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“I am. My vehicle is not.” I took a deep breath and decided to relent. “Maybe I should stay ’til morning.”
He lost the war with holding the smile back and gave a slow nod of approval.
“You’re not just a master negotiator, you’re incredibly intelligent.”
I found myself blushing at his teasing. My turn to fight back a smile. “And charming. I’m charming, too, right?”
“Absolutely.”
He held his hand out. I reached back and grabbed my purse, slamming the door behind me as my feet landed back into the traitorous snow. The slam echoed crazily loud in the cold, like the entire world had fallen silent around us. I looked up into the falling snow, the twinkling lights on the outside of the house somehow making the tiny snowflakes even more magical.
“Come back in. That steaming hot coffee sounds better and better with every second out here in this freezing cold.”
My feet felt all weird as I trudged up, like they’d gone to sleep. I must’ve lost all feeling in my toes in the short time I’d been outside trying to get my vehicle to move a whopping…foot, it looked like. The small space where I’d flattened the snow had already started to fill back up. Here I’d been hoping the snow would finish by morning.
He'd left the front door propped open with one of the Christmas decorations from the living room, a three foot high gnome dressed like Santa with a red plaid hat complete with fake fur trim. I couldn’t help giggling as I stepped over the threshold and back into the sudden warmth of the house.
Oh, it was so nice to be back out of that chill.
I couldn’t fight the shiver that went through me as he came in and shut the door, setting the Christmas gnome back against the wall.
He shivered as he stood up and made sure the front door was closed, before he turned and looked at me, running his hand through his damp hair that was quickly sticking to his head.
He hadn’t even put his beanie back on before coming out to get me, let alone a jacket—he’d just thrown his boots on and gone outside.
His dark eyes took me in for a moment, and another shiver went through me that I didn’t think was entirely from the cold.
“You’re cold. I’m freezing. I really think we should go check out the sauna,” he said slowly. “Quickest way to warm up.”
“Well, look at that. I’m inside for all of seven seconds before you try to get me naked,” I teased, reaching up to take off my hat.
“No sauna,” he said with a nod of understanding. “Got it.”
I shook my head quickly. The sauna sounded like pure heaven right then and there. “We are totally going in that sauna. I nearly froze to death out there.” I pointed out the massive front window where it seemed to be going from snowstorm to blizzard in record time.
Freaking perfect.
It would be hell trying to dig out of that driveway in the morning. But there had to be a shovel somewhere around here…maybe even two.
The way he’d run to my aid without so much as a jacket, he seemed the type to help a woman in need.
One could only hope.
The chill from the snow melting through the legs of my jeans was starting to hit me, and I shivered slightly. I definitely wanted to get out of those wet pants. “Where is it?”
“Downstairs, off of the pool. Follow me.”
I hurriedly took off the rest of my outdoor gear and followed him back downstairs.
I’d stripped out of my clothes in record time, the idea of the hot, steamy sauna sounding more enticing with every passing moment. The chill still lingered all over my body, and I couldn’t wait for that wonderful warmth to seep deep into my bones.
I was the first to arrive. Was that deliberate, or was he just slower changing than me? Iwasfreezing, I reasoned, stepping contentedly into the waft of steam, and I’d been out there a lot longer. I definitely would have walked in wearing my sweater and jeans if I could. Instead, I’d stripped down in the fancy bathroom and wrapped myself in one of the fluffiest towels I’d ever touched in my life.
I could get used to this, I mused, looking around the pristine sauna.
Thick wooden benches lined each wall. I picked a spot off to the side and lifted myself up, getting comfortable. I tightened the towel around me and leaned my head back, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. I hoped that bone-chilling cold would soon be a distant memory. I hadn’t thought I’d been outsidethatlong, but clearly more than enough. I’d hung my jeans over the rail in the bathroom, hoping they’d start to dry while I was warming up.
I heard movement, and blinked my eyes open. Dean had walked in. He was facing away from me, broad shoulders and a tanned back tapered down to a similar white towel hung low on his waist.
