Page 2 of Snowed

Deek looked at me and chuckled. “You look like I just told you you’re being sent to the electric chair.”

“I might prefer that,” I mumbled.

“Oh, come on now,” Billie said. “Think of all the fun we’re going to have this weekend. We’re going to go tubing, ice skating, make a big fire… I promise, Colby’s parents’ cabin is amazing.”

I sulked. “I’d rather ride there with you guys.”

Billie ignored me and spoke to Cade. “Can you fit two boxes in your trunk? Mine is small and will barely fit all of our bags.”

Cade shrugged. He didn’t look too happy about the new arrangements either. “Sure.”

“Great. One is a box of board games. I read they’re good for team building. I had Colby order them. I also let him pick them out, so I’m actually a little scared. My husband is a geek at heart. We may wind up playing something Star Wars-themed or Dungeons & Dragons. The Amazon box just came today. I haven’t even opened it. The other box is liquor and mixers.” She thumbed toward the back. “Let me grab them.”

While Billie and Cade took stuff to his car, Deek and I sterilized all the equipment and loaded the autoclave chamber. As they came back in, Deek lifted his chin to me. “Hey. Give the guy a chance this weekend. There’s a lot more to him than meets the eye.”

I sighed. “Great. Just what I want. More Cade.”

CHAPTER 2

Cade

Team building was off to a great start, if you counted Daria ignoring me the entire ride to Vermont while she listened to an audiobook. She had the thing playing so freaking loud that I could hear it through her headphones and over my music.

Snowflakes started to fly as we were about halfway to our destination. I hoped we didn’t encounter much traffic, otherwise we stood a good chance of running into trouble on the icy roads.

At one point, I turned to her. “You want to stop for coffee? I could use the energy boost.”

No response. She couldn’t hear me because she had her volume up so loud.

A couple of minutes later, I raised my voice. “Do you want to stop for coffee?”

She jumped. “Damn! No need to yell.”

“Well, you couldn’t hear me before.”

“I had the volume turned up higher for one scene. I didn’t want to miss any of it. But I turned it back down.”

“What was so important about it?”

She shook her head. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“Why?”

“It’s a romance.”

I arched a brow. “Oh, you’re embarrassed because it’s corny?”

“No, actually, I’m not ashamed of what I read at all. I just don’t think you’ll get it.”

“Try me.” I turned the windshield wipers on. “What was happening in that scene?”

“The hero just killed a guy for staring too long at the woman he cares about.”

What the hell kind of shit is that? “That’s a little fucked up.” I chuckled.

“Well, he’d been stalking her for some time and invested a lot in their relationship. It pissed him off, so…”

“And that turns you on?”