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He unlocked the front door and found her half asleep on the porch swing. “Allegra,” he called softly. Her eyes flew open and she started. Then she looked over at him and stood. She swayed and he immediately went over to her and picked her up.
“I-I c-can w-walk,” she murmured.
"Sure you can. But this is better, yeah?” He took her slight squeak as approval.
He carried her over the threshold and kicked the door closed behind them. Looking around, he took her over to a leather couch that was in the living area across from a fireplace. A bunch of quilts were draped over the back of it and some sort of decorative pillows on either end.
Placing her on the couch, he pulled off his gloves and started to unbutton her coat.
She pushed his hands away. “I-I’ve got it.” She pulled off her own gloves and started to undo the buttons but her fingers were stiff. She flexed them and waved him off again when he raised his hands to help. She was so damn stubborn. He bit back a curse as he pulled out the second flashlight. It was the one he’d taken off the gunman. He turned it on and took stock of the cabin.
As he’d thought, the cabin was very much like his. The kitchen was an alcove on the right with older appliances and butcher-block counters. An old rug rested on the floor in front of the stove. The living area was to the left of the door with a couch and matching chairs surrounding a coffee table which was across from the fireplace. There was a new large flat-screen TV above it. The walls were rough-hewn logs and solid.
“C-can you get the fire going?” Allegra asked.
He turned and looked at her. “No.” He felt like a jerk but there was no help for it.
Moisture glistened in her eyes, and she blinked hard, as if to stop any leaks.
He softened his tone. “If I make a fire, there will be smoke. It’s dark but smoke will still show. I’m sorry, I know how cold you are but it’s too risky.” He frowned. There was nothing he could do. It wasn’t worth the risk. “I’m going to check out upstairs. If it all checks out then what we can do if I can find the water heater is have showers and maybe heat up the food I brought.”
“W-well that’s better than nothing.”
Xavier grabbed the backpack from outside, dropped it by the door and then hurried up the stairs to the second floor. There were two bedrooms, the smaller one was on the back of the house and the main bedroom was on the front with the deck off it, as he assumed. And that was where the tree was leaning but he’d been wrong about the attic, it was snowing right into the main bedroom. “Damn.” He went slowly into the room and took a closer look. The good thing was the extra weight on the wall was probably fine. The walls were made of thick logs. No danger it would collapse.
The bad news was that the snow was coming into the room and onto the bed. He thought the floor would hold since the tree was only really through the roof but it was going to be damn hard to warm the place up and worse, a shower, if they could get the water on was going to be frigid the moment someone stepped out of it. The wall of the bathroom didn’t go all the way to the ceiling so cold air would be coming in the top the whole time.
He went across the hall to the smaller room. There was a very small shower stall in there. It would have to do. He needed to find the water heater. He wouldn’t bother if it was just him but Allegra was cold to the bone. Getting warm in the shower would be better than sitting in wet clothes. He’d have to see if he could find a way to dry hers or find some new ones.
The small dresser in the room was empty. He went back over to the main bedroom and checked that chest of drawers. It had one ancient, forest green sweater. It was better than nothing. He grabbed it and went down the stairs.
“The good news is there is a shower…” his voice died. Allegra was on the couch, wrapped in a quilt with all her clothes laid out over the chairs. As far as he could tell she was naked. “Um…you need…that is, if we need to leave in a hurry—he glanced over at her clothes—“this is not ideal.”
She glared at him. “It may not be ideal but it’s the only way I will get warm. I can’t sit in wet clothes.”
“Here,” he said and handed her the sweater. “Best I can do. At least put your underwear and boots on. If we have to leave in a hurry you don’t really want to be naked.”
“If we have to leave in that much of a hurry, we’re probably not getting out of here since the snowmobile is so friggin’ far away.
She had him there. “Um…why don’t you go up and have a quick shower? We need to be ready to move quickly. I’ll do what I can to dry your clothes and hunt up some food.”
She heaved herself to her feet, blankets still clutched around her body, grabbed the flashlight off the table and then headed up the stairs. “The bedroom on the left,” he called after her. “Give me a minute to find the water heater and turn it on.” He swore under his breath and headed back to the kitchen. He opened a closet door in the corner and found the water heater. Same place as his was in his rental. Thankfully it was already on but on the lowest setting. He cranked it up and then closed the door and went in search of food from the backpack.
He put the gun on the counter and dug out two very frozen short-rib dinners. Hopefully she wasn’t vegan or vegetarian. Why the hell that mattered to him, he didn’t know. Normally in these situations, he’d just be grateful to have food. He tossed the dinners on the counter. Women. They were the devil to deal with. Jamie used to poke fun at him all the time saying he would know right off if Xavier ever foundthe onebecause she’d be the only woman Xavier ever asked how she wanted her steak cooked. Everyone else got medium rare.
Allegra would just have to eat her short rib dinner hot. That was the only option for cooking and he was damn sure that she didn’t want it cold. Hopefully, the shower was doing its thing and warming her up. He’d been getting concerned about her. She wasn’t dealing with the cold well. Hard to do that when wearing a skirt but he had enjoyed seeing her legs. He had no doubts the rest of her was just as fine. She certainly felt that way when she’d been curled against him.
He did a quick circuit of the downstairs checking all the windows. He’d closed all the curtains to block the flashlight beam from being noticed but he still needed to keep watch. What he wouldn’t give for a phone to call his pals back in Yellowstone. They’d come get him out even if it took them a few days to get there and get situated. Just knowing they were on the way would make the knots in his gut unfurl a little.
The snow was still falling hard. He didn’t think anyone would be coming in this. If it were him leading the hit squad, he’d call it. Too dangerous. They would have the cover from the snow but they couldn’t see something unless it was right in front of their face. Made more sense to wait it out a bit.
He heard athunkfrom above and froze. Should he run up and check? There was no scream and the water was still running. Of course, the gunmen could have climbed the tree and entered the main bedroom and then gone across and grabbed Allegra.
His gut rolled as he grabbed the gun and headed for the stairs. Seconds later, he reached the top. The shower was still running and the bedrooms were empty. She was fine. Safe. At least for now.
He quietly opened the bathroom door just a crack to verify her safety. She was in the shower with her back to him. The steam in the bathroom was intense but there was no hiding the fine curve of her ass. He eased out a breath and closed the door again. The helicopter crash had him thinking worst-case scenario all the time now. He had to stop. Constant vigilance was playing with his brain.
Heading back to the kitchen, he put the gun on the counter once again and stuck the two frozen dinners in the oven. Allegra Wagner was responsible at least in part for him being in another crash but that’s not what bothered him. He was more worried about the effect she had on his equilibrium than anything else. If he wasn’t careful, she’d be the death of him.
