With nothing else productive left to do, she slid into the double-size bed. The sheets were like ice and so she swished her fuzzy-socked feet back and forth to warm the bed, drawing his attention.
“Cold?” he queried.
“Freezing.”
“Go ahead and warm my side, too.”
“Fat chance,” she said, cracking a smile.
“I always wondered what you and my sister did during all those sleepovers. Should I expect to get my hair highlighted and have a spontaneous pillow fight?”
Emma punched the pillow and sank onto it, ignoring the musty smell from no doubt being stored for too many years. “Guys have weird fantasies about that, but to tell the truth, most of the time we watched a movie or worked on class projects.”
“Ah, I forgot what little nerds you were,” he teased.
“Little nerds grow up to be successful women, thank you very much,” Emma said, lifting her nose in the air and giving a sniff.
“Indeed you did,” he said. “I’ll try not to wake you when I slip into bed. I know it feels weird, but you’re right. If I tried to sleep in this chair, I’d freeze once the fire died. We’re big people. We can handle this, right?”
Maybe. When said out loud it made a good deal of sense. Body heat and all that, but the reality of the situation was they’d been flirting with each other all night. And though she had worn her bra under her jammies and he would no doubt still be dressed in some manner, they would be more intimate than they’d ever been.
And with the torch she’d always carried for him reignited, it wouldn’t take much before she’d lose all rational thought. She was primed to go up in smoke for this firefighter.
“We can handle this. Good night, Erik.”
He smiled. “Good night, Em. I had a lot of fun tonight. Maybe I should get stuck in snowstorms more often with you.”
Emma lay back, pulling the covers to her chin, burrowing as best she could into the lumpy mattress. A broken coil prodded her, so she curled on her side, scooting to the right, leaving Erik the left side. At some point they’d brush against each other. There would be no way to prevent it. Erik was a decent-size guy and she wasn’t exactly petite.
She wouldn’t be able to sleep.
No way she’d be able to with her stomach doing loop-de-loops and feet cold as Popsicles.
Sighing, she flipped over onto her belly, a tried-and-proven way to relax herself. With the fire crackling and the bed finally growing warm with her body heat, she found herself sliding from thoughts of her evening with Erik to regret about her poor car and missing her parents’ award presentation. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed or remedied by a YouTube video that her brother had promised to post, but still a loss. And then there was the fact the roads might be too bad tomorrow. Alexis might not have received her text. But she’d be worried about Erik. She’d call both of them and not get an answer. Her friend wasn’t the kind of girl to sit on her laurels. No, Alexis would send out the cavalry. And someone would find them tomorrow.
And then a fox appeared, sniffing the snow, making little paw prints.
And then she drifted off.
* * *
ERIK WATCHED THE fire until only a small flame remained and then he pulled the dusty fire screen in front of the hearth, assured that no small sparks would escape and ignite on the scraped wooden floors. The room was plenty toasty and he had to send a silent thank-you to the man who had built a one-room cabin rather than a much larger place. Easy to heat.
Emma breathed rhythmically letting him know she was asleep.
Which was good.
That’s why he’d stayed awake. Oh, sure, the fire and all, but he knew he couldn’t lie there with her awake, knowing that he wanted to do more than sleep. Knowing that she probably wanted the same thing.
Deal was, nothing about it was a good idea. Except the pleasure it would bring. He had no doubt they’d be good together. Beneath Emma’s cool intellect burned a passionate, funny woman. But they were from two different worlds. She with her highbrow professor friends and he with his lowbrow good ol’ boys at the station. The only opera they would consider watching would be Days of Our Lives. And that was only because Grant Teague claimed he had to be able to talk about it with his mother who was in assisted care and obsessed with the show. Erik suspected Grant was addicted to the show and needed a reason to watch.
And then there was his sister. Alexis loved Emma. Even when Alexis had moved away, she planned girls’ trips with Emma and he knew they spoke daily. If things went south between him and Emma because they gave in to desire, there would be hell to pay. He didn’t want Emma hurt. Hell, he didn’t want to hurt. But he damn sure didn’t want his sister up his ass about being a hound dog and messing with her friend.