AllFreeNovel
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I think over the list of people I’d call. I have my sister, but she’s out of town with my mom. They took a trip to California in celebration of my sister’s thirtieth birthday. I was supposed to go, but being this is the first Christmas season for the lodge, I decided to hold back. And friends…what friends? The few I do have aren’t going to be up for my crazy this time of night. I can’t impose on them.
“I’m good… honest. Obviously, I don’t want anything to happen to me.” I laugh under my breath as I tidy up the rest of the workspace and grab my coat off the hanger by the door.
“Yeah, well… I appreciate that you can take care of yourself, but I can’t let you go home alone.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Dead serious. A piece of shit that’ll show up at your place of business isn’t the kind of guy that knows boundaries. You’re safest with me. We’ll recalibrate a plan in the morning.”
“I told you I have to work tomorrow.” I smile as I talk, though there’s conviction in my tone. I’m sure he doesn’t really expect me to go back up to his cabin with him. This is what nice people say, but it ends there.
“We’ll figure all that out in the morning.” He tosses on his jacket and unlocks the back door, holding me back with his arm as he draws his gun and surveys the dimly lit area.
It’s snowing lightly and there’s a frigid chill in the air that bites at the exposed skin on my neck. I’d question his use of a gun if I weren’t used to every person up here carrying. Truthfully, I’ve thought about getting myself acquainted with a firearm multiple times. Now it’s starting to feel more like a necessity.
When Arnie believes that it’s safe, he turns back toward me and narrows his gaze. “You have two choices. You get up in my truck willingly, or I buckle you in myself.”
I laugh. “Oh… is that right? You’re kidnapping me now?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
Is this a game we’re playing? Is he flirting with me? What’s happening right now?
“Let me get this straight. Your plan is to take me up to your cabin and what? You going to hold me hostage until winter is over?”
He continues to scan the area. “I don’t like being out in the open like this. Which one is it? Am I carrying you, or are you coming willingly?”
My jaw drops a little. Maybe this isn’t a game. “I’ll catch you in a couple of days.” I step around him and walk toward my little white car that’s parked at the far end of the lot. I make it three steps before I’m swept up off my feet and hurled onto Arnie’s shoulder.
I can’t believe he can actually lift me. I’m not light by any means. I push against his giant frame. “What are you doing? Put me down!”
He doesn’t listen… and I can’t figure why this show of dominance has my pussy soaking wet.
Chapter Two
Arnie
Grace stares at me with bright blue eyes. Her hair is twisted to one side, and she’s wearing a scowl that could set the cabin on fire.
“This is the first time I’ve kidnapped someone. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m doing it wrong. Can I get you a water or a cup of tea?”
She raises her brows and stands from the couch. “You’re kidding me, right? I don’t want a cup of tea, Arnie. I want to go home.”
“Tea it is.” I make my way into the kitchen to heat the kettle over the stove top. “The way it’s storming now, it’s not safe to travel back down the mountain tonight. Maybe tomorrow we can work something out.”
She draws in an audibly deep breath behind me. “Arnie… what are you doing? This isn’t like you. You know how important the bakery job is to me. I can’t disappoint everyone.”
“We won’t. The Christmas festival doesn’t start until Monday. We have two days to figure this out.”
“Figure what out? There’s nothing to figure. Jack is gone and you’re the one who’s kidnapped me.”
“You’re free to leave.”
She glances out the back window and back toward me with a downturned gaze. “Yeah. Okay. I don’t think it’s snowed like this in years. Please tell me you have the basics for baking.”
“What do you need?”
“Oh god.” She blows out another sigh. “You should know this. You cook all day.”
