Not her literal cold feet, which weren’t too bad now that the fire had warmed the room. But the cold feet sticking out from behind the flimsy curtain of propriety she’d strung across to hide her desire for the man she’d always wanted to take a bite of.

And why not?

What was the issue with having a fun little one-night stand?

After all, they were adults. Healthy, somewhat-horny adults with desires, needs and nothing to do but put together an old warped puzzle of a sperm whale. Not to mention Alexis never had to find out that she and Erik had entertained themselves by giving the old iron bed some action.

What Alexis didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

“You want a cookie, too?” Erik asked, jarring her from her internal argument over should she seduce him or shouldn’t she. He wagged a cookie at her.

“No, thanks.”

He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. “You know, with the snow coming down as hard as it is, we might be stranded for longer than one night.”

The desire she’d been flirting with took a backseat at the thought of them being in danger. They didn’t have anything more than half a bottle of wine, a dozen cookies and two protein bars. “And my parents won’t be worried because they didn’t know I was coming. If Alexis thinks I’m home safely and my parents don’t know I’m missing, the only shot we have is someone will miss you.”

“But not until tomorrow. Alexis will assume I stayed the night because of the storm.”

“Well, we can hope that the storm will be over tomorrow and we can head back to the road to look for help. Someone will be along at some point.”

“Right,” he said, grabbing another log and placing it carefully onto the blaze. The fire had warmed the room nicely, but because the wood was so dry, it burned fast. “Last one for tonight. We can’t go to sleep with the fire roaring.”

Unwittingly, she darted a glance to the bed she’d put sheets on. How in the hell were they going to make it through the night without things getting awkward?

He followed her gaze. “Don’t worry. I can sleep here in the chair.”

“But you’ll freeze,” she said.

“Let’s not worry about that now. Want to work some more on the puzzle?” he asked.

She shook her head. “My eyes hurt from staring at the pieces in the low light.” She walked back to the table and picked up the wine bottle and poured herself another glass. Then she sank back into the chair, tucking the blanket around her. “Tell me about being a firefighter.”

“What’s there to say? It’s a job.”

Emma tilted her head. “Not to you.”

Erik’s lips twitched. “Yeah, I love what I do. Nothing’s better than pitting yourself against nature and winning.”

“Never thought about it like that. Must be a high.”

“To an extent, but there are plenty of boring days when we sit around the firehouse with nothing to do. It’s feast or famine for an adrenaline junkie like me.” He popped up, eyeing the trunk serving as a bedside table for a useless lamp.

“What?”

“Did you check that trunk?”

Emma shook her head. “Guess I didn’t think about it.”

Erik rose and walked over, setting the old lamp on the floor. One good kick to the flimsy lock and he had it unlatched. He opened the lid.

“Score,” he said, lifting up a bottle of golden amber. “Tequila.”

Emma hopped up and padded over to the treasure trove Erik had unearthed.

“Here’s a pack of playing cards and poker chips. And—” he lifted up a box “—some condoms.”

Emma took them from his hand. “So tequila and condoms. What did the former owners use this place for anyway?”

Erik lifted out a stack of magazines. They were an assortment of Penthouse, Juggs and Hustler. “I’m thinking whoever they are, they had some teenage sons.”

“Well, thank goodness,” Emma said, taking the tequila and the pack of cards. “We have a drinking alternative.”

“What? You don’t want the 1999 July issue of Juggs, too?” Erik cracked, dumping the magazines back in the trunk. “There’s also some chewing tobacco, a pack of smokes and a box of peanut butter crackers. They expired in 2006 but I’m seriously thinking about eating some.”

“They’d go great with the wine,” Emma joked, setting the half bottle of tequila on the table along with the playing cards. “Or tequila.”

Tags: Kimberly Van Meter Billionaire Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net