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“Oh, certainly,” I said, “it would be almost as bad as him not being able to open his presents because I beat him up…”
He pretended to look scared, then laughed. “Well, get going,” he said. “That firewood’s not going to cut itself, and without a fire, Jenna might just have a terrible Christmas and it would be all your fault.”
I whacked him with a glove as I walked past toward the back door.
“That’s playing dirty,” I said. “You know I’m a pushover.”
“Exactly,” he replied. “Have fun out there!”
I sighed and shook my head with the hint of a laugh. “Oh, I plan to. Just need to envision your face every time I take a whack.”
“There you go!” he encouraged me. “Motivation is all you need.”
I opened the back door and stepped out into the winter air. It was colder than I expected, being this far south, and my breath created little clouds as I stood and adjusted to the temperature. The lake was no longer glistening as some clouds had begun to offer cover from the sun, which, I was sure, contributed to the dip in degrees. I rubbed my hands together, not wanting to wear my gloves to cut the wood since they didn’t have any sort of grip on them, and I worried the ax might go flying.
I walked over to the stump where the ax was buried in the wood, and pulled it free. It seemed like it was still fairly sharp, which would be good. It meant I’d have to use less brute force. I turned to the pile of little logs that hadn’t been cut yet and picked one that looked fairly even and stood it on the stump.
Whack!
I brought the ax down on it, splitting it evenly in two. It was a good hit, even I had to admit. I glanced up to grab another piece of wood and saw the two girls staring at me through the window, sipping some kind of concoction from mugs.
I wondered if they’d let me have some to warm up once I was back inside, or if I’d managed to talk myself out of such comforts.
I continued to cut the firewood, splitting piece after piece until I had a large stack I could carry inside in a few trips. After gathering the first set of wood into my arms, I turned to go inside and saw dark clouds coming toward me from over the roof of the cabin. It was already pretty cloudy, but the horizon had taken on a shade of bluish-gray that left me a little nervous, especially with the snowflakes which were starting to come down. I didn’t know much about the area, but I did know that snow wasn’t exactly common here, so it was enough to give me pause.
If the sky looked this bad now, there was a good chance it would only get worse. With the weather looking like it might take a turn, I knew, more than ever, that there needed to be some kind of reconciliation.
And I was going to start by trying to get Jenna to let me inside.
Chapter Five
Jenna
Wheredoessomeonethatunpleasant get off being so damn delicious? You know how men like watching Victoria’s Secret models walk a runway? Well, women feel like that about watching men do “manly” things—like chopping wood. There was probably something animalistic about it, you know, that they could protect your offspring and all that. But right now, I was begrudgingly picturing how those bulging arms would throw me around a bed.
“You’re drooling, Jen,” Lexi said as she giggled. “What happened to him being a Grinch?”
I shoved Lex playfully and gave her a disapproving look. “It’s a hallmark of awful men to be extremely attractive. That’s how you spot them.”
Lexi laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “I can think of a few examples who might be the exception.” Lex looked at her phone in her hand, and I tried my best to lean in for a peek.
“Are you gonna tell me who he is yet?” I asked, sure that my persistence would eventually wear her down.
“Nope,” she said, smiling to herself. “I need to test this one out a little more before I tell you anything.”
“Ha,” I said, poking her. “I knew it. There is someone.”
Alexis rolled her eyes at me, and I clapped my hands together. My plan was working perfectly.
I turned back to where Gabe was still chopping away, and took a sip of my hot cocoa. What in the world would Mister Billionaire want to chop firewood for? Didn’t he have people to do that for him? Was this some kind of rich people workout that hadn’t hit Cosmo yet? It certainly appeared to be a good one if his body was anything to go off of.
But with all that money, why wouldn’t he just buy it? I certainly would, especially in the cold like this. That man likely had so much fuck you money that he could buy enough firewood for the next year to heat this place.
Gabe turned toward us, grabbing an armful of the wood he’d just cut and walking toward the front door.
“Scatter,” I hissed, darting to the sofa and plopping down like he hadn’t seen me. Lexi laughed but leaned against the kitchen counter and flipped open a magazine like this was what she’d been doing for the last fifteen minutes instead of watching this man’s muscles.
Gabe tapped the door with his foot, and when I looked up, he indicated with his head toward the wood. “Give me a hand here?”
