uncomfortable sofa, I didn’t even realise there was almost a foot of snow outside the house until I ventured into the gym for my morning workout. And the kicker… the weather didn’t look like it was easing up any time soon.
Oak Hill Crescent is about a two-hour drive from the city, and where most of my company staff were able to get into work today, I on the other hand, was not. It’s why I rarely stay here during the week, because you never know what could happen with the weather at this time of year in Colorado. Plus, when I stay in the city it’s much closer, and easier for me to travel to work.
“You can stay here, but I’m not.” She scoffs, as though the idea of being stuck in a house with me is ludicrous to her.
I mean, I’m not the worst person to be stuck with… am I?
“I have shit to do.”
“Don’t we all.” I roll my eyes sardonically.
