I grimace. “She took a shortcut.”
“In the middle of a storm? In your old car?” He sounds incredulous, which is an understandable reaction, given that he doesn’t know Mandy, or how durable my car was…before we entered Montana and the engine failed.
“In her defense, I’ll have to stress that it wasn’t raining when she decided to cut through God knows where. But she definitely knew that a storm was on the way.” I cannot help but feel a bit defensive of her.
“Now you’re stuck here.” Kellan stops and turns to regard me. To my surprise, I find that his smile is genuine, maybe even kind, as though he understands that the trip hasn’t been a pleasant experience so far.
It’s been scary and dangerous and pretty unpredictable.
Just like him.
Kellan reaches out and brushes a strand of hair from my face. The gesture is slow and innocent, but because he’s standing so close, it almost feels intimate.
“I’m glad we met again,” he says.
“Yeah?” I frown. My voice is low and slightly hoarse, probably from the cold wind that’s left a cotton ball sensation in my mouth.
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I’m just surprised. After all, you didn’t seem particularly happy to see me.”
“I might have overreacted a bit.”
“Well, I put a dent in your precious Lamborghini.”
He lets out a laugh. “Yeah, you did, but it’s just a car. I guess I’ll survive the shock.” Another gust of wind. It’s so strong, it almost knocks me over. Kellan wraps his hands around my waist to steady me.
The gesture is too intimate.
I take a step back to put some distance between us. “What are you doing here, Kellan?”
He frowns. “I grew up here. I enjoy the countryside. Don’t you?”
“It’s not so bad.”
“No?” The skin around his beautiful green eyes crinkles, and his expression softens even more. “So you’re not such a big city girl after all.”
Which is kind of not true.
I am a city girl. I love shops. For the life of me, I cannot imagine living far away from civilization.
However, my mouth clamps shut.
It’s the nicest thing he’s ever said to me. His words please me, probably because he’s been a jerk so far.
He’s warming up to me. For the first time, I’m enjoying our conversation. He sounds like a decent guy when he’s not trying to rip off my clothes with his spectacular eyes or verbally bring me to orgasm.
Or so I think…until he turns around and starts walking, calling over his shoulder, “Well, let’s see how much you can handle. It’ll be interesting to see if you still think the same once the farm work begins. Now, let’s hurry, woman, before the next storm catches us and we have to spend the night in the barn, naked and huddled together for warmth.”
“You didn’t just say that.” I lunge forward to smack his shoulder, but he’s faster, almost two steps ahead of me. “Speaking of farm work, where are we going?”
He throws me a glance over his shoulder. “Why are you asking? Are your feet hurting? Do you already need me to carry you?”
My chin juts out defiantly. “No. I can perfectly carry myself. Thank you.”
That’s so not true.
“It’s not too far. We’re almost there.” He grins and then we walk some more.
He remains silent as we ascend the hill. Once we stop, I see what he’s so excited about.
At the foot of the hill is a huge barn with open fields to either side. A tall fence stretches around it. The red-painted wood panels build a beautiful contrast to the gray-blue sky and the dark woods behind it.
Woods the color of a storm intermingled with magic.
Just like Kellan’s eyes.
A tingle shoots through my abdomen, settling in a delicious pull between my legs. Suddenly I’m reminded that I haven’t been laid in way too long, and all I want is for him to touch me.
Oh, fuck, what is it with this guy and my sexual attraction to him?
It’s not like I haven’t been attracted to others before. It must be the setting—cut off from the world with what looks like a guy who knows how to survive out here. It’s all so primeval, it probably talks to me on a primitive level.
I roll my eyes at the strange direction my imagination’s taking and recall the chick-magnet sports car he drove back in NYC.
Primeval, my ass.
Kellan is a player who’s probably had more dips in the dating pool than there are fish in the sea.
That’s what attracts me to him. He’s standoffish, bordering on rude.
Taming the bad boy is probably every woman’s secret fantasy, and I’m most certainly no exception. But my head’s screwed on pretty tightly. He’s more Mandy’s caliber anyway.
Whatever happens, I’m not going to let him sink his hook into me—even though I know I might have trouble stopping myself from thinking about it whenever he’s around—particularly after three months of obsessing over him and seeing him taking care of himself.