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CHAPTER 2
The shadow stooped in the snow and the face of a handsome man came into focus. There was a bright smile on his face that wiped away my fear, and his blue eyes were captivating. He wore a large, heavy coat that couldn't hide his slim, well-built physique. His hair that wasn't covered by his cap was a dirty blond, and he wore boots and gloves.
"You honked?" he asked me. I was too dumbfounded to speak. Maybe I'd died and gone to heaven, and this was my guiding angel. "One sec and I can get you free," he told me. He pawed at the snow in front of the door and pulled at the handle. The door came out and I was free of my metal prison.
I was so happy to be free and see a face that didn't belong to
a yeti that I launched myself out of the car and into the arms of my rescuer. We tumbled into the snow and I ended up on top of him. He lay on his back and was partially buried in the snow. My rescuer wheezed and coughed out bits of the white fluff.
A smile graced his lips as his blue eyes looked into mine. "Is that a thank-you or are you trying to tell me you don't like me?" he teased.
"Oh! Sorry!" I pushed off from him to stumble back. My pushing shoved him deeper into the snow until he had made an impression a foot deep in the ditch.
He sat up and brushed the snow from the arms of his jacket. "You must have been trapped there a while," he commented.
I shook my head. "No, but long enough to be worried."
He tried to stand, but his position was unstable. The snow kept moving on him. He stretched out his hand to me. "A little help here?" he pleaded.
I grabbed his hand, stiffened my legs, and yanked back. He pushed off his his free hand, and our combined powers was a little stronger than I expected. My rescuer flew from the snow and tumbled into me. I fell back into the drifts, and ate snow and his jacket. His body spread out over me and he raised himself on his arms. There was a mischievous grin on his tasty lips.
"We seem to be in some sort of an infinite swing," he mused.
"I wish it would've stopped on the other swing," I returned. The wetness from the snow sank into my coat and I shivered. "Can we break this vicious cycle and just get back into my car?" I pleaded.
He stood and helped me to my feet. This time we didn't go tumbling into the snow. "Actually, my truck's just over there." He nodded in the direction of the road.
I looked past him at a large white pickup truck that idled on the road. My knight with a white horse had arrived. I turned my attention back to him and smiled. "Any way you can give a poor girl a lift before the snowmen try to woo her?"
He smiled and gave a nod. "I'd like nothing better than to save a damsel in distress, especially one so beautiful."
I blushed so hard I was surprised the snow around me didn't melt. "Can we skip the chit-chat until we-we-achoo!" I sneezed hard enough to give myself whiplash.
The stranger wrapped his arms around me and led me to the running truck. "I think that's my cue to get you into my truck."
"But my bags-"
"I can get your bags, but what I don't want is for you to get a cold on my watch. I'm not that great of a patient, and even worse a nurse," he told me.
I imagined him in a slimming male-nurse's outfit, and the image warmed me in not-unpleasant ways. His eyes flickered down at my face and he frowned. "Do you have a fever? Your face is red."
I shook my head and rubbed my palms against my cheeks. "N-no, just thinking of-um, warm places." Like him inside my body. That dirty little tempting thought made the heat inside me worse.
"All right, but don't think so hard that you combust on me," he teased.
We reached his pickup and he helped me into the tall cab. He shut the door and I watched him flounder back into the snow and grab my few bags. Good thing I traveled light. He shut the car door and returned to the pickup where he put my bags on top of his own in the back seat.
"You travel light for a girl," he teased as he slid into the driver's seat.
"I wish I hadn't been traveling at all," I quipped.
"It is pretty bad, isn't it? I don't know how much farther ol' Bessy can take it, herself," he mused as he patted the top of the dashboard.
"Do you know how far it is to the High Mountain Lodge?" I asked him.
He turned to me with a smile and a raised brow. "So you're going there, too?"
"Yeah. I'm supposed to be on a relaxing vacation, but I'm not seeing much of the relaxing part," I told him.
