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“You mean like my knights in shining armor, coming to my rescue?” My response is snarky, but I don’t hold back because I’ve never been that princess in the castle type waiting for some man to come rescue me. I’m a strong, contemporary woman who is more than capable of saving myself. Besides, I have AAA.
“I hope you’re not taking offense.” Dean bends down and picks up a pair of discarded pants from the floor and puts them on—I think they belong to Niles. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Not at all. While I appreciate your concern, I just don’t want you to assume that I’m not capable of taking care of myself, because I am.”
“Of course you are. You wouldn’t have survived life this long if you weren’t.” Dean approaches me with no shortage of confidence and clasps both of my shoulders with his strong hands. He looks down into my eyes. “You can do anything you put your mind to…except pull a car from a ditch in thigh-high snow. Some things are beyond your ability, toots. That’s just fact, and I, for one, believe in being better safe than sorry.”
He drops a kiss on my forehead and releases me, swinging his hand back as he steps away to smack my ass, and the cracking sound reverberates around the room.
“If anyone wants pancakes, I’ll be downstairs getting some started.” He disappears from the room, and just as I am about to tell the guys good-bye and head back to the guest room, there’s a distinct click followed by a hum of a large machine gearing up, and then it happens.
“Heat is back on!” Dean shouts from somewhere in the distance.
“Thank God,” Niles says as he too gets out of bed and goes in search of clothes.
Shane follows suit. “Yeah, that would have cost us a fortune to fix.”
Listening to them, it’s the first time I can be truly glad for my residential situation. I may not own my own home, but living in an apartment affords me some things that Niles and his roommates don’t have the luxury of having, like someone else to foot the bill for big repairs.
“I’m going to go…” I trail off as I hitch a thumb over my shoulder. I need to rinse off in the shower again and get dressed. As much as I’d love to stay in bed all day having wild and kinky sex with them, it’s best if I go home so I can reenter the real world tomorrow. There’s a plane ticket with my name on it, and my mom will kill me if I’m not on it in time for Christmas presents.
Niles glances up at me from his phone that he’s magically produced from, seemingly, out of thin air, and gives me a nod of acknowledgement. Feeling a sense of being out of place, I purse my lips, linger a second or two longer, and then I turn and leave.
Why do I suddenly feel like I’ve overstayed my welcome? The feeling just confirms that it’s time for me to leave, and I hurry through a cool shower and throw on my day-old clothes, stuffing my panties into the clutch I brought in place of a bulky purse to be washed later.
Once I leave the bathroom and have tidied the bedroom, eliminating nearly any evidence of my ever having been there, I head downstairs, feeling the warmth of the working furnace doing its job once again.
“You should definitely have that inspected,” I say as I step into the kitchen where Dean is flipping the final batch of pancakes. He clicks off the stovetop burners and looks up at me. “It’s just a rash from some cheap cologne I bought at a swap meet. It’ll go away in a day or two.”
I frown, unsure how to respond. “Uh…”
“Kidding!” He belts out a laugh that causes me to smile. “I assume you mean the furnace, and yes, mother, we’ll call someone.”
“If anyone will even come. I bet they’re swamped with calls,” Niles commiserates as he enters the room.
“Actually, no one will be coming today, so we’d better hope and pray it keeps working until tomorrow.” Shane enters, his expression serious as he meets Dean’s questioning gaze.
“What do you mean no one is coming?” Dean is scowling as he moves to pull plates down from a cupboard.
Niles’ hand grazes my hip and comes up behind and leans in to peck a kiss on my lips as he walks by and takes a pancake from the tall stack Dean made. He picks at it, tossing little chunks into his mouth as Shane speaks. “Just watched the news. We’re a level three. Roads are closed to all except emergency personnel.”
“Are you serious?” The last thing I want to do is get trapped here again. The guys are nice, of course. That isn’t the problem at all. But I do want to get home.
“Is that a problem?” Dean asks, picking up on the note of upset in my voice.
“Yes. I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning that I can’t miss.”
“Holiday travel is the worst. Going home to see your family?”
I meet Niles’ eyes and nod. “They’re expecting me. I never miss Christmas.”
“Well, you might be this year. The storm last night grounded all outgoing flights. You should probably make alternative plans, just in case.”
I moan, covering my face with my hands. “There hasn’t been snow on Christmas for as long as I can remember. Why now?”
“Global warming, toots.” Dean extends a plate to me, and on it are two perfectly round, golden pancakes with a perfectly square pat of butter on top and an artful drizzle of syrup spilling over the top and sides.
“I should call my mom,” I decide, ignoring the generous offering as I turn and pull my phone from my clutch. “She’s going to be so disappointed.”
“Tell Mom I said hi,” Dean calls after me, and I shake my head, unable to prevent the smile from spreading across my face. He just has a way about him that lightens every mood, and it’s refreshing.
