It’s not like every woman I knew didn’t have a crush on him. Well, no. That wasn’t entirely true. New York’s elite chic, who were literally scared of large bodies, didn’t go gah-gah for him. Bridger was a big boy. Had to be for his job.
And that turned me the hell on. What I wouldn’t do to be wrapped up and kept safe and warm by someone who wasn’t going to break when I sat on their face.
Did it just get hot in here? I fanned my face and then remembered Bridger was literally standing at my door asking for me. Right. I was hot from embarrassment, not because I was fantasizing about what that beard could to do my girly parts.
Get your poop in a group, April. The man is standing at your door. Open it.
I pulled myself off the floor and gave the handle a tug. It moved but was stuck. Oh, right. I taped it shut. A good yank, and the door opened. The duct tape went flying and stuck to my leg, all twisted up. “Sup?”
Sup? Really? That’s what I decided to say? Okay then, let’s go with white girl gangsta style. “Yo.”
Bridger looked down at his dog who made that cute head twist dogs make when they don’t know what’s happening either. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t know what I was going on right now.
“Uh, yo... uh, you doing okay up here?”
“Yep, fine. Super, great. Can’t you tell?” I waved my hand around the wreck of a cabin.
“I can. Bear decided he wanted to check out the new neighbor, and I figured we’d better make sure this old cabin wasn’t falling down around you.”
The steps to the little loft came crashing down just as he said that. I cringed and sank down into myself and squeaked, “Everything’s fine.”
“Right. Well, there’s a storm coming, and?—”
Just as he said that, not one, not two, not three, but three billion snowflakes crashed down from the sky. I thought snow was supposed to come down all floaty and pretty. This was not pretty. It was snowpocalypse.
I grabbed Bridger by the front of his shirt and yanked him into the cabin. He tripped over the other twisted piece of duct tape and grabbed onto me to stay upright.
Which meant I ended up curled into his great big bear-hug arms. What was that he said about eating me if I asked?
FALLING IN A SNOWSTORM
BRIDGER
Should I tell her now that she had duct tape covered in bits of leaves stuck in her hair? Or that she had a smear of dust across the bridge of her nose like the cutest smattering of fake freckles? Probably not.
“You’ve, uh, got something right here.” I reached out and rubbed my thumb across her cheek, and then found myself cupping her chin and tilting her face up so I could stare into those sparkling eyes.
Her lips parted just the tiniest bit, and her tongue peeked out, wetting her lips. “Oh, do I? I’m sure I’m a mess.”
The hottest fucking mess I’d ever met.
I was not a mess kind of guy.Until my agent flipped my whole damn career upside down by committing me to four more years with the worst team in the league, my life was ordered and predictable. Work hard, play hard, rest hard. Make a plan and stick to it to get what you want.
My gaze flicked down to her lips and back up. “Yeah, you are. Do you want me to help you?”
What the fuck was I saying? I just came up here chasing after Bear. Figured I should check on the city slicker to make sure she wasn’t being stupid.
There was a storm coming, and since I knew good and wellthis cabin wasn’t severe weather ready,it wasn’t like I was going to let her ride out the night with the wind blowing through this place and freezing her to death.
“I think mother nature is going to insist.” April glanced outside and I turned my head to see what she was seeing.
Holy shit. That storm rolled in quick. I’d thought I tell her to head into town and get a room at our little B&B. But it was looking like Bear and I were going to be stuck up here in this disaster. We were going to die if I didn’t do something right quick to make sure we didn’t.
So I did the best thing I knew to warm up. I kissed April.
The moment my lips touched hers, there were no chills to be found. I licked along the seam of her lips and the snowy mountains turned into volcanoes. Our tongues slid against each other, and the polar fucking ice caps melted. She moaned into my mouth and the Earth turned into the surface of the sun.
But it was her soft whimper as I deepened the kiss further, exploring every part of her mouth with my own, that melted my god damned socks off.
