That got her attention.
She stared me down, hands on her hips, red hair licking her shoulders like fire. She was the textbook definition of “adorable when you’re mad,” but I wisely kept that little observation to myself. The last time I’d thrown that phrase at a redhead, I damn near lost a testicle. Had to flee Spain on a Greek merchant ship in the middle of the night just to avoid the fallout.
“What are you smirking at?” she demanded.
“Nothing, Cupcake. Not a damn thing.”
“Dude.” She yanked off her hat and scratched her head. Her hair was wild with static electricity, her eyes blazing. “Seriously?Seriously. It’s deadly cold out here. I’m freezing my ass off in this elf costume. My car crash-landed at the end of your driveway. I literally fainted in your arms. It’s Christmas Eve. Could you maybe just be, I don’t know, alittleless of a prick?”
“Can’t.” I shrugged, stifling a laugh. Live entertainment was hard to come by around these parts—I’d take my amusement where I could get it. “Phone line’s been out for hours. Internet’s down, and my cell works for shit up here even on a sunny day. Satellite TV’s still holding on, though, if you’re up for a movie.”
I turned the doorknob, and the instant I cracked open the door, Bella yelped and darted out past me. She nearly tackled the girl, sniffing her up and down, sticking her snout into places that made me curse the day I was born a man instead of a dog.
“Oh my god!” the girl squealed, her annoyance melting away in an instant. “Who isthisbeautiful baby?” She dropped to her knees and scratched behind Bella’s ears with both hands, laughing wildly as Bella licked her face. “Hi, pretty girl! Aren’t you just the sweetest thing ever? What’s your name?”
“Her name’sTraitor,” I grumbled, reaching out to grab the hunk of fur at the back of Bella’s neck. “Also known as Sleeping Outside Tonight.”
“Aww,” the girl said, still talking to Bella. She stuck out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout. “Somebody’s got a grumpy daddy. Huh, puppy?”
“I ain’t grumpy, and she ain’t a puppy. Get inside, Bella.” The dog nudged my hand, giving it a good licking. She knew I’d never make her sleep outside—she had me wrapped around her little paw, and she played that for all it was worth.
Typical woman.
I finally wedged her back into the cabin, pulling the door against my legs so she couldn’t escape again.
“She really is beautiful.” The girl stood up and turned those big blue eyes back on me. “I had a German Shepherd when I was a kid. I called him Turkey.”
“You named your dog Turkey?”
“He was born on Thanksgiving. But we had to give him away because I was allergic. But don’t worry, I’m not anymore. Allergic, I mean. Not to animals. Only avocados, red dye number forty, mangos, certain kinds of seeds, and—”
“Stop,” I said. “Please stop talking.” Holyfuck. How the hell could a girl who’d crashed her car into a driveway looking like she’d just wandered off the set of Santa’s Naughty Little Helpers talk so damn much? I’d only known her for five minutes, and I was already exhausted. “You coming inside, or are you just gonna chill out here?”
She fucking crackedup. No warning, no pause, girl just busted out laughing like it was amateur night at the Improv and I was the star of the show.
A tiny sliver of ice broke off from the solid block around my heart.
No woman, anywhere, ever, in any language, had ever appreciated my corny puns.
God damn, I might have to keep this one…
“Thanks,” she said. “I needed that.” She blotted her watery eyes with the end of her scarf, then let out a not-so-happy sigh. “But Ireallyneed to get to my family. Maybe you can help me push the car out of the snowbank? See if it starts up again?”
Not fucking likely.
“Whatever you say, Cupcake. Just give me a sec.” I reached inside the door for my coat and work boots and geared up. Didn’t need them, really—the wolf inside me made the man a lot stronger than a regular human. But the woman might start asking questions if I trudged out into the snow in my bare feet. “Be right back, Bella. Behave yourself.”
“Oh, also?” the girl said as I pulled the door closed. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure I hit something on the way into your driveway, because there was a big thud, and after that, the car started making this weird grinding noise, like… grrrr-chunk, grrrr-chunk, grrrr—”
“Chunk.” I held up a hand. “Got it.”
“You know, maybe it’s better if you just give me a ride.” She bounced on her toes, her eyes doing some kind of cute puppy-dog thing that was hard as hell to resist. “Their cabin is just on the other side of Route Seven, on Spruce?”
“Route Seven?” I shook my head. “That’s twenty miles from here.”
“It’s notthatfar.”
“You see anyone out there right now? You pass a single car on these roads on your way up?”
