In my defense, being enveloped together like this, every sense was on high alert. There wasn’t much room left for critical thinking. His voice rumbled through me, causing a wave of much-needed heat. There was no way to inhale without smelling him. (I wouldn’t want to anyway. He smelled like a cozy pile of fresh-dried laundry.) His large body expelled so much heat that it felt like standing next to a space heater. He was so good-looking that even his profile made me blush. I couldn’t taste him, not without making it really weird, but I bet he would be delicious.
“Are you okay? Is this weird,” he said.
My head snapped to him. Had I been talking out loud? But his look was only that of cautious concern. I had to get my act together.
“Weird? No, not at all. I do this all the time.” It was best to let him think I was as experienced with touching as he was.
“You cuddle with men you don’t know to stay warm?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, like weekly. If not biweekly.” I never knew if that meant twice a week or every other week. “I am a total snuggle ho, fo’ sho. Don’t you?”
I was handling this so well, considering. Otherwise, he might think I was a total dweeb.
His chuckle was so deep it wasn’t audible. It just rolled through me like a silent tremor.
“Okay, good. Just checking,” he said.
Did that mean he was a snuggle ho?
“You’re probably used to this too,” I said, fishing for details on his life. I didn’t know much about him other than a few surface details, but I didn’t think he was dating someone. “I mean. Not in a sexy way. I’m not gonna say sexy. I just mean, you’re a bachelor in a town filled with many single people, and with all the tourists coming through, you probably have your fair share of dates. Deckard says they’re ‘thirsty.’ The tourists. Which I don’t really understand because we literally have water bottle filling stations all over town, but he knows more about that sort of stuff than I do. Unless he means because of the supposed healing power of the hot springs.”
Slippery Slopes was a town long before New Mexico was a state, and it has a long and weird history that draws a lot of the woo-woo crowds who swear that this is a place for the mystical and spiritual. Some even claim to see mysterious sightings, but they’re probably just rogue guinea pigs. Slippery Slopes was less cowboy boots and “hello, ma’am” small town and more “youraura seems off today, swing by my shop so we can charge your crystals.”
“It feels like I’m talking a lot. Am I talking a lot?” I asked.
“I’m not seeing anybody.” There was a curious flatness to Owen’s tone. I hadn’t specifically asked, but I was flooded with relief, nonetheless.
“Good. Cool. Not that this is a date. If it were a date, it would be the worst date ever, am I right?”
He shifted slightly next to me. Was that to put distance between us? Or to get closer? Maybe his butt was going numb from the cold too. “Are you seeing somebody?” he asked.
I was so glad we sat side by side so that my face was mostly pointed away. I couldn’t bear it if he was making fun of me. He had to know how alone I was.
“Oh, you know. I like to date casually. I’m not really steady with anybody right now.”
It wasn’tnottrue. Did people say “steady”? There was a beat of silence, and I waited to see if he would call me out.
“Not even Deckard Sparks?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Ha!” I cackled. I hadn’t been expecting that at all. “Deckard? No. He’s a great guy, but he’s just a friend. We’ve been friends for forever.”
“Gotcha. I think a lot of people assume you’re together.”
“People would have to know I exist to think that,” I said with a dry laugh. When Owen frowned with what might be concern, I quickly added, “No, I just mean that he’s always got some new lady friend.”
He frowned.
“You’re together a lot, and he’s sort of the town’s biggest catch.” He watched me carefully as he spoke.
“Biggest catch.” I rolled my eyes. For being such acatch,he had a heck of a time being caught. “Nah. Deckard and I don’t fit like that. There’s nospark.” I snorted. “See what I did there?”
Owen’s face had moved close enough that when I looked to meet his gaze, he was right there, a breath away. His focus bounced between my eyes, a soft smile on his mouth as he nodded.
How did we get here? Two single people smooshed up close, talking about their single-ness. What a predicament.
“That’s good,” he said with a swallow.
What was good? What had I said? Something about sparks? I felt them now, shooting off like sparklers in the air around us. The plan had changed again. The bones were still there. I was getting to the top of that mountain, but this detour could involve some kissing. That might be okay.
