“Didn’t we just establish this?” I asked.
“I didn’t really know,” she said. “I was just spouting some bullshit to see if you’d confirm.”
“Did anyone tell you growing up that you should’ve become a lawyer?” I asked.
“Nah. I’m just good at arguing.”
“Heaven help the man you end up with,” I said.
“Speaking of men, tell me about him. I’m already liking this cabin story. What else is there?”
“Well, he used to be in the military. He’s retired from it now and living in this cabin we’re in.”
“So, he’s isolated,” she said. “Probably hasn’t seen a woman in a while. He devoured you, didn’t he?”
“Are you on meds?” I asked.
“Just living through you. Building a business doesn’t leave much time for the men of this world.”
“Oh! How is that going? Narrowing down the buildings and stuff.”
“It’s going well. I’ve got it down to four and I’m going tomorrow with a realtor to take a look at them. Expect pictures.”
“I thought you weren’t bringing me in until there were two,” I said.
“Eh, things change,” she said. “Like they apparently have with you. How’s the storm looking your way?”
“Didn’t you guys get snow?” I asked. “How does it look where you are?”
“I mean, we saw, like, four inches. With the way you’re talking, it sounds like you’ve been dumped on.”
“It’s easily two feet but I think it might be a little more,” I said.
“Good thing you don’t have a job right now. You’re gonna be stuck for a bit.”
“I booked three weeks with the cabin at the resort. I’m sure I’ll be out by then.”
“Or you could just cancel and spend the three weeks with your handsome mountain man,” she said.
I felt my body shiver at that comment. I honestly wouldn’t mind spending a few more days with Liam. He was kind and attentive. Sure, he was quiet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t listening. It would be worth it if I could have just one more night of passion with him. One more night to memorize his muscles and feel the tickle of his beard against my skin.
I felt so beautiful in his arms. I’d never felt that beautiful before.
“Anyway,” I said, sighing. “Let me know how the building shopping goes.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” she said. “You can’t leave me hanging like that. You gotta give me something on this guy.”
I grinned as I sat down on the couch. I knew exactly what I was going to tell her and I knew it would drive her wild. The two of us talked while I stayed cryptic, laughing at her growing frustration. I told her as much as I could, from him taking care of my ankle to him taking me to see the beautiful view he had just in his backyard. It felt so good to talk to Gwen about something that was positive. Something that made me smile and had me giggling like a little school girl.
“Here’s all I’m gonna tell you,” Gwen said. “Seize life. You don’t have anything here waiting for you. No job. No apartment. No nothing.”
“I’ve got you,” I said.
“And I’ll always be here, no matter where you are. Ride this out. Whit, this is the happiest I’ve heard you since before you fucking graduated. Just let yourself have this, okay?”
I looked out the window and noticed that the sun was just starting to set. I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time. I’d been talking with Gwen for close to three solid hours and I still didn’t have a message from Liam. I got up from the couch and made my way to the window, gazing out over the only trail that led up to his cabin.
And he was still nowhere in sight.
“Whitney, you there?” Gwen asked.
“I gotta go,” I said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hopefully nothing. I gotta make a phone call.”
“Whit, talk to me,” she said.
“Liam went to the store this morning to get some stuff and he’s still not back.”
“Liam’s the guy?” she asked.
“Shit, did I not give you his name?” I asked.
“No, we were too busy talking about his muscles,” she said. “When did he leave?”
“Eleven this morning,” I said.
“I’m gonna let you go. Call me if you need anything, okay? Do you have his number?”
“I do,” I said.
“Try calling him. And keep a level head. If the snow’s bad, maybe he’s just taking his time getting back.”
“He was walking, Gwen. The snow’s too high to drive.”
The silence on the other end of the phone confirmed my fears. Out of the two of us, Gwen was always the one who kept the level head. She was the one you wanted during emergencies because while everyone else was screaming their heads off, she was dictating what everyone needed to do.
And, when she grew silent, that meant she was panicking.
“Whit, here’s what you do. Give him a call and see if he picks up. If he doesn’t, call the store he went to. Do you know which one he went to?”
“I could find it, I think,” I said.
“Don’t go out. Don’t go looking for him but see if you can call the store and confirm that he left.”
“I know he did,” I said. “He sent me a text message.”
“Then see if the store owner can check out his window. You don’t see him, right?”
“Nope.”
“And if the store owner can’t see him, it diminishes the places where he could be,” she said. “Do you have access to the internet?”
I held my phone out and checked my service. I somehow had two bars for phone reception but the 4G service would be spotty at best.
“Barely,” I said.
“Get off the phone and call them. Then, go from there. Call me back if you need something.”
“Will do,” I said.
“And Whit?”
“Yeah, Gwen?”
“Don’t be stupid. Going out into that shit is what got you in his cabin in the first place. Do not go searching for him. Call 9-1-1 if you have to.”
“I won’t,” I said.
“Promise me.”
I sighed into the phone before I nodded my head.
“I promise,” I said.
“Good. Let me know when you figure something out.”
CHAPTER 17
LIAM
By the time the cabin finally came into sight, the sun was setting beneath the trees. It was absolutely freezing out here and I had to stop and take frequent breaks. The cold air pierced my throat and every time I started to breathe hard, my chest would tighten. My arms were going numb from carrying everything and my toes were frozen solid but the smoke wafting from the chimney was a wonderful sight to behold.
I walked up the porch and knocked the snow off my body but, before I could open the door, it whipped open for me. Whitney was standing there in clothes that were way too big for her and it took me a second to register whose clothes she was wearing.
She was wearing mine and I felt the entirety of my body throb at the sight.
“Oh, thank fuck.” She grabbed my coat and tugged me into the house. Prying the bags from my hands, she tossed them onto the floor. Then, she slid my coat from me.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I was mesmerized by the way my flannel shirt draped around her and the way she’d tucked my pajama pants into a pair of socks. Her hair was wild and had a kink to it that I found absolutely breathtaking.
She was a dream, running around in my clothes, and I felt my cock lurch to life as she continued to undress me.
“Come here,” she said.
Taking my hands, she pulled me over to the couch. With the fire roaring and the embers crackling, she piled blanket after blanket onto my body. She was frantic while she tried to warm me up and it seemed like the only thing I could do was rake my eyes over her.
I wanted to hold her close to me with her body clad in my wardrobe.
“You’re not going out into this shit again until it’s safe to drive,” she said. “I don’t know why in the world I ever let you out of this cabin. We could’ve made do with paper towels or napkins for toilet paper. This was absolutely insane. Look at you, Liam. You can’t even keep your jaw still!”