Page 9

Slowly their eyes adjusted to the dark, the snow and dim lights from outside softening the depths of night. Emily still couldn’t see clearly, but it was enough to make out the shadowed outlines of their surroundings.

In the muted darkness, they worked to jam a stack of tea towels and spare aprons along the bottom of the back door. By the time they were done, Emily’s fingers had gone stiff with cold.

Cole noticed, of course.

“You’re shaking.”

“Only with rage.”

“You’re cold.”

“I’m always cold.” She tucked her hands under her armpits.

“Emily.”

The way he said her name scraped across her nerves.

She hugged herself tighter. “What?”

“We need to get away from the exterior walls. Find someplace warmer.” His eyes searched the dark, as if he were assessing his next move.

“Here, against the island,” Emily suggested before he could order her about her bakery.

They gathered what they could. A few tablecloths. Two extra aprons. A stack of clean kitchen towels. Cole found the lighter she kept near the birthday candles and managed to get three small flames going in glass jars along the prep counter. It wasn’t much, but the faint glow softened the edges of the kitchen, turning steel counters and dark shelves into something almost warm.

Emily hated how relieved she felt.

She hated even more that Cole looked good by candlelight.

Broad shoulders. Damp hair. That infuriating jaw. His firefighter pants were still wet from snow, his shirt clinging where ice had melted against him.

He looked rugged and capable and a million other adjectives that were currently at war within her.

Deeply annoyed with herself, Emily sank onto the floor, dragging one of the tablecloths around her shoulders.

Cole sat beside her, hip to hip, taking up too much room. His knee brushed hers.

Emily jerked back.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” he said, bracing one forearm on his thigh as he looked at her.

“Don’t ‘for God’s sake’ me.”

“You’re freezing.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. Your teeth are chattering.”

“They are not.”

Her teeth chose that moment to betray her.

Cole stared at her for one long, irritating second. Then, as if she hadn’t said a word, he shrugged out of his heavy firefighter jacket and held it out.

“No.”

“I didn’t ask.”